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“How about I make you waffles and let you choose any topping you want? You can have strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream, Lucky Charms, or anything else you want, baby girl.”
I had her sit on the counter and stood between her open legs, with my arms lazily wrapped around her back.
When I saw the short satin nightgown Amaya was wearing, I had a good idea of what Tessa was up to. I think she bought a lot of these for Amaya.
“Okay, but I want ice cream later. And can we order pizza too? Can we, Cartie?” She begged, rubbing her tired eyes.
“Anything for you, sweetheart.”
I picked her up from the counter, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around my neck and legs around my body. Amaya would not let me down, so I started making breakfast with her hanging on to me like a koala. Yes, I loved it.
Amaya had fallen asleep on my chest again, and I had to stop for a second to look at her sleeping face.
I knew Tessa was picky about her food, so I put everything on the counter for her and went to the living room to feed my big baby breakfast.
I put her toppings in the shape of a smiley face to try to make her feel better, and I was very happy with the laughs I got. And of course, the quick kiss on the cheek.
Amaya was going to a spa for the first time today, and I wanted her to have fun, not be grumpy because she had to get up at six in the morning.
I finally got her to go down to the floor, and then I told her to get ready. Tessa had finished and come out for breakfast while that was going on. I got ready too and waited in my room for Amaya to finish. I was worried because it had been more than thirty minutes, so I went across the hall to check on her.
“Amaya, sweetie, are you okay?”
Everything was quiet, but then she heard her soft footsteps and opened the door just a little.
“Cartie, something’s wrong, but you have to promise not to be mad at me.” Her voice was panicked, as if she knew whatever it was would make me hate her or something.
“Amaya, I could never be mad at you. What’s wrong, baby?
She hesitated again, not sure if she should tell me or not. But then she lost her willpower.
“Tessa picked out some bras for me yesterday, and I was so happy, but I put them on Cartie and they hurt.”
Oh, crap.
I thought she thought I was mad at her because I didn’t answer her. She went on an apologetic rant.
“I’m very sorry I wasted your money, Cartie. We could try to go back and get your money back. I understand if you don’t want me to be here anymore.”
“Amaya,” I said, cutting her off from saying anything else stupid. “Money isn’t important to me, you are. If it’s uncomfortable, don’t wear it. I just want you to be happy, okay?”
She took a few seconds to answer, but when she did, it made me feel good.
“Okay, Cartie. Thanks. You’re the best.”
It was the big day today.
It’s Amaya’s 18th birthday.
I wasn’t Amaya’s foster parent anymore after today because she had “grown out” of the system. My child was now an adult, and I really felt like a proud but worried parent.
I was proud that she had made it this far after going through so many hard things as a child. But I was worried about her, that’s for sure. Amaya had the right to make her own choices because she was an adult. I couldn’t make her stay here if she didn’t want to, regardless of how much I wanted to keep her safe.
But I didn’t want to think about all of this bad stuff on her big day. I pushed it out of my mind and kept making her favourite breakfast. Waffles with every kind of topping. I even added ice cream as a bonus.
I put everything on the tray and walked back to my room, where Amaya was still asleep. I put the food on the dresser and sat on the edge of the bed. I reached over and brushed her hair back from her face.
She moved around and grabbed my arm, hugging it to her body.
“Hey birthday girl,” I said softly, and she whined back sleepily. I picked her up off the bed and put her on my lap. I knew she liked being woken up this way.
As she rubbed her eyes with both fists, I started to hum the birthday song. I hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
Amaya squealed and threw us down to the bed as if she had just figured it out.
“It’s my birthday!”
I was completely enchanted by her. Her smile was so bright that it hurt my eyes. Her hair fell forward, covering me in her soft curls and giving me the best close-up ever. I was sure this was heaven.
“Happy Birthday, Amaya,” I said as I sat up and put my hand on her back. I teased her, “Your birthday ice cream is melting,” and her eyes got bigger.
“I get ice cream for breakfast on my birthday?”
“Even better,” I said with a smirk and pointed to the dresser. She jumped off my lap to get the food and started eating right away. I told her to eat her breakfast and get ready for the day. I’ll be in the living room waiting for her.
After thirty minutes, Amaya came over to the couch with me. She had changed out of her old pyjamas and into new ones.
“Amaya, why are you in your pyjamas?”
“Because you have to wear your pyjamas all day on every special day, like Christmas, New Year’s, and St. Patrick’s Day.”
I threw my head back and asked God to give me strength.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a second.”
We sat down on the couch after I changed into pyjamas, and I started to tell Amaya about our plans for the day.
“Here’s your first gift before I start.” I gave her the small white box, and she screamed with joy. This girl really loved getting gifts.
She opened the box by pulling on the pink ribbon. I held my breath because I knew this could go very wrong. I shouldn’t have gone to that store for jewellery.
She carefully took the necklace out of the box and then threw herself at me.
“I love it! I love it! I love it!” she yelled, jumping up and down. “Thanks, Carter. I’ve never had any jewellery before.”
That’s good to know.
“Anything for you, Amaya.” She turned around and held up her hair so I could wrap it around her neck.
She played with it for a few minutes, and I could tell she was really happy with it. The necklace was simple. It was just a thin chain of pure silver with a heart pendant on it that had a diamond on it. There was nothing special about it, but Amaya looked at it like she was holding the queen’s crown. I thought it was worth it because of the look on her face.
“So, we can do whatever you want today. But I have some things for us to use to decorate the house.” Her eyes got big and she looked at me in awe.
“Like, things for the party?”