Page 79 of Eight Weeks
My eyes almost fall out of my head when I look at the hung-up fairy lights. Not justanyfairy lights… they’re floating lantern fairy lights, hanging all around the barn and especially over the huge table in the middle of it.
The next thing I take in are the flowers. So fucking many of them, it’s impossible to count them. And like I’m not already close to bawling my eyes out, the bouquets are a mix of light purple lilacs, purple hydrangeas, and wisterias. A few are lined up on the floor to make up an aisle to walk toward the table, an aisle like you’d get on your wedding day, only this one seems a little less professionally placed. But I am in love with the look of it anyway.
And then I spot my birthday cake in the middle of the table, gasping when it’s a white two-tier cake with purple flowers all over the cake.
“Aaron,” I manage to force out, my voice strained from the force of tears I try to suppress.
“I couldn’t give you a wedding yet, but I could make your birthday almost as magical.”
This is crazy.Heis crazy.
It gets even crazier though. Aaron managed to make every single person in this room wear light purple clothes. Even my goddamn sister and ex-boyfriend. And to make itevencrazier… Lily and Colin are here.
How the fuck did he do all this? How did Aaron manage to pull all of this off without me noticing? He never left my side, he had absolutely no time to plan any of this… except for yesterday. But surely all this isn’t a one-day kind of work.
“You made my wedding dreams come true.” I hiccup lightly as I can feel a tear roll down my cheek. “For mybirthday.” Still can’t believe it. All this seems a little… surreal. With every second that passes, I wonder when I will open my eyes and wake up from my dream, because this, there is no way this is real.
“You like it?” He turns me around to look at him, bringing his index finger underneath my chin to lift my face.
I shake my head. “I love it, thank you.” Bringing both of my hands to his jawline, I pull Aaron down to me, pressing my lips to his without caring about my family and friends… and Leon watching us.
Aaron’s lays his hands on my waist, pulling me into his body, like he does every single time when we kiss. I never thought getting pulled into someone’s body was going to make my head spin, but it sure as hell does with him.
“Sofia!” a little boy yells from the enormous table, followed by a giggle.
I pull away from Aaron, looking at Nick with a huge smile. Nick is the son of one of our neighbors, five years old and always up to spend his time here in the barn. He also happens to be Jane’s younger brother, so naturally, he uses every chance he gets to come here.
“Mommy said Santa won’t come until you open your birthday presents,” he says, running toward me. Once he reaches Aaron and me, Nick holds on to my hand, trying his best to pull me after him. “Please can you open your birthday presents so Santa can come?”
Aaron looks at me a little confused, and only then do I remember that he didn’t understand a single word of what Nick has said. It doesn’t matter anyway, wasn’t his conversation.
So I kneel down to Nick, still holding his hand. “Did you get me a present for my birthday?” He nods proudly. “Can I open it first?”
“JA!” He jumps up and down all excitedly, making me chuckle. And just like that, he runs off towards the table filled with surprisingly a hell lot of presents.
I get back up but instead of looking at Aaron, what I’ve wanted to do, my eyes find Julia’s. She looks mad, as though she’s moments away from bursting into flames because today isn’t about her. And when Leon whispers something into her ear, her frown only deepens.
That’s new.
Leon gets up from his chair, asking for everyone’s attention. That fucker. He’s really going to propose to Julia on my birthday, isn’t he?
Nope, he isn’t. Because the next thing I know, Aaron reaches for my hand, intertwines them once more, and leads me down the flower aisle to get to the table. “Thank you all for sacrificing your Christmas Eve to be here tonight.”
I look at Lily, finding her forcing a serious expression. Colin has an arm swung around her shoulders, doing the exact same face as her. Something’s up. I’m not quite sure yet what it is, but I suppose I will find out sooner or later. I just hope Aaron hasn’t lost his mind completely and planned to top Leon’s proposal by pulling one himself.
Attempting to ease my anxiety about it, I just have to ask. “You do not plan on proposing to me, are you?” It’s quiet enough for only Aaron to hear.
He laughs. “Not tonight, Icicle. That’s my plan for New Year’s Eve.”
Again, Leon tries to get everyone’s attention. He starts to speak about having some kind of big thing planned but then he gets interrupted again. This time by Colin, not Aaron.
“So, how’s this whole thing work here? I’ve never celebrated a birthday on Christmas Eve.”
Leon rolls his eyes.
My mother basically gives Colin a rundown of a traditional German Christmas Eve, only that we’re not going to church tonight and instead of just eating dinner, we’ll have a birthday party as well. All while Aaron leads me over to our seats. I sit down, he doesn’t.
Nick comes back from the present table, standing next to me as he hands me his present. I take it, only for him to quickly run back to his seat, watching me open it.
