Damage Repaired

Chapter 14

My heart pounded as I positioned everything on the counter, wondering if I was making a mistake. After Ezra's confession last night, I immediately made plans and bought balloons, birthday hats, and a custom Cars-themed cake to celebrate his son's birthday the way it would've been celebrated if he were still here. I was already wearing my cone birthday hat with another in my clammy hand and confetti in the other, waiting for Ezra to realize I wasn't in bed anymore. On cue, the sound of his bare feet walking down the stairs made my heart skip a beat, not knowing how he'd react when he saw what was getting ready to welcome him.

"Ana?" Ezra called out, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Down here," I squeaked pathetically. A part of me wishing I could disappear into thin air before he reached me.

"Why are you up so ear—"

"Surprise," I plastered on a smile and threw a handful of confetti in the air, watching it flutter to the floor, a few pieces getting stuck in his wild hair on the way down.

Ezra's brow furrowed in confusion as his emerald eyes darted from the multi-layer cake placed behind me on the kitchen counter to the birthday hat on my head. "What is this?"

I chewed nervously on my bottom lip. "After what you told me last night, I wanted you to be able to celebrate him the way you would've if he were still here..." I trailed off, watching his expression closely.

Ezra stood there, jaw clenched in...irritation? Anger? Either way, it was enough for me to feel like the biggest idiot on the planet for overstepping my boundaries despite my intentions.

"Fuck," I mumbled, my stomach sinking as I turned around to begin putting everything away. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'll just take this over to the foundation for the kids." Tears burned the back of my eyes from fucking embarrassment as I stacked the plates on top of each other and gathered the utensils.

"Ana," Ezra finally spoke, but I shook my head.

"You don't have to say anything."

A warm presence suddenly appeared behind me, and his muscular arm reached around and snagged the extra birthday hat lying on the counter in front of me.

"Stop packing up," he demanded, finding my waist and turning me back around to face him, and when I looked up, I found the hat sitting crooked on top of his head. Ezra's glassy eyes twinkled as he leaned forward, cupping the back of my head before pressing his lips gently against mine.

"No one has ever done this for me, not my family, not anyone," he whispered once we pulled apart. "It just took me by surprise, but I love it, and I'm sure he would've too, so thank you."

"Are you sure?" I asked just in case he was only telling me this so I wouldn't feel bad, but the grateful smile stretched across his face was enough for me to believe he truly meant it.

"I'm positive, sweetheart," Ezra assured me, kissing my lips again. "Now, let me go get a lighter so we can blow the candles out together."

Once he found the lighter, we blew the candles out and dug into the beautifully decorated red velvet cake, Ezra's favorite. But this day was far from over. I wanted to make it all about Eli and honoring his memory by doing things I thought Ezra would do if he was still granted the opportunity.

"Can you tell me what we're watching now?" Ezra asked for the fifth time after I mentioned I wanted to watch a movie with him.

I rolled my eyes, positioning myself an arm's length away beside him so I would be able to see his face once he saw what was getting ready to be played.

"Watch and see," I smiled, reaching for the remote and pressing play.

A series of images flickered across the screen, and then the main character of the movie finally appeared.