Her Younger Millionaire

Tina usually aggressively ignored her birthday. It had never been a good day for her, and in fact was usually the opposite; some of the worst days of her life have been her birthday. Her father lost his job on her birthday, and so their lives changed for the worse leading to her parents’ divorce a year later also on her birthday. It’s always been like that for her. Even when they were kids, her birthdays were always just a huge disappointment, if not outright terrible, no matter how hard her mother tried to make them special.

It all came together in her mind, then. The extra night staying even though they had a four wheel drive that could have them home even in the rain. The popcorn and the chips. Aiden happening to have three John Travolta movies with him, in a room that happened to have a DVD player.

The lights came back on then, bathing the room in soft yellow light, and Tina turned to see Aiden emerge from the bathroom, a cup of water in one hand. He looked so good that Tina almost faltered; his hair was mussed, his lips flushed and his eyes bright, his naked skin seeming to glow in the lamplight.

“Do you know what day it is?” Tina demanded.

Aiden clears his throat. “It’s, uh. It’s March 20th.”

Which means Aiden knew exactly what he was doing. The shifty look in his eyes said as much and his long conversations he had sometimes with her mother. She couldn’t fail to have mentioned it; or how much Tina hated her birthday. “So you did this.” Tina waved her free hand, encompassing the room, the fallen popcorn bowl, the couch, everything. “You planned this whole thing.”

“Well, I didn’t make it rain, but yeah.” Aiden shrugged, looking sheepish. “I wasn’t gonna say anything,” he mumbled. “You didn’t seem to even remember, and I know how you… I just wanted you to, you know. Not even have a good day, just… just have it be a day, you know? No sh*t going down, no crap interfering, but no celebration either. Just a day like any other.”

Tina blinked at him, taking it in. A tiny part of her was still annoyed that Aiden did anything at all, but the rest of her realized that Aiden actually thought about what she’d want, first. He hadn’t said anything to remind Tina what day it was. He hadn’t tried to take Tina to a bar or a game or anything. He’d found a nice room, yes, but it wasn’t anything grand or completely out of this world like he could have. He’d brought movies he knew Tina liked. He’d gotten Tina’s favorite granola bars. He’d just — been Tina’s boyfriend.

“Christina?” Aiden ventured. He put the cup of water down on the desk and approached Tina, hesitant. “Tina, babe, I—”

“Not a day like any other,” Tina said softly, setting her phone back down and walking into Aiden’s arms. Aiden held her tightly, letting out a sigh, and Tina leaned her cheek against Aiden’s hair and closed her eyes.

Aiden kissed the corner of her mouth. “So we’re good?”

“We’re good,” Tina agreed.

Aiden kissed the other corner. “Could I say it?” he mumbled. “I mean, since you know…”

Tina shook her head, reflexively. But she didn’t mind, she realized. It’s been too good a day, and it wasn’t even over yet. “Go ahead. I know you want to.”

Aiden kissed her full on the mouth. “Happy birthday, Christina.”

And for once, Tina thought as she kissed him back, as they fell onto the bed together, it actually kind of was.