My Sweet Canadian Girl Ch. 15

"All over the place," I said. "Whenever I'd see a sale or bargain bin I dig through to see what they had."

"Since when?" she asked.

"Since this time last year. It was right after Halloween that I saw a huge clearance sale on horror movies and I've added to it here or there since," I said.

"You've been planning my birthday gift for a whole year and pretending you had no idea what to get me," she said.

"I guess that's true," I admitted.

"I'm furious," she said with a beautiful charming smile that made our guests laugh.

"I'm sorry," I said in my saddest voice.

"Aweeeee. Come here," she said crooking her finger at me. "Thank you for the wonderful gift. Knowing I'm never far from your thoughts is even better than a box full of my favorite movies."

"Happy birthday sweetie," I said but of course she wanted more than that and pursed her lips to prompt me to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said.

I sat down as she browsed through her new collection of horror movies. She found some of her favorites but there were plenty that she'd never seen before. When she found two copies of Hellraiser she burst out laughing at my innocent shrug. The scary movies weren't suitable for her young nephew to watch and were set aside for now. I warned mom that we'd be watching them all week whether she wanted to or not but no one believed that for a second. Cassie knew I'd be happy to watch every single one with her over the coming months though.

Cassie and I played a board game with Matthew who could call me uncle Rick all he wanted now. His grandfather and uncle Jay joined in too, both talking the whole time about how they were going to make sure he lost but doing the exact opposite of course. Their stunned reactions whenever he got the best of them made him laugh and laugh. Even though Jay claimed he'd been happy with Tamara, I noticed a huge difference in him now that he was over her. I quickly grew closer to him and was looking forward to fishing trips with both of Cassie's brothers in the future.

This year's birthday party couldn't have been more different than the year before but Cassie enjoyed it just as much, if not more. Surrounded by the people she loved and positively glowing in the early stages of her first pregnancy, I took dozens of photos to capture her joyful smiles. Cassie wasn't drinking at all of course and though she'd ended my self imposed supportive sobriety, I had just a few drinks spread throughout the night.

When Matthew grew sleepy, his dad carried him to a guess bedroom to lie down. Normally Marc and Julie would leave when their son started to fall asleep, but Cassie and her mom had challenged her brothers to a game of bridge. Jay's trash talk was much better than his gentle teasing of his nephew earlier but this time he meant it. Everyone was rooting for the birthday girl of course, and both brothers were gracious losers in the end. I knew Cassie was pretty good but her mom was a wizard at the game and took great pride in beating her sons.

The next day was Halloween, which was just as important as her birthday in Cassie's mind. She rushed home after work, only making a quick stop for a few more bags of last minute candy just in case we somehow ran out. Her costume that year was an angel, with a pure white dress, a halo around her head, huge feather shaped wings, and a golden harp. For me she had picked out a Super Mario costume that she was sure the kids that came to our door would recognize and react to.

I had helped her decorate the house during the week leading up to the big day. Over the years our collection of Halloween gear has grown and grown but that first year in our new house it was far less than she wanted. My biggest concern was a lack of trick-or-treaters in our brand new subdivision. I'd made sure to invite anyone and everyone I knew with kids to stop by. Cassie was beaming as we welcomed one familiar face after another to our home. As the night wore on, she noted that very few of the visitors were strangers and that many of our friends had driven out of their way to stop at our home. Some even came in and stayed for a while as part of an impromptu party.

"I know what you did," Cassie said as we were getting ready for bed. I had already helped her take off the angel wings but she still wore the rest of her costume.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Our first Halloween here would have been a disaster if you hadn't invited dozens of people to bring their kids," she said smiling at me.

"Who told you?" I wondered.

"No one told me. Marc or Julie would have stopped by with Matthew and Maddie, maybe some of the others too but no way all of them would have been here," she said. "I know why they showed up tonight."

"All I did was make a few phone calls," I said.

"All you did was make my day. I didn't expect you to but I'm not surprised at all either if that makes sense," she said smiling at me with love.

"It was nothing sweetie," I said.

"Yesterday everyone that loves me the most was here. They all knew I was looking forward to having lots of trick-or-treaters and you're the one that made sure I did," she said.

"I love you," I said. Those three simple words said it all really.

"Oh I know you do and I love you too," she said sliding into my arms to hug me tight. With or without the fitting costume, surely this is what it felt like to have an angel hold you.

***

That's it for now. No real surprise as to what comes in the next chapter.