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“Happy birthday, you two,” Justin greeted Katrina and Lorenzo as he and Judith arrived.
“Thank you,” Katrina replied with a smile as Lorenzo greeted his best friend with a handshake that turned into a one-armed hug.
“You are glowing,” Judith commented, and Katrina’s eyebrows raised.
“Am I?”
“Happiness agrees with you,” Judith added, and Katrina welcomed her warm hug. She was increasingly grateful that she and Judith had become close, sharing more than passing gossip and truly being there for one another.
“As it does with you,” Katrina replied. “Come in! Everyone’s already here.”
“Hello, dear,” Katrina’s mother greeted Judith with a warm hug. “So happy you could make it.”
“Well, we found a puppy sitter for Bella and the holy terror that is Olive.”
“I’m telling you, naming her Olive was your first mistake,” Justin quipped. “She automatically thinks she can get away with anything.”
“Shush, Olive is just a puppy.”
“You still call Bella a puppy.”
“Because she is.”
“Trina?” Miranda approached her with a smile. “Can I do my presents for you and Dad now?”
“I thought we said no presents,” Justin said as Katrina turned to Miranda.
“You got us presents?” Lorenzo asked, and Miranda nodded.
“I just need to put a chair in the middle of the living room,” Miranda explained as she walked away, and Lorenzo turned to Katrina, his eyebrows raised.
“Did you know about this?”
Katrina shook her head. “Not a clue.”
“Here,” she heard Jase Warner say to Miranda, “let me help you.”
Jase and his wife Talia, along with Jase’s assistant, Jackie, had made the trip in for Katrina and Lorenzo’s birthdays. As Jase and Jackie helped Miranda set up with her new guitar in the middle of the living room, Katrina had the distinct feeling she was about to shed a tear or twelve. The chatter around the room between her parents, her brother and his wife, Martin and Talia, she took in the sight in front of her.
Their family, blood and chosen, had all gathered to celebrate with them.
This day couldn’t be more perfect.
Miranda took in a shaky breath. “Dad, this is for you.”
“You’ve got this,” Jase said softly, and Miranda nodded before she began to play. Katrina recognized the chords from the hours of practice Miranda had put in, but she hadn’t been prepared to hear Miranda’s angelic voice as she began to sing.
Katrina chanced a glance up at Lorenzo, who was losing his battle against keeping his tears at bay. She reached over and took his hand in hers, squeezing, sharing the moment as tears of her own began.
This was Miranda’s first song.
And it was dedicated to her father, to their journey, to the love they shared.
“That was beautiful,” Lorenzo said as she strummed her last chord, and Katrina joined the rest of the partygoers in raucous applause. Justin’s whistle was high pitched and piercing, making Miranda blush.
“Thanks, Dad,” Miranda said as she threw her arms around her father, causing Katrina to tear up even more.
“She worked so hard on that,” Jase commented.
“And that’s what all the secret getting on video calls was about?” Lorenzo asked, and Miranda shrugged.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I apologize for grounding you.”
“It’s okay; I still found a way to do them.”
Justin’s sudden interest in his surroundings let Katrina know exactly how she’d managed more video calls when she’d been grounded for making them.
“I’m not mad...this time.” Lorenzo grinned in Justin’s direction, causing Justin to shrug.
“Hey, an uncle’s gotta do what an uncle’s gotta do.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lorenzo said in return, then he stopped Katrina from walking away. Miranda was approaching with a box, which she held out for Katrina to take.
“This is for you,” Miranda said softly, her voice barely heard above the excited chatter.
“What’s this?”
“A present...that...that I hope you like.”
Her smile was so like Lorenzo’s.
This girl had captured Katrina’s heart, and she loved Miranda fiercely.
“Ooo another present?” Judith asked, walking over. “Open it! We all want to see.”
“I feel like such a stooge,” Justin commented.
“Yeah, well, I’m special,” Miranda said, and a smattering of laughter was heard as Katrina began to open the box. Within, she found a note and a stack of papers.
You’ve always been my Mom from the beginning. Let’s make it official.
A petition for adoption was within, only missing signatures.
“Oh...” Katrina’s mother breathed as Katrina sniffled, her tears flowing freely.
“What do you say?” Miranda asked, her eyes so hopeful.
So like her father’s.
“I say hell yes,” Katrina replied, and the papers began to be passed around as Katrina held Miranda close to her.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Katrina’s father commented, but the rest of the chatter fell away. Lorenzo had joined Katrina and Miranda’s embrace, holding them close to him, leaving kisses on top of both of their heads.
“This is the best birthday present.” Katrina’s voice was choked with emotion.
“This calls for cake,” Justin’s voice rose above the others.
“Just a minute,” Lorenzo said as he stepped back, and Miranda left Katrina’s embrace to be pulled into a hug by Katrina’s mother.
“What are you doing?” Katrina asked.
“Dude, all of you said no presents,” Justin continued. “I’m feeling like a total douche.”
“Well,” Martin drew out, “if the shoe fits.”
“Hey, now. Only I can speak to my husband that way.”
Again, the chatter fell away as Katrina’s attention was drawn to Lorenzo, who approached her with a large gift bag. “What’s this?” she asked, and he grinned down at her.
“Open it.”
Katrina took the bag from him and pulled out the tissue paper, gasping as she saw the contents within.
A leather jacket.
The leather jacket, the one she’d worn for most of her time in high school.
“I kept it, even after it didn’t fit anymore,” Lorenzo said, his voice low, meant only for her.
“Is that what I think it is?” Katrina’s mother asked as she pulled the jacket out of the bag. “I was so worried when she came home wearing that, you know. Well, until I met you, Lorenzo.”
Katrina slipped the jacket on, smiling at its too-big, but endearingly familiar, fit. She reached up and left a soft kiss on his lips. “It’s perfect,” she whispered to him, and his grin widened.
“Check the pockets.”
“What’s in...” Her voice trailed off as she pulled out the treasure.
The ribbons he’d taken from her hair the day they’d met.
“I kept those with me, always,” he said as he gently pushed her hair back. “I held onto them in my darkest moments, knowing...always knowing that someday you’d be in my life again.” His kiss was long, deep. “I love you, Trina.”
“And I love you, Ren.” She stepped back with a shy smile.
“What?” he asked. “That’s a something face right there.”
“Just a sec,” she said, excusing herself from the living room full of those she loved. She retreated to the bedroom and opened her closet, reaching up for the small bag with tissue paper. As she made her way back out to the living room, the chatter becoming louder, her heart began to pound.
She hadn’t planned on giving this to him today.
But the timing...it was right.
“For you,” she said to her husband, and Lorenzo’s smile widened.
“Aw, babe,” he said. “You didn’t have to.”
He always said that to her. He still wasn’t used to receiving presents, to receiving the unconditional love, but slowly, together, he was learning.
“Dad, what is it?”
“It’s...a...stick.”
He held the small white stick in his hand and a collective gasp went through the crowd, even before Lorenzo turned it over seeing its digital window.
Pregnant
“A baby?” Miranda asked excitedly. “I’m going to be a big sister!”
“You’re going to be the best big sister,” Justin commented with a sniffle before he mussed her hair.
“Babe...” Lorenzo’s voice was choked, and he pulled Katrina into a warm embrace, even as the cheers of congratulations, along with Judith’s quip about her giving him something she’d peed on, filled their home. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you,” she murmured, kissing his tears. “And those ribbons...Emily had told me they were so schoolgirl.”
“Can we not talk about her?”
“But she was right, see? Because I had all these dreams back then, dreams of being happily married to the love of my life, dreams of the home we’d share together, dreams of a family. Don’t you see? They’ve all come true.”
And through the years, through better and worse, through richer and poorer, through the birth of their son, through watching their children grow, their bond, their love remained as strong as that day.
No longer could they say they were broken.