4Author: Bookworm
Rating: K
AN: April 17, 2015 is a special day in SVille. I couldn't resist indulging my inner fangirl with this little standalone piece. I've always wanted to write SV through Isabelle's POV - I hope you enjoy my experiment.
To those who are following my other fic "Ripe", my apologies for the delay in posting the next chapter to allow time to do this.
Happy Birthday, Mommy
Hello, my name is Isabelle Vaughn. My mommy says I'm a big girl now, but my daddy tells me I'll always be his baby.
I think I'm big, 'cause I have a baby brother, Jack, and he's really small. He's not even two yet – and I, I am six and a half. I go to Grade 1, and I like school. But I only went for half a day yesterday. I got picked up early, had my lunch at home and then we all drove to Santa Barbara in the afternoon. Daddy says we're going to have a special celebration because today is Mommy's birthday.
The hotel is very, um, fancy – yup, I learned that word from my teacher Mrs. Ward. "Where are we going to sleep?" I asked my daddy when we were in the car yesterday. "It's a place called Bill-more. You'd love the swimming pool there." He told me he had always wanted to take Mommy there, but they didn't have a chance until now.
Daddy was right, I love the swimming pool. The water is warm and there are so many trees around it – like swimming in the middle of a jungle. My parents took us there right after we put our bags inside our room. Jack had fun splashing too – although he can be annoying sometimes.
Our room is so big and it's super cool. There is a balcony and I can sit outside to look at the garden. I have my own bed, with lots of puffy pillows – so so comfy. I slept very good last night.
I was so excited when I woke up this morning. I made a card and a present for my mom and I can't wait to give it to her.
I climbed into Mommy and Daddy's bed to wake them up. As usual, my dad slept hugging my mom so I had to squeeze in. I'm very good at it – I had lots of practice.
"Happy Birthday, Mommy! I love you!" I kissed her.
She smiled at me and looked real happy. "Morning, darling. Thank you. You're my best present."
"What about me?" My dad mumbled.
"I love you too, Daddy." I quickly told him. My parents laughed. My dad then put his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. Ahh, he always makes me feel so safe.
"Why don't we get ready for breakfast and you can give Mommy your present?" Daddy said after I slept between them for a while.
"Yeah!" I clapped and jumped out of bed. Jack was still asleep in his crib, but I think I woke him up.
We went to walk around downtown after breakfast and then we came back to the hotel to wait for our friends. Daddy got rooms for them too. He says that is his gift to Mommy – I don't really understand but I think she likes it. She is smiling a lot.
Uncle Eric told me it's her BIG birthday this year. I remember Daddy had his big birthday when I was little – before Jack was even born. Mommy took me to watch him play hockey at a huge rink and she gave him a big party there after his game. I loved the balloons and Daddy was so happy. Oh, we took lots of pictures that day – I like to look at them on Mom's computer. Daddy said Mommy had never been to any Kings games until he became her boyfriend and he went there with her on a date.
So I was saying... yes, my mom is 40 today. I wrote that on the card I made for her. I brought her gift with me to breakfast. It was sunny and we sat outside, looking at the beach right in front. I wrapped the present in pretty pink paper and she opened it carefully. My dad helped me find four pieces of smooth pebbles on the beach in front of our house. I painted a yellow flower on one and wrote "Mom" on it. The second one had a small blue boat and "Dad" on it. The other two pebbles were smaller. I put my name in light pink and "Jack" in dark green separately, and decorated both with rainbow color polka dots. I asked Daddy to go to the store with me to buy a small glass bottle. I filled the bottom of the bottle with sand from our beach and put the pebbles on top, before closing the lid. Mom's mouth dropped open when she saw my present.
"This is AMAZING, Isabelle. I love it! Where did you learn to do that?" Mommy hugged me tightly. I giggled... I was happy I made my mom so happy. Dad was busy taking pictures of us, and keeping my brother entertained.
"I saw something like that at my art school." I said proudly. "Read the card, Mom. I made it myself."
"Happy Birthday Mom. I love you. Mmm, the cover is very colorful. Tulips and grass, nice!"
"Thanks, Mommy. Open the card, now please." I can't wait.
"Dear Mommy,
Thanks four beeing the best mom!
I like doing thinks with you. You are FuN :)
I love you and Daddy so much 333
Happy 40 Birtday!
Love
Your dollter Isabelle
April 17, 2015
Wow – you did a good job making the card. You really are a big girl now. And I really am 40…" My mom laughed and gave me another big hug.
Is that old? It sounds old, but Mommy is so pretty. Daddy says that all the time and I think so too. She has very nice hair and big dimples. Uncle Dixon says I'm as beautiful as my mom, every time he comes to visit. He just told me again when I saw him and his wife in the hallway.
They followed us to the lobby and a lot of our friends were already there. I said hi to everyone. Uncle Eric and Auntie Alyssa came with Alex, of course. He is Jack's best friend – they play together all the time, and I help take care of them. Marshall and Carrie were waiting with their sons… Mitchell, Malcolm and I play games together sometimes. Their baby brother is really cute. I was most excited to see Annie, she is Uncle Will and Auntie Becca's daughter, and the only other girl. We don't see them all the time but I like them very much. Auntie Becca is a very good artist and she usually does craft with us girls. Ryan brought his girlfriend, I had not met her before. She seems nice, I don't know. Christine was here with her boyfriend, Dan. Uncle Rance also came with his family. I knew him since I was a baby. He told me Uncle Dalton couldn't join us because his son had basketball games. So the only people who weren't here were Rachel and Nathan. Mom said they were still in Europe for work. Boy, their work trip was long – I hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving last year. Lucky my parents' business trips are never that long. And yay, my grandma was here too. Mamie told Mommy she wouldn't miss it for the world.
We kids were surprised when my dad told everyone to get on the bus that pulled up at our hotel. Funnest thing ever. It was like a school bus, except the chairs were much cushier.
The bus let us off at some wine place – the sign read "Lincot" or something. Daddy said we're gonna have dinner and Mom's party inside.
But first, a man came to show us around. He said this place used to be a dairy farm and our dinner would be outside the old farmhouse. He pointed to us where they grew all the grapes to make wine. He took some of the adults inside to try their wine but all the kids got to play outside in the picnic area and the garden. They gave us snacks too… yummy cheese and crackers and juice.
I am wearing a dress today – I should be careful not to get dirty. Mommy is wearing a dress too, it is very soft and she looks very nice. My dad has a jacket over his shirt and jeans. He is so handsome – some of the moms at my hockey team said so too.
My parents stay outside with us and are talking to their friends. My mom said if the Kings were in the playoff, we would be back home instead of here. So maybe it wasn't so bad they lost this year. I really like taking trips with my family.
We sat down for dinner when the sun was going down. The lights they hang are really pretty when the sky gets dark. My mom didn't stop smiling the whole time and my dad kept looking at her. I think my parents love each other a lot a lot. I see them kiss every day. They hold hands, they laugh and they do a lot of things together. They work at the same place, and when they have work trips, they almost always go together – oh, Daddy went to Washington by himself a few times but he was home when I had to go to bed. I miss them when they're on "business trip" – that sounds so grown up – but Mamie or Uncle Eric and Auntie Alyssa will stay with me and Jack. And Uncle Rance and Uncle Dalton usually come too – they are really cool.
I have never seen my parents really mad at each other. They argue sometimes, I guess. But they never punish the other person. When they got really mad at me, like when I pinched Jack for taking my markers, they would punish me.
The music just started and my dad is dancing with my mom now. They look so good together. Grandma is dancing with me, she has been teaching me the steps.
I'm a little bit tired now. I think I will fall asleep on the bus later.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day. Daddy and Mommy are taking us to the zoo. Alex and his parents are coming too. I can't wait.
Good night.
...
AN: I would really love to know what you think about this piece. And just in case, the grammatical and spelling errors were intentional since the whole story is told by 6 year old Isabelle. There are also new characters/names introduced in this story. They represent how I see the lives of the Vaughns and their friends have evolved. These characters will likely show up again in my other WIP fics at a later date.
