Reincarnation

26

'Alright everyone, be quiet' Sean instructed, pressing his index finger to his lips. 'Now!'

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYCEE' the three teens and Arielle bellowed, startling the brunette who shakily got up and hit her head against the wall.

'Oops' Sean sighed, quickly sitting by her side and rubbing the back of her had. 'Happy birthday, Rice' he smiled, bringing her in for a side hug.

'Thank you, guys' Kaycee murmured, rubbing her eyes vigorously. 'Thank you all so much' she mumbled, resting her head onto Sean's shoulder and dozing back off to sleep,

'Nah uh, not today. Get up, Kayc' Sean chuckled, dragging her up with him.

'But it's my birthday' Kaycee whined, stomping her feet child-like on the floor.

'And as the birthday girl, you neeed to be up and ready' Charity giggled, hugging the brunette as she walked by.

'You're officially 18, a legal adult' Andres piped in, doing a silly dance with his hands.

'Great' Kaycee mumbled, yawning as she trudged to the small bathroom.

The room was decorated from top to bottom in happy birthday streamers the kids made with scrunched papers and a few broken crayons. They coloured a tiny bulb with different shades of colours which gave the room a colorful glow. The floor was covered in ripped pieces of colorful paper acting as confetti and Charity had drawn fake balloons and banners on the wall. It was...unusual, but it's the thought that counts. As for the food, Andres snuck in some extra fruit along with bread loafs and a tiny pudding he found in the kitchen cupboards. Sean created a fake candle out of cardboard that stuck in the middle of the pudding.

'We sing happy birthday, she blows out the candle. Eat, then we can party' Sean repeated, clapping his hands together as he rubbed his tired eyes. The teens has been working on this for most of the night. Sleep was what they craved, but it was kaycees day so they let it pass just for today.

'We got it, we got it. Stop worrying' Charity huffed, waving Sean off dismissively.

'That's what you said last night and your hand ended up super glue to a book.' Sean snapped, raising his voice and flailing his arms around the place.

'Not my fault' Charity giggled, tracing her fingers over the palm of her superglue hand.

'What do you mean it's not your fault? I told you not to play with it, but you did it anyways'

'Alright, that's enough.' Andres stepped in, separating the pair with his body in the middle. 'Let's not fight about stupid things, yeah?'. Sean rolled his eyes at him, ticking a few boxes that he drew on a notepad before straightening up as he waited for Kaycee to finish up in the bathroom.

'Ugh, the toothpaste is so minty' Kaycee complained, rubbing her eyes as she walked out.

'Too minty?' Charity asked.

'Sit. Eat, time to blow out your candles. Well, candle' Sean smiled, ignoring Charity which earned a deathly glare from her.

'Pudding? Where did you get pudding?' Kaycee laughed, as she looked at the sunken caramel pudding.

'I have my ways' Andres joked, hands crossed behind his back.

'Happy birthday, dear' Arielle chirped in, resting a hand on her shoulder. Kaycee smiled appreciateevly at the older woman, before bopping her head along to the tune of the song.

'Blow it out' Charity exclaimed, as Kaycee held her hair back and made an 'oh' shape with her mouth, the fire on the cardboard candle blown out. Everyone cheered animatedly, doing crazy dances to get a giggle from the girl.