His Secret Baby (Story #1 of the Teenage Pregnancy Series)

Chapter Nineteen

Nineteen-

"Wakey wakey," I say, shaking my little munchkin. Skylar mumbles in her sleep before rolling on her other side. I chuckle. This girl is such a hard sleeper.

I hold the stack of pancakes under her nose. "Skylar! Wake up! It's your birthday!" Her eyes pop open.

She has been looking forward to her birthday since January. There's been a countdown since mid-February.

At the table she digs into her pancakes, rambling on and on about what she'll be doing in daycare today since it's her birthday. "Don't forget about your birthday party after school." If she gets into any trouble it's cancelled. "Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Christian and Aunt Chelsea are all going to be there."

I drop Skylar off at daycare before heading to class. The day goes by quickly, and I'm soon getting everything ready at the park for her party. Keith and Blake are helping, and the girls agreed to bring the kids over after daycare.

Skylar's in a My Little Pony phase, so the decorations are of Rainbow Sparkle and Twilight Shy or whatever other ponies there are. Her cake is of her favorite, Pinky Pie.

"Just one, small bite?" Blake asks, hovering over the cake. It's vanilla because Skylar hates chocolate.

"No, Skylar would flip if she saw a piece missing," I respond while hanging up the last bit of streamer. "Keith, how's it going with that girl?"

He sighs dramatically. "Basically, she's a bitch."

Blake snorts. "Aren't they all?"

"Trouble in paradise?" I ask.

"Yeah, marriage sucks. I don't know what changed. Before we got married we were living together and happy, but now," he just shakes his head to make his point.

"It's probably all the stress," Keith says, "you know, raising a kid, trying to get through school, money. It all adds up and puts a strain on your relationship, and now that your married you can't just leave."

Sometime's it's nice having a friend that's a psychology major.

Anna, Maya, and Victoria come with the kids, and a few other kids from her class come, too.

There's a face painter and Skylar gets hers done first as a tiger. An hour or so after the party starts, I round up the kids for cake time.

Right before we sing happy birthday and Skylar blows out her candles, I see Crystal in the back of the crowd. I wave. She smiles and waves back.

I serve the cake while Maya serves the ice cream. The last person to ask for some cake is Crystal. "Cake?" Skylar asks, shoving a forkful of her own cake into her mouth.

She nods. "I would love some."

"Would you like some ice cream?" Maya asks.

"No thank you," Crystal replies. "Happy birthday Miss.Skylar," she says and goes to sit down. I follow.

"You know, it's kind of weird being at a little girl's birthday party without a kid," I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm just here for the cake anyways."

I sit down on bench beside her. "Thanks for coming."