Adrienne Smith. Ethan and Penny Pressman. Callie and Aaron Vassar. Tommy, of course, since this was his place. And some of his teammates from the TRT as well. Micah, Meg and Irish had come. Even his lieutenant had shown up. Of course Phil and Dean hadn’t showed. He hadn’t expected them to. They weren’t friends.
He was blown away by the support and the warmth of friendship and family.
“You did this?” he asked Hannah, who had been hovering nearby until he motioned her over.
“With a lot of help from your mom.”
He was overwhelmed. He’d had birthday parties as a kid but never expected one as an adult. This was a hell of a surprise. He’d had to admit he’d felt a little abandoned today by his family. Now he knew he’d been a victim of subterfuge. They’d all been damn good at it, too.
And Hannah was the master of it all. He hadn’t had a clue.
He watched her as she made her way around the room, either talking to people she knew or introducing herself to people she didn’t. She wasn’t shy, didn’t need to cling to him and wait for an introduction.
There was a tug in the vicinity of his heart that seemed to always be there lately where she was concerned. And every day it was growing stronger.
After he’d greeted and chatted with everyone, they took their seats and dinner was served. Oliver asked if he could sit next to him, which made him feel . . . hell, he didn’t know how to feel about that other than really good. Hannah sat next to Oliver.
“This is fun,” Oliver said. “I like birthday parties.”
“Me, too, buddy. Tell me about your best birthday party.”
Oliver looked up at the ceiling to think, then looked over at him. “It was a really long time ago. I think I was three. I had an octopus party, and Momma got me a cake that looked like an octopus because I really liked octopuses.”
Kal quirked a smile. “That sounds pretty awesome.”
He looked over at Hannah, who shrugged and smiled.
Dinner, of course, was great. Kal had an amazing surf and turf dinner that left him stuffed, but feeling like a king.
He figured everyone would leave after dinner. Instead, he got a few gag gifts and some funny cards, and then the toasts began.
Or maybe he should call them roasts, because it was really bad.
“Remember that time during your rookie year you fell asleep during morning report and the captain made you drag all the hoses up and down the stairs five times?” Ethan shot him a grin.
“Oh.” Callie sat up in her chair. “I remember that day. Highly entertaining.”
“For you, maybe,” Kal said.
“Yeah but you never fell asleep again, did you?” his dad asked.
“No, sir, I did not.”
“Or the first time you were on cooking duty,” Miguel said. “An hour after we ate, everyone pretended to get sick.”
Kal frowned. “That was not funny. You all scared the shi—” He looked down at Oliver. “You all scared me. I thought I had poisoned you.”
“We hid his turnout gear on his first day,” Micah said. “He spent two hours looking for it when the lieutenant asked him to do a gear check.”
His lieutenant smirked.
Kal folded his arms. “You’re all very mean.”
They laughed, then they shared stories of their own hazing, and he realized what an amazing group of people he got to work with.
And when Estella brought in a huge cake, his eyes widened.
“Cake, too? Come on.”
His mom came over and put her hands on his shoulders, then leaned down. “From your favorite bakery.”
Damn.
Everyone sang to him, and then they cut the cake and served it up. It was chocolate with vanilla buttercream, and he’d never tasted anything better.
He was one lucky guy.
HANNAH COULDN’T CONTAIN HER HAPPINESS AS SHE watched Kal soak in the love from his family and friends.
This had all come about spur-of-the-moment, but she was so glad it had turned out well. Kal seemed so filled with joy tonight, and she couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.
That he seemed to appreciate it so much showed the type of man he was.
After dinner, some people left, then everyone else moved to the bar. Her mom was going to take Oliver home since it was already past his bedtime.
“I’ll be right back,” Kal said to the crowd. “Order me a beer.”
Kal walked with her and Paige and Oliver out to the car.
“I wish I could stay,” Oliver said, his face crestfallen.
When they got to the