I hated surprises. That wasn’t altogether true. Christmas presents I liked. A surprise kiss from Karen I liked. A surprise birthday party though was about the worst thing you could do for me, short of setting me on fire. Unfortunately the only people who really knew this were dead. Karen, Christine and Emily set up my birthday party without even knowing I hadn’t celebrated it in over twenty years.
Marie and Ira had left the office about three in the afternoon to go to an important meeting and left me in charge on a Friday in early May. I knew full well what the date was but I hadn’t shared it with anyone since I had turned eighteen years old. Paul and Anne had known better than to say anything about it. It was a sad day for me and I was looking forward to going home and having a quiet weekend.
I left work at six, about half an hour after the last employee left. Christine had called me to ask where I was and to tell me that she was going to the mall. I let her go. The peace and quiet would be welcome tonight.
The drive home was slow, as was to be expected on a Friday evening at rush hour. Even with all the traffic it took me just forty five minutes to get home. I sat in my SUV on the driveway for a few minutes. I looked at my home, the house that had previously belonged partially to my sister in law, my brother before that and my parents over two decades ago. It was the only thing that Anne had left just for me. She thought I should own the house outright since it had been in my family for so long. Every other cent she had we had decided to put it in a trust for Christine.
I looked in the dark house and then over to Karen’s house. There wasn’t a light on at her place. I wondered where she had gone to. I then noticed that there didn’t seem to be a light on in any of the other houses in the neighborhood. Apparently I had not been invited to wherever the whole neighborhood had gone to. I got out of the car after about five minutes and headed into my place.
I opened the door, turned on the light and…
“Surprise!”
The lights came on and there stood all my neighbors in my decorated house. Marie and Ira were there with their spouses. Christine and Emily were standing in front of Karen. I just stood there with my mouth open. I dropped my briefcase, turned around and walked out the house.
“Where’s he going?” I heard Christine ask as I made my way back to my car.
“Hey Jake. Jake, hey, where are you going?” Karen called after me. We both made it to my driver’s side door at the same time.
“You’re not going to stay for your party?” said Karen smiling at me. I saw Christine at the door.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Your birthday party, silly.”
“I don’t celebrate my birthday, Karen. I hate, hate surprise birthday parties more than anything.”
“What? Why?”
“The last time I had a surprise on my birthday I was in the house alone when two lawyers came over to tell me my parents had died that day. I don’t celebrate the day my parents died.”
“Uncle Jake?” I heard Christine ask.
“Honey, go back inside. We’ll be right in,” said Karen assuringly. She pulled me over to the other side of the SUV so we could be a little bit hidden from my house and the guests within it.
“Jake I understand you haven’t celebrated your birthday in along time. But back then you had Paul. Did he ever walk out on you? Did he ever leave you to fend for yourself, even once?”
“No.”
“And yet you feel its okay to walk out on Christine? You are the only family she has. You said you wanted her to like you. She organized this herself. She talked to all the neighbors, called Marie and Ira, put this whole thing together for you. It took her close to a month. She even had the people at your work try to find out what kind of cake you liked so that she could get the right flavor. She and Emily decorated the house today from the moment they got back from school. Yeah I understand, you don’t want to be here, but you are going to go back in that house and at least pretend to have a good time or so help me God I’ll.”
“You’ll what?”
“I’ll, I’ll…Just go back inside.”
“You coming?”
“Leave me alone for a minute. I need a minute,” said Karen, trying to catch her breath.
“I’ll wait. I’m not leaving you.”
“Watch your words, Jake. You’re in danger of giving a woman hope.”
“Come on, my cake is getting cold.”
I pretended for the first five minutes of the party. After that I really had a good time. I changed out of my work clothes and into an Over the Hill black t-shirt. The cake was out of this world good. And then we got to the presents. I got some clothes, some stuff for my office and some gag gifts. The last present I opened was from my niece. She handed me an envelope.
“An envelope? What is it?”
“It’s what you really want, Uncle Jake. Open it up.”
I slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the paper inside.
“What is it?” asked Ira.
“Read it out loud,” said someone else.
“It’s a certificate for a date with Karen, along with a brochure for a bed and breakfast in the Catskill Mountains. Christine, what is this?”
“Oh come on. The whole neighborhood can see how you two look at each other,” said Christine.
“My mom said she would be willing to go if you were,” added Emily.
I hugged and thanked my niece. It was exactly what I wanted. I then got up and asked Karen on a date. She joked that she would think about it.
So I was now forty and nowhere near where I had thought I would have been by now. I was a parent, though I had no children of my own. I worked for a small but well respected firm and while I could have earned more elsewhere, I wouldn’t even dream of leaving. The woman I had been courting secretly for a few months was about my age and easily did things that took me great effort to accomplish. It was all new to me and I wouldn’t have had it any differently.
Karen and I went on our date the same weekend that the girls went on a school trip to Philadelphia. We ended up near Windham, NY at a cozy little place. Our weekend was filled with some country shopping, hiking, sitting in the outdoor hot tub and watching the stars. It was also the first time that we had ever moved farther than just kissing and holding hands.
I made a decision about Karen that weekend, though I didn’t share it with her right away. I had to think about it some more and consult a couple of other people.