Pretend (82 page)

             
"See you in a bit," Aiden said as he gave me a peek on the cheek.

             
"See how sweet that was Anthony. Where's my kiss on the cheek?" Jess said sarcastically.

             
"Not everyone rolls like that baby, if I gave you them all
of
the time you'd be spoilt and a bigger brat than you already are. Here
,
take this one," he said as he blew her a kiss.

             
I couldn't help b
ut laugh as she caught the fake
kiss, pretended to rip it up into little pieces and then stamp
ed
on it.

             
"That's what you can do with that," she growled at him.

             
"
Aww
baby, you're breaking my heart
,
really," Anthony said before winking at Jess and then walking off.

             
"I swear I don't hurt him enough," she said as she tried to hide the smile that was forming on her face. Those two are just too cute.

             
"Now, now Jess violence is never the answer," I said as we both burst out laughing.

             
"Hey, di
d you sort out Aiden's surprise?
" Crystal whispered as me and Jess approached her.

             
"Yeah but do you honestly think that he'll like it?" I asked, nervously.

             
"I hope so. It's what he wants, he just has to be shown," she said as she chuckled quietly.

             
"I suppose you're right," I agreed.

             
"All m
en have to be told, it's why
women were created," Jess said as we all nodded in agreement.

             
"I'll be back in a second then," I said as I quickly
disappeared
out of the living room door.

             
I pulled out my cell, scrolled to the name I wanted and pressed call. It wasn't long before I heard the voice that I wanted to.

             
"Hey," I beamed down the phone.

             
"Hello angel, are you ok?"

             
"I am now yes, I missed you," I said, truthfully.

             
"I miss you too. I'm sorry that I couldn't make it tonight, I was just really tired," he replied.

             
"It's ok, there's always next year," I said
hopefully,
with a smile on my face.

             
"Yes there is besides I've got Aiden's present here so it gives you bot
h an excuse to come and see me."

             
"We don't need an excuse, we love visiting you," I said, honestly.

             
"Well
,
I love it when you guys visit too,
it always brightens up my day."

             
"How did the treatment go today?" I asked, nervously.

             
"It went
well. I still think that nurse J
efferson has the
hots
for me," he said as he chuckled to himself.

             
"You do realise that the woman's like sixty years old, right?" I said as I began laughing.

             
"Yes,
they are the worst believe me."

             
"You're probably right. Anyway, I 'm going to have to get back in before a search party is formed," I said with a grin on my face.

             
"Crystal?" he
asked.

             
"Of course," I replied as we both began to laugh.

             
"Well
,
you
take care
angel and enjoy the rest of your night
,
ok?"

             
"I will, you too."

             
"Bye," he said.

             
"Bye. Oh and one more thing," I said as I took a deep breath.

             
“Yeah?”

             
"I love you...Dad."

             
"I love you too
Appy
," he said before the line went dead, leaving me with the biggest grin on my face.

             
"How was he?"
 

             
"He sounded great, a little tired but happy," I said as my mom took a couple more steps towards me.

             
"That's because he has you sweetheart. He's very proud of you, you know, in fact we all are," she said with a smile on her face.

             
"Thanks M
om," I said as I smiled at her.

             
"And Ed, he's a fighter, if anyone can get through this then he can especially since he has something so precious to live for," she said as she stroked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

             
"I know," I whispered as I tried to hold back the tears.

             
"Right
,
let's get back in there and celebrate that cute boy
’
s birthday," she said as we both burst out laughing.

             
"Mom, are you trying to hit on my boyfriend?" I teased.

             
"Well
,
if I was just a couple of
years
younger
sweetie
," she said with a wide grin on her face.

             
"Just a couple?"

             
"Hey
,
I'm not that old I'll have you now. I'm young and hip
lol
," she said as I burst out laughing.

             
"What? It means laugh out loud doesn't it?" She asked with a confused expression on her face.

             
"Yes but the very fact that you just said it
out loud
proves my point," I said as I tried to stop the tears of laughter from rolling down my cheeks.

             
"Oh
,
I can't keep up with you kids," she said as we walked into the living room.

             
I love my mom.

             
"Right people,
it's
movie time!" Susan shouted as she faced the crowd.

             
"Oh dear, here we go,"
Crystal mumbled, not quite quietly
enough.

             
"I heard that
,
my beloved daughter," she said as she raised an eyebrow at Crystal.

             
"Oh believe me M
other, you were supposed to," she replied with a smirk on her face.

             
Crystal and Susan had been gettin
g
on
so well
since she had left her job. Susan spent more time at home and more importantly more time with Aiden and Crystal. It reminded of the old days when I used to come round, it was really sweet.

             
"Film time?" Marissa asked in confusion.

             
I forgot that she was new to all of this since becoming the newest member of our group. She fit in well and everyone seemed to get on with her.
She
and Murphy still shared the same wonderfully entertaining banter which was honestly, just fun to watch.

             
"Yes, Susan uses any occasion as an excuse to show old movies of the kids when they were growing up," my mom whispered as we all chuckled
,
quietly.

             
"
Sssh
it's about to start," Susan said as she turned off the lights.

             
"Well
,
I can't see a damn thing if you turn off all of the lights
,
can I woman?" Gramps said as we all began to laugh even louder.

             
"It's ok P
ops, this is a special show. It's showing the cast of touched by an angel when they were younger," Bob, jumped in causing me to bite my tongue as I tried not to laugh even more.

             
"Oh
,
well why didn't you say before, Phillip? Somebody turn it up please," Gramps replied as Aiden reluctantly grabbed the remote and hit the volume button a couple of time
s
.

* * *

             
After an hour of sitting through pictures and small movie clips of us all growing up, it was nearly coming to
an end. The video was
lovely and Susan had put it together so that
there
was something on there that represented each year of Aiden's life. The pictures and footage got less as he got older but it was still a lot of beautiful memories.

             
"Thanks M
om, that was lovely," Aiden said as he gave her a tight hug, causing us all to say '
aww
' of course.
 

             
"Anything for my baby," she replied before giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving the print of her red lips on his face.
I was going to tell him but Anthony found it much more amusing to convince us
to all stay quiet about it. That guy was such a kid sometimes but I loved him.

             
"So
,
can I borrow you for a minute?" Aiden asked as everyone began talking and mingling.

             
"Sure," I said as I jumped up off of the floor and followed him out of the living room, closing the door behind me.

             
"What's up?" I asked.

             
"Here," he said as he handed me my jacket that had been hung up on the coat rack by the front door.

             
"Where are we going?"

             
"Somewhere," he replied with a smile on his face.

             
"Aiden
,
it's your party, you can't just go," I said as I followed him out of the front door with a smile on my face.

             
"Nobody
will notice
," he said as he jumped into the driver
’
s seat of his beloved mustang.

             
"So
,
why are we leaving?" I asked.

             
"I have something for you," he said with a smile on his face.

             
"You have something for me, on your birthday?" I asked as I smiled at him.

             
"Yup
."

             
"You
really are something else Mr Daniels."

             
"Isn't that why you love me?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

             
"It's not the only reason
, believe me."

             
As we drove down the ma
n
y different roads, I found myself getting bored and so I busied myself playing a silly game in my head. I decided to see how ma
n
y green cars I could spot before we arrived at our destination. It was a game that Bob used to always play with me when we were taking a long journey. I had pretended that I'd grown out of it but I secretly loved it.

I was on gree
n car number eleven when we
finally came to a stop.

             
"So
,
how many did you find?" Aiden asked as he turned to look at me.

             
"Huh?"

             
"Green cars?"
He asked with a smirk on his face.

             
"How did you know?" I asked in shock as I started to laugh.

             
"I make it my duty to know everything about you," he said before winking at me and then getting out of the car.

             
We had come to a stop at a park that I hadn't been to before but it was beautiful. It was quite dark out and only the stars shone down where we were. There was a gentle breeze that made me feel so calm and happy.