Rhapsody (Part 2 of Medley).

14: TELL ME A STORY.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

I can't believe we're already in April! Some days it feels like I've just arrived in England and others like I've lived here half of my life. But when it comes to Harry, time is going way too fast. Soon he'll go back into full work-mode and I'm not ready to miss him yet.

"You. That's all I want for my birthday."

It's going to be my first birthday with him.

Today is the first day of April and on the fourteenth I will be turning twenty-five years old... how and when did that happen? The years after my mom's death were so hard and felt so long I should be turning one hundred, but since I met Harry the years don't weigh as heavy on my shoulders and I feel my own age again. Hell, I feel his age sometimes! Not that there's much of a difference in those two years, of course.

"That's boring! You have me every day!" Harry complains.

I'm sure he expected me to give him a detailed list of gifts I want along with the list of guests for the over-the-top party he was thinking about throwing me.

He should know better.

"But soon I won't have you every day, so I don't want anything else."

I know I kill him when I say things like that. I don't mean to whine, but I can't control the way my thoughts just escape out of my mouth when I'm talking to him. No filter, ever.

"Sooo... birthday sex all day, then?" He asks with a straight face and I break out laughing.

"Now you're talking! That's all I want, Har. Lots of sex and lots and lots of cake."

"I shouldn't be trying to convince you otherwise, but I thought you'd want to spend the day with your family and friends in Baltimore, no?"

"I can do that next time I visit. I've celebrated all of my birthdays with them. This is the first one with you..."

Harry argues that his was also the first one with me and yet I filled the house with all of his friends and family, but I defend myself saying that I only did that because I knew he was cancelling all his plans because of me and I was not going to allow that.

"And I'm supposed to allow you to ditch your family and friends because of me?"

Dang, he's got me!

"I'll still celebrate with them, just later. Please?"

He knows not to argue with me when my mind is made up. There's no way he can change it.

Three days before my birthday, Harry is leaving and returning the night before. The band is scheduled to appear at an awards show in Japan.

The promise of a break and freedom was absolute bullshit!

"Whatever you want, baby. It's your day! But I don't know how you're going to stop my mom, Gems and Augie from coming to see you..."

"I won't. We can have most of the day for ourselves and then have them over for dinner at home, or something."

"That'll make them happy. They're very big on birthdays."

"That'll make me very happy, too."

So, it was settled. Everything was going to be exactly the way I wanted... except nothing in this life is ever how we plan it. And in the afternoon of the day before my birthday, Harry calls from Japan with the news that they're stuck in Tokyo. Flights are being cancelled due to bad weather and he won't get home until late at night on the day of my birthday or early morning the next day.