Clare rolled onto her back and stretched her hands above her head, slowly opening her eyes to the sunny morning light. A light chuckle sounded beside her and her eyes flew open. "When did you get here?" She demanded.
A soft kiss landed on her forehead. "Happy Birthday".
"Thank you my love." She answered. "Why are you here so early?"
"First of all, 8:00 am is NOT that early, and second, if I didn't get here early, how could I greet my lady with a special Birthday breakfast?" Matt lowered himself onto the bed beside her and helped her into a sitting position.
"Breakfast sounds good." She replied sleepily. "What did you make?"
"Scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, tea.... you know, the usual Birthday breakfast things..." He teased, presenting her a plate covered with a lid.
"That smells amazing, this might just be my best birthday ever." She turned her face to him for another kiss before digging the fork into the pile of scrambled eggs. "Are you eating too?" She asked. There was a lot more food on the plate than she'd be able to finish herself, so she hoped he was planning to help.
"I might take a bite or two." He said, snapping up one of the strips of bacon and biting half of it off, then holding the rest out for her. She held out a forkful of eggs for him and he accepted it. "What does the Birthday Girl have planned for today?" He asked.
"Well, I thought since I am being paid to not be at work today, I need to make the most of it. I was thinking about taking the 'twins' to the splash park this morning, and then for ice cream this afternoon."
"What about your party tonight?" He asked.
"Oh yeah, Taylor and Shannon are cooking something up, but I have no idea what. They think they're sneaky, but I know they have something up their sleeves." She grinned thinking of all the times they'd tried to surprise her with a Birthday dinner, but she'd somehow managed to either find out in advance or spoil it every time.
A few years ago they had enlisted the help of the 'twins' in trying to keep her from coming home before they had the party ready, but she had planned to take the girls kayaking, and finally Taylor had to message her and tell her that there were people at her house waiting for her to come home for her birthday dinner. A smile played across her lips at the memory, the 'twins' were never allowed to be part of the surprise committee since that disaster.
"What was that smile for?" Matt asked.
"Oh, just a visit from the Ghost of Birthdays past." She replied, not wanting to retell the entire story. He'd either heard it already or he'd hear it from Taylor later that evening anyway.
"What's on your agenda?" She asked, wondering if he'd want to come to the splash park if he was free.
"I've got some client calls I need to hop on in a little bit here, but I'm hoping to wrap up early this afternoon, and then I'll be available for whatever birthday shenanigans might follow." His eyes followed her across the room as she opened her closet door and took out a blue sundress and her sandals.
"That's too bad." She said, "If you were free all day you could come hang out with us." He groaned at the suggestion, but the client calls were pressing, and there was no way he could postpone them.
"Maybe I can get them wrapped up earlier before you head back, and I can meet up with you?" She knew it was a long shot, client calls usually got bogged down and took much longer than expected, never less time.
"Don't worry about it my love, I know where your mind will be all day, and I'll see you tonight." She kissed him, and then took her clothes off to the bathroom so she could shower and dress for the day.
As she toweled off after her shower she examined herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure what she'd expected to look like at age 50, but she had to admit, she still looked pretty good. Yes, there were some flecks of gray in her hair now, and laugh lines at the corner of her eyes, but not too bad. "Where did the time go?" She mused out loud, she still felt like she was 19. She pulled the sundress over her head and turned to check herself in the mirror. This was the first time she'd worn this dress, but she already knew it was going to be a summer favorite. She slid her rings back onto her fingers and her bracelets on her wrist, before running the hairbrush through her damp hair.
The sound of the 'twins' dresser drawers thumping brought her thoughts back around to her plans for the day. They loved anything to do with the water, and it wouldn't take much prodding from her to get them into their bathing suits and out the door.
******
When Clare pulled her car back into the driveway that afternoon with two sunkissed teenagers dozing off in the backseat a huge smile crossed her lips. Taylors car was already there, and "Over the Hill" party decorations greeted her. "Of course, Taylor would think 50 is old." She laughed out loud, Taylor was barely 30, and didn't have the same perspective. Clare put the car into park and typed out a text to Taylor. "Can you bring my walker to the driveway? I'm afraid I forgot my cane."
Taylor popped out of the kitchen door and tried to shoo Clare off. "You're home too early, where is Matt? He was supposed to delay you until we're ready."
"Oh Taylor, you know I defy all of your plans to surprise me, no matter who you enlist to help, none of them are up for the task." They laughed, and Clare sent the 'twins' into the house with orders to help Auntie Taylor. "Don't worry Taylor, I haven't seen anything, I'll go take a nap and forget you're here."
Clare tried to nap, but every few minutes Taylor or one of the 'twins' would pop their head into the bedroom to ask her where to find something they needed. She finally gave up, took a quick shower and joined them in the kitchen. Shannon and Tim had arrived, and Matt was preparing to put a massive plate of burgers on the grill.
"Burgers are my favorite." Clare purred, turning her face up to kiss him. He brushed her lips lightly with his and smiled.
"You got some sun today." She nodded, her cheeks were already tingling a bit, even though she'd worn sunscreen and tried to stay in the shade of the umbrella while the girls played in the water. "Can you find the wooden spatula for me babe? It wasn't in the drawer it usually is."
"What are you needing it for?" She asked while browsing through the drawer again, knowing he probably hadn't looked very hard.
"So I can give you Birthday spankings later." He shot back, a little too quickly. Tim and Shannon overheard him and laughed. Clare pulled the spatula out of the drawer where he swore he'd looked and placed it in his hand.
"I might like that." She deadpanned as she left the room.
Matt looked down, contemplating the spatula in his hand for a moment and then nodded at Tim. "Excuse me while I deal with some sass." He said, tucking the spatula into his back pocket.
