Birthday Boy

“Jack, sweetie, I’m sure they’ll be here soon. You have to relax, baby. Big boys don’t cry, remember? Come on, give mama a smile. My handsome boy. I can’t believe you’re six-years-old already!” Joyce Barakat cooed in an attempt to calm her hysterical son, who’d seated himself in the window at the front of their house to wait out the arrival of his guests.

It was Jack Barakat’s sixth birthday, and he’d made sure to invite everyone in his entire grade before they’d been let out for summer break. That was four different classes, including his own. He wanted to have the biggest, bestest sixth birthday party ever, and, after all, the more the merrier.

Except, nearly two hours after the time that had been written on all of the invitations had passed, no one had arrived. Truthfully, Mrs. Barakat had anticipated that happening—not because there was anything wrong with her son, but because not a single soul had contacted her to RSVP. That was something people still did, wasn’t it?

Apparently not.

Jack continued to cry in the window, seemingly have missed his mother’s words. Everything hurt: his eyes, his head, his tummy, his clenched fists, and most importantly, his feelings. He’d spent so much time and effort into making sure that everything was just right so that he and all of his friends could have a great time together only for it all to go to waste. Why hadn’t anyone shown up? Didn’t they like him?

The feel of a hand running up and down his back pulled Jack’s attention from where he was staring (or trying to stare, what with how blurred his vision was). He turned to see his mother kneeling beside him, her expression showing just how broken up his distress made her.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” she murmured. Her hands moved up to twirl bits of his sweaty hair, something she knew he loved. When he moved away from the window in favor of curling his tiny arms around her neck, she felt herself crack. If she hadn’t known how strong she had to be for her son, she probably would’ve started to cry right there, too.

Except, then she had an idea.

“Come on, baby,” Joyce said quietly as she fully scooped Jack into her arms. He didn’t object to the action and instead tried to curl himself closer against her chest as his sobs wracked his tiny body. “Hey, mama has an idea. Do you want to hear it?”

At that, everything seemed to be put on a momentary hold. Jack’s head lifted from where it was buried in his mother’s neck, and his pitiful eyes glanced up to meet hers. His small teeth pressed into his bottom lip tightly to hold in as many noises as possible, but he couldn’t stop the hiccups or the shaking. It was a miracle he could even manage a weak nod.

Joyce smiled, pressed her lips to his forehead in a sweet kiss, and began to march them from the room in search of her phone. She was just hoping it’d work. If it didn’t, she was out of options.

“Mama has seen stories on the Internet lately, about boys and girls not showing up to other little kids’ parties, and the mama and daddy go online to talk about it, and then all kinds of people show up. Wouldn’t that be fun, baby? You could meet new people! New friends are always fun, right?”

Jack nodded his head and leaned away in her arms to actually see her. His bottom lip was trembling, his eyelashes were clumped together with tears, but he’d successfully stopped crying.

“D-do you th-think th-th-they’ll come, m-mama?” he whimpered, shiny, brown eyes so wide and innocent and hopeful. Joyce smiled and pressed another kiss to his wet cheek.

“They might, baby, but if they don’t, we’ll make sure to have an extra big, extra special party tomorrow when the family comes around, alright? We could go to... we could go to the zoo, or maybe the arcade, or the skating rink.”

“C-can we do a-all three?” he asked. She couldn’t have denied him, even if she’d wanted to.

“Of course, handsome,” she swore as another kiss was planted on his sticky skin. “Anything that you want, we’ll do it. How does that sound, huh? We could go to the zoo nice and early, then we could go spend some time skating, and then we could go to the arcade. We’ll have a nice, yummy dinner, too. Anything that you want, baby. Mama promises.”

Jack gave a watery smile at that before returning all of the kisses that he’d been given. As Joyce found her phone and moved them back out into the living room, he stayed quiet and cuddled against her. He waited patiently as a note was written up and posted to social media, and he only began to speak once his mama asked him what exactly he wanted to do when the next day rolled around.

An hour passed by as the two planned out every event that Jack wanted to take place the next day in detail. Every single second was accounted for.

First, they’d get breakfast at iHop, then they’d go to the zoo. They’d stay there until lunch, then they’d get McDonald’s before coming back to eat and wait for their family members to arrive. When everyone showed up, they’d leave and head to the skating rink, where they’d stay until dinner. For dinner, Jack said he’d want Taco Bell, where they’d stop on the way to the arcade. Jack could get twenty full dollars for coins, and they’d leave when he was done with them. (Of course, Joyce knew that everyone would want to get him more coins, but that could be kept a surprise.) Upon returning home, they’d have cake and ice cream, and everyone would gather around to watch Home Alone and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Since there was no school, Joyce didn’t worry about bedtimes. If Jack wanted to stay up all night, she’d let him—but only that once.

They’d both been so lost in their plans, smiles, and excitement that they completely forgot about the dud of a party and the post that had been made. A sudden knock on the front door was actually something of a surprise.

Jack was, once again, scooped up into his mother’s arms, who began the trek to the front of the house as Jack continued babbling about what animals he hoped to see before they had to leave the zoo. Joyce nodded her agreement before letting a quiet ‘sh’ slip through her lips as they reached the door.

On the other side stood two men—one smiling, the other looking bored, but both appearing rather young.

“Can I help you?” Joyce asked. Jack turned in her arms to inspect the people stood at the door, and he was the first to see the large, wrapped box on the ground behind them. Still, he kept quiet.

“My name is Alex, and this is John. You must be Joyce and Jack. We saw the post you made online, and, well… here we are! Happy birthday, little guy! How old are you today?” the smiling man, Alex, said.

Jack beamed brighter than the sun and a blush overran his cheeks as he held up six, chubby fingers.

“Six whole years? Oh, my goodness. John, did you hear that? Six-years-old!” Alex exclaimed as he nudged the man next to him. John gave his first smile and bent down a bit to be eye level with the small boy before he reached his hand up to ruffle dark hair.

“Happy birthday, buddy!” he said, doing his best at being enthusiastic. It’s not that he didn’t want to be there or anything (even though he kind of didn’t), but it was the fact that he’d spent all day at work only to arrive home to Alex saying that they had to go shopping and then some random kid’s birthday party. Seriously, John doesn’t even like kids. Alex knows that.

There was an awkward moment then, where they all stood and looked at each other (except Jack, who refused to stop staring and smiling at Alex) before Joyce coughed and took a step back. “Come in, come in. We’ve been waiting to cut into the cake for a while now, huh, baby?”

Jack nodded, and Alex stepped inside before stopping and turning to John. “I’ll get that box if you’ll get the rest?” he bargained, playful pout tugging at his lips. “Please, baby?”

At that one little word, Jack became confused. John sighed and nodded before leaning in to kiss Alex’s cheek, just like Jack would with his mama. He didn’t know boys could do that—kiss each other.

“You’re gettin’ kinda heavy, baby. Here, why don’t you go bring Alex into the living room? I’ll go get the cake out. If you need anything, you call for me, okay?” Joyce said as she set her son onto the ground. She was only just realizing how terrible an idea inviting random strangers to celebrate her son’s birthday was.

Jack nodded and smiled, little hand reaching out to grab at Alex’s own. The man, who had the wrapped box from before tucked under his arm, let himself be dragged through the house.

Joyce was on high-alert as she made her way into the kitchen. If she’d been paying any attention to what she was doing, she would’ve realized that she was moving slower than she would’ve been on any other occasion, but she was more focused on making sure that she could hear her son in the other room.

When he actually cried out for her, she was both prepared and not prepared at all. The candles that were in her hold were dropped onto the counter next to the cake that she’d just pulled from the fridge and she all but sprinted down the hallway to see her little boy sitting on the couch, wide eyes trained on his new friend while the man beside him laughed.

“Mama,” Jack said, turning to glance at her, “did you know John is Alex’s boyfriend? Did you know they could do that? I thought only girls could have boyfriends!”

The sigh that passed Ms. Barakat’s lips was both relieved and exasperated. “I did know that, baby,” she assured.

“Can I have a boyfriend, too?” he asked.

“Only if you really want one,” she said, smile taking over her lips. Jack turned back to Alex with that, chubby cheeks pulled back with a grin.

“Alex, will you be my boyfriend?” he asked, tone hopeful.

“I don’t think John would like that too much…” Alex answered, trailing out as he glanced over his shoulder. John was entering the room with a stack of boxes held high in his arms, and he immediately sent his boyfriend a quizzical look. “Jack just asked me to be his boyfriend,” Alex explained, “but I told him I don’t think you’d be very happy if I said yes.”

“Well, um, what about my wife? Will you be my wife? You can have a boyfriend and a husband, but only one of each,” Jack rushed out, hand placing itself on Alex’s thigh and shaking to get the man’s attention back on him.

Alex laughed and nodded. “I guess I could be your husband. I’ll have to go out and find us rings first, alright?”

Jack nodded excitedly. His little head swiveled around to see his mama, still stood in the doorway. “Me and Alex are gonna get married, okay, mama? Oh! Stay right here, okay?” he instructed before stumbling from the couch and dashing from the room. He came back only a few moments later, the circular part of a key chain clasped in his hands. “Wear this, okay?” he said, handing it over to Alex.

Alex took the key ring from the boy’s hand and slid it onto his right ring finger. Had Jack known there was a difference between the left and right hand, he probably would’ve argued it. “Perfect fit!” the man cheered, holding his hand out for everyone else to see.

Ms. Barakat shook her head and smiled at the two before heading back to the kitchen to finish gathering the cake she’d set out for. She was halfway through setting in and lighting the six candles when John ambled in and leaned against the counter opposite her.

“I’m sorry about him,” he said, jerking his head in the direction he’d come. “He’s just… he likes kids, and so when he saw this, he felt super bad about it and… yeah. He can be a little much sometimes, I guess. I told him that he should look for a job as a preschool teacher or something, but he’s more set on adoption. Jack’s probably his honorary son now… hope that’s okay.”

“That’s more than okay,” Joyce assured. “Jack’s dad is, uh… well, he doesn’t live around here, so they don’t see each other much. Jack’s birthday, which we’re celebrating with family tomorrow, and the major holidays are the only times they do get together anymore. An honorary father figure—or husband, in this case—will be good for him.”

John offered a smile and held out his hands to be given the cake. He carried it out into the living room for Ms. Barakat, who trailed behind with forks and plates for the four of them.

In the living room, Jack was doing his best at setting up the DVD player while refusing help from his ‘husband.’ He was a big boy, and big boys know how to turn on their favorite movies.

Even still, Joyce shooed him toward the couch. He made a point of sitting in his husband’s lap.

Happy Birthday was sung, the candles were blown out, and cake was passed around before Joyce set about turning on Beetlejuice—Jack’s third favorite movie. He babbled through most of it to Alex, telling him all about his favorite things and their plans for the following day. He even went so far as to invite his husband and his husband’s boyfriend to join them, which Alex was more than eager to agree to. It took pouts and pleads for John to agree as well, but as soon as he thought back to the short talk he’d had with Ms. Barakat, he was nodding in agreement.

By the end of the movie, Joyce had completely forgotten her earlier concerns as well as her little boy’s distress. Even though only two people had shown up, he’d still had the time of his life, made new friends, and gotten some ‘super awesome’ presents. Dinosaurs, race cars, train sets, and a new bike (with training wheels that could be taken off whenever Jack was ready) were some of the best gifts Jack had ever received.

When the credits began rolling, John climbed to his feet and helped Joyce clean up the mess that they’d made. Wrapping paper, used plates, and the remaining cake was all put away where it belonged before the two made their way back into the living room.

Alex was asleep on the couch with Jack asleep on his lap. Their arms were wrapped around each other and Alex’s head was leaned against Jack’s. Neither John nor Ms. Barakat truly had the heart to wake either of them up, but after taking pictures of the pair, John had to step forward and shake his boyfriend awake.

“Babe… come on, it’s time to go home. Say goodbye to Jack. We’ll see him tomorrow, alright? Let’s go, get up,” John instructed quietly. As Alex began to stir, Jack did as well.

Twin stretches and groans later brought the pair into semi-consciousness. Neither wanted to move, far too comfortable with where they were, but they knew that they had to. They had a big day ahead of them. After all, it’s not every day you introduce your entire family to your new husband.

Kisses to cheeks and parting hugs were exchanged before Alex finally stood to his feet. “I hope you had lots of fun today, little man,” he said around a yawn, hand reaching out to let his fingers comb through dark hair. “I know I did. I’ll give your mama my phone number, and you can call me when you wake up in the morning, alright?”

Jack was too tired to argue the fact that he didn’t want his husband to leave and merely nodded his head before throwing his arms around his Alex’s neck for a final hug.

Jack’s birthday may not have started off as being anything good at all, but it was on that day that he’d met his lifelong best friend. He wouldn’t have traded that for anything in the world.