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face.
    “What’s up, little man?” I asked as I crouched beside him.
    “This is the key to your office, Mommy. I’m not allowed in there.”
    I looked at my boy and saw his bottom lip tremble slightly.
    “You’re allowed in there today, birthday boy,” I said, giving him a big smile and a nod of encouragement.
    “You didn’t forget my birthday?” he asked as he threw his arms around me, the key momentarily forgotten.
    “Umm…let’s see…” I giggled as I peppered his face with kisses.
    “Let’s get the door open, buddy, and see what lies behind,” Drake said as he came up behind us, reaching out a hand to help me up.
    The door opened and a shout echoed around the large foyer of our house.
    “ Presents! ”
    Drake chuckled and slung an arm around my shoulders. We stepped into my office and saw Ayden’s face as he sat in the middle of a pile of presents.
     
    ***
     
    As we climbed into bed that night, Drake’s shoulders slumped for the first time all day. I wondered what could be bothering him. We’d had a good day, no arguments or anything going wrong. I moved up behind him on my knees on the mattress.
    Face in his hands, resting his arms on his knees, Drake was keeping something in and I wanted him to let his guard down. He didn’t talk about feelings, he hadn’t been brought up in a very tactile family. The rest of his family only hugged or kissed you on birthdays and Christmas, although they were different with Ayden. He was their first grandchild and that brought something out in them that we didn’t see often. They were a loving family in their own way, they just didn’t wear their hearts on their sleeve like I did. It was an adjustment having to get used to how they were and slowly teaching Drake that he could be more tactile with me. Thankfully by the time Ayden came into the world, Drake found it easier to show his love, but still locked up his other feelings somewhere inside him.
    “Drake, baby, tell me what’s wrong,” I pleaded softly.
    A sigh was all I heard from him. I hung my head, still not knowing how to get him to open up after all these years together.
    “I just want to forget,” he finally whispered.
    “Forget what?” I wrapped my arms around him and sat by his side.
    “My Dad…he…died yesterday.”
    My world came crashing down around me. God only knows how Drake was feeling. He’d known about this since the previous day and hadn’t said a word. We’d spent Ayden’s birthday as we had planned instead of going to visit Lynne, Drake’s mom. I couldn’t understand. How could Dennis be dead?
    “My mother said it was a heart attack and that the doctor said he wouldn’t have suffered. She found him in the shower in the morning. She didn’t want any of us to go round, needed her space to come to terms with it. I felt it best to at least let Ayden have his birthday the way we’d planned. It would have been a lot to cancel at the last minute.”
    I couldn’t speak. Part of me wanted to comfort my husband after the death of the man he looked up to. The other part of me was mad as hell that he hadn’t told me sooner. How could he have found that out yesterday and not let me know immediately? Even if he’d wanted Ayden to have a good birthday, he still could have told me. After all, Dennis had been like a father to me to after I was estranged from my family. The Andersons had all been like family to me since I had met them. They treated me as a second daughter. Meghan, their daughter, was somewhat of a bitch to me at first, thinking I was some snooty cow and we butted heads. But when she got to know me, we had a great bond. I was guessing she hadn’t texted or called me about it because she thought Drake would tell me or because he had asked her not to mention it. Either way I was pissed off.
    I snapped out of my own thoughts and nestled my head on Drake’s shoulder. For the first time since I’d known him, I heard him begin to softly