She sticks out her tongue at me, but the action is ruined when her lips form a smile around it.
“Fine,” she huffs, just like all eight-year-olds do when they don’t get their way. “See if I tell you my next secret.”
I chuckle again. “Do you ever have any secrets?”
Her eyes slide to me, her bottom lip sticking out. “No. You know I always tell you and Trouble. But my next secret, I’m not gonna tell.”
“Sure, you won’t,” I reply with a smirk.
“I’m not!” she yells. “I swear I’m not!” She thinks for a minute. “Well, I’ll probably tell Trouble, but I’m not telling you.”
“Trouble’s the one who made me promise not to tell you this secret.”
Her eyes go wide for a split second before they narrow into tiny little slits. “Fine, I’ll tell JW and Judge, but not you or Trouble.”
The smile stays in place as we turn a corner that will lead us to the place we’re going. It’s Rella’s eighth birthday, and the boys and I have something special planned for her. Their parents did the whole birthday party thing for her, but as with the last couple of years, I could tell Rella wasn’t really comfortable. That happens when all the adults there are sick people who like to touch kids. There were other kids there too, but none of them enjoyed themselves either. Rella’s only ever happy when she’s with Trouble, JW, Judge, or me. She has a few other friends, but she always says she likes to be with us the most.
I was tasked with bringing her to her surprise while the others finished getting it ready.
She comes to a stop, so I stop with her. Holding out her arms, she says, “Let me up.”
It always amazes me that she doesn’t let what I’m forced to do to her during Hell Night affect her attitude toward me. I keep expecting to see the fear on her face at the thought of being near me. But it never happens. It’s like at any other time during the month, those awful nights don’t exist for her. She’s the same sweet and playful Rella.
I turn around and bend over a little. Her small arms wrap around my neck, and she jumps up on my back, wrapping her tiny legs around my stomach. What we’re doing is innocent, but it still makes me feel weird, like I’m rubbing off some of my dirty onto her. I always have to push my dark thoughts away anytime she touches me. It’s not anything she’s done. I’m just filthy, and I’m scared I’ll make her filthy too.
Her grip around my neck is so hard I can barely breathe, but I don’t tell her to loosen her arms. She can do anything she wants. The little hairs that’ve come loose from her pigtails tickle the side of my neck when she rests her chin on my shoulder. She’s so close I can feel the heat of her cheek against mine.
I hesitate only a minute before I put my hands under the backs of her knees to keep her from sliding down.
“You gotta close your eyes now,” I tell her and come to a stop right before we come into view of her surprise.
I don’t know if she does as I ask, but she puts her forehead on my shoulder, blocking her eyes, so it works just as well. I have no doubt she knows where we’re going. We’ve been to this spot many times over the years, but she still doesn’t know anything my brothers and I have done.
Trouble, JW, and Judge are waiting on us as we walk up. The three of them have big grins on their faces. They know Rella will get a kick out of this.
I walk up the two steps and stop in the middle of the wooden platform. Despite the excitement she must be feeling, Rella keeps her head down. She knows how much this means to us. She joked on the way here about me telling her, but I knew deep down, she didn’t really want to know, because she knew we would enjoy her excitement just as much as she would enjoy her surprise.
Trouble walks up. “Emo’s going to put you down, but I want you to keep your eyes closed, okay?”
“Okay” comes her muffled voice.
I bend and let her legs go. Trouble’s there to help her if she stumbles. Once she’s on her feet, I take a few steps forward and turn around. Rella doesn’t have dimples, but she’s grinning so big she almost has them now. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and she’s practically bouncing on her feet.
Trouble’s at her back with his hands over her eyes. He moves them away and steps back.
“You can open your eyes now.”
When she does, she blinks several times to focus. Her mouth drops open at the view before her. It drops even more when she spins in place and sees the full effect of what Trouble, JW, Judge, and I made for her.
We’ve turned the gazebo into a fairy tale. Strings of white lights hang from the ceiling like twinkling stars. There’s also a curtain of pink lights hanging around the entire enclosure, like there’s a curtain hiding us from the outside world. The sun is almost down, so it makes the lights that much more pretty. There’s a handmade sign that says Happy Birthday Rella hanging from one side. Pink and purple streamers mix in with the hanging lights. The floor is covered in different-colored flower petals. There’s a table off to the side holding a cake that Trouble made himself. He’s only ten and his cooking skills aren’t the best, so there’s no telling how good the cake is, but I have no doubt Rella will gobble it up just to make her brother happy.
As Rella continues to spin around, taking in everything around her, the rest of us watch. Her face lights up with pure joy and happiness. Rella is already beautiful, but seeing her like this, especially with the lights shining on her face, makes her ten times more so.
She finally comes to a stop and looks at each of us.
“Everything is so pretty.” Her eyes shine in the light, like she’s going to cry. “I can’t believe you did this. It looks like a fairy princess should be in here.”
“You are a fairy princess, Rella. You’re our fairy princess,” Trouble says.