Cool Mom

70: Hazel's Birthday

Okay, before you start reading this chapter, some things that you should try to keep in mind:  Imagine the lawn to be huge and magnificent. Imagine the decorations and the cake, everything basically to be as lavish as possible. I couldn't find words posh enough to describe the party. But Hazel is the daughter of extremely rich parents after all! ;) Pictures of Hazel's dress, necklace and cake are above!

The party organizers have done a marvelous job with the party décor. The front lawn has been transformed into a sea of rose gold streamers and balloons. Against a wall of green leaves, balloons in the shape of alphabets and numbers spell out, 'HAZEL IS 4.' The table in front is laid out with party bags, hats and other decorations with a cake dish to hold Hazel's cake.

On the opposite end is the buffet table which will hold all sorts of food, ranging from mini pizzas, mini burgers, BBQ to so many other food items.

It's still an hour until guests are due to start arriving and we're in the living room. Hazel's dressed in her rose gold dress and around her neck she wears the Tiffany and Co. gold pendant necklace that Daniel and I gave her this morning. It's a Hazel tree pendant with Hazel's birth date, 25 October 2015, engraved into its back.

"Let's go have pictures taken outside." I say, taking Hazel's hand and lead the way out to the setup with Tess and Daniel following.

The photographer we hired is already here, taking pictures as the helpers set up last minute name tags and straighten up chairs. We all take turns posing with Hazel in front of the photo wall which has pictures of Hazel lined up from the four years of her life. Then we all have one taken together with her. We're looking at the picture on the photographer's camera when something zips past me and into Hazel's arms.

"Vanessa!" Hazel giggles, straightening the matching rose gold bow that the dog is wearing.

Tessa walks over to them to help her with Vanessa while Daniel and I use the opportunity to have a picture taken alone.

"Emma!" Tess calls out from where she, Hazel and Vanessa are sitting at one of the tables.

"What?" I ask, walking over.

"It's mom on FaceTime." Tess replies, holding out the phone.

I take it from her and hold it away from my face, "Hey mom!" I wave.

"Hi baby! Mother of a four year hold-hang on! I'm a grandmother to a four year old, I feel so old!" She exclaims.

I laugh at this as Tess rolls her eyes and says, "She's been at it every time I talked to her in the last week."

We talk to her for a minute longer before I hand the phone back to Tess and follow Hazel as she runs off to meet her friends, who have begun to arrive. For an hour, people keep trickling in and Hazel's pile of presents keeps growing.

I'm meeting a mother from swim classes at the country club when Elana's voice reaches my ears. "Happy birthday Hazel!" Followed by Morgan's.

I turn around to find the two of them along with Martha and Arthur, Daniel's parents hugging and meeting Hazel.

"Hello birthday girl's mother!" Elana says as she pulls me into a hug.

"Thank you so much for coming over." I tell her.

"Morgan and I wouldn't miss it for the world." She tells me and then when she senses my worry, she let me know, "David isn't here. Martha refused to let him come after what happened last time."

When I start to say that he could've come she stops me, "This is Hazel's day. She doesn't deserve the tension between the brothers."

I return her smile, "Thank you."

"Meet my friends!" Hazel leads Morgan away and I leave the three adults meet Daniel and find their seats.

Another fifteen minutes later, everyone has arrived and I give Tess the okay to bring out the cake, it resembles Hazel's dress and has a '4' on the top, which Hazel is yet to see. While I let the children know that it's time to cut the cake, Tess and Elana set up the cake and the candles.

All the guests assemble around to sing Hazel happy birthday while Daniel and I join Hazel behind the table.

"Do you like the cake?" I ask her as her eyes go wide at the sight of it.

"I love it." She smiles and kisses my cheek, making everyone 'aww.'

"Go ahead." Daniel tells Hazel as we step back and signal the helper standing by with the remote control. The sparklers on the candle come to life and the whole table lights up with fairy lights as all the other lights, in the now dark lawn, go out.

Hazel squeals for a second but then remembers that she has to cut the cake. The crowd sings her happy birthday and as they start to cheer at the end, I lean forward and kiss her cheek, my heart melting at the sight of Hazel so happy.

Right after the food is served and the guests help themselves to food that the caterers look after while helpers who I appointed take over cake duty.

Everyone is busy chatting and eating that I find myself alone with Daniel for the first time since the party started.

"The party is a smashing success." Daniel observes the guests as I turn to look at his face which is radiating joy.

"Hazel is so happy." I say as we watch her chat to friends.

"She is one popular student." Daniel says, making us both laugh. "Remember how worried we were for her when she started school last month?"

"Hmm." I nod.

"I guess it was for nothing." Daniel smiles at me and I smile back, savoring the moment.

"Hazel will be a good older sister." I sigh as I watch her eat her cake and excitedly tell Ben something.

"I know she will." Daniel says, kissing the back of my head, "I'm going to go check on the adults and ask if they need anything."

"I'm going to get the party games started." I tell him.

"Let's do this!" He holds up a hand and I give him a high five, laughing as we part ways.

The games take up a whole hour as children run laughing around chairs and then pass a parcel between them, ending with a game of dancing statue. At the end Hazel hands gifts to the winners, which are wrapped chocolates.

Hazel didn't ask for anything except for a dance floor and Daniel and I were more than happy to oblige. As the evening progresses, the children dance through songs, laughing and playing as they do so.

"Hi!" Mia walks up to me just as 'Prince Ali' from Aladdin starts to play and all the children sing along.

"Hey!" I reply, giving her a hug.

"Ben is over the moon with the party. He's enjoying every second." She tells me with a smile, "The adults are enjoying themselves too. The food was exquisite."

I feel a little shy, "Thank you."

"Ben talks non-stop about school and friends, which includes Hazel." Mia rolls her eyes, making me laugh.

"Is it any comfort if I tell you that Hazel does the same?" I smile.

"A great deal!" She laughs, giving me another hug before heading back to join mothers she knows from school and swim classes.

I cheer with everyone else as the song comes to an end and the children clap for themselves. I watch Hazel as she talks to her friends, her eyes glittering and mouth smiling. My heart tells me that this is all I've ever wanted. My daughter to me happy.

Happy birthday Hazel.