Page 108 of Finding Us

“I have no idea. I’ve never been to a birthday party.”

“You’ve at least been to your own, so what did you do?”

I haven’t told Harper much about my childhood. She knows about my mom, but I didn’t go into details. She doesn’t know that I never celebrated my birthday.

“I didn’t have parties. My mom was a drunk, remember? There was no way she could plan a party.”

“Oh.” She gazes at her pink toes propped up on the table. “Well, what do you think of a princess theme?”

“I don’t know. That seems so overdone. How about a fairy theme? The party’s going to be around Grace’s flower garden. Don’t fairies hang around flowers?”

Harper sets her feet on the floor and sits up. “Yes! That’s perfect!”

“So are we done now or what else do I need to do? Should I buy her a fairy costume or a wand or something?”

“Let me do it! I’ll get some of that glitter lotion and glitter nail polish.”

“Harper, don’t go overboard. It’s just a small party.”

“What are you guys doing?” Garret walks downstairs, fresh from his shower, his hair still wet. He’s shirtless because he didn’t expect Harper to be here. He looks so freaking hot I can’t take my eyes off him. And I’m married to this guy! I have the hottest husband on the planet. Harper needs to leave so I can do what I’m supposed to be doing on my honeymoon.

“We’re planning Lilly’s party,” Harper says. “Jade came up with a fairy theme.”

Garret comes behind the couch and leans down to kiss me. “A fairy theme, huh?”

I shrug. “They hang out in gardens around flowers so it made sense.”

“And when did you become an expert on fairies?”

“I’m not really an expert. I’ve just seen them in cartoons.”

“Garret, do you have any suggestions?” Harper asks. “What does Lilly like?”

“Let me grab a shirt quick. I’ll be right back.”

“You don’t have to—” Harper and I say it at the same time. I look over and see her blushing.

Garret’s staring at both of us, confused. “Um, yeah, I’ll be right back.”

I wait for him to go upstairs, then say, “Were you just checking out my husband?”

She smiles. “He’s hot. Can’t I look? I don’t care if you check Sean out.”

“Sean’s hot, but I don’t check him out.”

“Well, you can if you want to. I don’t mind. It’s not like you can’t ever look at a hot guy again now that you’re married.” She checks behind her to make sure Garret’s not there. “And come on, Jade. Your husband’s abs are freaking amazing. A girl’s gonna look at that. Any girl. Not just me.” She twirls a strand of her hair around her finger. “Sean has good abs, too, but notthatgood.”

Garret walks back down wearing a fitted gray t-shirt. Harper sees his abs are now covered with fabric and she looks disappointed. I try not to laugh.

“Why is it so quiet down here?” he asks, going to the fridge. “Did I interrupt something?”

“Just some girl talk,” I say, looking at Harper. “But we’re done now.”

Garret comes over with a bottle of water and sits next to me on the couch. “Harper, don’t worry about Lilly’s party. A cake and some balloons are all she needs. And I’ll take care of that stuff.”

“Sean really wants to make her a cake. He’s never made a kid’s cake, other than in his pastry classes.”

“Then I guess I’ll just get some balloons.”

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