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Lexi rolls over, looks at me, and then puts her arms out into a stretch. “It’s not my birthday yet. My birthday is November 10,” she says, yawning. She sits up in bed. Her bed hair is crazy. It looks like a caramel poof of cotton candy.
“I know that, but we’re celebrating all weekend.” Her birthday is officially tomorrow but this is her first birthday without her family, and I want to make it extra special for her. “So get up and let’s eat so we can go have some fun,” I say, leaning over and tickling her. Her eyes widen.
“Fun? Where are we going?” She jumps up on her bed. I stand and start walking out of the room.
“You’re just going to have to get up and see.”
“Wait for me!” She jumps off her bed and comes running after me. I run into the living room where Aiden waits with her first surprise.
A squeal so loud I’m certain it just woke up every neighbor I have comes out of her mouth. She takes a flying leap and lands on the human-size, white teddy bear. “I love it,” she says, her voice muffled from her face being buried in the belly of the bear.
When she digs her way out of the bear she jumps into Aiden’s arms. “Thanks, Aiden.”
“You’re welcome, Tater Tot.” He kisses her on the head. “You need to eat so we can go ride some rides.”
She jumps up and down. “Are we going skydiving?” I laugh out loud. That would be a no.
“Lulu, do you know what skydiving is?” I ask.
She nods her head. “It’s a ride and we fly through the air.” She has pictures from when Aiden and I went, but I guess she doesn’t realize how far up we were. Aiden’s sitting on the couch with his fingers over his lips, contemplating something. If he thinks we’re taking Lexi skydiving, he better think again.
“You do fly through the air, but you jump out of a plane.” Her eyes widen in surprise.
“Like Max’s airplane?”
“It was out of Max’s airplane, but a different one than you’ve been on,” I reply.
Her mouth drops open and her little brows furrow. “I don’t think I want to go skydiving.”
“Tater Tot, it’s so much fun. Flying in the sky like a bird.” I glare at Aiden. What is he thinking? I just had her convinced it wasn’t a good thing. She glances at Aiden. Her lips pucker as she thinks.
“I can’t fly like a bird,” she says, her tone serious. “I’ve tried. I hurt my knees.” She points to her knees.
“Yeah, Aiden, she can’t fly. She’s too young,” I say through gritted teeth so maybe he’ll get the hint and stop trying to convince her. Instead, he winks at me and flashes a mischievous smile as he stands up. I narrow my eyes and shake my head.
“No, we’re not going skydiving. But I think you’ll love it when you do go.” He picks her up and throws her in the air like a ragdoll. She yelps on her way down. When he catches her, he says, “Today, we’re going to Coney Island.” She throws her hands in the air and screams in excitement. Then wraps her arms around his neck and squeezes.
“I haven’t been there before, but my brother went last year. I wanted to go so bad, but my mom said I was too young.”
“You’re a big six-year-old now,” Aiden says. “You’re definitely old enough.”
She grabs his face with her hands and whispers, “I’m not six until tomorrow.”
He leans his forehead against hers. “Shh. Nobody has to know that.”
Great. Now he’s encouraging her to lie. We’re going to make fantastic parents.
When we pull out of the parking garage, I glance back at Lexi in the backseat. She’s flashing a grin as big as her face. She’s bouncing with excitement. Her smile is infectious. I love looking at her little face.
The drive isn’t too long. Lexi and Aiden sing to the music on the radio. It melts my heart to hear them together.
“Tater Tot, if you look over there you can start to see a roller coaster,” Aiden says, pointing out my window. Lexi squeals and claps. “Look, you can see the ocean, too.”
“Are we going to swim in the ocean?” Lexi asks excitedly.
“The water is too cold,” I respond.
“Okay,” she sighs.
