Happy Birthday to Me Again (Birthday Trilogy, Book 2) (30 page)

As we made our way inside to see a mostly
empty, quiet cathedral, Liesel turned to me, panic all over her face. “But… But
Cameron…”

“What?”

“What about my
dress
?”

I smiled and pointed toward a small room
at the right. Kimber stood inside of it, already, motioning for Liesel to come
over to her, the wedding dress draped in her hands.

“Oh my God,”
Liesel said. “This is happening. This is really happening.”

“It is,” I said.
“I love you.”

She looked like she was going to start
crying, but she kept hold of her emotions. “I love you more, Cameron. More than
you’ll ever know.”

I kissed her on the cheek and made my way
to the small room on the left, where Wesley was waiting for me with my tuxedo.
I stepped inside and started closing the door, watching as everyone made his
and her way through the church. I saw my parents take their seats at the front,
and I could tell my mom had already started crying.

This is it,
I thought.
Tonight, I become a married man.

---

I stood at the front of the cathedral,
barely thirty minutes later, and looked out on a nearly packed house of family
and friends. Wesley stood to the left of me, and I calmly waited for Liesel’s
entrance. I waved at Kimber, and then my parents.

I closed my eyes and thought:
Please don’t do any magic, Liesel. No magic.
Not tonight. Let’s keep this simple.

The doors at the
front opened, and the heavenly music began.
 

The first thing I saw was everybody in
the church standing up and turning toward the back of the room.

The second thing I saw was Liesel,
absolutely luminous in a white sparkly dress, her arms and shoulders featured
prominently at the top, ruffles overtaking the bottom of the dress, her
sinfully gorgeous red hair up in a bun. She didn’t look like the prettiest girl
in Reno anymore. She looked like the prettiest girl in the world. I stood there
in those slow-motion-like seconds completely transfixed on the sight in front
of me. I knew Liesel, with all her powers, and occasional tantrums, was one of
the most dangerous women I could marry. I knew it would be easier to pick a
girl, one without the power to turn me old or young, to spend the rest of my
life with. But I didn’t want to. Liesel was it for me.

You’re
the one I want,
I
thought.
For better or for worse. In
sickness and in health. Aging backward and forward, sideways and diagonally.
You’re the one.

She stepped up toward me, and we both
faced the tall, elderly minister. Everybody sat down, and the proceedings
began.

After a few introductions, and the
exchanging of rings, it was time for the reading of the vows.

I took Liesel’s hands and smiled. “As
many are aware, you knew me longer than I knew you, Liesel. I was so wrapped up
in my own problems and worries and insecurities that I never took a moment to
see who the true love of my life really was. When I got sick last year, you
were one of the few people who came to my rescue, and I knew, then and there,
that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, and only you. Some may
scoff at us, because we’re too young, too naïve, and, yes, maybe a little
stupid. But sometimes in your life you get a gut feeling, and Liesel, that gut
feeling is
you
. I know how fleeting
life can be. I’ve seen it now…
twice
.
And whether I have one more day on this Earth, or another hundred, I want to
spend all of them… with you.”

Liesel, my mom, Kimber, even Wesley, had
tears in their eyes. Liesel looked ready to collapse from an emotional
breakdown, but she smiled, wiped her tears away, and kept her composure.

The minister nodded at Liesel, and she
began. “Cameron, I’ll be the first to admit, that our relationship is anything
but normal. We’ve been through some trying times together, some scarier than
others, and we’re still only in our teens. Any logical person would say to wait
a few more years to make sure we’re compatible. But we don’t have the t—”
She stopped and took a deep breath. “I know, as you do, that every day we spend
with each other is a wish granted, time to cherish forever and ever. We don’t
know what’ll happen tomorrow. All we know is now. And I know that I have loved
you for many years, never as much as I do right now. Cameron, I want to be with
you.” She started to cry, but again, she kept herself composed. “Whatever
happens next, I just need you to know, Cameron, that everything I’ve ever done…
is because I love you.”

“I know,” I said, and then I turned to
the large crowd before us. “What do you all think? Should I marry this girl?”

Everyone cheered, even my dad, who, also
surprisingly, now had tears in his eyes. Best of all, I could see him holding
my mom’s hand in his.

Then Kimber
stood up and shouted, “Seal the deal, you fools! Seal the deal!”

Liesel and I
looked at each other with big, infectious grins, and turned to the minister.

“Do you, Cameron, take Liesel, to be your
lawfully wedded wife, from this day forward, for richer or for poorer, in
sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

I nodded. There
was no question. “I do.”

He turned to Liesel. “Do you, Liesel,
take Cameron, to be your lawfully wedded husband, from this day forward, for
richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall
live?”

Her eyes were red with tears. She opened
her mouth, but no words came out for a moment. I waited for her to say it, but
she didn’t. She closed her mouth and smiled. Finally: “You bet I do.”

Everyone sighed
with joy. Even
I
had to smile with
relief.

The minister finished with: “By the
powers invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the
bride!”

I took a step
forward, dipped Liesel into my arms, and gave her a big, wet kiss.

Everybody cheered and whistled with
jubilant glee. My parents hugged each other, and my sister started jumping up
and down. I turned to my right to see Wesley give me one of the biggest smiles
of the night. I smiled back, happy as ever, knowing I was finally back to
normal, loving life, now married to the woman I knew I was meant to be with
forever and ever, in the eagerly awaited future.

I turned to
Liesel and kissed her again.

The future.

18.
 
Nineteen

Here I was.
Again.

No matter how much I insisted, no matter
how much I pleaded with Liesel and my family, here I was, listening to the
worst song in the universe for the umpteenth time.

“Happy birthday
to you…”

It was hard to believe I had been married
for six weeks. It was June tenth, the night of Kimber’s major violin
performance in Washington D.C., as well as my nineteenth birthday. I looked
over at Kimber to see her barely touching her dinner, scared beyond belief at
the evening she had ahead of her. My parents were happy as can be, not
officially but seemingly back together, at least for the time being. They were
pleased as ever to celebrate these two big events tonight, not to mention, my
six-week anniversary with Liesel.

“…Happy birthday
to you…”

Liesel sat to the side of me, holding my
hand, smiling, but somehow distant. She hadn’t said very much today, and I
wondered if she wasn’t feeling well. Our last six weeks had been spectacular.
On the Sunday after our wedding, we departed Reno for a three-week vacation in
Europe, the first international trip for the two of us. We spent a week in
Paris, a week in London, and a week in Florence, and it couldn’t have been a
more pleasant, romantic time. We finally made love on our first night in Paris,
and after that, Liesel couldn’t keep her hands off me, with the two of us
spending more time in hotel rooms, seemingly, than in all the touristy spots.
What can I say? I wasn’t exactly complaining.

“…Happy birthday
dear Cameron…”

Best of all, it seemed like Liesel had
finally gotten control over her powers. I thought for sure she’d give the
audience a big show on our wedding night, but she didn’t. When we first made
love, I figured she’d be pushing me up through the ceiling and all the way over
the Paris moon, but she didn’t. Six weeks later, she seemed to finally have a
handle on her magic, and I for one couldn’t be happier. I knew she wouldn’t
curse me again. I knew I was safe. I knew there was nothing more to worry
about.

“…Happy birthday
to
you
!”

I clasped my hands together and shook my
head with annoyance as four waiters and five waitresses finished the song and
set a giant chocolate cake down in the center of the table. My mom smiled with
glee, while Kimber looked about ready to throw up.

My dad turned to me and smiled. “Don’t
you think for one second that I got this cake for
free
.”

“Yeah,” I said
with a laugh. “I figured.”

There were nineteen candles lit in the
center of the cake. I looked at Liesel, who didn’t show much expression. I
sighed, turned back to the cake, and made a wish.

No curses,
I thought.
Please, for once, no curses.

I blew as hard as I could and knocked
down the flames of eighteen of the nineteen candles. I leaned forward and blew
out the last one. Everybody politely clapped.

My mom set a slice on a plate for my dad and
passed it down. Her next slice I passed down to Kimber, who looked at me with
the saddest of expressions.

“Hungry, sis?” I
asked.

She shook her head, jumped up from the
table, and darted for the nearby ladies’ bathroom.

I turned to my
mom. “I think she’s a little nervous.”

“More than she’s ever been,” my mom said.
“She’s performing a solo in front of the
President
,
Cam.”

“Oh God,” I
said, opening my eyes wide. “I’m happy not to be in her shoes right now.”

I patted
Liesel’s hand, and she patted mine back, giving me a forced smiled.

“You want some
cake?” I asked.

“No, thanks,”
she said. “I’m not that hungry.”

“You barely ate
any of your dinner.”

“Yeah, my
stomach’s been bugging me today.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,
sweetie,” I said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s fine. It’s
nothing.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek, but I
could tell she was only doing it to make me think she wasn’t in pain. I could
tell—either she really was sick, or she had something on her mind. This
was the first day in six weeks she hadn’t been overjoyed at our spending
quality time together. I figured her sour mood would pass, especially after
taking our seats in the giant auditorium for Kimber’s performance.

I took a few bites of the gooey chocolate
cake. It would have been better with some vanilla ice cream, but it was still
fabulous. It tasted even better than the cake I had enjoyed on that drunken
night fifteen months ago at Uncle Tony’s, Charisma on my lap, my basketball
buddies all looking on, as Liesel blew out the light on a cake that would
change my life forever. I knew, though, after blowing out those birthday
candles tonight, tomorrow morning I wouldn’t wake up a year older, or a year
younger. It was over. Life was back to normal.
For good
.

Kimber returned to the table and looked
out at all of us. She put her hands at her sides, nodded, and took a big,
satisfying breath.

“OK,” she said.
“I’m ready.”

---

The Misner Auditorium at the corner of 16
^th
and Northwestern Street housed thousands of people, and when my mom, dad,
Liesel, and I took our seats in one of the front rows of the massive place, I
looked behind us to see a seemingly never-ending room of faces. I tried to
think of an auditorium in Reno that could house as many people as this one did.
The stage was so big I figured it would be impossible to even
see
my little sister among all the other
young strings players. But I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

“Oh my God,” I said, crossing my arms.
“This is so exciting. I can’t believe we’re here. I can’t believe my sister’s
going to be up there.”

“I know,” Liesel
said, bringing her hand on top of mine.

“I’m so happy
you can be here for this.”

I brought my head against her shoulder
for a moment, but she didn’t return the favor.
What’s the matter with her?

“Are you sure
you’re OK?” I asked.

“I’m fine, Cam.”

“OK.”

She was clearly getting a bug of some
kind. I figured after the performance I’d go buy her some Pepto Bismol or
antacids. She’d be better in the morning. We were planning on spending the
weekend in D.C. to do some sightseeing, and I hoped I wouldn’t have to give it
up to spend the whole two days in a hotel room watching infomercials while
Liesel hovered over a toilet.