That morning Cindy was there bright and early. She examined me very closely while talking to Amber and seeing I wasn’t hurt or had any marks on me she was content. We told Amber bye as we left heading to the bridal boutique.

Cindy placed me in the cup holder as we drove along. She asked me countless questions of what happened that night. All I could tell her was “you know, usual stuff.”

“And what do you consider usual stuff?” she said her tone getting stern.

“I painted her nails for her, took a bath, and then went to sleep” I said in my most convincing voice.

Cindy looked down at me like she already knew what else had happened but never said another word about it. I was so relieved she didn’t interrogate me any further or I would have told her everything. I would have been content sleeping at Cindy’s house last night but let’s face it, I had a better time with Amber, especially in the bath tub.

“So squirt”, Cindy said breaking the silence. “I hear you will be turning 16 next week.”

“Yes ma’am” I blurted out.

“So, any thoughts on what you’d like for your birthday?” she asked smiling at me.

“It’s not like I can have what normal kids my age get” I told her.

“What do you mean by normal?” she said. “You’re one of the most normal people I know, and trust me, I know a lot of people.”

I just looked at her for several moments before responding. She was actually talking to me like a normal person for a change. Finally I said: “Normal kids get things like a car or a huge party or either they get to go somewhere special and the entire day is about them.” I paused a second and continued “plus, with dad working all the time he can’t afford to do anything like that for me between paying off the house and keeping Aunt Pearl in that nice rest home.”

“You just leave it to me squirt, I’ll take care of everything.” She smiled one of the most sincere smiles I had ever seen then she winked at me.

That week went by fast and soon it was my birthday.

My dad woke me up like he did every year singing “Happy Birthday” to me. After we ate we did what we always did, we went to my mothers gravesite and placed flowers, said a prayer, and left. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but we do that on my birthday, dad’s birthday and on my mothers birthday plus Mothers Day and Christmas. After that dad took me to see Aunt Pearl at the rest home. She still looks in bad shape but at least she was happy to see us. She told us they take very good care of her and that she has managed to live with the fact her whole left side is permanently paralyzed.

We stayed with Aunt Pearl for about two hours visiting and finally my dad told me it was time to go, he had to get to work. I kissed her goodbye and I could see her trying to hide her tears from us. This would be my first birthday without one of Aunt Pearls famous lemon cakes with chocolate pudding instead of icing.

I was dropped off at Cindy’s house like usual. I was still bummed out from seeing Aunt Pearl and having to leave her there like that. Even the fact we go see her every two weeks, it still leaves me wondering what would ever happen to me if something like that happened to my dad, or worse.

Cindy told my dad to try to be there by seven o’clock for the party. He told her he would and off to work he went. Cindy set me on the coffee table and told me she would check on me every so often while she got everything ready for the party.

I watched her go in and out of the room countless times. She was either carrying something or on the phone checking on things, but each time she came into the room she stopped and smiled at me letting me know she hadn’t forgotten me. Around 3pm the doorbell began ringing. People were coming in with tables, chairs, flowers and food. They were setting everything up outside on the back lawn.

Her friends started getting there about 5:30 and she introduced them to me as they came inside. Finally, she asked one of them to watch over everything while she showered. Cindy picked me up and gave me a quick bath in the sink and laid out some clothes for me she had special made. “Get dressed while I take a shower” she said. “These clothes are just one of your presents.”

I looked down at them and saw it was a tuxedo. As I began getting dressed I noticed just how good they felt. The material was all silk. Even the socks were made from silk. There were even a pair of leather loafers for me to wear. It surprised me they fit. I really began wondering just how much all this was costing her.

She came into the room in a gold strapless evening gown and stopped and stared at me for a moment. “Oh My” she said fanning herself with her hands. “Once those women downstairs see you they might try to take you home with them.”

Yeah, right” I said. “Like you’d let them.”

She smiled at me and said: “just let one try” and with that she made a fist and began shaking it. We both laughed while she put her high-heeled sandals on. She didn’t take long fixing her hair or putting on her make-up. When finished, she stood up and asked me if I was ready to go downstairs. All I could do was stare in disbelief at this “GODDESS”.

“Are you ready for your party” she asked me. Again all I could do was stare.

“JIM” she said knocking me out of my trance. I shook it off and asked her what. She laughed at me and asked what was I dreaming about. Somewhat embarrassed, I told her. “You…I mean…it’s just that….I…I’m sorry Cindy.”

“Sorry for what, squirt?” she said.

“it’s just that you look like a goddess tonight” I blurted out before realizing what I had said.

Blushing, she laughed it off saying “A goddess, me, right.” and with that she gently picked me up and we went downstairs to start the party.

She got every ones attention and set me on a cement pillar beside her on the patio. She asked them to introduce themselves to me and that this was my 16th Birthday party and she hopes they enjoy it as much as I do. She also pointed out a red carpet bordering the inside of the patio and the spot in the middle leading up the stairway to where I was standing. It was about 2 inches wide, I guess big enough for me to know my boundaries. “DO NOT! AND I REPEAT, DO NOT WALK OR STAND ON THAT CARPET! THAT RED CARPET IS FOR JIM ONLY!” she said. “HE NEEDS A SAFE PLACE TO WALK TOO!“ Every one looked down at it and once they began moving around, they did a good job avoiding walking on it.

All of her friends introduced themselves to me. Some of them I remembered from meeting before. Amber walked over and gave me a kiss telling me “Happy Birthday little bathtub buddy.” and with that she giggled and winked at me and walked over to her seat.

I met everyone. Finally, after watching the carpet for 15 minutes, I noticed how everyone was staying off of it like Cindy had requested them to do. I looked around and saw Cindy sitting at a table and she motioned for me to come to her and pointed to the carpet bordering the wall three feet from her table. There I saw a toy table and chair setting there for me. I waved letting her know I saw it and was on my way.