Together Or Apart

45. 1st Birthday

"Thank you so much for coming guys." I hug Sarah and Sebastian, two of the lovely people who live down the street from us. They have two sons, Will and Connor whom are 5 and 7 years old. Connor goes to the same school as London. "Here you go boys, I hope you enjoyed the jumping castle." I bend down, handing two bags of sweets to them as a thank you for coming. The kids always love birthday bags of sweets, but the parents don't. 

"That is the biggest jumping castle I have ever seen." Will says to me, meanwhile Connor begins rummaging through his bag of sweets. He pulls out a candy banana and pops it into his mouth. 

"Haven't you had enough sugar for today?" Sarah laughs, carefully taking the two bag away from her sons. She is smiling, but deep down I can tell that she wishes I never gave the bags to them. I have one for all of the children here. It's one of my favourite childhood birthday party traditions. 

Sebastian places his hand on my arm and kisses my cheek. "Thank you for having us Hailey. And please keep us updated with the paparazzi situation at school."

"I will let you know when we find out."

Besides Harry's and my relationship making this last week shit, the paparazzi situation at London's school made it even worse. The paps are there every morning during drop off and each afternoon during pick-up. I insisted on doing drop off and pick ups, yet Harry refuses to let them win by staying home and hiding. From next week onwards, the school will be introducing new security measures such as two guards on the premises during school hours, and police officers paying the paparazzi a visit. Legally, they're not on the school property, but hopefully the officers will be able to give some of them a scare. 

After saying bye to the family down the street, I walk back outside and watch as Harry and London jump together on the jumping castle. They are playing the classic game of crack the egg, trying to bounce high enough to force Tyde, Tori and Aaron to 'crack' meaning, let go of their knees as they lay in fetal position. 

"Cake! Let's do speeches and cut the cake." Max calls out and I take a deep breath, dreading this moment because I am going to have to continue playing happy family, standing beside Harry, smiling and keeping the peace for all of our party guests. It's what we have been doing all day. Remaining civil, smiling at each other and pretending that everything is fine. When it damn well isn't. 

Everyone gathers around the table. Harry is holding Sydney, while London is standing beside me, cuddling into my leg. 

"I would like to start by thanking everyone for coming out this afternoon to celebrate Sydney's first birthday." I pause, allowing everyone to applaud the birthday girl who has no idea that all of these people are here just for her. She only woke up from a nap half an hour ago, so she's not the happiest, but I'm hoping once we show her the cake, she will be happier. 

"Even though your official birthday is tomorrow, happy birthday baby girl." I lean over and kiss Sydney's cheek. When I do so, Harry's strong cologne distracts me from remembering what I was about to say next. After shaking my head and snapping myself back into reality, I continue speaking. "It was one year ago today when Harry, London and I were at the park and while I was laughing at your sister who was hanging from the monkey bars, trying to kick your dad as she swung back and forth, you decided it was time to start making your way earth side." 

I briefly glance over at Harry and he is looking down at me, a small smile playing on his lips. Pure joy filling his eyes as he remembers the day. I quickly look away because seeing him smiling at me like that, almost makes me want to forget about all of the sadness he has caused me recently. 

"Grandma Anne was staying with us. She had been here an entire month just incase you came early like your sister. But no, you held on a little longer and came three days after your due date. Your sister stayed at home with Grandma Anne, while I took your Mum to the hospital. Just like the first time, she was incredible. Strong, brave, resilient and doing everything she possibly could to bring you into this world safety. Something I still laugh about is that you were born with your middle finger up. Saying a big..." he pauses, glancing around at the children who are standing in the front row. "Adults, you know what." The adults laugh, while the kids are clueless.