"Could have," Arden said. "Ooooorrrrr we thought about it and agreed that we wanted to celebrate you with more than that because of how much we like you and how much better our lives are with you in it." She shrugged. "Seemed like pretty simple math to me."
People liked you and were happy you were around, Cal. And they were just going to keep showing you until you accepted it.
She looked at the cake and then back at him. "Ice cream in it? Nah." She paused. "It's all ice cream. Chocolate and pistachio. I seem to remember those being some of your top flavors, once upon an ice cream exploration." So saying, she reached for the gift she'd asked Kamala to bring along and handed it over. "Happy birthday, Cal."
Inside was a leather bound photo album. The first two-thirds were filled with pictures: BD posing with various animals in Pet Photography, one of Cal the first time he met Patches, some of the pictures Cal had texted her while she was in Daventry, some of the pictures of her from Daventry, pretty pictures of the island, snapshots of the places they'd visited in class, one of Arden posing over triumphantly over Cal's paint-spattered body...just picture after picture of adventures on the island and off. Cal and BD, Cal and Arden, Cal and Kamala, even Cal and Lydia. On the beach, chilling in Midnight, up on the roof, bopping around the island...
Didn't matter who was in it or where it shot, every picture was a memory.
And the picture on the front of the album? A field of dandelions.
Re: SURPRISE!!
People liked you and were happy you were around, Cal. And they were just going to keep showing you until you accepted it.
She looked at the cake and then back at him. "Ice cream in it? Nah." She paused. "It's all ice cream. Chocolate and pistachio. I seem to remember those being some of your top flavors, once upon an ice cream exploration." So saying, she reached for the gift she'd asked Kamala to bring along and handed it over. "Happy birthday, Cal."
Inside was a leather bound photo album. The first two-thirds were filled with pictures: BD posing with various animals in Pet Photography, one of Cal the first time he met Patches, some of the pictures Cal had texted her while she was in Daventry, some of the pictures of her from Daventry, pretty pictures of the island, snapshots of the places they'd visited in class, one of Arden posing over triumphantly over Cal's paint-spattered body...just picture after picture of adventures on the island and off. Cal and BD, Cal and Arden, Cal and Kamala, even Cal and Lydia. On the beach, chilling in Midnight, up on the roof, bopping around the island...
Didn't matter who was in it or where it shot, every picture was a memory.
And the picture on the front of the album? A field of dandelions.