Ryan was used to people forgetting his birthday
Theresa had always remembered. She'd always get her mother to make him those empanadas that he loved.
His mom, she'd stopped getting them cakes when they turned eight years old. They couldn't afford it and Dawn had not been the best in the kitchen. Cooking was just not in her list of priorities.
The first year he'd lived with the Cohens, he'd gotten spoiled. There'd been embarrassing balloons and a cake that was custom made by a bakery. And gifts.
So this year, he'd been torn between getting his hopes up or keeping them low.
Everyone had a lot on their minds, including him.
He'd already predicted that Marissa wouldn't remember. After the bar mitzvah and Johnny's crisis of faith, she was sticking closer to the recovering surfer than ever. He had a physical therapy appointment today and Marissa hadn't mentioned anything about giving him a 'special birthday surprise' or anything.
He wasn't sure about Seth, but if Seth had been planning anything, he was being ultra-stealth about it. And Seth had never been stealth so he was pretty sure his less related brother had other things on his mind.
Sandy was right out, too. Ryan had been at the Newport group every afternoon and weekend and had barely spoken to his guardian.
But Ryan accepted that a lot of things were more important than his 18th birthday and that regardless of his family's oversight, he at least had a family.
He planned on spending this day like he'd always spent his birthdays, doing something for himself.
He'd told Matt he was taking the day off and he was cutting school, he'd warned his professors that he had a meeting with college recruiters and turned in his assignments already.
He showered and dressed and picked up his backpack and started into the house.
Kirsten was standing by the coffeepot in her robe and she smiled brightly at him when he came in. "Morning."
"Hey. Where's everybody?"
"Seth left early with Summer, something about a Death Cab being released or something today. I guess it's a comic but he said he'd see you at school. So I guess I get to be the first to wish you a happy birthday."
He smiled. It felt good that she'd remembered.
There had always been a distance between himself and Kirsten and the rift had only widened since her return. All the comfortable feelings he'd developed for her before the intervention had dissipated from her words that day.
But he knew all about things changing with the blink of an eye.
He'd almost gotten used to the fact that a single thing could turn his whole life upside down. He knew not to get used to anything.
Even the constant of having a birthday every year didn't give him any stability because he never knew if he'd be in jail or eating cake or dead.
"Thanks."
"You're eighteen, Ryan. How does it feel?" she asked.
"Good, actually. Like the worst is behind me," he said confidently, not needing to believe it. He just had to say what would satisfy her.
She laughed. "I'd like to hope that, Ryan," she said. "You've definitely had a rough time."
Ryan poured his coffee and sat down at the counter.
"What are your plans for after school? Meeting Marissa?"
"I actually was going to just…hang out."
"Well, if you can afford to miss a day of school, I'd like to spend some time with you."
He wasn't sure what she had in mind but he couldn't turn her down, Sandy would accuse him of being difficult again. Sandy seemed to think that Ryan needed to make the first move in breaking the tension but here Kirsten was making a move.
"Um, you don't have to…" he started.
"There's no ulterior motive, Ryan. I just want to give you a birthday present, from me to you."
Kirsten drove on the freeway for a solid hour and to Ryan's surprise, he was enjoying his time with her.
She was upbeat and talkative, telling him about her boredom and how much she hated cooking.
It was relaxing and he felt good listening to her talk. She'd never really taken the time to talk to him before.
She had the radio turned to one of the classic rock XM stations and it was sort of surreal to have his new mother listening to the same music his own mother used to play for him.
"When are you going to tell me where we're going?" he asked when she took an unfamiliar exit.
"We are going to a place I haven't been in a while. And you have to promise not to tell Sandy, okay? This is a secret," she said seriously.
He was really intrigued now.
They'd driven down the coast and he wasn't surprised to see that they were headed to the beach.
She parked the Rover in the parking lot of a small store that was painted brightly with pink and blue graffiti, but he could tell that it was done 'artistically'.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"You'll see," she said, leading him inside.
The front of the shop had touristy souvenirs, bongs and pipes and things made out of hemp.
Ryan had no idea what they were doing here.
"Barbie!" someone squealed and a chunky lady that smelled like patchouli embraced Kirsten. "You really came!"
"I told you I was coming, Jane. And don't call me that, this is my son, Ryan, he's turning eighteen today," she said, blushing.
"Ryan! Happy birthday!" Jane said, embracing him fondly. "Come on back, the whole gang's here, where's Sandy?"
"He couldn't make it," Kirsten said, leading him back.
"You have so much to tell me, Barbie…" Jane scolded.
Ryan raised an eyebrow at her. "Barbie?"
"It's just a nickname, they thought I looked like a Barbie doll," Kirsten said, blushing again.
"That's not the reason, sweetie, don't listen to her," Jane said, laughing. "It's because she got stoned with this Australian exchange student and burned up my grill."
Ryan laughed as Kirsten scolded Jane with a light slap on the back.
"Look, guys, it's Barbie!" a deep voice called.
And Ryan saw a whole new side of Kirsten.
They were sitting on a small stage now, drinking things with ginseng in it and trading stories about Kirsten's time at Berkeley in the infamous mail truck that was called the Mail Room.
Jane was common law married to a bearded man named Jerry that had line of bears dancing down his bulging muscles. Cherry and Dennis were also a couple and had matching dreadlocks and guitars.
He'd realized that Kirsten and Sandy really were hippies to an extent that Seth had never fully fathomed.
"I didn't bring Ryan here so he could hear all about my indiscretions, I wanted you guys to tell him how awesome college is going to be," Kirsten said, her cheeks still red from laughing so much.
"Oh, Barbie, we are telling him! It's like a whole new world, Ryan. Kirsten had been a perfect little, well, Barbie, when she got to Berkeley and by junior year she'd told her old man to fuck off and she was shacking up in the Mail Room with Sandy, living free!" Cherry said.
"God, we always had to knock on the back door to the truck so they'd know to put on clothes, they never wore clothes in that thing," Jerry chuckled.
"Kirsten!" Ryan scolded.
"It kept the cops from bothering us," she shrugged, a sly smile on her face.
Cherry and Jane insisted that they stay for dinner and the men were dispatched to the store for supplies, leaving Ryan and Kirsten alone with the women.
"So, girlie, what's really up with the visit?" Jane asked when she thought Ryan was out of earshot.
He hovered by the door pretending to watch Cherry help a customer.
"It's Ryan's birthday and he's eighteen. He's going to college and…I'm worried about losing him. I haven't been the best mother to him in the short time I've known him and I wanted to do something to show him that I'm more than just a drunk socialite. I don't have any concept of what kind of life he had growing up, my time in college was the only time I was exposed to anything that wasn't Newport and…"
Jane embraced her impulsively. "You're a good mother…"
"I just need him to love me as much as he loves Sandy," Kirsten said.
Ryan didn't let them know that he'd overheard when Cherry returned.
But he'd heard.
After they'd had dinner on the beach, Kirsten and Jerry walked with Ryan back into the store and Jerry unlocked a door behind the stage revealing a large room stocked with albums.
"What's this?" Ryan asked.
"Part of your gift. I know that you like music, and you listen to Seth's a lot because you don't have any other choice…so I wanted to give you some choice."
Ryan was confused. "These are yours?"
"I know how to work e-bay. Jerry keeps them for me, Sandy doesn't know I still collect, he'd kill me if he knew I had all these. You can take your pick, but…not the Beatles…I mean, if you really want them…" she hesitated, pulling a plastic wrapped record off the shelf and touching it delicately.
"I…I don't know what to say," Ryan said, touched by her thoughtfulness.
"If you want something else…"
"I think…maybe you should back up the truck," Ryan said, smiling shyly.
Jerry patted him on the back and went to get packaging crates.
It was late when they pulled back onto the freeway and both their phones were flashing with messages.
Ryan had his favorite albums in a crate between his legs in the passenger seat, still reeling from the gifts. He had an original Led Zeppelin album signed by the band and an authentic Jimi Hendrix first edition.
"I bought you a record player, it's the nicest I could find, so it wouldn't…damage the vinyl. I mean, you have to listen to them or you're wasting them," she said.
"Thanks. This is…this is the nicest gift I've probably ever gotten. It's like…history, you know? It's a part of yours and now it's a part of mine," he said quietly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she smiled.
"This is a really nice birthday," he said, meaning it. He'd learned about Kirsten and he felt like he had seen a part of her that Seth might not even be privy too. It was nice to know about a part of her that Seth didn't. It felt like he might be special to her since she'd shared it with him.
"I'm glad," she said.
"Can I call you Barbie?"
"No," she said immediately. "You never call me that."
The cake that Seth, Summer and Marissa baked for him and was decorated with Sandy's help, effectively took the taste of tofu out of his mouth.
He'd smiled when he opened Seth's emo cds and Marissa's shirt and slacks set and Summer's Bagel of the Month gift certificate, but the best part of the party was watching Kirsten explain to Sandy why they both smelled like incense.