Soon enough, today is Wednesday, March 13th. Yep, that's right, it's Jonah and I's nineteenth birthday. Oh my God, I still can't believe Jonah and I are actually nineteen now. Time seems to fly really quickly for me. I wonder how fast time seems to move for Jonah or Mom or Grandma Ruby and Grandma Sapphire. I'll have to ask them about that sometime, but that's neither here nor there. Jonah and I have a birthday to celebrate.

I manage to wake up at around eleven-thirty in the morning, about thirty minutes before noon. I wonder what Mom and everybody else have got planned for us. I can't wait to see. I bet it'll be pretty cool, especially since Jonah and I are celebrating our birthday during spring break. So I've just gotten up and brushed my teeth and gotten dressed. I don't know what's been planned for my birthday, but I want to make sure I face it head-on. I open the door and walk out into the living room where Mom, Aunt Pearl, Aunt Belinda, Hermione, Aunt Amy, Aunt Peri, Aunt Nyoko, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Margie are all waiting for me.

"Happy birthday, Hope!" Uncle Greg greets me with a big grin on his face. "I can't believe you're nineteen!"

I let out a light chuckle. "Me neither. Where's Jonah? Has he woken up yet?"

Uncle Greg gives with a shrug. "I guess not. I'm gonna go see if I can wake him up or if he's already up."

He walks off to where Jonah's room is, only to run right back with a grimace on his face followed by the sound of Jonah yelling at him to get out.

"Was Jonah having sex with Quilene in there?" I ask, somehow unsurprised by what just transpired.

"Yep," Uncle Greg replies with that grimace still on his face. "Why don't we just wait for him to finish up?"

"Sure, I can do that."

"That might take a little while, so all we can do is wait."

Once Jonah and Quilene have finally finished doing their thing, it's time for the birthday party to go underway. First off, Aunt Pearl brings out our birthday cake: a vanilla vegan cake topped with white homemade vegan buttercream frosting and funfetti sprinkles. On top are candles shaped into the numbers 1 and 9. Aunt Pearl then explains to me and Jonah that we each blow out a candle. Afterwards, everyone sings us the birthday song, and Jonah and I blow out our candles. We all have a turn at the cake, with Jonah deciding to share his slice with Quilene. Meanwhile, I have my slice to myself and I decide to chat it up with Hermione.

"You know, I'm so glad you're home right now," Hermione tells me. "I really missed hanging out with you and Jonah."

"I missed hanging out with you, too, Hermie," I reply. "As great as it is to be going to uni in New Jersey, I can get homesick sometimes. It's just not the same without having you guys nearby."

"How's Rutgers going, by the way? I've been doing just fine in community college."

"Super great, thanks for asking. In fact, Quilene and I are both getting good grades in our classes."

"Awesome. Have you guys been having any fun at all?"

"Oh yeah, on the weekends, we eat out at places like Stuff Yer Face. We can't drink yet because, well... we're not 21. Still, you don't really need to drink to have a good time. You just need to know how to have fun, and that's all that matters."

"Man, if I ever decide to transfer to a university outside Delaware, one of the first things I'm going to do is hit whatever is local to the area."

All of a sudden, Jonah approaches me, having finished his slice of cake he shared with Quilene. "Hey, Hope! Do you wanna open your presents? I've already gotten some kickass stuff, including things for Delaware State."

"In a minute, Jonah," I reply. "Just let me finish my slice of cake."

Jonah and I have managed to finish opening up our presents, and now we are heading out to the Big Donut where Alexandra and April happen to be working. April has a big grin on her face, probably because it's my birthday, and she wastes no time in showing off her happiness to the customers. Alexandra, meanwhile, doesn't emote all that much because... well, that's just how she is. She doesn't show much emotion, but it doesn't mean she doesn't feel anything.

"Hey, Hope," April greets us. "Hey, Jonah. Happy 19th birthday! What brings you guys here?"

"Thanks, April," I reply with a smile. "Uh, Jonah and I thought we'd just drop by to say hi."

"Oh, that's very sweet of you guys. As long as you're here, do you guys want to order something?

I think over my choices for a minute. So many things on the menu above me... I don't even know what I want to get most. Eventually, I settle on something. "Uh... two boxes, please."

"Two boxes of what?"

"Uh, one box is half Boston cream and half mocha. The other box is half glazed and half iced with tie-dye frosting and topped with funfetti."

April gives two thumbs up. "Good choices, Hope." She turns to face Alexandra. "Hey, Alex?"

"Yes, April?" Alexandra asks back.

"Can I get two boxes of donuts, please? One box is half Boston cream and half mocha. The other box is half glazed and half iced with tie-dye frosting and topped with funfetti."

"Sure, coming right up."

Alexandra disappears into the back of the building, only to come back to the counter moments later with two donut boxes in her arms, with one box stacked on top of another.

"Happy birthday, you guys!" Alexandra tells me and Jonah. "I bet you've been looking forward to this so much. Do you feel any different now that you're 19?"

I scratch the back of my head. "No, can't say I do."

"Me neither," Jonah chimes in.

Alexandra gives a playful shrug. "Well, that's okay. I still don't feel like my age. I still feel like I'm in my twenties or thirties."

I give with a chuckle. "That's real cool, Alex. I'm glad you feel as young as you think. I wish I could be like that sometimes."

"Well, don't worry too much about it right now. You've still got the rest of your lives ahead of you."

"Thanks for the advice. I'll have to keep that in mind for the rest of the year."

"No problem. Glad I could help."

Jonah and I say our goodbyes to April and Alexandra while we leave the Big Donut with our boxes. This is gonna be the best birthday ever, I can feel it. We get to spend time with our significant others and our family, and we get to celebrate our birthday away from college. What more could we want right now?