The date is August 12th, 2019. Grace and Misha got married in August of 2018, so this is a year later. And Grace is now going to be 21.
I frantically get my house ready for Grace's birthday party today. I've been planning this for the past two weeks, and I'm praying it turns out perfect for my Gracie. She's going to be 21! Even though we've only been together for almost 3 years, so much has happened.
I cleaned the house from top to bottom and decorated everything to make it the most special I can. After ordering tons of food, getting her gift together, and inviting everyone ... Well, I'm exhausted to say the least. Minutes later, people start arriving and crowd in the living room, waiting to surprise Grace.
I only invited close friends and family because I know how much Grace dislikes socializing. She texts me and says she's on her way. She thinks she is just coming over to hang out with me, but I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees everything I put together.
As everyone sits silently, we hear Grace pull into my driveway. I become even more anxious when I hear her walking up to my front porch. The door slowly slides open and she walks in.
"Misha?" she calls out.
Jensen and I jump out and pop out confetti, followed by everyone else.
"HOLY WHAT!!" she screams, dropping everything and falling to the floor.
A burst of laughter spreads throughout the room and I yell, "Happy Birthday sweetie!"
I help Grace up and she giggles after kissing my cheek. She looks around the room and has a look of pure happiness.
"Oh my gosh Misha! You did all this?" she asks in wonderment.
"Of course. Anything for you." I answer.
She pulls me into another hug and then greets everybody else. We all end up making our way outside in the backyard, where I hired a DJ to play all of Grace's favorite alternative/emo bands. And there's (yes I know this is childish) bouncy houses. But not the boring, standard kind, I got huge castle-like ones that can hold like 50 people. Even though I'm forty-one years old, I have the heart of a five year old.
Grace does seem a little off today though, but I don't know what it is. Every time she's by herself, she looks sad. I decide to go see what's up.
"Hey Grace. What's wrong? And don't say nothing cause I know there's something." I tell her, putting my arms around her.
"Sherlock died this morning." she mumbles. Her cat. I know how much she loved that cat.
"Aw sweetie..I'm so sorry." I comfort her.
Grace offers a small smile and says, "Thank you Misha. For this. You always can make my day a hundred times better. I love you so much."
"I love you too." I reply.
When it becomes too dark, everyone heads indoors and gathers around to see Grace opening the gifts I got for her. They know how special the gifts are.
She takes a seat and I bring out the bags and boxes. I hand her the first one.
She slowly unwraps the wrapping paper and pulls out the photo album. I put a note with it that reads; "This for all the memories we are going to share with each other."
She opens her mouth to thank me but I tell her to wait until the end.
Then the second one.
A Polaroid camera, with a note; "For us to take silly pictures and look back at them and laugh."
The last gift.
A necklace. Inside are pictures of us.
With a final note, "You can hold onto this after I'm gone. So you won't forget how much I love you."
Tears stream down Grace's cheek and she jumps up into my arms. A long, warm embrace as she says "Thank you" over and over again. She whispers how much she loves me and tells me this is the best birthday she has ever had.
I don't listen much, I just focus on her, not her talking. I focus on her smiling and crying and it all feels so real to me. She makes me feel like I can do anything. As long as I have my Gracie with me everything will be okay.
Did you like this chapter? It took me a while to write it haha. Thank you for reading and have a great day!❤️