Saving Me| A Seaycee Story

24

Kaycee rubbed her eyes tiredly, waking in an empty. The sunlight that lit up the room made her squint. With a slight yawn, she slipped on her slippers and made her way to Sean's bathroom.

She brushed her teeth and washed her face, leaving her hair in the messy bun on top of her head. Satisfied with her decent appearance, she exited the room to find Sean. Hearing shuffling towards the kitchen, Kaycee set it as her destination. Once she pushed open the door, she was welcomed with darkness.

In confusion, she turned on the light. "Surprise!" Everyone yelled. Bursts of confetti fell over her, some landing on her shoulders and in her hair. The counter was filled with her favorite breakfast foods from waffles to a mini parfait bar contaning her favorite ingredients, balloons that spelled out her name in gold and bold along with shimmery strips, and a banner above them that read "Happy Birthday".

Scattered around the room were Sean, Bailey, Tahani, Sam, Julian, Josh, her siblings, and her parents. Oreo came running to her, jumping from Josh's arms and licked at her legs. Kaycee giggled, picking her up and petting her sweetly.

A smile spread on the birthday girl's face, her eyes crinkling with happiness. "Aww! You guys didn't have to do all of this." She cooed, hugging Bailey first. Everybody watched happily as she went around the room and hugged everyone.

It felt nice after a week of work and stress. After the success from the banquet and other companies collaborating with theirs, the whole Rice family had spent the week working nearly twice as many hours as they did before. Sean and Kaycee barely saw each other outside of the mornings and nights. They barely even had the chance to talk much because they both would be swamped.

Sean didn't mind though because it allowed him to keep the surprise a secret and he could refrain from ruining it. During the day he'd work, then during the evening while Kaycee was still at the office he was setting up appointments for his girlfriend and collecting the decor along with ingredients to make the surprise happen.

"It was Sean's idea. He got us all together just so we could surprise you." Laura beamed, receiving a glare from Sean as she hugged her daughter.

"You weren't supposed to tell her." He sighed, running a hand down his face. The small smile on Kaycee's face only widened when she turned to him.

"I would've assumed anyway." She shrugged happily, wrapping her arms around his torso. He hugged her back, kissing her on the forehead. "Happy birthday, angel." He smiled.

"Thank you, moon." She responded, pecking his lips. Sean let go after a few moments, beginning to serve plates with the assistance of Julian and Sam. They all sat in the living room, some of them on the couch and others on the floor at the coffee table.

While they ate, they all talked and laughed without having a care in the world. Kaycee happily ate a perfectly toasted Belgian waffle, made from scratch by her boyfriend. To her dismay, Sean didn't sit down and eat with them but instead was gathering her wrapped gifts to the living room, waiting to be opened.

He was far too excited to watch her light up at each and every gift he and her friends had ready. Without her knowledge, he had her day planned down to the evening hours of the day. He'd have tonight with her, which he was somewhat nervous about.

"Okay! Time for gifts, birthday girl." Brad chirped, clapping his hands. Kaycee smiled sheepishly at all the attention but adored everyone for being so loving. Sean handed her whichever one she chose from the pile and handed it to her.

With pleading eyes, Kaycee silently asked Sean to sit with her, to which he obliged. "From Sam. Hm," She smiled while tearing the paper open. Resting in her hands was a hardcover James Patterson book, 'The Murder House'. She recalled Kaycee talking about how much she wanted to read it while they went ice skating so she made sure to look into it.