May 2004
That's like, just last year on my birthday
She lost all track of time and burnt the cake
And every smoke detector in the house was going off
She was just about to cry until I took her in my arms
And I tried not to let her see me laugh.
Yeah, I live for little moments like that.
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Kevin! Happy Birthday to you!" The entire Camden clan sang out loud, including the twins , who looked at Kevin, anxiously hoping that he would let them "help" blow out his candles.
"Blow out your candles, Kevin!" Sam said excitedly. David added, "Yeah, that's the best part. You get a free wish!"
"How 'bout you guys help me out?" He reached down and picked up the twins and let them blow out the candles with him. Kevin tried to think of a wish, but he just couldn't imagine his life being any more perfect. He needed to wish for something, and the only thing he could imagine that would make his life more perfect with Lucy is that maybe they would someday soon be able to get a house of their own. As he blew out the candles, he looked around the room.
Kevin sat at the head of the dining room table in the Camden household surrounded by his entire family as they helped him celebrate his 27th birthday. Lucy sat beside him to his left, but to his right was part of a birthday surprise she had planned for him. His mother and her new husband and his brother Ben were all there, as well as the rest of the Camden clan, with the exception of a very pregnant Mary and her husband Carlos. He felt blessed to be apart of such a big family that cared for him, especially for his wife that had planned this surprise for him. Everything about this surprise birthday party was perfect, or rather, it SEEMED perfect. Lucy might beg to differ, especially after the state he had found her in earlier that morning when he got home from work.
Earlier in the day.......
As Kevin got home from the gym, he was so glad he had taken the day off from work. He hadn't planned to, but when Lucy suggested that he take the day off so they could spend his birthday together, he agreed. Last year, his birthday had been so hectic dealing with all of Simon's accident that he had just let his birthday come and go, only celebrating with a small cake that Lucy had picked up from the grocery store on the way home from taking Simon to one of his therapy sessions.
They had started the day with a trip to the Promenade for breakfast, and they then shopped around, just holding hands and enjoying being with each other. They walked down to the park and sat by the lake for awhile, talking about plans for the future. Around noon, as they made their way back to the garage apartment, Lucy insisted that Kevin leave so she could prepare a surprise for him. He had decided to go to the gym so that he could clear his head a bit and feel like he had done something productive during the day.
When he pulled the car into the driveway and turned the radio off, he heard a very distinct beeping noise. As he climbed out of the car, he realized that the shrill beeping noise was coming from the direction of his apartment. He immediately knew it was the fire alarm. He raced into the garage, and leaped up stairs. Kevin threw the door back that opened up to the apartment, only to be greeted by black smoke coming from the stove. He yelled out for Lucy, who he couldn't see through the black fog. He began to panic as he looked at the stove and saw flames burning whatever Lucy had put in there.
"LUCY! Where are you!?!?"
"I'm coming!!" She replied. All of a sudden he saw Lucy coming from the direction of the bathroom with the small fire extinguisher in her tiny hands. She thrust the contraption at Kevin, who turned around and aimed the white powder at the stove. "Where is Ben when you need him?" Kevin thought. He hated fires. There was a reason that he was the police officer in the family and not the fireman.
After he got rid of the fire, Kevin stopped and turned to Lucy. "What in the world were you doing?"
Lucy sat down on the sofa and began to cry hysterically. He sat down beside her and held her as she began to cry on his shoulder.
The only words she could muster out through her tears were "I was just....I wanted to make your birthday special.....homemade cake......your mom's recipe.......airplane flying in today.......good impression......wrapping your present......didn't hear your birthday....I am so sorry!!"
He began to smile just a bit when he began to piece together what had happened. "Lucy, honey, do you think you can try to calm down a bit and tell me what happened?" He handed her a Kleenex from the counter.
"I just wanted to make your birthday....perfect. So I called your mom in Buffalo....sniff....and asked her for your favorite cake recipe-you know the one you always talk about that she made when you were little? And I invited her and your stepfather and Ben to fly out here for a surprise party I was planning for you tonight, and I was going to make the cake. And I started to wrap your present and I lost track of time and didn't hear the timer go off, and by the time I smelt something burning, the cake was ruined and I almost burned the garage down!!" She began to sob again.
Kevin tried as hard as he could to stifle the laughter that he felt inside. In fact, it took more strength to contain is laughter than it did for him to lift any weights at the gym. She had tried so hard to make his birthday extra special. Her efforts meant more to him than any cake. He tried to think about what he could say to her that would make her feel better about what happened.
As he gave her a kiss on the forehead and wiped away her tears he said, "Its okay, Luce. Now," he said with a grin. "Where is that present you were wrapping?"
Back at the birthday party....
So Kevin sat there, in his in-laws dining room cutting a store bought cake he and Lucy had run to the store and picked up on their way to meet Ben and his mother at the airport. He thought about all of his birthdays in the past, and he had had some great ones. But this one was quite possibly the most memorable he had had in a very long time. Even if Lucy didn't think the day had ended up perfectly, Kevin begged to differ. He couldn't imagine a better birthday, even if he tried to. Nothing compared to the day they had just experienced...together.
That's like, just last year on my birthday
She lost all track of time and burnt the cake
And every smoke detector in the house was going off
She was just about to cry until I took her in my arms
And I tried not to let her see me laugh.
Yeah, I live for little moments like that.