Chapter 18 - Andy's Birthday

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"Happy Birthday, Andy!" everyone clapped and congratulated as the birthday boy blew his candles with a beam.

Today, he turned 11.

Everyone from his former schoolmates to his mother's friends and their significant others, and his foster grandparents, who were Rita's parents were invited to celebrate. Hiroshi and Mr Fujita were included as well, but Mr Fujita was unable to come as he was in Singapore to serve as a guest speaker at one of the world's largest entrepreneurial conferences.

The theme of Andy's birthday was Lego, his all-time favourite toy. The house was decorated with Lego-themed items, from colourful streamers and balloons to large letter foil balloons that spelt out "HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, ANDY LEE!". Music from Lego movies played in the background, while the kids were entertained by a magician dressed in Lego mascot. Food was prepared by a reputable caterer that delivered a delicious variety served on silver platters.

Andy's birthday cake was the main highlight. It was the most astonishing cake than all the previous cakes he had in the past because, for the first time, his mother did not bake the cake. Not that the previous cakes she baked were bad, but because she could afford a more ambitious design from one of the country's top cake makers.

The cake resembled a huge Lego set, with the walls of the rectangular cake decorated to look like layers of multi-coloured Lego bricks. On top of the cake stood an impressive Lego-like playground that contained a mini carousel that could actually rotate, a see-saw, swings and a slide structure on sand made of coloured sugar, together with trees, rocks and flowers shaped from fondant. Above the landscape was an edible banner whose ends were held up by two waffle sticks that had Andy's name and birthday age printed in the iconic Lego font. Dozens of real Lego mini-figures were placed on the playground, more than enough for each kid present at the party to take home a piece.

Once the cake was cut, it revealed a rainbow layered cake with alternate fillings of chocolate buttermilk cream, looking extremely mouth-watering and matching perfectly with the colours of his birthday.

This was the most extravagant birthday he ever had.

His mother even bought him a new Lego set, which was bigger than all the other Lego toys she got for him before, although not as massive as the one Leon got for him last year.

"Make a wish," Ariel said to Andy. He closed his eyes for a while, hoping for the very thing he so yearned all his life. It was the same thing he wished at every birthday, but no one knew what it was except him. After he finished wishing, Andy opened his eyes and blew the candles enthusiastically.

"What did you wish for?" Ariel cheekily asked. "Is it the same wish?"

"You ask me that on every birthday and you know I can't tell, cos it's my secret," he replied. "I'll only let you know once it comes true."

"Alright, I respect that. Whatever you wish, I hope it'll come true, and then I'll finally know what it is."

He grinned, hoping for the same.

Ariel cut the large cake carefully and placed a Lego mini-figure on each slice according to the wishes of each kid. They could not wait to have their share of this exciting cake, including Camila's boyfriend, Ryan who had a sweet tooth and always looking forward to Ariel's desserts when she used to work for Leon.

"Here you are, Imogen," Ariel passed the little girl a cake with a female mini-figure in dark hair and a pink dress,

"This piece looks like you in princess dress," Imogen held up the tiny Lego piece between her fingers.

"Aw...how sweet," Rita cooed at Imogen's reaction with her hand on her heart.

"Is the prince coming?" Imogen asked. Ariel immediately knew who she was referring to and replied in a low voice, "Erm, no."

"How come?"

"He's busy and far, far away."

"Really? But daddy sees him all the time."

"Imogen honey, why not I bring you to sit with your Daddy near the pond, where you can see the fishes, huh?" Rita escorted her away,

Ariel appreciated Rita's distraction and continued serving slices of cake to the rest.

"Happy birthday, Andy," Hiroshi showed Andy a large, heavy box wrapped in orange.

"Thanks, Hiroshi! Looks huge and heavy! Can I open it now?"

"Sure, go ahead!"

Andy opened the present while Hiroshi held the box. His jaws dropped when he saw his gift. "Awesome! A two-wheel self-balancing scooter!"

"Wow, sansei, isn't that too ambitious a gift for a little boy?" Ariel gasped when she realised that the two-wheel scooter was from the premium range of one of the top sports brands.

"Isn't that what young boys need? And talking about ambitious, the cake you ordered is just as good as the scooter I got him," he ruffled Andy's hair and helped Ariel distribute the cake slices to the kids.

"He's so nice to you and your boy," Camila teased in a whisper while Ariel handed her her slice.

"Don't even think about it," Ariel replied softly with a wry smile, but Camila giggled on and joined her beau at a table shared with Beth and Theo.

The ruffle that Hiroshi gave broke Andy's smile when he remembered who used to ruffle his head often. He watched Evan, Rita and Imogen enjoying their cakes and walked towards them.

"Yes, Andy?" smiled Evan when Andy tapped him on his shoulder.

"Can I have a word with you alone?" he asked.

"Sure," Evan stood up from his seat and followed Andy to a quiet corner. "What's up?"

"I want to know..." he paused for a moment, "how's Leon?"

"Ahh...you miss him?"

Andy nodded, "Can I have his number?"

"Oh Andy, I'd love to but I can't give it away, especially not without his permission or your mum's permission."

Andy let out a sad sigh with downcast eyes.

"But you know what? Leon misses you too"

"He does?"

Evan nodded.

"I wished he could come to my birthday."

"I understand. I'll tell him that you are thinking of him."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it," Ariel passed the knife to Hiroshi who helped cut the remaining cake and walked out the door to the gate.

"Good afternoon, this parcel is for...Andy Lee?" said the delivery man as he double check the delivery note on the box.

"There's a present for you, Andy!" Ariel called out and Andy hurried out to the gate.

"Whoa! Who is it by?" asked Andy as he scanned the medium sized box wrapped in blue and silver.

"It says by Cody," the delivery man showed the name of the sender on a slip of paper.

Ariel held her breath. Andy frowned for a while before widening his eyes in excitement, "I know who! Cool!"

"Can you please sign here?" continued the delivery man.

"S-sure," Ariel took the pen from him and hastily signed it, as Andy ran back into the house with the box.

"I got a present from Leon Waltz! He's not forgotten me!" he announced ecstatically, surprising everyone.

"See, he never forgets you," said Evan happily. "Open it and see what he got for you."

Nodding excitedly, Andy tore open the wrapper in haste. "I got a drone! Yes, yes, YESS!!!" It was a white-coloured drone of the most expensive make and model.

"Are you sure it's really from Leon?" asked Hiroshi, sounding skeptical.

"Of course it's from him! I can prove it!"

"Andy, there's no need to," said Ariel uncomfortably.

"Would've been nice if he were here, mum," sighed Andy as he looked at his mother with sad eyes.

She worried for a moment if Leon happened to be nearby now that he knew where she lived. But why wouldn't he know? The paparazzi showed the world where she lived but so far, no one did the unthinkable to break into the house. The high iron fence surrounding the house, the auto-lock iron gate, security cameras and the automatic security alarm were sufficient enough. Plus, her bodyguards would ensure that they stayed safe even though they were not always present to help guard the house. But today, they were here and so far, no one strange tried to gatecrash the party.

There was a card with a Lego city illustration on it, the one that looked like the gift Leon bought him last year. Either Leon knew that his birthday was Lego-themed today or that it was a coincidence, he wasn't sure. Andy flipped open the card and read out the content:

Dear Andy,

Happy 11th birthday! I hope you're still the bright and kind-hearted boy that I remembered. Already missing you. Please send my regards to your mother.

Hugs and ruffles,
Leon Waltz

PS: If only I could be there at your birthday....


"See, mum? He still thinks of me and you!"

"That's kind of him," Ariel said with a heavy heart. "Evan, please give our thanks to Leon for his kind gift."

"I will," said Evan.

"Want more cake?" Ariel offered but Andy shook his head, his eyes beginning to water.

"It's not fair. You said I can have anything I want, but you won't let me meet Leon."

"It's not the right time to discuss this now."

"Then when's the right time?!" Andy snapped. "Or maybe, you won't let him meet me!"

Ariel's face reddened when she noticed that everyone turned to see the commotion. "Andy," she said softly, "We'll discuss this later. Let's just enjoy your birthday."

But Andy did not care anymore as pent-up frustration from within gushed out, "Yeah, it's my birthday so why can't I have what I want? Because of you, I left school and followed you to Japan. Because of you, I never know who my real dad is. And because of you, I'm not allowed to see Leon!"

He dashed up to the stairs to his room.

"Andy, Andy!" Ariel rushed after him but he locked himself in his room.

"Go away! I don't wanna hear from you! It's all about YOU!"

"Darling please, it's not, I can assure you," Ariel struggled to explain. Pressing her ear on his door, she could hear Andy sniffing in his pillow.

"Is he alright?" Hiroshi rushed to her side. She shook her head, clearly distressed.

Hiroshi knocked on his door and tried to comfort Andy, "Andy, don't cry now. Your mum has good reasons. Please come out."

Andy refused to answer.

"It's my fault," she muttered.

"No, no," he comforted. "He's having some issues now but he'll get over them. He's still a kid."

"No, I won't get over it! And being a kid doesn't mean I'm an idiot!" Andy curtly replied after overhearing what Hiroshi said.

Evan and Rita reached upstairs at the same time, and so did Beth and Camila. Rita took Ariel in her arms as she was close to tears, and decided to chip in, "Andy, our birthday boy. Come down and have fun with us. Imogen and the kids are-,"

"Leave me ALONE!" Andy interrupted with a roar.

"Andy," Evan said, "Evan here. If you wanna discuss about Leon, we can finish from where we last talked."

After a few minutes of silence, the door opened ajar. "Only you," said Andy.

Evan nodded and walked in, gesturing everyone to resume with the party, except for Ariel who stood outside. Andy locked the door behind them and sat on his bed, hugging his legs to his body with his arms, his chin resting on his knees. Evan sat right next to him as he beheld his red, teary eyes and sulky expression.

"Andy, there are things adults do that you may not understand," Evan explained carefully. "There are times in life we miss something so bad that we yearn for it, but if we grab it too early, it can backfire on us."

"I don't get it," Andy sulked.

"I'm sure you're aware that right now the media is not in Leon's favour. If Leon was to come over now, the media can spread terrible lies about him and your party, even about your mum. Worse, it can jeopardise her job."

Andy lowered his eyes. Evan made sense, especially now that Andy was well aware of how the media could manipulate reality and churn out fake news, which resulted in him being picked on more in school the last time. Still, it did not make him feel any better.

Evan put his arm around Andy's shoulder, "Try to understand. Your mum' s doing all the best she can for you. There are circumstances in life that she can't control. No one can, not even Leon. At least be proud that she finally managed to pull you both out of poverty.."

Andy kept his silence.

"I won't force you to go back down to the party if you don't want to, but think through what I've said. Be nice to your mum. Don't forget, you almost lost her to a bullet. Be thankful she's alive and celebrating your 11th birthday today."

Andy sobbed at the mention of her close shave with death. Evan rubbed his back and embraced him, letting him cry it all out.

————-

Ariel sat quietly in the outdoor garden, staring blankly at the fishes in the pond. The party ended early because of the embarrassing incident, but she felt sorrier for Andy than embarrassed at the outcome of it. If it was not for Evan's help, she would have been in despair. Andy still remained in his room.

"Give him his own space and time," was the advice Evan gave her before leaving the party with Imogen.

Hiroshi chose to remain with her after everyone left, and Rita's parents headed for an early sleep in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

"Don't feel bad about what happened," comforted Hiroshi.

"I'm a bad mum, am I?" sighed Ariel.

"Don't say that. I think you're a terrific mum. Just like my mum."

"Your mum?" she glanced at him.

"Yeah. Like you, she was always there for me no matter how challenging I was. There were things she did that I did not understand as a kid. It's only a shame I understand them now that she is no longer in this world."

"It's just hard explaining to kids about certain things at this age. Like about his dad...argh, that gives me lots of headaches, literally," She rubbed her headache spot.

"I understand. The time will come eventually that you must let him know the truth."

Hiroshi stared hard at the drone that Leon gave to Andy. "Leon. Are...," he swallowed hard before continuing, "are you still in touch with him?"

Ariel shook her head and closed her eyes, clearly not in the mood to speak about Leon, whose gift just wrecked Andy's party.

Hiroshi looked relieved.

"I think it's time you head back since it's getting really late and you look quite tired," Rita said to Hiroshi as she walked over and sat next to Ariel and Camila.

"Sure. Call me anytime if you need me, Ariel. You know I'm always there for you," he said reassuringly.

Ariel nodded and they bid their farewells.

"Seems like Hiroshi cares a lot for you," Rita remarked.

"I could see some jealousy there when Leon was mentioned," said Camila.

"I'm gonna check up on Andy," Ariel left abruptly and went upstairs to his room.

"Ay-ay-ay...Leon's gonna have some tough competition ahead," Rita uttered.

"Completely agree," nodded Camila.

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