27. The Birthday

twenty-seven

The Birthday

*FLORA*

“ E rsa,” Elden repeats her name once more. As I woke up from my dream, the sun was already rising. After waking Elden up, and greeting him with lots of birthday kisses, I told him what happened. “Something rings a bell,” he mutters for the nth time.

We had his birthday breakfast at my place. Grandma and I prepared it, and we invited Oliver and Vincent to it. I made an extra effort to dress cute. Grandma bought me a brand-new petticoat dress, with a matching hairband. She helped me do my hair, and without trying to be vain, I look fabulous. Elden thinks so too because he has been complimenting me ever since he saw me. I can feel his gaze following me around all morning, boosting my confidence even more. I’m not particularly voluptuous. I never grew really tall; I have tiny boobs and a small ass. On the street, people sometimes still mistake me for a middle schooler.

If Elden thinks I’m hot, it’s enough for me though!

“Let’s stop wondering about Ersa for today,” I say, while we are waiting for Vincent to grab the car and pick us up. “Today is your day. Tomorrow, I will throw myself into my research. Okay?”

“Got it,” he says. “I am dying to know where you are dragging me to.” He gazes at me. “Such a pity you changed your outfit,” he sighs. “That dress looked amazing on you.”

I twirl around in front of him. “You don’t like my jeans?” I ask. It’s a pair I recently thrifted and upgraded with little sparkly stones. The jeans are loose, but I made sure to wear a cropped top and bomber jacket above it.

“I love your jeans,” he says. “You look hot! But that dress was otherworldly. Makes me want to put more effort into my clothes too. Or everyone will see me as the ugly beast, who is lucky his stunning mate hasn’t dumped him yet.”

I laugh. What a silly thing to say. He has so many admirers, and always looks handsome.

Elden shows me his wrist. “But this already makes me look better, doesn’t it?” he asks.

Goddess, he is wearing it! I made us two ‘couple bracelets’, one for me, one for him. I hate handicraft, and suck at it, but I put my all into this, borrowed half of the books in the library about how to make jewelry, and the outcome was actually pretty decent. I just wasn’t sure if it’s something Elden would like though.

Elden touches the wristband with his finger. “It’s beautiful,” he says fondly.

I reach out my hand, so that our wrists are next to each other. My own bracelet is more delicate and smaller, but it’s still the same style. “We match,” I say. “I wanted to give you something personal. A symbol of my promise to always be by your side.”

Elden doesn’t say anything, but he hugs and kisses me.

When Vincent returns with the car, Elden takes the front seat next to him and I climb into one of the back seats. We are running late to pick up Jace and Janice. The best thing about having a beta now is that no one forces a guard onto Elden, because Vincent is with him anyway.

Our two friends are already waiting at the border of their pack, both of them waving when our car approaches.

“Finally,” Janice chuckles. “It was getting cold.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Jace asks. “I would have warmed you with my body.”

Janice groans and smacks his shoulder. “You,” she mutters, but there is a hint of pink coloring her cheeks. She climbs into the car and squeezes herself between Jace and me. “You look so cute, Flora! Loving that jacket.”

“I like yours too,” I say. It’s a jean jacket with a fancy flower pattern sewn into it. “Is it new?”

“Yes, grandma got it for me,” she says.

She and I both have such lovely grandmothers. We are truly lucky.

“So, are you finally telling me where we are going?” Elden asks curiously.

“Yes,” I say. “First, we go to the bank to get the deposit and the stuff from the safe your mom had prepared for you.”

“I’d love to,” Elden says. “But I need certain documents for it. Mom said the letter and key are proof of who I am, but I need some more documents and-”

I reach forward and hand him a folder. “Grandma and I prepared everything. Don’t worry, I didn’t share it with anyone else. She is the only one who knows. With that you should be able to retrieve everything.”

“There is even the proof of identity for Mom,” he says, stunned. “That’s amazing!”

“Once we get your inheritance, we are going to have some fun,” I say.

Right on cue Jace takes his backpack and opens it, showing us the brand-new vests he got for all of us. “We get the helmets when we are there.” Elden takes one of the vests, inspecting the print on it before his eyes widen.

“No way!” he exclaims.

Jace punches his shoulder playfully. “It’s a brand-new quad driving place. We get one each and will drive across a veld.”

“Unattended,” Vincent grins. “Because your beta is so cool, he’s already driven once and forged a license to trick the humans.”

“I can’t wait,” Janice says. “It’s going to be so much fun.”

“We’ll get our own quads, too,” I tell her. “It’s going to be crazy.”

“Pity that Calv misses it,” Vincent says in his usually good-natured way. I don’t really miss Calvin, but I need to get used to him being around. It’s not fair to discriminate against him just because I don’t click with him.

“I am not sure he would have liked it,” Elden muses.

“I bet he would have aced it,” Vincent says. “He told me on one of his missions, he actually trekked through a desert on one of these trucks.”

I don’t tell Elden what else I’ve planned, because I am still not sure it’s something he will want to do. For now, we should get his money and his mother’s belongings from the deposit, and then take off to our quad adventure. The date with the bank goes smoothly, and with the documents prepared, the key, and Elden and Carolina’s identities verified, Elden soon receives the possessions from his late mother. Now that he is eighteen, he has many more liberties, so he decides to open up a brand-new account, only accessible to him and maybe later to me once I’m eighteen, where he stores his mom’s money. Neither his father, the Elders nor anyone else will have access to it.

Aside from the money, he receives a box with his mom’s rare jewelry and some memorabilia. There is also a new letter with it, which I assume will clear some things up for Elden. Vincent offers to store everything for Elden while we are on the road today, but he doesn’t seem to be able to let go. Jace offers him his backpack instead, in which Elden safely stores his mom’s belongings and insists on keeping the backpack on him.

The organizer of our quad adventure is already waiting. Fortunately, none of us lacks any confidence. So, when he asks if we all know what we are doing, Vincent acts as if he has never done anything else but cruising on go-karts and quads, while Jace and Elden shamelessly steal Calvin’s desert story.

“And the ladies?” the man asks.

“I have a truck driving license and one for a tractor,” Janice says much to my surprise.

“I’ve only gotten my driving license,” I tell him. “But with that many skilled quad and truck drivers around me, I should be safe.”

“And you are really above sixteen,” he asks skeptically.

Of course, that’s his main issue!

“She is my girlfriend,” Elden tells him. “And I am certainly not dating a fourteen-year-old. She is seventeen.”

“No way, did you drink from the fountain of eternal youth?” he asks. “If yes, I’d like to know where it is. Everyone always thinks I look older than I am.”

“Same,” Vincent says while doing the paperwork. “It’s annoying.”

It takes half an hour, but then we are all done and standing in front of our quads. There is a long, predefined path we can take through dust and mud, forest, rocks and even a river. It’s going to be amazing!

“Off we go,” Janice says, helping me start my quad, before jumping on her own.

“You really know what you are doing?” Jace says, amazed. “Hot!”

Janice looks flustered again, but also happy. Meanwhile, Elden turns to look at Jace, raising his brows. “Laying it on thick today,” he mutters towards Jace.

Jace looks slightly embarrassed.

“Well, duh,” I whisper. “He clearly likes her.”

“Oh?” Elden asks in interest.

Jace gets saved by Vincent and Janice, who are both impatiently calling for us. “That’s a talk for later,” Jace mutters.

“Let’s go,” I yell, before starting my quad. I’m driving next to Elden, while Vince and Janice lead the way. Jace is right behind us. Eventually, Jace and Elden get used to driving their quads and speed them up, soon matching themselves with Vincent. They stumble and get knocked over all the time, but whenever it happens, Elden just laughs.

It sends butterflies through my stomach. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him laugh like that, so much that his eyes turn small and little dimples appear. “This was a good idea,” Janice whispers to me.

I nod, not able to say anything. My chest hurts so much to see Elden so happy, yet at the same time realizing how little he usually smiles and laughs.

It’s going to be one of many happy days for us, Celeste soothes me. This is just our first step into freedom and our life together.

We spend hours outdoors with our quads before reluctantly returning them, not without promising to repeat this. “I am so hungry I could eat a whole cow,” Vincent points out.

“Me too,” Jace admits.

“So, dinner it is,” I say, taking Elden’s hand and pulling him aside.

He looks at me, surprised. “Is something wrong, babe?” he asks me.

“No, it’s just… I wanted to ask you the next question in private. It’s the last part I’ve planned for your birthday,” I admit. “I… I want you to know that I don’t want to meddle with your business against your will. I hope you are not mad at me.”

“What did you plan?” he asks curiously.

“We have two options,” I tell him. “Either we head to your favorite pizza place, or we can visit your great-aunt Elspeth, and have dinner at her place. She invited us.”

Elden stares at me. “What?” he mutters. There are so many feelings flashing in his eyes, and for a moment, I am worried I truly overstepped. Then, however, I can feel him tighten his grip around my hand. “You found her?”

“Grandma did,” I admit.

“And she wants to see me?”

“Grandma talked to her, and she said she was over the moon to hear about you. She loved your mom, and she always wanted to meet you. But well…”

“Dad didn’t let her.”

“Exactly.”

Elden reaches his hands to his backpack, squeezing it. “Let’s go,” he says, “to Elspeth!”

Elspeth lives two hours away from the quad bikes. It will be a long drive home later tonight, but I talked to Vincent last week already, and he was up for the task.

Elspeth is an elderly woman, older than Grandma, but she is so elegant. Despite her regal appearance, she seems to enjoy her own style. She wears her white hair open and is dressed in colorful, flowy clothes.

“Elden,” she exclaims, immediately recognizing him amongst the others. “My boy! You look exactly like your mother.” She hugs him tightly, tears filling her eyes. “Goddess, finally! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you,” Elden says nervously. “I… I came with my friends. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. It was such a surprise when Hazel called me. I’ve heard her name from Carolina many years ago but never spoke to or met her. Come on in, everyone. Your friends are my guests-” She turns to look at me with curiosity. “So is your peculiar little mate.”

Elspeth lives in a beautiful mansion. I’ve always known that Luna Carolina’s side was pretty wealthy, but I never realized just how much. They are clearly from old money.

“I have so many questions,” Elden admits.

“And I shall answer all of them,” she promises. “But first I want you all to eat.”

She ushers us into her living room where she had a huge feast prepared for us. A few maids are shuffling around, eyeing us curiously. “Just sit down,” she tells us. “And don’t worry about any etiquette. I couldn’t care less.”

“Thank Goddess!” Vincent sighs in relief.

Elspeth looks amused. “You must be the young beta?”

“Yes, I am,” he answers. “There is a second one who is currently in Paris. He would be better at this stuff.”

“Don’t worry. This is just facade,” she says. “It’s not important for you to know how to properly eat fish, or the exact order of your cutlery. What matters is that you have my great-nephew’s back.”

“That’s an easy promise,” Vincent answers promptly.

Elspeth looks happy. One by one, we sit down around the huge table, where her butler offers us drinks, and the maids start bringing the first course.