Page 46 of Finish Line
“Happy birthday, Caden,” I say to him as he reaches out to me. I take him from Bull and give him a big hug.
* * *
A couple hours later, Bull and I are sitting at the bar, watching the brothers and their Ol’ Ladies around the clubhouse. Some are playing pool while others are entertaining Caden and Fallon. Cali walks in, glances around and smiles when she finds Buster and Caden. I grab my phone, checking the time.
“Everyone should be arriving soon,” I whisper to Bull.
“We better give Caden his first gift then, huh?” He smiles at me.
“I was hoping you’d say that.” I reach over the bar and grab a small gift box wrapped in constellation wrapping paper. Bull and I walk over to Cali and Caden, sitting on the couch next to them.
“Hey, we have a little something for Caden.” I hand her the present.
“Aw, thank you!” She turns to Caden. “Hey, bud, you want to open a present?”
He moves toward her and smacks the box. Cali peels back some of the paper to make it easier for him to rip it open. Once he gets all the paper off, he loses interest in it. Cali opens the box and lifts the tissue paper.
“Oh my God! This is adorable!” She holds up a onesie that says, “Houston, we have a ONE-year-old!” with an astronaut and planets on it. “I love it. Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome,” I reply.
“I’m going to go change him into it now,” she says. She grabs Caden and heads to their room to change his clothes.
“Knock, knock,” Andrei, Cali’s dad and the head of the Bratva, says as he walks into the clubhouse. Behind him is a beautiful woman, who just by looking at her you can tell she’s related to Cali, and two young men who must be her brothers. Emma and Bash are not far behind them.
“Hey, welcome!” Buster jumps up to go greet them. “Cali just went to change Caden into his new birthday outfit.”
Bull introduces me to Cali’s family. We all sit down to talk and wait for Cali and Caden to come back out. A few minutes later, they walk out. Cali is talking to Caden, not paying attention to anyone else in the room when she looks up and pauses.
“What . . . What are you all doing here?” She asks, smiling with tears in her eyes.
“Surprise!” Emma and Bash shout as they rush over to hug her and Caden.
“The best surprise! I’m so glad you’re all here,” Cali says to her friends and family.
“That’s not the only surprise we have for you,” Buster tells her. “The other ladies have somethin’ for you.”
Minx bounces over to Cali, grinning. “Come, follow me.”
Everyone follows Minx, Cali and Caden to the backyard.
“Oh my God,” Cali cries. “You all did this? H-How? When? I thought . . .”
“The girls wanted to surprise you, so I told you we wouldn’t be able to have a party,” Bull explains to her.
“It’s amazing! Thank you,” she says.
The prospects follow us outside with trays of food. There are balloons everywhere. Some are black, blue, purple, and silver. Some are round, stars, and even moons. There’s even a rocket ship balloon that’s as big as Caden is. There are also paper planets hanging from the fairy lights. Everything came together so well.
Cali walks Caden over to the cake table. “When the hell did you guys get this?”
“Bash and I snuck it in yesterday while you were napping with Caden,” Emma tells her. The smash cake resembles the moon, while the cake for the guests is marbled to look like the milky way galaxy. Both are almost too cute to eat.
After everyone eats lunch, Cali chooses for Caden to do presents before cake. All the presents are set up in the shade by the cake table and Cali sits on the ground with Caden to help him open his gifts. He gets enough clothes for him to wear two or three different outfits every day for the next year, and of course, more toys than he’ll know what to do with.
Hollywood clears his throat and grins. “There’s, uh, two more presents under the table.”
“They aren’t wrapped,” Diesel adds with a smirk.
