Anna’s sitting on the couch, resting a Sudoku puzzle on her pregnant belly, when Lily runs in and settles next to her, tablet in hand. She blocks the puzzle with her hand, forcing Anna’s attention.
“When do we get to eat cake and sing Happy Birthday to you, Mommy?” Lily asks. Anna replies, “Any minute. The cake’s set to be delivered around now. Whatcha watching, Lily-Billy?” Lily wakes up the tablet to show her. “Daddy’s video, Mommy.”
Lily stands to dance and sing along as Rick performs a goofy song and dance routine on-screen. His hair flops over one eye as he wiggles his head around.
Anna glances up to see him washing dishes in the kitchen. His hair is probably flopping over one eye right now.
He dries a dish with their cherry-embroidered dishtowel. Anna’s heart swells. Twin cherries are their thing. It began as an inside joke when they were teenagers. When they started dating, they’d give each other notes and cards with pictures of cherries on them. That dishtowel was an anniversary gift from Rick a few years back.
I don’t think Rick’s ever washed the dishes before. He’s trying so hard.
Anna recalls the night she’s certain baby Freddy was conceived. Rick had left to watch the Super Bowl with his buddies, only to return moments later.
“Did you forget something?”
“Yeah. I forgot you’re more important to me than the Super Bowl.”
He’d put Lily to bed, then spent the rest of the evening with Anna. Even though it was a few months since he’d come clean about the affair—begging Anna’s forgiveness—that Super Bowl Sunday was the first day she’d believed Rick might actually be a new man.
And it’s the day you were made, Freddy, she thinks, rubbing her belly. Anna looks up at Rick. Sensing her eyes on him, he turns to face her.
Anna gets up and pulls Rick into the living room. She reaches to her left to sweep his hair out of his eye, then hesitates, stops, and moves her hand right instead. It’s been so long since we’ve spent time together like this, I can’t even remember which side Rick parts his hair. She tiptoes awkwardly to kiss his cheek.
Lily pauses the video to join in on the love-fest. She tackles Rick’s legs so he falls backward onto the couch.
Anna shakes her head, chuckling, and returns to her Sudoku puzzle on the other couch.
Lily sits on Rick’s knees and fiddles with the Bramah key he wears around his neck. Giggling, she holds it over her lip like a mustache. She drops it and leans close to Rick’s face. “Daddy, your mole moved.” Rick mock-gasps in reply, “Oh no, a traveling mole!”
Anna doesn’t hear them, eyes glued to her puzzle, tapping her pencil against her chin.
“Well,” Rick says, moving Lily off his knees to stand up, “I better pack for tomorrow’s photography trip.”
“Into the wilderness!” Lily adds excitedly, “And you’ll bring me a souvenir like your last trip!” Then she unpauses the video and resumes parroting her on-screen dad. Rick leaves to pack.
Anna smiles fondly at Lily as she mimics video-Rick, speaking along with him word-for-word.
“And this is an awesome place to shoot because of how the sun comes through those trees.” Lily pauses the video and squints. “Mommy, look!” She shoves the tablet toward Anna’s face. Anna leans back, pushing it away.
“Lily! I can’t see anything when it’s that close!”
Lily pouts and hugs the tablet. “Mommy, Daddy’s mole moved. In the video, it’s in the right place. But now it’s in the wrong place, Mommy.”
Anna looks up from the puzzle. “Sweetie, you’re getting your right and left mixed up again. Moles don’t move.”
Lily huffs and leaves. The doorbell rings. Anna moves to answer but stops when Rick calls from the hallway, “I’ve got it!” He hurries to the door, exchanges pleasantries with the delivery man, then carries the cake box to the kitchen.
“It’s here,” he says in a singsong voice. “Anna, go ahead and finish that Sudoku while I find the candles.”
Anna touches her face, amazed at how she can’t stop smiling. The cake, printed with a photo of Rick, Anna, and Lily, is a yearly tradition. But this year, Rick’s so solicitous, so attentive. This year, it feels like he wants to celebrate her. While Anna attempts to finish solving the Sudoku, Lily joins Rick in the kitchen.
He moves around the table to get a better look at what she’s holding. “What’ve you got there, Lily-Billy?” he says softly, reaching out his hand.
Lily bounces on her toes with excitement. “It’s our surprise, Daddy,” she says in a stage whisper.
Rick grabs the items from Lily to examine them. She keeps bouncing as he looks them over. One is a craft project, a pair of cherries made from green pipe cleaners and red pom-poms, clearly made by Lily with adult help.
The other is a Polaroid of Rick smiling, sitting in a retro diner, a large-screen TV visible behind him. One hand pinches together two maraschino cherries so their stems meet at the top. The other hand points at the TV screen. The photo was clearly timed so it’s unmistakable that the Super Bowl is playing live in the background. It was obviously taken the night Anna believes Freddy was conceived. The wall clock pinpoints sometime after six in the evening.
Rick sucks in a tense breath. Lily stops bouncing and looks at him. He wipes a hand over his face, then smiles reassuringly at her. She smiles back and starts dancing around.
He pulls the Polaroid closer. The man in the photo has an eyebrow mole just visible on the right, while his hair is parted on the left. Rick’s hand moves to his own hair, parted on the opposite side, and to his mole, on the wrong eyebrow. He stands still for a moment, staring at the photo. Lily keeps dancing, clearly pleased she successfully hid the photo until tonight. He slides it into his pocket and motions Lily closer, checking first to confirm that Anna is still engrossed in her puzzle.
“It’s not time yet, Lily-Billy,” he whispers softly. “I’ll let you know when, but for now, don’t tell Mommy about the picture, okay?”
Lily nods, starry-eyed. “Okay, Daddy. But we can give her the cherries you helped me make?”
“Of course.” He takes off his key pendant and slides it over Lily’s head. She squeals in delight and looks up questioningly as he says, “You’re good at keeping important things safe, Lily-Billy. You can keep that for me until I return.” Lily whispers, “Your super special secret key! Are you going to show me now what it unlocks?”
He straightens up and musses her hair. “Not today, squirt.” He hands her his phone. “Can you plug this into the charger in my bedroom?” Lily nods eagerly and runs off.
“Anna,” he calls out, “I’m going to grab my work camera so we can document your birthday properly.” Anna murmurs assent, not looking up, pencil busy on paper.
Rick hastens to the home office, closing the door softly behind him. Alone, he pulls the Polaroid out of his pocket and slides it into the shredder, watching it get pulled through the blades. Then he grabs the camera and slips back out, closing the door behind him. He arranges a practiced smile onto his face and heads to the kitchen, calling out, “All right, let’s get started!”
His eyes fix on Lily as he enters the kitchen. “Lily’s going to keep my key safe while I’m away.” Anna, now in the kitchen, looks up from the box of matches she’s opening. Lily beams, caressing the key.
Anna cautions, “Are you sure, kiddo? It’s really important to Daddy.” She glances at Rick but he smiles reassuringly. Lily twists off the protective cap to examine the notched nib of the cylinder.
“I trust her,” Rick says. “She’s good at safekeeping.” Anna, impressed with Rick’s trust in Lily, pats her head and returns to lighting a match.
Rick winks at Lily. “When I get back, I’ll have a surprise for both of you,” he adds. Lily squeaks excitedly and bounces. He puts a finger to his lips and wiggles his eyebrows. Lily pretends to zip her lips. She carefully screws the cap back onto the key.
Anna triumphantly places a lighted match against the candles on the cake. She basks in the moment, gazing at the photo on the cake of her husband encircling Lily and Anna in his arms.
“This is a perfect birthday,” she declares, one hand on her stomach, her other arm pulling Lily close. She beams at the man behind the camera as he readies to take a photo. “I’m so happy, Rick. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Anna.” He snaps a photo. “I’m counting down the days until my return. We have lots to look forward to.”