You Had Me At Hello

“Well, that’s one way to wake up,” I laughed breathlessly. He smiled as he leaned over to kiss me.

“Happy birthday, angel.”

“Well, it’s pretty fucking happy so far.” He smirked as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

“There’s more where that came from, but for now, we need to get up. I got another surprise for you. It’s at my house, though.” I groaned and rolled over onto my back.

“Do we have to? Can’t we just go back to sleep?” He chuckled and shook his head.

“Come on,” he pressed. “I’ll come back tonight, if you want me to. But… For now, you gotta get your lazy ass out of bed.” I rolled my eyes and flung myself out of bed dramatically, landing on the floor with a hard thud. He peeked his head over the edge and rolled his eyes. “Drama queen.” I got off the floor and found some clothes to throw on. I headed to the door and stopped to look back at him.

“You wanna join me?” He gave a smirk before he stood up and gathered his own clothes to bring with him to the bathroom. After we showered and got ready, we began our ritualistic walk to their house. As we approached the front door, I saw the curtain rustle. I looked over at Gerard, who just shrugged. He opened the door and stepped aside to let me enter. The first thing I noticed was how dark it was inside the house. As I stepped into the living room, the light flicked on.

“Surprise!” The moment of panic quickly subsided as I saw the smiling faces of the people who had become my family over the years. Don and Donna stood, holding each other. Frankie and Mikey ran over and tackled me. My heart filled with joy as I looked around the room. I’m not sure what I did to deserve the people that I had in my life, but I was very grateful for them. Gerard smiled at me from the door.

“Happy birthday, sugar.” I smiled at him briefly before my attention was drawn back to the crowd. The traditional birthday banter commenced. Donna had made me a cake. I opened my presents. Frankie gave me a customized zippo. It was black with a purple rose on the front and Xoxo, Frankie inscribed on the back. Mikey got us both matching leather bracelets to replace the original friendship bracelets that we bought together almost a decade prior. Gerard bought me a beautiful silver necklace with a heart shaped Topaz pendant. After the gifts were opened, we ate lunch and then cake, conversed, laughed, and reminisced.

Eventually, things began to die down. Frankie and Mikey went back to his house. Don and Donna headed off to church. With everyone gone, Gerard and I were left by ourselves. He grabbed a few things and threw them into a bag, and we headed back towards my house.

“Today has been absolutely perfect,” I smiled at him. He smiled back as he blew out a puff of smoke.

“I’m glad we could help. You deserve nothing less than a perfect day.” We rounded the last corner of our walk when I noticed an unfamiliar black car parked in front of my house. Two men in uniform exited the car and headed up the walkway to my front door. I looked over at Gerard, who was looking forward with concern. As we approached, they turned to face us.

“Are you Miss Taylor Green?” The older man asked. I nodded slowly. His posture straightened. “Ma’am, we are here on behalf of the United States Armed Forces. We regret to inform you that your father, Staff Sergeant Michael Green, was one of fourteen casualties caused by an attack on one of our bases.” Everything grew muffled. I could see that he was still talking, but I heard no words. The only things I could hear were a faint ringing in my ears and my heart pounding in my chest. I glanced to Gerard, who was respectfully focusing on the man talking. He nodded in understanding. Everything began to swirl. The ringing in my ears grew louder, and the knots in my stomach tightened. The dizziness became unbearable, and I felt myself sink to the ground. The younger man handed Gerard a small unmarked box. He shook both of their hands, and they turned uniformly and walked back to their car. He opened the door and set the box on the table. He stepped back outside and pulled two cigarettes from his pack, handing one to me.

“Sugar, I don’t know what to say… I would say I’m sorry…” He crouched down beside me and sighed. He knew how I felt about people saying sorry.

“But sorry doesn’t bring him back…” I felt as though I had been gutted. I didn’t feel sadness or anger. I just felt numb. He reached forward and grabbed my hand, but I couldn’t feel it.

“What can I say?” He asked sympathetically. “What can I do?” I just shrugged as I took a drag. I blew the smoke back out and sighed.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I don’t really think that there’s anything you can say or do. It doesn’t change anything.” He nodded in acknowledgement. “I just don’t understand. He only had two more years, and then, he’d be back for good. I mean, we had plans…” I felt myself choke. He squeezed my hand gently. “This is just so fucked up…”

“I know, sugar… I wish there was something that I could say or do to make it better…” I just shrugged and sighed.

“Well, I know of something you could do, at least for today.”

“Consider it done.”

“Stay with me. Don’t leave me alone.” He gave me a half-smile and shook his head.

“I would never.”