Happy birthday!
A Neighbor from Hell Birthday
A Little Over Sixteen Years Ago…
As Zoe stood there with her forehead pressed against the cold glass, staring out of Bradford Construction’s office trailer, watching as her husband grabbed a fresh nail gun from the supply shed and made his way back to the old Victorian mansion that Bradford Construction was being paid a fortune to renovate, she realized something important.
He forgot her birthday.
For a moment, she could only stand there, holding her breath as she watched the double-ornate front doors, waiting for the moment when he realized just how badly he screwed up and rushed back outside to make this right. When the doors didn’t open after a few minutes, Zoe slowly exhaled as she stepped back away from the window as the realization that her husband forgot about her birthday hit, and when it did…
“Oh, thank God,” Zoe mumbled weakly as she continued moving back, her terrified gaze remaining locked on the double-ornate doors as she blindly reached over and grabbed her bag off her desk, praying every step of the way that those doors stayed closed.
She-
“Oh, God, no…”
-watched in terror as the double-ornate doors opened and Trevor walked back outside.
She held her breath as she watched her husband make his way to his truck and grabbed a toolbox only to slowly exhale as she watched him make his way back to the house. As soon as the doors closed behind him, Zoe was moving, knowing that it was now or never.
With that in mind, Zoe hugged her bag against her chest and moved her butt, making her way out the door and carefully down the walkway to her car and-
Went still when the front door opened again.
That was followed by panicking, ducking behind her Jeep, and squeezing her eyes shut while she debated making a run for it, which of course, meant waddling as fast as her uncoordinated legs would take her back to the trailer, where she fully planned on barricading herself inside so that she could curl up on the couch and finally pass out.
God, she was so tired.
She couldn’t remember ever being this tired before, Zoe thought, placing her hand over the soft swell of her belly as she slowly, ever so slowly, raised her head and peeked over the hood of her Jeep and-
Found herself wondering where her husband was.
Swallowing hard, her gaze shot to the double-ornate doors to find them closed before taking in the dark windows, the flood lights lighting up the yard and-
“What are you doing?” came the softly whispered question in her ear that had her going still.
“Nothing?” Zoe said, really wishing that didn’t come off as a question while she struggled not to panic.
“I see,” Trevor murmured while she knelt there, really hoping that he left it at that. “And the reason why you’re kneeling on the ground?”
“I’m checking the air in my tire?” Zoe said, proud of herself for coming up with something that would save her ass.
“By pressing your forehead against the side of your Jeep?” Trevor asked, making her wince.
Clearing her throat, Zoe used her hold on the hood to pull herself back up and said, “I was calculating the PSI to the umm, tire air ratio thingie,” with a firm nod and a gesture in the general direction of the tire.
“And what number did you come up with?” Trevor asked, throwing her a curious look as he stood up.
“A hundred?” Zoe said, watching his lips twitch.
“That would make things interesting,” Trevor murmured absently as he considered her for a moment.
“It helps with the traction,” Zoe said, pulling her backpack up so that she could hug it against her chest while she struggled to keep it together.
“That’s what I heard,” Trevor drawled while Zoe stood there, admittedly debated tossing her backpack on the ground and using it as a pillow or giving in to the urge and crying.
Both options were tempting at the moment.
For the first time in her life, she’d actually been looking forward to her birthday. Growing up in foster care, the only thing that she could look forward to on her birthday was an unsigned birthday card from her case worker and the occasional grocery store birthday cake when her foster parents felt generous. This year, she was married to the man of her dreams, which, of course, meant that she’d been counting down the days until she could find out what it meant to be spoiled on her birthday only to end up praying that he forgot.
So, when she opened her eyes this morning and her husband didn’t start her day off by spoiling her with a flowers, balloons, breakfast in bed and professions of his undying love, she was actually okay with that, especially since he let her sleep in late, had blueberry Pop-Tarts waiting for her along with a cup of chocolate milk since she wasn’t allowed to have caffeine while she was pregnant.
That was followed by having her anti-nausea meds waiting, a glass of ginger ale, and starting the shower for her, ensuring that the water was at the perfect temperature, and waking her up after she gave into the urge to curl up into the fetal position on the shower floor and take a nap before it was time to leave. She followed that up by grumbling, sobbing hysterically for some reason, and finally, a trip to Dixon’s Bakery to find her husband waiting for her with a lovely selection of donuts, pastries, and an egg sandwich that went a long way to make her feel better.
After that, she drove to work, got started on invoices, returned emails, and paused for a mid-morning treat that somehow ended with her crying when she saw the cutest cupcake that she’d ever seen in her life on the coffee truck. That led to Uncle Jared panicking when he found her on the couch, curled up into the fetal position, crying over the previously mentioned cupcake, waddling after him when he went to get Trevor, and shoving the adorable cupcake down his throat to keep him quiet.
After making sure that he wasn’t going to tell Trevor and ensuring him that she was fine, Zoe spent the next six hours at her desk, struggling to stay awake while she sent wistful glances at the couch as she thought about just how good it was going to feel to crawl back into bed tonight and close her eyes.
God, she was tired all the time and when she wasn’t tired, she was hungry and when she wasn’t hungry, she was cranky and crying uncontrollably for absolutely no reason, but mostly, she was tired. She didn’t realize how exhausting it was to carry twins, and to be honest, she wasn’t sure how she was going to survive four more months of this.
She just…
She just really wanted a nap, a burger, perhaps a pizza, maybe a muffin, definitely some Chinese food, and to follow that up with a big slice of birthday cake with extra buttercream frosting. She no longer cared about her birthday or the fact that he forgot about it.
Nothing else mattered but passing out for the next twelve hours.
She-
“I’m going to grab some overtime tonight. Will you be okay?” Trevor asked, reaching over to push a strand of hair behind her ear as her eyes darted to the old Victorian mansion.
“On the house?” Zoe asked, noting that all the lights were off in the house before glancing back to find her husband watching her curiously.
“Mmmhmm,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I shouldn’t be more than a few hours.”
“A few hours,” Zoe murmured back as a sneaking suspicion had her glancing back at the house and swallowing hard, praying that he wasn’t planning on trying to surprise her with a party.
“Unless you need me?” Trevor asked, throwing her a questioning look as he took her bag from her and opened her door so that he could toss it on the passenger-side seat.
“No, I’m fine,” Zoe said, watching him closely.
“Then, I’ll see you at home,” Trevor said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers.
“See you at home,” Zoe murmured absently as she watched him make his way to the supply shed.
She narrowed her eyes on him as she watched him disappear in the shed only to reappear a moment later with a saw in his hands. She watched as he made his way back to the Victorian mansion, where he disappeared inside seconds before the lights were turned back on and-
Realized that she was wasting precious time.
Releasing a shaky breath, Zoe watched the old Victorian mansion for another minute before she climbed into her Jeep, and after nodding to herself, closed her door, started her Jeep and started the fifteen-minute drive home, all while praying that she wasn’t about to walk into her first surprise party. As much as she loved Trevor’s family, more than anything, she just wanted to pass out.
As she turned onto her street, Zoe worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she took in all the cars lining their street only to sigh in relief when she spotted the blue and white balloons at a neighbor’s house. She paused in front of her house, her gaze flickering between the empty driveway to her house, noting that all the lights were off.
Telling herself that she was just being paranoid, Zoe shook her head with a sigh as she parked her car and grabbed her bag before making her way to her front door, where she admittedly gave into paranoia and pressed her ear against the door. When she didn’t hear anything, she pulled her keys out of her bag and quietly let herself inside, listening for any signs that she wasn’t alone and when she didn’t hear anything, she made her way across the small foyer separating their apartment from her old one, let herself inside and when no one jumped out screaming, “Surprise,” she made quick work of giving her doggies kisses, snuggles, fed them, and let them outside.
While they were putting the new fence that Trevor put up a few months ago to good use, she made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and devoured it, a sleeve of chocolate chip cookies, the rest of the chocolate milk, and a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream to appease the twins currently pressing down on her bladder. As soon as she was done, she made her way upstairs, somehow resisted the urge to take a hot bath and settled for a quick shower instead before she pulled on one of her husband’s Bradford Construction tee-shirts.
A minute later, she was crawling into bed, curling up onto her side and-
“Sweetheart?” came the soft whisper that had her grumbling as she blindly grabbed the blankets and pulled them over her head. “Zoe?”
“Sleeping,” she mumbled crankily as she moved to roll over onto her stomach only to think better of it when the move caused the twins to press down on her bladder. She-
Really needed to use the bathroom.
Shoving the blankets aside, she struggled to sit up, got to her feet with her husband’s help, stumbled a bit there to the left, righted herself, stumbled again, winced when the early morning sunlight streaming in through the windows blinded her, and kept going, focused on getting to the bathroom in time.
Five minutes later, Zoe was stumbling her way towards the bathroom sink to wash her hands. After struggling to squirt soap into her hand, she managed to wash her hands before grabbing a towel and-
He forgot her birthday.
*-*-*-*
“Zoe?” Trevor said, only to bite back a curse when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sniffle.
Shit!
“Go away,” came the sadly mumbled words that had him closing his eyes and dropping his forehead against the bathroom door.
Christ, he’d fucked up.
“Zoe,” Trevor said, only to feel his stomach drop when she said, “I hate you.”
“Zoe, I-” he said, only to sigh when she mumbled, “Go away.”
“You know that I can’t do that,” Trevor said, wondering how he fucked this up so badly.
He debated giving her a few minutes to calm down, but…
“You don’t love me,” came the sadly mumbled announcement that had him opening the bathroom door and biting back a sigh when he found his extremely hormonal wife curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, hugging a hand towel against her chest.
“And what makes you think that?” Trevor asked, carefully stepping around her and sat down with his back against the tub so that he could reach over and pick up his incredibly adorable wife.
“No, I hate you,” Zoe mumbled with a sniffle as she pointedly looked away from him as he pulled her onto his lap.
“Any particular reason why?” Trevor asked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“You know why,” Zoe mumbled sadly as she buried her face against his chest.
“Is it because I ate the last double chocolate donut yesterday?” Trevor asked, only to feel his lips twitch when she released a shuddering sigh.
“It’s definitely going to be the reason why I divorce you, but no,” Zoe said, making sure to add a sniffle at the end there as he placed his hand over the soft swell of her belly and closed his eyes as he felt their babies push against his hand.
“And the reason that you hate me…” Trevor said, letting his words trail off.
“You know why,” Zoe mumbled sadly against his chest.
“Do I at least get a hint?” Trevor asked, unable to resist kissing her forehead again.
“You don’t deserve a hint,” she said, resorting to grumbling.
“I must have really pissed you off,” Trevor said, absently caressing her belly.
There was a sniffle, and then, a sadly mumbled, “You really did,” making his lips twitch.
“Is it because I made you pancakes instead of french toast for your birthday?” Trevor asked, regretting his decision not to make both when he had the chance.
“You didn’t make me anything for my birthday,” Zoe mumbled sadly only to add a sniffle at the end, making him frown only to end cursing when he realized just how badly he’d fucked this up.
“Hold on,” he said, adjusting his hold on her as he carefully got to his feet and stood up, adjusting her in his arms again before he made his way back into their bedroom and-
“I love balloons,” Zoe mumbled, following that up with a sniffle as she took in the balloons he’d placed around the room.
“I know you do, sweetheart,” Trevor said, kissing her forehead as he carried her back to bed, pausing by the nightstand so that she could take in the bouquet of white roses that he’d gone to five different florists to find.
“I’m still mad at you,” Zoe grumbled pathetically as he placed her down on the bed, careful not to disturb the tray overflowing with all of her favorite breakfast items that he’d left on the bed when the stumbling began.
“I can make you french toast if that helps,” Trevor said, watching as Zoe helped herself to of a piece of bacon.
There was a sniffle, and then…
“I love french toast.”
“I know you do,” Trevor said as he sat down next to her. “Do you want to tell me why you’re mad at me?”
Nibbling on her slice of bacon, she mumbled, “You forgot my birthday,” making him go still. That was followed by frowning in confusion as he slowly took in everything from the balloons he’d placed around the room to the presents that he’d placed at the end of the bad and couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she was talking about.
“Sweetheart, what day do you think it is?” Trevor found himself asking as he thought about the conversation that he had with Uncle Jared yesterday.
“The twenty-sixth,” Zoe mumbled sadly as she helped herself to another slice of bacon as he bit back a smile that she definitely wouldn’t appreciate at the moment.
“It’s the twenty-fifth,” Trevor said, watching as she frowned mid-nibble.
“No, it’s not,” she said, looking adorably confused.
“Sweetheart,” Trevor said, leaning over to kiss the tip of her nose, “today’s your birthday.”
“But yesterday-”
“You scared the living hell out of Uncle Jared for nothing,” Trevor said, watching as she struggled to bite back a wince.
“He left me with no choice when he threatened to talk,” Zoe said with a wistful sigh as she finished off her slice of bacon and focused her attention on the rest of the tray.
“Which explains why you shoved a cupcake down his throat and threatened to cry if he so much as looked in my direction,” Trevor drawled.
Nodding, Zoe said, “It was a promise.”
“I’m sure it was,” Trevor murmured, reaching over to steal a sausage link only to rethink that decision when his wife narrowed her eyes on the move.
“So,” Zoe said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she took in everything, “you didn’t forget my birthday?”
“No,” Trevor said, feeling his features soften as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, “I didn’t forget about your birthday.”
“And you’re planning on spoiling me?” she asked, making his lips pull up into a smile.
“I thought about it,” Trevor said as he reached for her.
“And what did you think about?” Zoe asked as she climbed onto his lap.
“First, I thought I’d spoil you with breakfast in bed,” Trevor said, helping her settle on his lap, “Then, I thought I’d take you anywhere you wanted for lunch.”
“I’d like to enjoy lunch from the comfort of this bed,” Zoe said, making his lips twitch.
“I suppose we could do that,” Trevor murmured, placing his hand on the soft swell of her belly as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. “I’m assuming dinner will also take place here.”
“You assumed correctly,” Zoe assured him as she wrapped her arms around him.
“I’ll, of course, be at your beck and call, seeing to your every need,” Trevor said, loving the way that her lips felt as they pulled up into a pleased smile against his.
“I expected nothing less,” Zoe said, brushing her lips slowly against his.
“And then tomorrow, I’ll use an asinine excuse to bring you to Uncle Jared’s house so that everyone that adores you can spoil you,” Trevor said, only to groan when she shifted on his lap, the move forcing him to bite back a groan.
“Will there be cake?” Zoe asked, rolling her hips in a way that had him reaching back to push the tray out of the way.
“Chocolate and vanilla with extra buttercream frosting,” Trevor assured her as he allowed her to push him back on the bed and-
“You want me to go grab a slice of cake now, don’t you?” he asked when she suddenly went still.
Nodding, Zoe said, “One of each.”
Happy Birthday!