Page 44 of The Fine Art of Faking It
Gia bustled in mother-henning four other kids and juggling baby Lydia on her hip. Evan, Aurora’s older brother, shuffled in with his hands in his pockets.
“Ready for the party?” Eden asked him brightly.
He sighed a worldly sigh for thirteen. “Family obligations.”
“Well, if your family obligations allow, there’s a library across the hall with absolutely zero eight-year-olds in it,” Eden told him, nudging him toward the doorway so he could see.
“Awesome.”
“This looks perfect, Eden,” Gia sighed, handing the baby off to Beckett who gave them each a kiss on the head.
“If Aurora’s happy, I’m happy.”
More guests arrived—including a reluctant Joey Pierce and her soon-to-be-adopted son Caleb. Joey helped herself to two cookies off the adult treat table and promised she’d help with crowd control as long as she wasn’t forced to play any dumb games.
Caleb ran over to a pretty little girl with black braids and hugged her.
“Jesus,” Joey sighed. “He’s his father’s son.” Joey was referring to her husband, Jax, an infamous flirt in his teenage years.
Eden busied herself making sure all the adults—there were few who actually stuck it out for kid birthday parties at this age—had refreshments. She stutter-stepped around kids and gifts on her way to the buffet when she spotted Davis dressed casually—why did he have to make jeans and a sweater look so effortlessly sexy?—standing in the doorway, his hand on a little boy’s shoulder. Davis had a child’s backpack slung over one shoulder. The boy was clutching a tablet and looking at the floor.
“Rubin!” Aurora called from the head of the table where she was blowing bubbles into her goblet of chocolate milk. She hopped off the chair and went to greet him. She bent at the waist to peer up into his face. “Remember? We look up, okay?”
Rubin bounced a little in his shoes and finally spared a glance upward.
“Good job,” Aurora said softly.
“Mama, Miss Eden, this is my friend Rubin. He has autism, and he doesn’t talk but has this cool tablet that talks in a robot voice for him. Say something cool, Rubin,” she prodded.
Rubin turned his attention to the tablet in his hands.
“Want cake,” the android voice announced.
“I can make that happen, Rubin,” Eden told him. He shuffled from foot to foot.
“Rubin, you’re supposta say ‘please,’” Aurora reminded him.
Another button push. “Please.”
“Come on. You can sit by me,” Aurora said, guiding her little friend to the table.
“Davis, you are my personal hero,” Gia sighed. “Eden, did you know that Davis is Rubin’s family’s inclusion mentor?”
A few years back, Blue Moon had started the Inclusion Committee. Where the Beautification Committee was an underhanded, ill-disguised matchmaking service, the Inclusion Committee served a real and lovely purpose. They worked to properly integrate new families into the Blue Moon community. The move was often a culture shock for new residents. And the town council wanted to make it a seamless transition by helping neighbors learn how best to make new families feel welcome.
“He actually volunteered to bring two kids that aren’t his to a kid birthday party so their parents could get a break. It’s swoon-worthy, isn’t it?” She elbowed Eden in the side.
Eden refused to take the Beautification Committee-laid bait and remained silent. If the B.C. wanted her and Davis to fall madly in love, well, they could retire waiting.
“Your daughter is my hero,” Davis countered. “Aurora’s class takes turns visiting the special kids program. She’s Rubin’s inclusion buddy at school. She takes him to art class with her.”
Eden made a mental note to add an extra layer of frosting to Aurora’s cupcake. If this was the kind of generation Blue Moon was raising, the world was going to be okay.
Davis pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket.
“Here are some of the highlights on Rubin and his sister, Claudia. She’s washing her hands.” Eden skimmed the paper which included the specifics of Rubin’s diagnosis, triggers, and likes and dislikes.
“When he gets overwhelmed, he starts ‘stimming’—self-stimulatory behavior,” Davis explained. “So we need to watch for hand flapping and pacing. Unfortunately, those are also symptoms of Rubin having a good time.”
