He's Mine

Chapter 19 - Birthday Surprises

He's Mine

Chapter 19 – Birthday Surprises

“Happy birthday!”

Harmony’s door swung open and her mother burst through, walking to the windows and pulling open the curtains to let the sunshine pour in.

“But it’s so early…” Harmony complained, covering her head with her pillow as she buried deeper into her covers.

“No it’s not silly! It’s almost lunchtime,” Ben said, his voice followed by a lump landing on Harmony’s back. She looked over her shoulder to see him grinning at her widely, the gap in his teeth standing out. He’d lost his first tooth a few days before and was overly excited to show everyone.

“Come on dear, I’m making breakfast,” Claire said, ushering Ben out of the room so that Harmony could wake herself up.

It took her a while at first, but as the excitement of her birthday kicked in she was quick to rush downstairs. She took a deep breath and sighed, “I’m in heaven.”

She entered the kitchen to see her mother grinning at her from the stove; Ben already sat at the table with chocolate covering his mouth. Pancakes were her favourite. When she was served some, she added maple syrup and rolled them up, savouring the delicious sweetness.

Four pancakes later, she was upstairs getting dressed for the day. She put on a black vest top and a warm, red, knitted jumper with her best pair of jeans and bright, pink, fluffy socks. She heard a knock at the door.

“Harmony! You have a parcel!”

She left her bedroom and bounded down the stairs, immediately stopping when her mother was waiting in the living room. Her father was standing in the doorway, smiling down at his daughter as a grin lit her face.

“Dad!” She called, wrapping her arms round his neck and pulling him into a hug.

“Happy birthday honey, I can’t believe my little girl is turning seventeen.”

“Well you better believe it; I’m getting older by the day.”

“God don’t remind me, it makes me feel old.”

“You are old,” Harmony replied cheekily.

When she pulled away from his embrace and sat heavily on the sofa, a brown parcel landed in her lap. She looked up at her mother who’d given it to her and smiled gratefully. Suddenly remembering the other parcels that had come the day before, from her grandpa and grandma in Scotland, she ran upstairs to retrieve them, leaving the small parcel discarded on her bed as she took the presents down.

She spent the afternoon with her parents, Darren and Ben surrounding her, giving her their own gifts. She received a silver necklace with a small heart on from her mother along with some new clothes and a DVD. From her father, she was given a new phone that she’d been wanting for about 6 months. Darren and Ben had also bought her some perfume and a cute, penguin stuffed toy that Ben picked out himself. Her grandparents had knitted a new jumper, a regular tradition, and along with it sent a little wooden jewellery box that was carved into a rose.

The doorbell rang again at around two and Harmony bounded to the door to answer it. Before she fully opened the door, Katie jumped onto her, wrapping her in a hug. The surprise assault caused Harmony to tumble backwards, the two of them only managing to stand as Harmony reached for the banister on the stairs to stable them.

“Hello to you too Kate,” She greeted with a laugh, grinning at her best friend.

“You’re finally seventeen,” Katie sighed, heading towards the living room.