Ever since Addison and Derek became parents, there was a particular date that they always looked forward to with excitement, and that was January 22nd, Olive's birthday.
The little Aquarius girl was turning six that day, and as Derek had promised her, they had traveled to New York to celebrate.
With all the hospital lawsuits by Gary Clark and his lawyer's constant threats, Derek decided that the best option was to take some time off, relax, and enjoy his wife and daughters in their favorite city.
"Good morning, little sleepyhead..." Addison whispered gently in Olive's ear to wake her up.
"Happy birthday, happy birthday!" Derek entered singing, with a small cake and a lit candle.
"Mmm..." Olive murmured, waking up.
"Happy birthday! Happy birthday! Come on, Arley, sing with Daddy to wake up this lazy one," he exclaimed, jumping with the baby in his arms.
"I'm already awake..." Olive said, opening one eye.
"Are you awake? Because I still see you asleep, huh... what do you say, Arley, is your sister awake or asleep?" he brought the baby's face close to Olive's.
Arleth pinched Olive's nose with her small hands and her sister started laughing.
"I'm awake, Daddy! Get Arley off me!"
Addison smiled, biting her lower lip as she watched this tender scene between her loves. Watching them interact together melted her heart.
"Happy birthday, my Ollie Rollie!"
"Thank you, Daddy," she smiled holding the cake.
"Make three wishes, Ollie," Addison said.
"Mmm... I want lots of chocolate."
"Are you going to use a wish on chocolate, Ols?" Derek laughed.
"Yep. White chocolate, dark chocolate, and pink chocolate. Those are my three wishes," she blew out the candle and her parents laughed with her.
"I love you, my little one," Addison hugged and kissed her strongly on the cheek.
Derek surrounded the two of them with his arms and joined in with Arleth in the family hug.
"At this time six years ago, you made us parents, Ols," Derek said, looking at his wristwatch once they separated.
"How could we forget that eventful morning of January 22, 2007..."
"I was born in the morning?"
"Yes, love. After a long night of labor, you came into the world at 09:15 in the morning," Addison said, caressing her little face.
"That was the best morning of our life."
"And Arley's?"
"Arley was born in the afternoon. She was the best afternoon of our life," Derek laughed.
"I remember hearing you for the first time... I will never forget that sharp cry that I so desired to hear, and then... then I saw you and fell deeply in love," Addison smiled, remembering, "you were a pink chubby ball with such squeezable cheeks..."
"Hey!"
"And you looked at me with those big eyes just like you're looking at me now, with curiosity, with love... you changed my life at that precise moment, Ollie," she said with tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Mommy. Don't cry."
"I just can't believe how big and beautiful you are, daughter. I'm so happy to have the opportunity to see you grow by my side..."
"Okay, enough of crying, today is a day to celebrate. Not every day does the princess of the house turn six, huh? We have to cut this cake," Derek said.
"Yes!"
"Something tells me that today you're going to have a sugar overdose..."
"It's my birthday, Mom," she shrugged, implying she had no other choice.
~•~
After having breakfast at the hotel and opening presents, they set off for Carolyn's house. The big party was going to be at her house; all her cousins and aunts –except for Amelia, who preferred to stay in Seattle–, would be there.
Most of the family was going to meet Arleth, who was about to turn four months and only Nancy and Carolyn had seen her in person.
"Hey, hello!" exclaimed Carolyn opening the door.
"Hi, Grandma!"
"Ollie! Happy birthday, my darling!" she hugged her tightly and left a noisy kiss on her cheek.
"Thanks, Grandma..." she said as she tried to release herself from her grip. "Have my cousins arrived yet?"
"Yes, they're in the garden. They were eagerly waiting for you. Go with them."
"I'm coming!" she escaped running.
"Hi, son. Hi, Addie. Come in."
"Hi, Mom," they both responded at the same time.
"And you little one? How is Grandma's littlest baby?" she referred to Arleth, who was looking at her curiously from her father's arms.
"I'm huge, Grandma. I can already hold my head on my own, turn over lying down, and as soon as you're not looking, I'll steal your earrings," Derek said in a childish voice.
"Oh, my love. Come to Grandma."
Derek passed her into his mother's arms, and she continued looking at her calmly as if nothing had happened.
"Oh, but look at that baby!" exclaimed Nancy as soon as they all entered the main room.
"It can't be, she's much more beautiful in person than in photographs," said Liz.
"She takes after someone, as the saying goes..." said Derek, proudly.
"Yes, after Addison, not you. Don't steal the credit," Liz teased.
"Excuse me? She's mini Derek. She should have been named Dakota," her father laughed.
"She's so precious. Aren't you precious, my love?" said Carolyn, taking her pacifier out of her mouth and gently touching her nose to make her laugh.
"Baaa!" the baby babbled, smiling.
"Awwwww!" was heard in unison.
"So small and already talking? She's definitely a Shepherd," said Nancy.
"She doesn't talk yet, she makes some sounds... but no particular word," Addison laughed.
"When she says her first word, I'll let you know. It will definitely be Dada," Derek said.
"Dada? Sweetheart, if she says something, it will be Mama."
"No. Olive's first word was mama, but Arley's will be dada. I'll make sure of that. Right, baby? Say da-da..."
"Your first word was also Dad, Derek. Just like Liz and Amelia's," Carolyn said.
"And since she looks like me, her first word will also be a dad. I'm sorry, Addie. You must accept defeat when it comes."
"We'll see in a few months... remember, I have an advantage, Arleth spends many more hours a day with me than with you. I suppose spending the whole day alone with the baby at home is one of the benefits you get for not abandoning the family to be a surgery chief..." she said in a passive-aggressive tone.
Derek's sisters and mother looked at them in silence, afraid to say anything. You never knew when they were joking or arguing, they were very good at disguising it.
"Hey... don't start with that now, Addison. We're at Olive's birthday, with the family..."
"True. We have to make the most of the moment. Who knows when it will happen again, right?"
"Well... we could start setting the table in the garden. Right?" Kathleen suggested, cutting the tension that had unexpectedly arisen.
"Oh, yes. Let's go. Olive made me buy too many Rapunzel party supplies for the occasion..." Addison said, showing the bag she had in her hands.
~•~
"Olive, did you know that there are hidden gnomes in Grandma's garden?" Stephanie, her ten-year-old cousin, told her. She and Julie, eight years old, were Kathleen's daughters.
"Really? Where?"
"They have hidden houses among the plants. You have to search very carefully to find them," Julie added.
"I wanna see them!"
"First, we have to follow a list of things to find them. It's not as easy as you think, not everyone dares to do it. Do you?" Stephanie asked, and Olive quickly nodded.
"Yes! What do I have to do?"
"First, you have to come with us to the back of the garden. We have to hide under the big tree back there. Only there can we see them. Let's go."
Stephanie extended her hand to her cousin, and Olive took it, excited.
The three girls ran to the tree, unnoticed by the others. The older cousins were teenagers and busy with their cell phones, while the adults were setting the table and the decorations.
"Do you see this hole, Ollie?" Stephanie pointed to the cavity in the tree trunk. It was a very old oak tree.
"Yes."
"This is the entrance to the magical world of the gnomes. They come and go through here. It's the only entrance that exists."
"But it's very small. I can't fit in! My head won't fit!"
"That's why I told you it wouldn't be easy for just anyone to do. Only someone that size can pass through there."
"Can Arley?" she asked confused.
"No. We will go, but we need to shrink to enter through there."
"How?"
"With this!" Julie exclaimed, showing her a card with illustrations of magical potions she had found in a storybook.
"Magical potions?! Do you have potions?"
"Yes!" Julie jumped.
"No. We don't, Juls. But we will, with your help, Olive," Stephanie said.
"But... I don't have magical potions."
"Grandma does."
"I'll ask her to give them to me!" Olive said.
"No. She won't give them to you. She doesn't need to know what we're going to do. Nobody can know, Ollie. Only we can go to the magical world, just for a little while. If too many people go, they will get scared and leave forever. It has to be a secret. Do you understand?"
"I do."
"Grandma can't know. Neither can your parents. You can't tell anyone, or they won't let you go."
"Okay..."
"Now we have to take care of the magical potions. We have to get them without anyone noticing, and for that, we need your help, Olive."
"All right. What do I have to do?"
"It's a complex task, but pay attention," she said, taking out a notebook and a pen from her backpack. "The potion cabinet is in Grandma's living room, do you know which one?"
"Mmm no."
"It's where all the grandchildren's picture frames are. Up on the right, there are glass doors where Grandma keeps the magical potions to change size. Do you see it now?" she showed her the quick drawing she had made.
"I think so..."
"Good. Those glass doors have a key. And that key is in Grandma's room, in the second drawer of her nightstand. Got it?"
"Yes..."
"The first thing we have to do is sneak into Grandma's room and find the key. Once we have it, we have to make sure none of my siblings, parents, uncles, aunts, or cousins are in the living room, because we need to use a chair to get onto the cabinet and open it. That's your job, Olive. If someone is in the room, you have to distract them and make them leave while we open the doors."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the smallest and cutest. If you talk to any of my siblings or cousins, they'll listen to you and do what you say. If Julie or I tell them, they won't. The same with adults. They're already tired of seeing us all the time, but if they see you, they'll be happy. Can you do that? Can you distract them?"
"Yes..."
"Good. Once we have the potions, we'll put them in the baby stroller of one of my dolls. They're too heavy to carry in our hands. And it will help us to disguise. We'll go to the tree in the garden and drink them to shrink and be able to pass through the hole."
"And then what do we do? How will we know where to go in the magical world?" Olive asked, with some fear.
"There are signs there that will tell us where to find the gnomes' mushrooms. Don't worry, it's not that big. Are you ready to do it?"
"Yes..."
"We have to hurry before it's time to sing Happy Birthday and cut the cake because they can't realize that we've been gone for so long."
"Okay. Let's go find the key."
~•~
"So Olive is jealous of the baby? I never thought a girl like her could feel jealous," Carolyn said ironically.
They were all gathered at the garden table, having lunch and talking about the girls. Addison and Derek had filled them in on the anecdotes they had experienced in the last few months.
"It's normal, all children go through it when their younger siblings are born," Kathleen said.
"Yes, but she wanted a little sister. Isn't that right? Or did she just want it as if it were another toy and that's it? Ha, how quickly they get bored of toys..."
"I don't understand the irony, Carolyn," said Addison, starting to get annoyed.
"What I mean is that it's a predictable reaction in the kind of girl Olive is. Only child, who was used for years to being the center of attention from her parents. Everything she wanted was given to her, and every whim she had was fulfilled. Of course, she's going to be upset now, her whole life practically changed. Now she has to learn to share."
"Olive's not spoiled, Mom," Derek interrupted.
"Maybe you don't see it that way, but she is. She's a very spoiled girl. And that's okay, we all thought she was going to be your only daughter, and well, Arleth surprised us. It was a surprise for everyone, especially for the girl."
"Olive was aware that she might have a sibling. We always made her part of this," Derek didn't understand what his mother was getting at.
"Did you have another baby just because your daughter asked you to?"
"It wasn't like that, we..."
"See? Another whim of hers. Because everything she asks for, she gets. Now you can't pretend she's not jealous if you raised her that way. You don't know how to set a single limit for her."
"We had another baby because we wanted to be parents again. I don't understand why we have to clarify this," Addison sarcastically laughed.
Derek knew that when she laughed like that, she was already furious inside and was trying to contain herself.
"Addie, I think Arley is hungry..."
"I'll go feed her, excuse me."
Derek handed the baby to her and she went inside the house to find a comfortable place to breastfeed.
~•~
Going to Carolyn's room to search for the key to the wardrobe was easy. The three girls went and came back without any trouble.
But as they were returning to the living room, just as they had anticipated before, Tyler and Riley –Kathleen and Nancy's children respectively– were sitting on the sofa in front of the wardrobe.
The teenagers were 16 years old and were very busy looking at their phones. At this point in their lives, children's birthday parties weren't something that interested them much, and they preferred to distance themselves to chat with their friends.
"Oh, there are our brother and Riley..." said Julie.
"Olive, can you handle them?"
"I think so..."
"Make them go out to the garden while I climb up the chair and get the potions. Jules, you'll watch to make sure no one else wants to come in. I'll try to be quick. Okay?"
"Okay," responded the two younger ones.
"Go, now Ollie..."
Olive approached her older cousins timidly. She didn't have much of a relationship with them, the age difference and geographical distance made them almost strangers to her.
"Hi, Riley, Tyler..."
Riley took an earpiece out of his ear to look at her, he didn't expect Olive to approach him.
"What's up, Ollie?"
"Do you want to see what I learned to do in dance class?"
"Mmm... not right now," responded Tyler, still glued to his phone screen.
"Please! It's my birthday and I wanted to show you..."
"Does it have to be now?"
"Yesss. It'll be quick, I promise."
"Okay, come on, Ty."
Tyler sighed and got up from the sofa, following his cousins to the garden.
"It's a new choreography, I learned it recently..." She stood on tiptoe and started spinning.
"Wow, that's great, Ollie," said Riley, exaggerating his reaction.
"And I can also lift my leg! Like the dancers!" she exclaimed, showing them.
"Wow!"
Her cousins weren't impressed, they were simple tricks that any child could do, but they pretended to be enthusiastic just for her.
"Olive, have you eaten anything?" asked Addison as she walked by. She was returning from putting Arleth to bed in Derek's childhood room.
"Yes," she lied quickly, still dancing.
"Come to the table for a while later, your aunts want to see you. Okay?"
"Yes, Mommy."
"Behave yourself."
Addison smiled at her and continued on her way. Olive kept dancing until she saw Stephanie signaling to her from inside the house.
"That's all! I have to go!"
"Oh... okay. Thanks for the dance show, Ollie," said Riley.
"You're welcome!" she ran off quickly, in a not suspicious at all way.
~•~
"Did she fall asleep?" Derek asked when he saw Addison return.
"Yes, she ate and conked out. I left her lying on your bed, Der."
"You left her alone up there?" Carolyn asked, puzzled.
"Yes, well, I left the baby monitor, if she cries it will alert me," she said, showing her the device.
"Do you always leave her like that? In the care of a machine?"
"Yes, Mom. Everyone uses that," Nancy rolled her eyes.
"What if it fails? What if the battery runs out?"
"I checked and the battery was charged. It never fails."
"Did she eat well?" Derek asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, although she was quite tired. She fell asleep quickly, so she'll probably wake up hungry again in a while."
"Do you breastfeed on demand?" Liz asked.
"Whenever I can, yes. If not, I leave bags of breast milk in the refrigerator and…"
"I find this kind of parenting absurd. Those women are slaves to their children," Carolyn complained. "In my day, we established feeding schedules and supplemented them with formula if they were still hungry. Pumping milk like a cow is crazy."
Addison rolled her eyes. Was her mother-in-law determined to annoy her today?
"The fact that the baby is fed when she asks for it, makes the mother produce the amount of milk she needs, no more no less…" Addison said sharply.
"Anyway, just another whim…"
"Have you seen Olive, Addie? Don't you think it's time to sing her happy birthday?"
"I'll go look for her."
~•~
"Well, finally the time has come," exclaimed Stephanie once they reached the tree.
"No one followed us, right?" asked Julie.
"No, no one," affirmed Olive, who had been in charge of that.
"Okay... according to this story, when Alice takes the brown potion, she shrinks in size... it must be this one."
Stephanie took a glass bottle of chocolate rum out of the baby stroller.
"And with the blue one she returned to her size... so we have to take this one when we come back," she said, taking out another bottle of blue gin. This one had forest fruits, which gave it the blue hues.
"And do you have the marshmallows, Steph?" asked Julie.
"Yes. They are just in case the potions don't work. We have to do it now... who will shrink first?"
"Me," offered Olive.
"Alright...," she took a 13,5 oz disposable red plastic cup, and filled it with rum to the brim- "you have to drink the whole cup quickly so it doesn't lose its effect. Are you ready?"
"What if I don't like it?"
"Here it says it's chocolate... do you like chocolate?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, taking the cup in her hand.
"Okay, drink it all."
Olive brought the cup to her lips. The aroma was chocolate, which motivated her to try it.
At first, the taste of chocolate was very sweet, but not cloying. It was smooth and thick but slid quickly down her throat. It was really good.
"Do you like it?" asked Julie.
"Mm-hmm," affirmed Olive, still drinking.
"Do you feel anything?"
"Mm..."
"Is it taking effect?"
Olive finished the cup and began to cough heavily. For some reason, her throat itched more than usual. Perhaps that would be the beginning of the transformation.
"What do you feel, Olive?" asked Stephanie, frightened.
"My throat is itching!" she exclaimed between coughs.
"Do you want water? Do you want to try the blue potion?" asked Julie.
"Okay."
"No! The potions cannot be mixed! We have to wait for it to take effect. It shouldn't take long..." said Stephanie.
"I'm thirsty," Olive complained.
"It's an effect of the transformation. You have to wait."
They waited in silence for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Olive just kept coughing and coughing, without changing size.
"And if we gave her the wrong potion, Steph? What if the blue one was for shrinking and the brown one was to make her big again? Maybe that's why it's not working..."
"Oh, it could be... Olive, do you want to drink the blue one?"
She nodded, still coughing.
Stephanie opened the Blue Gin bottle and poured some into the glass. Julie handed it to Olive and she took a big sip.
"It's horrible!" she complained, making a disgusted face and coughing again.
"Really? What does it taste like?"
"Like syrup! I don't like it!" she continued coughing.
"You have to finish it for it to take effect."
"I don't want more, it's very ugly!"
"Olive, come on, you only have half a glass left...," Julie insisted.
"Drink it yourself! I don't want to do this anymore!" she exclaimed between tears, feeling her throat burn more and more.
"Do you want to try with the marshmallows?" offered Stephanie.
"No!"
"Okay, Julie. Then it's your turn. Olive will stay outside."
"Don't leave me out!" she said, crying and coughing.
"But if you don't want to drink the whole potion and the marshmallows, you can't go..."
"Okay, I'll do it! Give me the cup," she quickly wiped away her tears and her cousin handed her the cup again.
Olive took a deep breath and drank another sip of gin until her throat irritated again and she stopped.
"You have to finish it."
"N-no... n-!" she tried to speak, but the cough prevented her.
"Olive, come on. As soon as the magic starts to take effect, you'll stop coughing."
"I DON'T WANT MORE!" she shouted between coughs, tears falling from her eyes one after another.
"Alright... but don't shout..."
"I WANT MY MOM!"
"Shhhh, no!" Stephanie covered her mouth with her hand, "neither your mom nor any adult can know about this. You have to keep the secret."
"Steph... I think someone is coming..." Julie said.
"Stop crying, Olive! They will hear us!"
Olive took a deep breath and held back her tears. Stephanie took a paper napkin and wiped her face, she held her until she calmed down.
"What if we try again? I can go and tell them to come out, so you don't have to go, Ollie," offered Julie.
"And what if they don't want to come out?" muttered Olive.
"I'll convince them to come... I'll tell them that you did everything possible to go but the potion didn't work on you. Do you want to?"
Olive nodded. But before her cousin opened the Blue Gin bottle again, Addison peeked out from the side of the tree.
"Girls, here you are, I've been looking for you everywhere. It's time to cut the cake."
"We're coming, Aunt Addie," Stephanie responded.
"Everything okay, Olive? Are you crying?"
"No," she quickly lied.
"Are you coming to blow out the candles?"
"Yes, Mom. We're coming."
"Okay, hurry up. Your grandma is driving me crazy."
~•~
Olive, Stephanie, and Julie had no option but to go to the main table. Carolyn had made a two-tier chocolate and strawberry cake for Olive. It was decorated with buttercream flowers of all colors and small sugar carrots, which she knew Olive loved. However, the little girl did not seem very excited when it was placed in front of her.
Addison was getting the digital camera ready while Derek lit the six candles with a lighter. Everyone present began to sing.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!"
Olive listened to the voices in the background, but she felt too dizzy to react. She watched as the candles on the cake became increasingly blurry.
"Happy birthday, dear Olive! Happy birthday to you"
"Bravo, Ollie!"
"Wooo!"
"Make a wish, Ollie!"
"Blow out the candles!"
The voices sounded more and more distant. Was she fading away, or was the magical potion taking effect at that moment?
"Derek, something's wrong with her," Addison whispered to her husband, starting to worry.
"Ols, are you okay? Olive? Are you looking at me? Can you see Daddy? Can you hear me, Olive?" he approached her.
Olive made a big effort to keep her eyes open and try to blow out the candles, but at one point she couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed, falling face-first into the cake.