The Spirit Guardians Book 3: Fated

Chapter 30

Cassie slowly opened her eyes and blinked. As light flooded her vision, she realized disappointedly that the other side of her bed was empty. Marc's covers had been thrown aside, and judging the coldness of his sheets, it appeared he had already been up for an hour or so.

Darn. I wanted a birthday cuddle, Cassie thought, jumping as the sound of the door opened.

"Happy Birthday, Mommy!" came a shrill toddler cry.

Cassie slowly sat up, watching Elijah walk towards her. Marc was following behind with a plate of fresh food. The smell of bacon lingered through the air as they approached with her birthday breakfast.

"For me?" Cassie asked, happily grabbing the plate of food from Marc. There was a full stack of pancakes and three strips of bacon steaming on the plate. Elijah carefully sat down a glass of orange juice near her nightstand.

"How old are you?" Elijah asked.

"Twenty," she said.

"That's old."

"It's not!" Cassie exclaimed. 

"Happy birthday," Marc said, leaning down to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and interlaced her fingers with his as she pulled away and stared up at him. Perhaps this was a better gift than an early morning cuddle.

"I'm going to play with Elijah downstairs. You come down when you're ready," Marc said.

"Why don't you eat breakfast with me?" Cassie wondered. "I don't mind the company."

Elijah eagerly climbed onto Cassie's bed, sneaking bites of pancakes and bacon, though Cassie didn't mind, not when he was so adorable in his thievery.

Marc sat next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers as she ate. Even during that first summer she'd been with the others, they'd always made her birthday feel like a special occasion. Of course, nowadays, her family was always here to celebrate too. They'd be coming later in the evening for a proper dinner.

Cassie ate her breakfast quickly and leaned back against the headboard, patting her stomach as she set her plate down.

"Did it taste good?" Elijah asked.

"Sure did. Who made it?" Cassie wondered.

"We did," Marc argued.

Cassie giggled. "Oh! I thought Cherie and Lillian might have."

"I helped!" Elijah exclaimed.

"Thank you," she said, squeezing his tiny hand.

Marc pressed a kiss against her cheek. "I'm going to go clean up downstairs. We'll leave you to get ready."

"Thanks," she said, watching happily as they exited the bedroom. Cassie stretched her arms and finally got the motivation to get out of bed. After a nice shower, she put on a pink sundress and headed downstairs. The others were all waiting to greet her as she did so.

"Happy birthday!" Cherie exclaimed, throwing her arms around Cassie and squeezing the young girl tight. Cassie fought for breath against Cherie's hair, but she was happy all the same. She was used to Cherie's aggressive hugs by this point.

"Two decades, huh?" Cherie said as she pulled away.

"That's right," Cassie said, grinning at her.

"Well, we'll save your presents for later this evening, when your family is here," Cherie said, patting her shoulder. "Cute dress."

"Thank you," Cassie said, blushing slightly. It wasn't every day she actually made the effort to dress up.

"You look cute," Lillian said, wandering over to her. "Happy birthday," she said, throwing her arms around Cassie.