Plum Blossom | Completed

Chapter Twenty-Four

The circle of people who knew about Amanda was growing. What's more, was that they wanted to meet her and spend time with her. That was enough to raise Mellisa's anxiety levels. She had to constantly remind herself that none of these people were going to take Amanda away or harm her. They all loved and cared about Mellisa, and would do so for Amanda just as much, if not more.

So, Mellisa decided to place her faith in this realization. With Amanda turning three in two weeks, Mellisa thought it was the best time for Caleb and Vivian to meet her daughter.

Amanda was over the moon about her birthday. It was another first for her. She had never before had a birthday party. It had always been just her mother and her quietly sharing a birthday cupcake.

This year, Mellisa had told her daughter that she could have whatever she wanted. Given then Amanda's exploration of the world outside their home had been limited to the last few months, she made it a point to ask her mother for everything she had tried and enjoyed.

Amanda's requests weren't too extravagant. She wanted to have her birthday party at the park with a big cake, ice cream and other picnic style foods that toddlers typically enjoyed.

Mellisa had made a mental note to include some food options that the adults could enjoy as well. The only kids Amanda knew were Ryan's kids and Connor. Vivian was going to bring her three sons as well. With only seven children in attendance, the adults outnumbered the children significantly.

Planning her daughter's party was easy enough. But Mellisa had other things to worry about. Several different parts of her life were about to collide. She was just hoping that it wouldn't result in an explosive outcome.

Individually, each person who would be attention Amanda's party meant a lot to Mellisa. So, it mattered a great deal to her that they got along.

Through the ordeal she had been through in the last few years, these people had been her rays of sunshine. She wasn't prepared to lose even a single one of them. But Mellisa would soon realize that her world was smaller than she thought.

By the time Amanda's birthday rolled around, Mellisa was exhausted. She had to admit that she had gone overboard. Her elaborate plans needed several people working on bringing it all together.

Mellisa had decided to bake her daughter's birthday cake herself. It was meant to be a surprise for Amanda, so Emily and Connor were tasked with keeping Amanda busy so her mom could put the cake together.

Emily's mom and Vivian had insisted on supplying the food. They had decided on platters of finger foods that wouldn't be too messy to handle.

Ryan had volunteered to decorate the park, taking inspiration from their Disneyland experience.

Caleb said he knew a guy that could set up an open-air style theatre experience that Mellisa wanted to end the night with.

While each of her friends were running around to accomplish their tasks, Mellisa had given up on thinking of activities for them to do. She decided that everyone could just entertain themselves.

She did, however, want to give her friends a token of per appreciation for being there and taking care of her throughout the years. The problem was, she couldn't decide on the best way to do it. Her preoccupations had caused her to almost burn the cake.

Bu the time for the party, Mellisa was a ball of nerves. She'd built everything she wanted for the party up in her head, and now she felt like she was failing.

When the doorbell to her home rang, Mellisa knew it was likely to be Emily, bringing Amanda back so she could get ready to head to the park. This meant Mellisa was out of time.

Opening the door, she found that Connor and Emily were already dressed. Amanda had nearly barreled into her mother on her way to her room.

"What? No hi?" Mellisa yelled at her daughter.

"Sorry, mommy. Hi, mommy. I have to get ready. I'll be late for the party," Amanda yelled back from her room.

"Amanda, calm down. It's YOUR party. It's not going to start without you, no matter how late you are."

On hearing her mother's words, Amanda popped her head out of her bedroom door. Mellisa noticed that Amanda's face was scrunched up in confusion.

"But mommy, you told me it was not nice to make people wait."

Amanda's words warmed Mellisa' heart. She turned back to offer Emily a smile when she heard her friend quietly say, "She's too precious."

"Well, baby. That is usually true. But it is okay to be a little late when it's your birthday. So, how about we slow down or one of us is going to get hurt."

"Okay," Amanda muttered in compliance.

"You need to get ready as well. Go, I'll handle Amanda," Emily offered, leaving her own son to watch television in the living room.

Twenty minutes later, the group was headed towards the park, cake in hand. As they neared their destination, Mellisa could see parts of the decoration. Ryan had done a fantastic job. She made a mental note to thank him for his hard work. He had gone above and beyond what she had expected him to do.

As they reached the park, Mellisa saw that all her guests had already arrived and were mingling. Watching them together, Mellisa realized that everybody's lives were already intertwined before her. Other than Amanda and her, Caleb was likely the only other stranger. But watching him laugh with Ryan showed her how easily he fit in.

Apparently so did Amanda. Mellisa hadn't realized that Amanda had let go of her hand until she saw her playing with three boys she didn't recognize, presumably Vivian's children. This day was already stressing Mellisa out and the party had just begun. She was not used to dealing with so many variables at once.

"Just relax and enjoy yourself. These are all your friends. No one is going to harm you or Amanda," Emily had whispered to her before joining Ryan. Mellisa had continued to stay rooted to her spot until Caleb's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Are you planning on just standing here or are you going to join the party?"

"Huh?" Mellisa had not seemed to have paid attention to Caleb's words. He chuckled at her expression.

"Why is it that I always find myself interrupting your thoughts? Talk about bad timing."

"You're a welcome interruption. Always," she told him kindly.

"Oh my, Ms. Adams. Are you flirting with me?" Caleb gasped jokingly.

"What? No! Of course, not. I just... just..." Mellisa was at a loss for words. She was not sure why she had even said that.

"Relax, Mel. I was only teasing."

"Oh, okay. Wait... you called me Ms. Adams. How did you know my last name? I never told you that. I never tell anyone what my last name is," she commented, suspiciously.

"Okay, I may have pulled your records," he said sheepishly. Mellisa instantly knew what he was talking about.

"How could you? Caleb, that was an invasion of privacy. It's also none of your business." Mellisa was fuming.

Before Caleb could respond, however, Ryan called out to them. "Mellisa, Cal... come join us."

"We're not finished with this conversation," Mellisa hissed at Caleb, who quietly nodded, realizing his mistake.

That's when Mellisa had another realization. "Wait! Ryan called you Cal."

"Yeah, so?"

"I've known him for months. I still can't get him to call me anything other than Mellisa."

Caleb laughed. "Yeah, Ryan's an odd one. He takes a while to drop the formalities and get comfortable with people."

"You've learnt an awful lot about Ryan from one conversation." Mellisa could feel the green-eyed monster in her waking up.

"What do you mean?"

"Caleb, did you already know Ryan before today?"

"Yeah, of course. I've known him since we were kids. Ryan's my cousin."

"Oh!" A small world indeed.