twenty one
She turns twenty one: the bar rejoices, and the Rose throws a garage band show off that weekend. She wears a polka dotted dress that cuts off at her knees, and manages not to feel ridiculous.
***
Work the day of her birthday is ridiculous, Lobo having decided that on the day she's legal to drink she should and will become drunk as possible. She gives in for a couple beers and waves off any more, and just works instead, feeling more content dropping off drinks at people's tables than throwing up in the back room.
That morning, before she left her apartment, she found the following birthday presents:
A pancake flipping spatula from Aglaia, and two paintbrushes and easel from Alan.
A big card with drawings of Jack holding the hands of both Eion and Moira.
Tickets to see her favorite band in three weeks from Laurie and Liam.
A new drumset from Sam.
At work, she receives:
A raise, from Lobo.
A pair of dangling silver earrings, from BB.
A lecture on liquor, from Lobo.
When she comes home, the house smells like chocolate from her birthday cake, and the little ones immediately jump her and wrap their arms around her legs and hold on tight. Moira proudly shows her, through mental pictures projected in Jack's head like a movie, what they've been doing all day: eating peanut butter sandwiches and helping Laurie and Aglaia bake the cake.
Liam smiles at her from the staircase, almost bursting with joy at the sight of his baby girl drawing pictures with her mind, and Jack smiles at him and carries her bag upstairs to unwind and change.
***
She spreads out over her bed and buries her hands under her pillow, smelling the sweet smell of new sheets--Alan's doing, she's sure--and thinks about the number twenty one.
Three years of this.
***
For her birthday dinner Aglaia and Laurie cook a storm: all her favorite dishes. She can barely stuff her face fast enough without them claiming she needs meat on her bones and spooning more onto her plate. Eventually she has to hold up her hands and protest loudly, but kindly. Her cake is huge, with strawberry ice cream, and she eats two slices before getting up and reading Eion's bedtime story, which Moira listens in on, the two of them curled up around her as she reads.
Aedan comes home late from the hospital as they knew he would, and stands in the doorway as she reads to the little ones. She doesn't notice that he's there for almost half of the story, until she looks up and sees him smiling at her, his little half-smile, and smiles back shyly, and continues reading.
***
Things she receives from Aedan after she's finished reading and the little ones are conked out like two logs in a river:
A hairtie with a silver and green brooch on it.
A record player, red, with flames over the sides and bottom.
They sit out on the roof in the white bench, her stocking feet in his lap, and she watches the moon rise over the top of the buildings.
"So you're twenty one today," he says to her, rubbing the soles of her feet.
"Yes," she says, fingering the hem of her skirt between two thoughtful fingers.
"Legal to drink," he says, tickling the top of her toes. She kicks at him playfully; he keeps a careful grasp. "I'll buy you something tomorrow."
"You're a terrible doctor," she says, and he kisses the side of her ankle, smiling.
Twenty one can mean many things, but it's really only a number.
***
Things Jack has learned in the past three years:
You can learn to cook, as it's not a talent given from birth.
You can fall in love and fall out of love and get up from it.
You can find a family even if you weren't looking for one.
***
Life is like fire. You can climb into it and get burned, but it can also heat up your pancakes.