It’s my
birthday, not Matt’s (which is in April), but I feel like writing this.
The phone
rang entirely too loudly and too early in the morning. I fumbled in the dark
for the phone, finally pulling the cordless receiver to my ear.
“What?” I
growled.
“Happy
Birthday, Uncle Matt!” came an enthusiastic, teenage girl’s yell from the other
end.
I pushed
the receiver away, trying futilely to muffle it.
When the
yelling subsided, I brought it back to my ear. “Cassie?”
“Yep!”
“Ow.”
“So what
are ya going to do, today!?”
“I’d like
to go back to sleep before I have to go to work,” I mumbled.
“Boooooriiing!
My gift is much better!”
“Cassie,
please stop yelling. What gift?”
The
doorbell rang.
“Was that
your doorbell? My gift is there! Yay! Perfect timing!”
“What?”
“Answer the
door, dummy!”
“Hey!”
“Just go. I
have to go back to class, now. I’ll call you later, Uncle Matt.”
She hung up
as the doorbell rang again. I clawed my way out of bed, wrapping a robe around
me as I staggered towards the front door. Through the peephole, I saw Nikki
under her parasol despite the only light being my porch light. It was still
well before dawn.
I opened
the door and could only manage a short, articulate, “Wha?”
For answer
she seized my robe, dragged me forward, and kissed me hard on the mouth. Her
lips were cool, but soon warmed to my temperature. We were still locked when I
suddenly recognized a need to breathe, and made strangled noises to that
effect.
“Happy
birthday, dumpling.”
“You’re my
gift from Cassie? Aren’t you supposed to jump out of a cake or something?”
“A gift
such as that could be easily arranged, Matthew. Should I appear in my own
birthday suit?”
“Uh.” My
brain failed to come up with anything witty or clever, or even words of more
than one syllable.
“Never
mind. We’ll leave that for later. Cassandra’s gift to you is a day off, and I’m
here to ensure that outcome. We shall spend the day together, doing whatever
you wish. Consider me your personal birthday wish. So, Matthew, what do you
wish?”
“Um, coffee.”
I finally managed.
“Of course,
but we shall have to work on having you realize a grander vision.”
Her fist
still in my robe, she walked me out of the house towards her car, where Jerry
waved at me as he held the door open for us.
“Can’t I
get dressed first?”
“No,
dumpling, your first wish was coffee. Clothing shall have to wait.”