Birthdays don’t mean much to me anymore. Another year older, another day that feels like any other. The kids told me they were out of town said something about a “family thing” on Sunday so I figured that was that. No candles, no cameras, no fuss.

Then she texted me. “Still on for tonight?”

And suddenly, I had something to look forward to.

No one knows about her not my kids, not Paul, not anybody. I like it that way. She’s my peace. No judgment, no pressure, no weird fame stuff. Just… normal. And normal feels rare.

I picked her up after work, tried to play it cool, but the second she got in the car, the whole day flipped. She smiled at me that easy, effortless smile and I swear it hit harder than any song I ever wrote.

By the time we got home, it was like the air itself changed. We were kissing before the door even closed, her hands in my hoodie, mine around her waist, both of us half-laughing. I lifted her she squealed and I was heading for the kitchen, ‘cause that’s where I’d left the takeout we were supposed to eat.

And then

“SURPRISE!!!”

I froze. Literally stopped breathing.

There’s confetti. Balloons. My kids all three of them standing in my kitchen with Paul, Curtis, and half my damn crew.