Extra Bonus #62: Luna's 9th Birthday (Farrow) (Patreon)

IMPORTANT: Please do not screenshot and post any part of this bonus scene to other sites or share with non-patrons. All of the Patreon content is exclusive to Patreon and for current patron's eyes only.  Thank you!! xoxo Krista & Becca

RESOURCES:  Check out this narrative timeline graphic to visually see when this bonus scene takes place.

MUSIC: we listened to "Forever" by DNCE  and "Soul" by Matchbox Twenty while writing this bonus scene.

“Hi, Farrow, this is Lily Hale. I know you said you wouldn’t be able to make Luna’s birthday dinner tonight. But if you’re in the area and have time, it would mean the world to her if you stopped by. She had a rough day today, and she specifically requested your presence. Sorry for rambling. But yeah, just give me a call. Thanksbye!”

The voicemail ends.

I have five missed calls from Lily.

She seems desperate.

I thought the invite wasn’t that serious. Luna asked me offhandedly when I was hanging around Camp Calloway this summer, volunteering at the clinic there. She’s nine. Nine-year-olds say a lot of shit they don’t really mean.

I’ve been home since Thanksgiving, putting in more shadowing hours with my dad. If I want to get into med school, I need more than just good grades and my last name. Though—I’m sure I could get in with just that. See, I don’t love the idea that I’m able to coast into med school. I do want to earn it.

So I’m padding my resume with volunteer work and shadowing, two things that I realize are easier for me to come by with a doctor for a father.

I relisten to Lily’s voicemail.

She had a rough day today.

Shit.

“Hey, Dad!” I call out in our large house. He doesn’t answer. I grab my leather jacket, my motorcycle keys, and my helmet. Then I find my dad on the sun porch, drinking a lemonade and scrolling through his tablet. Probably reading PubMed.

“Dad,” I knock on the doorframe.

He glances up from his tablet, sees my helmet in hands. “You’re leaving?” He lowers the tablet to his lap. “We have an early morning at Philly General, Farrow. You’ll want to be well rested for it.”

“I’m not going out to a club. I just have this thing…” I pause, wondering if I should explain. It’s not like he’d disapprove. He likes that I’m close to the families. It rounds out his dream of me stepping into the role of concierge doctor. I’m not looking that far ahead.

I’m eighteen. I have to get through undergrad and med school first. I consider telling him about Luna’s birthday for a second, then he looks back to his iPad.

“Well as long as you’re not out late. Have a good time.”

So that’s that.

I stare for an extra long beat and then I leave.

In the garage, I call Lily on speaker. She picks up on the first ring.

“Farrow, oh my gosh. You called back.”

Her surprise makes me smile. “Yeah, I called back. I’m actually in town.”

“Holy shit, I am Jean Grey.”

I almost laugh. “What?”

“Oh sorrysorry. I’m just excited. I can’t believe you’re in Philly. Do you have time to come over for dinner? You can say no. No pressure, really.” I hear the words she’s saying but I also hear the worry in them.

I’m already getting on my bike. “I have time.”

Lily lets out a breath of relief, audible over the phone. “Luna is going to be so happy.”

“You said she had a bad day?” I stare at my phone, brows knitted.

“A girl at school put gum in her hair.”

I wince and run my tongue over my molars, shards of anger rising. “Jesus.” Now it makes sense why Lily’s so desperate to get me there.

“Yeah, it’s not great. And her brother is held up at swim practice, so it’ll be nice for something to go right.” Her brother. Has to be the oldest one. Maximoff.

“I’m on my way,” I say.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” she mushes together. We say a quick goodbye, and on my motorcycle, I head towards the Hale House.

Sun’s beginning to set when I arrive, and as I get off the bike in the driveway, I spot three little kids watching me, noses pressed up against the window. I wave a hand towards them and they scatter.

I laugh. Wholesome shit.

Lily opens the front door as I approach, and I hear Xander in the background. “Is that a real motorcycle? Like Uncle Ryke’s?”

“Yeah, bub, it’s real. And dangerous,” Lo says to his kid.

I walk into the house. “My dad hates them too,” I tell Lo.

“Smart man,” Lo says into a nod. Eh, most everyone respects my dad, and I wouldn’t argue about his intelligence. He didn’t get to where he is without being smart. But at times, I do wish other things mattered more to him.

Lily shuts the door. “Thank you for coming.” She’s grinning from ear to ear.

I grin back. “Wouldn’t miss it. Where’s the birthday girl?”

“Greetings!” Luna pops up from the couch, giving me the Spock salute. I return it, and she beams.

Her hair is cut at odd levels, hacked away with a pair of scissors, I’m guessing. “Cool haircut,” I tell her. “Is it new?”

She smiles bigger. “Yeah. My mom did it today.”

It does kind of look like she’s ready to go to an eighties grunge concert. I like the look. “I didn’t have time to wrap your birthday present,” I tell her. “But here you go…” I hand her one of my favorite bracelets. A leather braided one.

She grins harder when she takes it and squishes it to her chest. “I love it. Thankyou.” She says the thank you fast and hugs me.

We all end up at the kitchen table with five different kinds of pizza. Lo cuts up Kinney’s pizza into little bits, and Xander asks, “Did we get ham and pineapple?”

“Yeah, that thing that shouldn’t be called pizza is over here.” Lo motions to it with the pizza cutter, and Lily puts a slice on a plate for their son.

Xander smiles. “It’s just pineapple.”

“Fruit goes in baskets, Xander,” Lo says. “Not on pizzas.”

Luna laughs.

Kinney nods in agreement like she gets it. She’s only four. I’m roped into their family for a second, pretending like maybe I’m a part of it.

I never had this exact thing.

Siblings. Two parents together. Birthday dinners at home. My father took me to steakhouses, nice ones. He’d let me order anything on the menu, but he’d usually get a phone call halfway through the meal. He’d have to cut it short, but he’d give me his credit card. “It’s on me. Get yourself a dessert, too,” he’d say and squeeze my shoulder. Like it meant something.

I’d never get dessert.

But there are also great moments with him too. Where he used to cook me breakfast as a kid. Anything I wanted.

At the Hale table, I grab a pepperoni slice, and Lily nods to me. “How’s Yale going?”

“Good,” I say. “Easier than I thought it’d be.”

“Don’t say that around Connor,” Lo tells me. “He’ll tell you to transfer to Penn and see if you can hack it there.”

I smile. “I’ve thought about it.”

“Transferring to Penn?” Lily asks.

I nod. It would be easier to get shadowing hours in being closer to my dad, something he keeps reminding me. “My dad wants me to.”

And that’s a great reason not to do it.

“College is the time you should do things for yourself though, right?” Lo says to me. “Focus on what you want.” He winces. “But hey, don’t actually take advice from me.” He puts a hand to his chest. “I’m the college dropout.”

“No, no,” I say seriously. “That’s good advice. I like Yale a lot. I’m pretty sure I’ll stay.”

We continue eating our pizza and talking about the new Marvel movies. Which diverges into Lo being offended over some Aquaman thing that cracks me up. We’re all laughing. Somehow, the conversation easily switches to music, and Xander shows off a breakdancing move to a song that Lily plays on her phone. He has actual rhythm.

I applaud with a smile that I can’t retract. My face fucking hurts by the time Luna asks me, “What’s your favorite band right now?”

I start naming bands and she gets up from the table quickly and runs back with a notepad and gel pen. I list off more band names that I think a nine-year-old would like.

As the night goes on, Lily and Lo grow a little nervous, and I can tell they’re waiting for their oldest son to arrive. “Declan is driving him home,” Lo whispers to Lily. “He’s fine.”

Declan.

I think that might be a bodyguard. Not sure. There’s a shit ton of security around them, and I mostly just hang with the concierge doctors (my dad and uncle) whenever I’m around.

“Have you seen the light saber battle in the new Star Wars movie?” Luna asks me.

“I haven’t.”

“Can I show him?” Luna asks her parents.

“Sure, if Farrow wants to see it,” Lily says.

“Definitely want to see this battle,” I tell Luna. We head to the living room, and while Luna finds the spot in the movie, Lily hands me a cupcake.

“Thanks,” I tell her.

“No, thank you,” she whispers, watching her daughter. “I haven’t seen her this excited in…” Her eyes glass, and she nods to me. “This means a lot.”

I get it.

I wasn’t the kind of kid that liked the stuff all the other kids did. Being different makes you a target. If I can remind Luna that it’s okay to embrace what makes you different, I’ll do that. I’ll show up for her.

The battle scene starts and we’re all having our cupcakes. Halfway through, the door opens and Maximoff finally arrives. “Happy Birthday, Luna!”

She runs to him for a hug.

My cell beeps, and I let the siblings have their little reunion while I check my phone.

Don’t forget. 4 a.m. We need to be at the hospital. – Dad

Great. He’s freaking out.

He’s also not wrong. It is an early start, and I don’t want to be dead tomorrow. I’d rather not survive off of LightningBolt! and determination. Which, I definitely can do if I have to.

I rise to my feet.

Luna immediately sees and even at nine she senses I’m leaving. “You’re going?”

“Yeah, it’s that time,” I tell her. “But this was amazing, and I’m really glad you invited me.”

Truly. For a moment, I got to pretend I had a big family, and it feels like I was the one given a birthday gift today.

She runs to me, gives me a hug, and then touches the new bracelet on her wrist. “Best birthday ever,” she tells me.

“Eh, it’s only your ninth. You’ll have plenty more great ones.” I smile at her like this is fact.

She smiles even bigger back.

I grab my helmet off a chair by the door.

“We don’t want to get old too quickly,” Lo tells his kids. “Let’s stay young padawans for as long as we can.”

“I’m already a hundred,” Kinney deadpans.

“Kinney Hale, you are four,” Lo refutes. “And it’s your bedtime.”

“Noooo,” she whines.

Maximoff laughs. “I’ll take her up.” He bends down. “Hop aboard.” She climbs onto her older brother’s back, and he races upstairs.

Lily follows me to the door.

I want to tell her how lucky her kids are to have parents like them, but those words stick to the back of my throat.

I’m eighteen, but I don’t really feel any different than I did three years ago. Other than being the owner of a driver’s license.

There’s something so…youthful in their house that makes me want to stay longer. My father was always focused on me becoming a doctor; I bet he would’ve preferred that I skip my childhood years. And my Yale undergrad days probably feel like nuisances to him. Annoying roadblocks before my real life begins with an MD.

Whatever the case, I won’t see Yale like that.

My life doesn’t start years down the road. It’s already begun. I’m living it today. Every minute, every second. Now.

This night.

It’s all too perfect to ruin with any bad thought about my father.

So I just say, “Thanks for calling again.”

She nods and then gives me a hug. The kind of Mom hugs that I never really had. It almost does me in, but I keep my shit together. “You ever need anything, Farrow, you just call us, okay? We’re always here.”

“Okay,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “Thanks, Lily.”

She lets me go.

I leave the house and walk slowly to my motorcycle, letting the night catch up to me. I replay it in my head, and I know I’ll remember everything. Every detail.

My smile slowly lifts, and I ride away.

Thanks so much for reading this month's extra bonus! It was so much fun showing this part of Luna's birthday from Farrow's POV. Plus, writing younger Farrow is always a treat! There's still more Luna coming today. You can expect a Misfits Like Us teaser for Teaser Tuesday tonight! 

xoxo Krista & Becca

"Luna's 9th Birthday (Farrow)" Copyright © 2022 by K.B. Ritchie