He's A Keeper

23

"Happy birthday!!" Someone screamed at about 9:00 in the morning.

"Go away!" I groaned.

My light was turned on along with several people entering my room.

"Oh my god," I groaned, turning over to face the wall.

"Weird, I thought she'd be more excited to see me," A familar voice says.

"Babe?" I called out.

"Goodmorning princess!" James answered me.

"I only wanna see James," I laughed.

"Wow, feeling the love Brynn." Joey joked.

Soon enough, my bed behind me dipped down low and James kissed the back of my neck.

"At least wait until we leave the room." Aunt Emma laughed.

"I made you vegan breakfast in bed." Daniel said.

I finally turned over and took the tray from Daniel before sitting up and diving in to eat it.

Soon enough they all left so it was just James and I.

"Happy birthday gorgeous." He said while I sipped my water infused with strawberries.

"Thanks babe." I smiled.

"What time is the party?" I asked him.

"Twelve to four." He answered.

I nodded.

"If I get spoiled again this year.." I joked, remembering how last year I had so many gifts.

He scratched the back of his head, turning the other way.

"You didn't," I said.

"...I did," He said.

"Oh no," I shook my head, putting the tray on my bed before getting up and walking downstairs, James on my heels.

"Oh my god," I said, looking at all the gifts that Aunt Emma, Daniel, and Liz carrying presents to the car.

The whole trunk was filled up.

"Oh, Adam and Maria are on the way," Aunt Emma said.

"Really?" I asked, a big smile coming on my face.

"Yep, they're about thirty minutes away." She replied.

I had a mini freakout session. I was beyond excited to see them.

Adam and Maria were longtime family friends, but to me they were basically my aunt and uncle.

The last time I had seen them were my parents funeral, and I wasn't joyful at that time.

I went back upstairs to change, putting on light wash jeans, a tee shirt, and tieing a flannel around my waist.

I put on some jewelry before sliding on my shoes and grabbing my sunglasses and phone.

I met James in the car and he put his arm around me, kissing my forehead.

"I'm so excited," I smiled at him.

"Babe I'm older than you." I giggled.

"Shut up." He laughed.

I laughed and pulled out my phone, and taking a few selfies with James.

"Did I mention you look cute today?" He asked.

"Well, you just did," I laughed.

He laughed at me before shaking his head.

We finally made it to the rollerskating rink, and we all got out.

"Do you know how to rollerskate?" I asked James.

"Oh, yeah- total pro. The best of the best." He says.

I giggled, "You have no idea how to skate, do you?"

"Not a clue." He admitted.

"Aww, babe." I smiled.

His cheeks flushed, "Don't make fun of me."

While his face was still red, I pulled out my phone and took pictures of him.

I smiled and grabbed his hand while walking inside.

"We already paid," Aunt Emma said to the worker. He checked a list before nodding and stamping all of our hands.

"You don't get to come to the party room yet," Aunt Emma said.

"Oh my lord," I groaned, although I laughed a little.

The music was loud, and there were tons of people skating.

James and I switched out our shoes for roller skates.

We laced them up and I rolled onto the smooth rink.

"How did you-" He asked.

I giggled before taking his hand and waiting for him.

He carefully stepped onto the rink, steadying himself.

I smiled, shaking my head.

I finally dropped his hand, "Hope you can keep up,"

I turned around and started skating away in a fast motion.

I heard him groan loudly as he tried to keep up.

I kept laughing to myself until I bumped into the wall and fell over.

I heard James laughing now, as I sat on the ground with my arms crossed over my chest.

By now, everyone else had gotten onto the rink, Daniel and Joey were holding hands, Aunt Emma was helping Julia and Aiden, and Liz was helping Max.

Joey helped me up and James eventually got over to us.

For the next twenty minutes, I taught him the basics of rollerskating, and he finally got the hang of it.

"Brynn, James come here!" Liz called out.

We skated over to where they were on the carpet, looking around questioningly.

That's when I noticed Adam and Maria putting on their roller skates.

"Adam! Maria!" I yelled excitedly before skating over and throwing my arms around them.

"Hey sweetheart! Happy birthday!" Adam said, smiling at me.

Maria handed Daniel a couple of bags, so I assumed it was gifts.

We finally went into the party room, which was cheesy but cute. It was decorated in all blue and white, and had paper chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

I could barely believe my eyes when I saw the gift table.

It was covered, and had a whole stack of cards on the edge.

"Oh noo," I smiled, looking around at everyone.

"We can eat first," I said.

"Okay, here's the two vegan pizzas, and here's the pepperoni and meat." The server said, bringing in the pizza.

She asked us what we wanted to drink, then went and got it.

I sat down next to James, eating vegan pizza and drinking water.

I was so excited.