HIRAETH

Seven

My alarm woke me at 7am. I was able to sleep an extra hour since Sebastian is off for Aurelia's birthday.

I jump out of bed and start getting ready. First, I take a quick shower. Once I'm finished, I dry and curl my hair since its been a while since I've curled it. I put on more makeup than normal since we will be around other people today. With it being Aurelia's birthday, I want to look nice.

I'm also excited to meet more people. I have been so busy keeping Aurelia that I haven't really met anyone except for people I've seen around the building.

I pick a deep red sweater with my black ripped skinny jeans and black wedges. I originally wanted to wear a dress, but with the party being at a skating rink I thought it might not be good to be in a dress. I dig my own skates out of my closet. I haven't skated since before Nathan passed away and I'm hoping I'm not too rusty.

I gather what I can carry and head over to Sebastian's apartment.

I set everything down beside the door and run back into my own apartment to grab the last two bags of party supplies.

I set them with the others and knock on Sebastian's door.

It swings open after a few minutes and Sebastian looks like he just rolled out of bed.

No shirt. No pants. Only boxers.

Jesus.

"Why aren't you dressed?" I ask trying to appear unfazed by his lack of clothes.

"Who the hell are you and why do you sound like Madelaine?" He asks in his deep morning voice as he looks me up and down.

"I'm about to be the one beating your ass for not being ready." I say as I walk past him into the apartment. "Is Aurelia up yet?" I ask.

"No." He says pulling the bags out of the hallway and shutting the door. "Is that Chris Evans?" He asks looking at the napkins in the bag.

"Yeah, Aurelia wants an Avengers slash Princess party. Remember?" I say rolling my eyes at him looking through the bags.

"Why isn't there any Winter Soldier napkins? You have Captain America napkins and Falcon napkins. Where's mine?" He asks, looking at me.

I can't but laugh a little," Aurelia's Favorites are Captain America and The Falcon." I tell him and the betrayal on his face makes me laugh even harder.

"My own child. How dare she?" He says.

"Don't worry, Bucky. You can dress up as the Winter Princess." I laugh as I grab a tiara from Aurelia's basket of toys and place it on his head.

Sebastian narrows his eyes at me and I try to stifle my laughter when he grabs my waist.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" He asks in a deep voice that sends me reeling.

I can't let him win this time.

"If only you were in the arm and leather jacket." I say slyly. It throws him off just enough for me to step out of his grasp.

I hear him mumble under his breath and think he says "you wouldn't be able to contain yourself if I was." He's absolutely right.

I act like I don't hear him and try to slow my racing heart as I walk into Aurelia's room to wake her up.

"Aurelia." I say sweetly. "Wake up, sugar. It's your birthday." I say as I sit on the edge of her bed and gently shake her. She groans and buries her head in her pillow.

"Oh, come on. We are gonna have so much fun today." I say trying to stir her. "Don't you wanna go watch your daddy fall on his butt at the skating rink?"