Page 67 of Caged
Danny turned to Marshall. "You planned this."
"I did." Marshall smiled. "Well, I had help. Everyone was excited to assist."
Still fighting not to cry, he looked around, taking in the balloons, the banner that read, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' in big gold letters, and the streamers. It was perfect. He couldn't remember a birthday so great, even when he'd been little, at home with his mom. "I was excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hadn't even thought about celebrating my birthday."
"We're going to celebrate all the holidays and birthdays together now. Next up is Halloween, so be thinking of some great costumes for us." Marshall grinned.
It was too much. Tears stung his eyes and he swiped at them.
"Hey." Marshall pulled him into a hug. "This is what friends do for each other."
"I'm sorry. I just didn't expect any of this."
"That's the whole idea around a surprise party." Marshall kissed a tear from his cheek.
"Thanks." Danny took a deep breath before turning and looking at the group. "Thank you. You guys really are the best." He shook his head. "I didn't even remember it was my birthday until late this afternoon, but you guys knew and planned this. That means a lot to me."
"You're one of us now. Get used to these kinds of things." D grinned.
Marshall kept an arm around his waist. "It might be his birthday, but he brought us all a present. He spent the day with Jess baking." Marshall pointed to the table where the cookies and cake were.
"Ah, that might be the best friendship ever. If you and Jess keep baking, we'll all be happy." Jeremy reached for a cookie.
"Don't ruin your dinner," Jessica called.
"Yes, Mom," Patrick teased.
Danny looked around at the food on the tables and the barbecue filled with burgers and fries. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"And take all the fun out of the surprise? I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I wanted to say happy birthday first thing this morning but didn't want you knowing I knew. From here on out, I won't have to hide it. Next year I can bring you cake in bed."
"Messy."
"But good." Marshall laughed. "Come on, let's go get burgers and settle down and visit."
Danny followed him to the grill, happier than he could ever remember being. Having friends was something he'd missed a lot while he was being held. He longed for someone to talk to, to laugh with. As he looked around the group, he had a hard time believing it was all real.
"They're a great group of guys." Faith sat down beside him. "Crazy at times, but as loyal as you'll ever find." She took a bite of her hot dog.
"I'm learning that. I was just thinking about how I used to wish I had just one person to call a friend while I was being held, and now, I have a lot of them."
"How long were you held?" Faith asked.
"Twelve years," Danny told her softly.
"Oh, wow. How did you… No, never mind. I know better than to ask about it. I hate when people ask me about my kidnapping." She shook her head. "Sorry."
"Wait, you were kidnapped too?" He'd had no idea. Then again, he'd just met her. It wasn't like all kidnap victims had a sign on their head announcing it.
"A few years ago, walking home from school." She looked right at him as she spoke as if she wasn't ashamed of it.
He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."
"I survived to see another day." She smiled. "It was hard at first, but slowly life gets easier. I wasn't held as long as you were. I'm guessing for you, adjusting to all this has to be hard. The first few years after I got back home, I couldn't be around a lot of people, and I hated anyone to touch me."
Danny nodded. "Being around people isn't too hard, but I'm always nervous the guy who took me will come back."
"They didn't catch him?"
