Heaven Help Us

Happy Birthday

The next day, I woke up with Rain and had breakfast with Jepha, Dante, Rain, Raven, and Asher.

Then Dante took Jeph to the mall for a bit so that the rest of us could finish wrapping Jeph’s presents and setting up the party.

Sammi, Alice, Jinxx, Brent, CC, Lauren, Ray, J.C., Christa, and everybody came up right after we were finished wrapping so that they could help set up the party.

The gifts were on a table and there was black and silver streamer everywhere. The cake was a very large Batman symbol. I knew Jepha would love it. Hell, I was a little jealous.

I had gotten him art supplies, and a very special surprise: Signed Batman posters. They were of his favorite actors. One was Michael Keaton as Batman and another was Jack Nicholson as the Joker, both from Batman (1989, Tim Burton); Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow from Batman Begins; Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face from The Dark Knight; and then there was Tom Hardy as Bane, from The Dark Knight Rises.

Rain smiled at me as we heard the door open and Dante and Jeph came in.

“Happy birthday, Jepha!” Everyone said when he walked into the living room.

The party itself was fairly uneventful; adults wishing him happy birthday, hugs being exchanged, the kids running around and playing games.

The best part of the party was after he had opened the gifts I had gotten him. With everybody else, he had kindly thanked them, grinning, and continued opening presents. But after he saw the signed Batman posters, his mouth dropped open and he ran over to give me a bear hug. I hugged back tightly and said, “Happy birthday, kiddo.”

“Thank you so much, Daddy!” He pulled away and looked at Rain. “Can we hang them up later, please? I want them right over my bed!”

“Of course we can,” She smiled. “Daddy can help you; he’s super tall.”

“Yay! This is the best birthday ever!”  

He played with the other kids and Rain, Dante, Raven, Asher and I took his presents to the places they needed to be. Rain, Raven, and Asher kept everyone busy while Dante and I worked on hanging the posters up.

He handed me a nail and hammer as I stood on Jeph’s bed. We worked in silence until he handed me the first poster.

As I stared at Jack Nicholson’s face, I blurted out what I had hoped to build up to: “I’m going to ask her to marry me.”

Dante blinked at me.

I took a deep breath and faced him. “I’m going to ask Rain to marry me.”

He seemed to come to terms with what I was saying. “Okay. Why are you telling me this?”

“Well, I need your help…Could you hand me the next nail?”

He did.

I hammered it in and thought about how to word what I needed him to do. When I finished I held down my hand for the poster of Batman. I put it on the nail next to the Joker and adjusted it.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to wait a year…exactly a year from today…and then do it. But around a week before that, I need you to get a hold of the ring Rain has…

I hammered in another nail next to Batman and hung up Scarecrow so that Batman was in the middle of him and the Joker.

“It’s the one I proposed to her with before. I want it to be even more special this time, but that ring has to be the one I use.”

Above the Batman poster I hung up Bane.

“It’s got a lot of meaning behind it.”

And below Batman, I hung Two-Face.

“Okay. I can do that.”

I stepped down to the floor and looked at him. “Thank you. I owe you big time.”

“It’s nothing, really. Don’t consider it a favor, just me aiding fate.”

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