Hidden Away

Thirty: Together We'll Fall

The hug we share is a hug I didn't know I needed. It's warm and nothing close to the hugs that Alec would give. "Thank you so much, Dad," I say as we pull apart.

"Of course, Norah," he nods, smiling. "You deserve this after everything you've gone through."

I offer a warm smile to the rest of the family that surrounds Rowan and me. I take a few steps back, meeting my brother at his side. He has his gift in his hand and I have mine. We look at each other and then back at the crowd. They all smile and nod, urging us to open them.

I start by taking the white tissue paper out of the gold paper bag and letting it drop to the floor. My hands spread the bag open further as I peak inside, taking out a black jewelry box. Using my peripheral vision, I can see the matching black box in his hand as well. I turn to him, letting my internal smile show on my lips. I take a step closer to him until we're only inches apart. We put our boxes right beside each other, both of us smiling as we open them simultaneously.

I don't expect the piece of jewelry inside our boxes to be what they are. I can feel smiles grow with our gasps. Rowan knows what these are as well.

I pull out the necklace that sits perfect in the box, setting both the bag and the box down on the floor next to me. I let the chain hang over my fingers as I bring the pendent closer to my face, examining it. The pendant is in the shape of a full moon. Four letters are engraved into the moon. It doesn't take me long to realize they're the initials of our family.

"Wow I—" My words muffle as my hand covers my mouth. I look beside me at Rowan's hand. He too is shocked. His box contains a ring that holds a heavy similarity to that of my necklace. It's a plain, thick, gold banded ring, but our initials are engraved along the band. The two pieces of jewelry are meant to resemble the necklace that our father gifted our mother on her eighteenth birthday. The exact necklace he had given her was the same one that belonged to our grandmother before she died.

I look up at our parents. "These are beautiful," I say, smiling.

"Thank you so much, Mom, Dad," Rowan breathes.

Our parents both step forward with their arms outstretched and before I know it, we fall into a group hug. It's a hug I never knew I needed. It feels comforting, beautiful, and heartwarming.

It feels normal. It feels right.

***

"Happy birthday, birthday girl," Evan smiles as he leans down to press a kiss to my forehead.

The laugh I let out is of genuine joy. I haven't felt this way in a while. "Thank you," I gush, "but I don't see a present in your hand," I tease, making Evan's smile grow wider.

"Don't worry," he laughs, kissing me once again, but this time, it's on my cheek. "I have your present upstairs in my room."

"Ew, you guys can't seem to get enough of each other," Carlina pops up out of nowhere and makes a gagging noise from beside us, faking a disgusted expression. "If I have to watch you two smother each other with kisses one more time I think I'll just go ahead and pass away," she says dramatically and Evan places a kiss on my lips to mess with her, causing Carlina to gag once again. "Alright I'm going. Gone. Done. Goodbye."

We all laugh together. It feels refreshing to finally share a moment like this with the people who were a part of my childhood. It makes me feel some sort of normalcy from my old life, but it makes me feel emotional at the fact that Carlina wasn't there to grow up with us. She was only seven when Alec faked her death, which means there was still a lot more growing up going on and she missed it.