It was the first week of July.
Melody's first birthday was only a few hours away.
Julia was baking like crazy. Melody's birthday cake was in the oven.
Her daughter was upstairs in her crib, peacefully sleeping, not knowing that tomorrow, she turns one.
Remembering that it was Melody's first birthday was a bit bittersweet, knowing what happened last year.
Only a few days ago, Kim died a year ago. Julia had visited Kim's grave. She took her daughter, and Steve accompanied them.
Before going to the cemetery, Julia had picked up some flowers to take to the graveyard. By the time they got there Kim's parents were already there.
They looked older and unhappy. The death of their only daughter took a toll on them. Julia wanted to explain to them what actually happened last year, but she knew they wouldn't believe her. They would think she was crazy. It wouldn't do them any good either. She would only be opening a wound.
They stayed there for a few hours. Julia talked to Kims tombstone. She didnt care if people thought she was crazy. It was a way she felt closer to her friend; even though she didn't get any response back, she knew that wherever Kim was, she was listening to her.
She told Kim about Melody's new milestones and how her daughter was going to turn one very soon.
She cried, knowing her little baby was growing up. That whole week Julia cried seeing her daughter. She wasn't crying because she was sad. She was crying because she couldn't believe she had Melody for a whole year. She had her little girl by her side for 365 days.
Melody's three layer vanilla birthday cake was done at 11:57 pm. Julia took them out of the oven one by one and set them on the kitchen counter, letting them cool down.
A small can of rainbow colored sprinkles were on the counter as well. While the cakes were cooling down, Julia started working on the purple frosting, but she noticed that the cakes were uneven, so she had to level them.
Once she staked them one on top of the other, she didn't want the cake to end up uneven. It was going to take her a little bit longer to prepare everything.
She looked at the clock, and it was 12:02. It was officially July 7th, the day Melody was born. A year ago, she was in pain, and she doubted herself, and now she feels a little bit more confident as a mother and stronger as a woman.
She debated whether or not to go to Melodys room and wish her happy birthday or wait until the morning. Her love for her daughter got the best of her, and she made her way up the stairs.
It would be something quick she tried to convince herself. She would be quiet, and Melody wouldn't even notice.
Julia was on the last step. She had made it without making a sound. The mother walked toward Melody's room and was surprised to see Steve outside their daughter's bedroom door.
"What are you doing," she whispered. He jumped, hearing her voice. He hadn't heard her getting close to him.
He turned around, "it's Mellows birthday," he answered.
They had the same idea. They wanted to wish their daughter a happy birthday and couldn't wait until morning.
She walked closer to him. "Let's be very quiet," he said and opened the bedroom door slowly.
With her hand on his shoulder they walked close together into the room. The room was halfway lit. There was a small lamp on the corner of the room. It was able to illuminate their way to the crib.
The parents smiled down at their daughter and whispered, "happy birthday Melody."
Their little girl was one year old. She had grown so fast and learned so much in her first year. Within her first year she went to an alternative dimension, made new friends, fought a monster alongside her parents, learned how to crawl, and said her first words.
The little girl with wild dark brown hair moved her head to the side.
Steve and Julia held their breaths; they didn't want to wake her up. Steve softly brushed Melody's hair back.
"Happy first birthday, my sweet Melody," he whispered. The girl smiled in her sleep.
After wishing their daughter a happy birthday, the parents walked slowly out of the room. Steve closed the door behind him.
Julia lost those 10 minutes. She needed to go back downstairs and work on Melody's cake.
Steve, seeing how stressed Julia was offered to help. Julia was a good teacher. He had made several pies, and not a single one of them burned again. He was sure he could help her with the cake.
Julia walked into the kitchen and began covering the cakes with frosting. The three layer cake was covered in light purple color frosting.
She washed her hands and grabbed the sprinkles.
Steve cleaned around her. He had washed the dirty dishes that were stacked in the sink. With a paper towel he cleaned the frosting that was on the kitchen counter.
Julia opened the bottle of sprinkles and did a border around the bottom of the cake. Once the border was done, she poured a few on her hand, and with her other she grabbed one by one and scattered them around the cake.
On top of the cake, with the remaining white frosting she didn't use, she wrote the word 'one' in capital letters.
She took a step back, admiring her creation. She wanted to do something cute and simple for Melody's first birthday. Julia was happy with her work.
Steve walked past her with a bag of purple and pink balloons. He kissed the side of her head and went to the living room, where he inflated the balloons.
Julia carried the cake and placed it inside the fridge.
She grabbed one of the chairs from the dining room to use as a stool. She hung up a banner that said happy birthday.
Julia's idea was to get almost everything ready before Melody's first birthday party so she could enjoy the morning with her daughter.
Steve was a great help taking half of the task. "Does that look even," Julia asked Steve, who was inflating a pink balloon. His face was pink as well, and he felt lightheaded. "Yeah, it looks great."
Either way, Julia moved the corner of the banner a little bit higher.
Julia got off the chair and moved it back to where it belonged.
When she came back, she took a better look at Steve and noticed how pale he was. "Are you okay," she asked, walking closer to him.
He was sitting on the floor. Different sizes of balloons were scattered around him. "I'm just a little tired," he said, grabbing his chest.
He was not fine. He needed a break, and maybe she did too.
She wanted everything to be perfect, but Steve was hurting himself by blowing all those balloons; he looked exhausted.
"We should go to bed. We can continue when we wake up."
He looked at her. "Are you sure?" He knew how much it meant for Julia.
She smiled tiredly at him. "Yes, everything is going to be here later today."
She grabbed his hand, and the pair tiredly walked to their bedroom. It didn't take them long to fall asleep.
By morning Julia woke up early and rested. She went downstairs and worked on the decorations. She put the presents they had gotten Melody on the kitchen counter.
Guests would be there soon. She started making the food. Steve walked down the stairs carrying Melody.
The little girl's eyes shined, seeing all the decorations. "There's the birthday girl," Julia said with joy. She kissed Melodys cheek and whispered "I love you so much my sweet girl."
Her daughter smiled and said, "mama."
"Yes, mama loves you," Julia responded, tickling Melodys side. The one year old laughed and extended her hand out, wanting her mother to stop.
"Could you put Melody in her purple dress around one," she asked Steve.
He nodded, "I don't want her dress to get dirty while she's crawling," she added. She knew her daughter so well. Melody was looking at the floor, wanting to move on her own. She had slept all night; she was ready to cause trouble.
Steve put her down, and the second she touched the floor, she was gone. "There she goes," he said. Melody crawled around the couch.
Julia went back to the kitchen. Julia was making the food while Steve was keeping an eye on Melody and finishing setting up the decorations.
At 11 am, Melody took a nap. Julia wanted Melody to be in a good mood during her birthday party. If her daughter didn't take a nap, she knew Melody would be cranky and wouldn't enjoy her birthday.
By 12, the food was ready, all the decorations were in the right place, and the guests were on their way.
Steve went upstairs to get ready and change Melody into her dress.
Julia went to the restroom and took a fast shower. They were right on time things were working out for Julia.
At 1:01, there was a knock on the door. Still, with her wet hair, Julia rushed downstairs and opened the door.
A happy Nancy holding a wrapped gift was at the door with Jonathan by her side. His hair was a little shorter than when she saw him a few months back.
"Come on in," Julia greeted them. Nancy murmured a quick thank you and walked in.
"Woah, this looks really nice, Julia,'' Nancy said, looking at the decorations. Julia smiled proudly at herself. "Thank you. I barely slept."
Julia looked back at the couple. "Take a seat. I'll tell Steve you guys are here."
Julia was barely making her way up the stairs when she heard another knock. She walked down and went to the front door.
"Where's marshmallow," Robin said excitedly a second after Julia opened the door.
Vickie stood next to Robin. The young pair started dating only a month ago. Steve was ecstatic when Robin told him the good news.
"Hello to you too," Julia responded once Robin made her way in. "Hi Julia," Vickie said with a shy smile. "Hi, Vickie, come on in."
Not responding to Julia, Robin went upstairs, noticing that Melody was nowhere in sight. Julia was not faced by Robin's boldness.
The younger teen knew the house like it was her own.
"Does she do that often," Nancy asked.
"Yes," Julia responded simply.
More people were gathered around the living room. Melody was on the floor playing with Robin. The two girls were laughing and playing with Melody's toys.
Dustin got there at 1:40. Shortly after, Mike and Eleven were there.
The rest of the Byers arrived almost at 2 pm.
The last ones to get there were Max and Lucas. Max was in a wheelchair. She could use her hands, but she was still having trouble walking. She couldn't support herself on her own.
She was still visiting her doctor once a week and doing new exercises to help her muscles.
Julia opened the front door for them, and Lucas pushed Max in. "I'm so happy you two could make it," Julia said.
Lucas smiled at her and said "hi, Julie." Max glanced down at the lap and didn't say anything.
"Everyone is already here. You guys can go to the kitchen. We are going to eat soon," Julia added.
Everyone was squished together at the long table. Steve was able to find extra chairs in the garage.
The food was a success. Everyone was enjoying it, even getting seconds. They werent completely full because when Julia placed the cake on the table, everyone wanted a slice.
The friends of the pair sang happy birthday to their little girl.
It was nice having everyone gathered around in her house, even though she didn't know why they were here. Melody didn't know what was going on and why everyone was looking at her.
She didn't know why her mother was crying and why her fathers had tears forming.
There was something wrong, but the young girl didnt know what it was.
Once the song was done, everyone clapped. Melody looked around and began to clap, making everyone laugh. Her parents werent sad anymore; they were laughing with the others.
It made Melody happy knowing she was the reason why they were happy again. She continued to clap with a smile on her face.
It was an eventful day for the one-year-old. She got a lot of new clothes and fun toys.
She didn't face any weird monsters. She was only surrounded by the love and affection of her parents and friends.
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞
𝙼𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 🥺
𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎?
𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿𝟶. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝟷𝟶𝟶 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔.