The Mitchells were preparing to celebrate the tenth birthday of their newest adopted family member, Anna. This was Anna's first birthday with her new family.
Anna was very excited. She hadn't had a real birthday party since she was just five years old, before her biological parents gave her up for adoption.
Anna got ready for her party. She was wearing a blue polka-dot sundress, which used to belong to Adam Mitchell's daughter Emily, who last year had been tragically killed by a drunk driver. Anna looked like a princess in that dress. When Adam saw her wearing it, he teared up. He thought about how Emily had asked him to dance with him almost a week before she died, and how he turned it down because he was too embarrassed. She wore that same dress on that day, and also on the day she died. After she died, Adam regretted not dancing with her when she had asked him to.
That afternoon, the family, along with a group of Anna's friends from school, had cake and ice cream. Anna opened her presents. They included dolls, playhouses and new clothes.
Some of the Mitchells' close friends dropped by their house to deliver presents for Anna. Javier and his wife Carmen Martinez dropped by with their two kids-Isabel and Marcos. David Thomson also came by with his newly-wed wife Amanda and their five-year-old daughter, Olivia, whom they had out of wedlock. Even the Mitchells' great friend, Caleb Holt dropped by, along with his wife Catherine and their two children. They had a four-year-old girl whom they adopted from China. They had named her Emily, after Adam and Victoria Mitchell's deceased daughter. Now they also had a three-month-old baby girl, Alexia.
"Happy birthday, Anna," said Caleb. "I'm Caleb. I'm a friend of your parents."
"And I'm Catherine," said Catherine, holding the baby. "And this is our daughter Emily," she said pointing at Emily. "We named her after your sister. And this is Alexia." She showed Anna her baby.
"Can I hold her?" Anna asked.
"Sure," said Catherine. "Just be careful."
Catherine carefully handed Alexia to Anna. Anna cradled the baby in her arms. She was surprisingly good at it. After a minute, Catherine took her baby back.
"Hi," Anna said to Emily. "You wanna play dolls with me?"
"Yes," said Emily, shyly. The next minute, Adam and Victoria's daughter was playing dolls with Caleb and Catherine's daughter. Isabel and Olivia joined them.
After all the visitors left, the Mitchells got ready for dinner.
They drove to a Mexican restaurant to have dinner for Anna's birthday.
At the restaurant, the whole family-Adam, Victoria, Dylan, and Anna-all sat at a table. After dinner, a mariachi band began to play music.
"Today is our little girl's tenth birthday," Victoria told them.
The lead vocalist put a large birthday sombrero on Anna's head and the band sang "Happy Birthday" in Spanish.
"Thank you," Anna said to the band with a smile, after their performance. "That was so much fun." Adam tipped the band.
That night, after Anna took her bath, she came out wearing her princess pajamas and spoke to Adam and Victoria.
"Thank you for everything. Thank you for all the birthday presents and the fun party and for this really great dinner. This was the best birthday I've had in years."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Anna," Adam said.
"I loved that restaurant," said Anna. "Can we go back?"
"I'd love to bring you back there sometime," said Adam. "It is a great place to eat."
"Daddy," Anna said. "Today my friend Ellie invited me to her birthday party next week. Can I go? Please? I'll do my homework and my chores. Please!"
Adam froze. Although he wanted Anna to be happy, he wasn't sure what to say. This moment reminded him of the time last year that his daughter Emily had asked him to go to a friend's birthday party. It was on the day of the party that she was killed by the drunk driver when her friend's mom picked her up from school.
He walked off into his bedroom.
"What's wrong with Daddy?" Anna asked Victoria.
"I'm not sure," Victoria said. She followed him.
Adam sat on his bed as Victoria opened the door and walked into their bedroom.
"Adam, is something wrong?" she asked him.
"Anna wants to go to a birthday party," he said.
"And what's wrong with that?"
"Don't you remember what happened last year when we let Emily go to Hannah's birthday party?" he said. "That was the day the drunk driver Mike Hollis killed Emily."
"I understand how you feel, Adam," Victoria said calmly. "But I think we should let Anna go. She'll be fine. Besides, that drunk driver is now in prison. And Shane is also in prison for selling drugs."
"He sold drugs to Mike Hollis," Adam said. "But there could be more drunk drivers out there. I'm ready to take care of any more drunk drivers so they will not hurt anybody else. That is my job, after all."
"Yes, it is," said Victoria. "But if it makes you feel any better, I'll pick up Anna after school. And I'll watch out for drunk drivers."
She stood up. "You want to be a better father to your children anyway, right? Then you need to let them do things they want, like go to friends' parties."
Just then Anna came in to their bedroom.
"Is everything okay?" she asked. She had been listening to their conversation outside the door.
"Yes, it is, sweetie," Adam told her.
"Are you afraid to let me go to Ellie's party because you're worried that what happened to Emily will happen to me?"
"Well, yes, that did cross my mind," said Adam. "I don't want you to die. But I realize God is in control and He will take care of you."
"But what if something does happen?" Anna said.
"God is able to protect you from whatever might happen to you, sweetie," said Victoria. "But when you die you'll go to heaven. I think the most important thing is we all need to trust God."
She looked at Anna. "But don't worry. I'll pick you up after school. And I'll protect you from drunk drivers."