Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,83

look on Pam's face, he suspected this was the first time Aislynn had done so.

"I guess I kept it together there at the end," she said, and then thought of something that made her chuckle. "You know how you can come up with better things to say during an argument after you've had enough time to think about them?"

"Yeah," he said cautiously.

"I should have told her to fuck off," she said, and they both laughed.

"She sure would've deserved it. I'm so pissed she did this on your birthday, of all days," he said, glad to see the heaviness in her mood was lifting.

"It's okay. I'm used to things like this with her. This is part of the reason why I don't like celebrating things like birthdays or holidays. It's just a prime time for her to make me feel like crap."

"It's not okay, babydoc," he said, reaching out to touch her face. "But let's go inside. I still have time to try and make this a good birthday for you."

"Okay," Aislynn said and followed him into the house.

He asked her to wait for him while he went into the bedroom to get her present. When he returned, he found her sitting on top of the dining room table—shoes off, dress still on, innocent smile playing on her face.

"It took you a while. I got curious. I could spy on you better from here," she explained.

"Table it is, then," he said with a laugh and took out something from the refrigerator. "We didn't get to have dessert at the restaurant, and I haven't had a chance to sing you happy birthday yet, so here we go."

He placed a big, wrapped box on one of the dining room chairs, and a small cake with a single candle on the table right in front of her.

"It's dark chocolate and espresso ganache," he said, sitting up on top of the table with her. "Happy birthday, babydoc."

"You're amazing. Thank you," she said and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered with her eyes still closed.

"I love you, too. Now, make a wish," he said, but Aislynn stopped him as he reached to light the candle.

"Can I open my present first?" she asked.

"Why?"

"What if the thing I wish for is something you already got me as a present? Then it's a waste of a perfectly good wish," she said with a girlish smile.

"I'm deeply concerned that your explanation makes perfect sense in my head. I think the madness is contagious. Okay, present first."

Jace gave her the box and sat back to enjoy the fact that he had managed to make her look this happy on a night that had been so distressing. He watched her peel off the wrapping paper like a little kid at Christmas and stare at the box for a few moments. Her eyes kept moving between the box and his face, her tears becoming more noticeable as the seconds passed.

"You got me an Easy Bake Oven?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"I promise it's new, but the box looks dated because it's an original. It’s the version of the oven that came out the year you turned—"

"Ten," they said at the same time.

"You remembered?" she asked, her hand now covering her mouth.

"You said Pam didn't want to get you one of these back then, so I wanted to make it happen, even if it's at twenty-nine plus one."

Aislynn was silent for a few seconds, her eyes focused on the box. "I don't know what to say. This is…" She trailed off, wiping a few tears that had escaped her eyes. "I'm so sick of crying, but I promise you these are tears of happiness. Thank you, Jace. You have no idea how much this means to me," she said, reaching out to hug and kiss him.

"I'm glad you like it, babydoc. Now, time for your wish?"

"Okay," she said as he lit the candle and hummed the birthday song. "You know, this is all very Jake Ryan of you."

"Who's Jake Ryan?"

"The hottie from Sixteen Candles—the best teenage movie ever made. The last scene looks just like this," she said, looking around the room.

"All right, well, don't you go wishing for him when you blow out the candle."

"I love you, Jace. You're the only thing I want."

Jace woke up to find an empty bed. The clock read three thirty in the morning and the room was pitch-black. The only noise he registered was the sound of his sheets falling to the floor as he got