Page 12

“Should we have a party? I should warn you, it will only be the two of us. Unless you want to invite Dr. Ramirez?”
“No, I want it to be just the two of us today,” Amaya said. “But we could invite Cole over for dinner this weekend.”
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what you get.”
For the next two hours, we worked on decorating the flat. I might have bought too many decorations. When we were done, my bachelor pad looked like the place where Barbie had her sweet sixteen birthday party, and Amaya was the happiest she had ever been.
I asked Amaya, “What do we do now?” as I pushed my way through the pink balloons on the floor of our living room.
“How about we watch every episode of iCarly in a row?”
“Every episode of what?” I asked, my voice full of confusion. I hoped it wasn’t some Barbie spin-off. I don’t mind watching TV with Amaya, but cartoons are the worst.
She put her hands on her hips and looked at me like I was too stupid to understand when I said, “You don’t know what iCarly is?”
“Well, I know it’s a show,” I said in a “duh” tone and rolled my eyes at her. She laughed at how childish I was.
“Oh, you’re going to love this one.”
Before we started our marathon, I gave Amaya a second gift. I had been giving her gifts every other hour, and it was time for another.
The doorbell rang right on time, and I went to the door to get the package. I signed for it, and then I led about five guys into the flat, each carrying a medium-sized box.
I teased, “I think someone is about to be very happy,” and then I took Amaya into the kitchen after they left. I worked on taking off the little pieces of tape that were on all the boxes on the counter.
“What is it, Cartie?” She climbed up on the counter and sat with her legs crossed, excitedly waiting for me to open the boxes.
I was used to her being very happy, so when I finally found them, the tears in her eyes surprised me.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I picked her up off the counter and put her on my hip. I thought she would like all the cakes and pastries, but I didn’t think about the fact that she might hate cake because she never got any for her birthday. Or maybe I got too many cakes?
Seven birthday cakes are a lot…
I’m worried about whatever it is.
“There’s nothing wrong, Carter. Everything is just right. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday.”
Oh, happy tears
“I’ll do anything for you, Amaya. This is nothing compared to what I’ll do to keep you safe and happy.”
She hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, which made me blush.
“So this cake is just for us?” she asked, looking down at all the cakes.
“You can eat the whole thing if you want.”
“Really? That was always my dream.” She paused for a second, and then her face lit up. “I’m going to change my dream just for you. My new birthday dream is to sit down and eat a whole cake with Carter Reid, the nicest man in the world.”
Those simple words did more to my heart than anything else ever could, and it became clearer and clearer to me that Amaya was becoming the most important person in my life.
~ ~ ~
“… and then he got me cake and I cried and then we cuddled on the couch and Cartie finally got to see how great iCarly is. Then we cuddled some more, and at night he gave me my last present, which almost made me have a heart attack. I think I’ll show it to you so you can feel as happy as I did,” Amaya said as she ran out of the dining room, her short pink dress flowing behind her as she disappeared down the hall.
We were having a nice dinner with Dr. Ramirez a few days after Amaya’s birthday, just like she asked.
They talked on the phone a lot, but they both looked very happy to see each other. Amaya looked more excited than Dr. Ramirez.
Amaya made us all get dressed up for the night, but all she wanted was a two-course pizza meal with Dr. Ramirez’s leftover birthday cake and some breadsticks.
I was making this kid sick enough to get diabetes.
Sorry, this is an adult.
“So, you guys really cuddled a lot for her birthday.” I could tell he wanted to get that off his chest as soon as Amaya left the table.
I didn’t look up to please him, but I could see his smug smile from across the table. I pretended that cutting a bread stick with my knife and fork was the most important thing I would ever do.
“I’m just saying, she’s of age now.”
I dropped my forks and knives on the table with a loud bang, not caring that he was laughing so hard.
I told him, “You’re an arsehole.” “I don’t think of Amaya that way,”
“You’re weak.”
“Yeah, you want to come over here and say that to my-
When I heard Amaya come back into the dining room, I stopped what I was saying. When I saw her trying to pull out her huge canvas to show Doctor, my mood went from totally annoyed to completely happy.
“This… is what… Carter… bought me,” she said through heavy breathing. We just started going to the gym together yesterday, and it was clear that we had a long way to go.
“Amaya, I see you’re interested in art,” Dr. D=Cole said.
No, I would get her a ten-foot canvas to sleep on.
“I love art, and Carter got me all the tools I need to practise it. Isn’t that nice of him? He’s the best.”
When I winked at her, she became this shy little girl, which is the opposite of how brave she really is.
“Amaya, leave the canvas there. I’ll take it back later. Come eat your dinner.”
I was curious as she ran to her room with the book. She held her sketchbook tightly to her chest when she came back. We saved it from the fire, and I had already talked to her about it a lot.
She was really good at both realistic and unrealistic art.
With a smile, I told her to come back to the dinner table. She went over all of her work with him, and I could tell how happy she was to do it. She hasn’t had many, or any, chances to show off her work.
Amaya did the dishes after that (only because I promised her a bag of gummy bears), and I asked Ramirez to talk to me alone because there was something important I needed to talk to him about.
“What’s wrong? Is Amaya okay?” He was a jerk most of the time, but when it came to Amaya’s health, he acted like a father who was too protective.
“She’s doing great physically. She’s excited to learn and loves going out and seeing new things, as expected. After the holidays, I’m going to get her a tutor to help her get her high school diploma. What I’m worried about is her mental health.”