Page 99 of Ashes

Standing in the middle of the kitchen was Jamal and Kai. Even Valentina was there. The space was decorated with floating purple balloons that were fully covering the ceiling. Ahappy birthdaybanner was hanging in front of the island and there was even a large bouquet of white and purple carnations on top of the counter.

My gaze jumped back and forth between all of them.

“Surprise,” they said in unison.

My chest tightened even more.

To most, this didn’t seem like much. But to me. To me this was everything.

Years of suppressed feelings came crashing down on me and tears freely trickled down my cheeks.

Jamal was standing in front of me instantly, his hands rubbing up and down my arms. “Sienna, what’s wrong? I’m so sorry. I just thought…” His shoulders slumped.

“I—” My voice cracked. I couldn’t find the right words to describe how I was feeling. I glanced up at him and finally managed to say, “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He let out a breath of relief. A glimmer filled his eyes and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, bringing me flush to his side before placing a soft kiss on the top of my head.

“Come here,” he said as we strolled over to the kitchen.

He left my side for a moment and reached for the refrigerator, then pulled out a white box from inside of it.He set the cardboard box on the island and looked at me, apprehension filling his irises.

“Open it,” he said.

I brushed a finger under my eyes, wiping the streaks there and forcing myself to stop this madness. I wasn’t even someone who really cried, so this was a very unusual reaction for me.

I nervously reached out and tugged on the purple ribbon that was tied in a perfect bow. When I pulled the lid off and looked inside, warmth radiated through my chest. I bit my lip, trying and failing to contain my smile.

“Sorry if it’s too much purple. You said it was your favorite color, so I?—”

I glanced back at him. “It’s perfect,” I said before he finished his sentence. I placed a hand over his bicep and stood on my tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss on his cheek before I could convince myself otherwise. “Thank you,” I said quietly before landing back on my heels.

I looked back at the cake. It was a one-tier round semi-naked chocolate cake with a mix of white and dark purple buttercream decorating it. The words “Happy Birthday, Sienna” were written on top in white frosting.

“You’ll have to thank whoever made this cake because it’s seriously beautiful. Almost too beautiful to eat,” I teased, trying to fend off the emotions clawing at my throat.

I kept my eyes down, my gaze roaming over the confection.

I’d never had a surprise birthday, let alone a cake madeespecially for me. Sure, as a kid, my parents bought the generic cake on that day and we ate it together, but once they had Iris and Akari, the focus shifted to them and I was quickly forgotten.

Nowadays, it was either a birthday call days later or none at all.

“You can thank him yourself,” Kai said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I glanced up at him. “What do you mean?” I asked, my brows furrowing.

Kai nudged his head toward Jamal and I turned my attention to my husband, only to find him blushing.

“You made this?”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he said nonchalantly, turning to a drawer behind us and pulling a lighter and candles out.

“I didn’t know you could bake,” I said, watching him stick a few candles sparsely.

Jamal cooked every day for us, but I’d never seen him bake, let alone make a cake like this.

“He learned for your birthday,” Kai answered in his place and Jamal glared at him, mouthing for him to shut up.

I just fell for him a little more.