Miles To Go

Chapter Seventy-Eight

On Thursday, Rachel's fourth birthday and her first with her new family, Regina woke up earlier than normal just so she could bake a small cake to surprise Rachel with and while she was vehemently against sweets, a birthday cake could not be denied. Emma and Henry were up once the cake had cooled and the frosting done and they placed four candles on top and headed upstairs to wake Rachel up by singing happy birthday.

It had been Henry's idea to start her birthday out that way, right from the moment she woke up. They had plenty of activities planned for the day with both Regina and Emma having taken the day off work. The only qualm Henry had was the fact that he would still be going to school, but just for the morning as they had arranged for a private viewing of all three Toy Story movies at the local theater.

That morning, after they had vanilla cake before breakfast, they took Henry to school before swinging around to the cottage to see Granny, as she herself had requested they do. She had a gift for Rachel she wanted to give to her before her party that Saturday and while neither Regina or Emma knew what it was, but they were sure in for a big surprise when they arrived at the cottage.

Granny had not only ordered a small toy car for Rachel to ride around in, she got her a ton of Toy Story memorabilia that Regina and Emma had been unable to find to buy for her themselves. Rachel was beyond the moon with Granny's gifts and spent the rest of the morning driving around the property in her new toy car until the battery had died completely. Rachel ended up inviting Granny to the movies that afternoon and that in turn ended with her inviting Ruby and Kathryn as well.

The afternoon was spent at the theater, with regular scheduled bathroom breaks where the movie was paused so Rachel—even after having memorized the movies in almost three weeks—wouldn't miss a single moment. Despite filling up on buttery popcorn and juice, Rachel was still hungry by the time dinner time rolled around and they took her to Granny's with everyone for her birthday dinner and a second cake that Granny had baked for her.

Regina was exhausted by the time she got into bed that night, but she knew the entire day had been worth it. They had given Rachel a birthday to remember and it was only just the beginning. Her birthday party was already the talk of the town and almost all of the children that attended the daycare with her had been formally invited. She was fast asleep long before Emma made it to bed and she slept straight through the night until her alarm went off bright and early the next morning.

Friday was spent making last minute preparations for the party and the bounce house arrived late in the day and set up, the delivery man explaining to Emma extensively how it worked and what she needed to do when they were ready to inflate it the next day. Despite it being the second week of November, it wasn't too cold to have the party outside and there were heated tents where the parents of the children attending could stay warm while the children played in the backyard and jumped in the bounce house until they wore themselves out completely.

Not once did Regina think that they were going overboard because Rachel's birthday and the party were making up for all the years she'd gone without one so far and also a celebration of their new daughter into their family. So first thing on Saturday morning, she was the first to wake up and drove to Granny's Diner to load up her car with the food Granny had prepared for the party.

"I'm closing early today," Granny said as she helped load the last of the containers into the trunk. "At noon. I should be around just shortly after to help you set up."

"You don't need to, Granny."

"But I want to, Regina. Rachel is my grand-daughter now and I want to make sure she has the birthday party she'll always remember."