Timber woke up in her new bedroom a few weeks later and was immediately surprised by the sight that greeted her eyes. There were dozens of yellow balloons everywhere. Some were floating on the ceiling, some were tied to the gold handles of her new furniture, and the rest completely covered the cream-colored floor. It took a minute of blinking and staring before she realized it was not a dream. Then she remembered that it was her tenth birthday. Joy expanded within her and she felt as though she were swelling up like one of the many balloons in her room.
She sprang up on all fours, Turned, got dressed as fast as she could, and bolted down the stairs. Grace was in the kitchen making cinnamon apple French toast, scrambled eggs, pork sausages, and hash browns. Chad was squeezing fresh orange juice in a pitcher on the island next to a bouquet of fresh, orange chrysanthemums, and Emily could be heard moving around in the family room.
"Happy birthday, Timber, Honey!" said Grace. She moved away from the stove for a moment to hug her niece.
"Happy birthday, Timber!" said Chad.
"Timber! Timber! Timber!" cried Emily happily as she ran into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her cousin. The force with which she ran into Timber nearly knocked her into the kitchen island. "It's your birthday! Happy birthday!"
"Thank you so much!" said Timber gleefully.
"Did you like the balloons?" asked Grace as she started putting everything on her special serving plates.
"I loved them!" said Timber with a smile. "How did you know my favorite color is yellow?"
"Observation," said Grace.
"Your aunt knows everything," said Chad and Timber laughed. "Table, please, you two."
Timber and Emily sat down at the dining room table which had been decorated with a variety of yellow flowers. Chad and Grace brought out breakfast. Timber didn't realize how hungry she was until the food was right in front of her. Being the birthday girl, she was allowed to go first. She filled her plate with everything she wanted. She waited for the rest of the family to fill their plates to eat because that was the rule. As soon as Chad put the juice down, Timber politely attacked her ham. She couldn't remember the last time she had a ham that good and she savored every bite.
"You're hungry, I see," said Chad, laughing at Timber quietly.
"Very," said Timber. "This is the best breakfast I've ever had, Aunt Grace."
"Thank you. So what do you want to do today, Timber?" asked Grace.
"Well, I was thinking about talking to you about it anyway," said Timber between bites of cinnamon apple French toast. "I want to learn how to cook. You're an amazing cook and I want to be too."
"That's wonderful, Honey, but I can teach you how to cook any day," said Grace. "What do you want to do that's special?"
Timber thought for a minute. She had lived in Fort Bragg for a couple of months already but she had never been to the beach because it started to get cold by the time she was comfortable going anywhere. She decided she wanted to go so she told Grace and Chad.
"That sounds like a great idea. It's a beautiful day outside today. After breakfast, we'll get ready and go. Then we'll go to the Laurel Deli Cafe for hot chocolate."
"Hooray!" exclaimed Emily. "Wait, what about presents?"
"Emily, they were supposed to be a surprise!" sighed Chad. Emily threw her hands over her mouth.
"I'm sorry!"
"It's okay," said Chad grinning at Emily's red face and wide eyes.
"You have gifts in the living room to open after breakfast," said Grace. Timber stopped eating and looked down at her lap. "What's wrong, Darlin'?"
YOU ARE READING
The TimberWolf Effect (Book I)
WerewolfNine-year-old orphan Timber Brogan was headed to an unknown future with her father's sister and her family. Being half-human and a trained killer, Timber must learn to embrace her more human side and accept her new family despite her fear. But life...
