'She said, "Where'd you wanna go?

How much you wanna risk?

I'm not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts

Some superhero

Some fairy tale bliss

Just something I can turn to

Somebody I can miss.'

*ALTHEA'S POV*

October 22, 2023.

Today was the day. Today was Asher's birthday, and for the first time in years, I didn't have this numbing weight on my chest.

I could taste the oxygen reaching my lungs as I inhaled a deep breath, knocking on the painted door, and also feel it escaping me when a voice arose from the other side.

"Go away."

My fist faltered, and I didn't even get to open my mouth for another breath when it continued,

"I've already told you I don't want to see you, Caleb!"

"It's not Caleb. It's Althea. We've talked last night."

Silence. I could almost hear the disappointed fall of Sarah's shoulders from the other side of the door, and maybe her heart too.

It had been three days that Caleb hadn't shown up at her door, three days that he was giving her the distance she'd claimed she needed, and I knew it because I'd been the one who had advised him to do so.

People were often more open and forgiving when they had missed someone. I was the living proof of it, still being here and preparing everything for Asher's birthday, after all.

So Caleb wouldn't come back knocking at her door. He was waiting at a famous theme park, and hopefully, she would be the one joining.

But first, I had to get her ready and out of her bedroom, which wouldn't be easy, seeing her oversized hoodie and small, forced smile as she unlocked the door.

"Hi, I hope I don't bother?" I started, trying to bring the subject as naturally as possible.

"Hi, no, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything."

"Oh great, because I don't know if you've heard about the day trip today?" My lips rolled together before slowly stretching into a sheepish smile. "But with Oliver, we've come up with a little make-up workshop for the kids before, and we would really need some extra help."

"The trip to the theme park?" she asked, her gaze sliding to the fine chain at her wrist for a second, and from the longing in the hazel shades, I guessed who had gifted her the jewel, almost as easily as her answer to my next question.

"Yes, you're coming too?"

Her parents had already signed the authorization papers—thanks to Carol—although Sarah was reluctant, and we didn't want her to feel forced, or worse, trapped. It was supposed to be a good surprise for her too.

So it was the reason why I led her to the kids. Their excitement was infectious, and it would be easier to convince her to get prettied up with them around.

They could be really convincing sometimes.

I'd experienced it first-hand too many times already... And I did again once Sarah's make-up and outfit were done.

"Now, it's your turn, Thea!"

"Me? No, it's okay. I already have make-up," I tried to protest in vain against a dozen of determined kids, who never lacked arguments, nor puppy eyes.

"But you need glitters!"

"And a t'ara!"

"And a dress." Sarah joined them, pointing at the short black dress I'd brought, as she'd chosen the long, more casual one, which, paired with a leather jacket and threader earrings, fitted her perfectly.

However, my dark jeans were fine with me.

"We don't have time." I glanced at my watch, as if I hadn't already been ticking the seconds since this morning to make sure everything ran smoothly today. "The bus is already here, and I still have to pick Asher in his room."

One of the parts I still wasn't sure would run smoothly or not.

"I can do it while you get ready!" Theo suggested, the curly-haired boy not even waiting for an answer to rush towards the hallway, followed in tow by two other boys.

At least, I wouldn't have to face Asher alone after last night, and the kids could be really convincing, really convincing...

Less than ten minutes later, my jeans and comfy blouse had been replaced by the short A-line dress, and my smoky eyeshadow was now sparkly silver, as Gracie set a small tiara over my loose hair with the solemnity of a queen.

"You look like—"

"A real princess." The familiar raspy voice vibrated through all my nerve endings, sounding even breathier and smokier than usual. Although maybe it was because my nerves were jumpier as I slowly stood up from my chair and turned around to find Asher a few feet away, his penetrating gaze seizing every detail of my appearance, from my tiara to the tip of my black ballet flats, before ending its journey on my orangey lips.

"Are we doing the p-lay again?"

Of course, he wouldn't let this go, and even if I'd expected it, the sparks in his jade eyes, almost as bright as the ones from last night, still made me roll my dry lips together in search of all the retorts I'd prepared.

"No, we're going on a day trip!"

Luckily, I wasn't alone, and with Theo, Munisa, and all the daredevils around, it was easier to divert his attention and... convince him.

I didn't know what Theo had told him, but Asher didn't protest, and he didn't even use his tablet to ask,

"A day trip, where?"

"We don't know!"

"It's a su'prise for your birfday!"

"Happy birthday." I smiled, soon echoed by everyone around, while his eyes found mine again, wider yet still as sparkling, and I hoped they would stay that way all day; I hoped he would like his surprise.

***

*ASHER'S POV*

Today was the best birthday I'd had in an eternity. No, actually, it had started last night with that kiss.

When I'd expected her to run away or simply fake it with the angles our heads had been tilting in, the mere brush of the peachy lips I'd thought I would never taste again had already been the best gift, and now, this surprise day trip...

I didn't know I could still feel that much adrenaline pumping through my veins.

My head was spinning. My heart was racing. My muscles were buzzing, and not from the caterpillar train currently dragging us through a colorful tunnel with anime characters popping up here and there to make the kids gasp.

It had more to do with Althea being so close, the soft sound of her laugh mixing with the kids' gigglings accelerating my heart rate, the zings of her warm skin grazing mine here and there unintentionally when we climbed out of the wagon rushing throughout my whole body, and her silhouette in that dizzying little dress turning my head as she leaned down to carry Munisa from the ride to my lap.

I didn't get to enjoy the view, though, when the chipmunk on my knees started to jump excitedly.

"The brincess! The brincess from my book!"

More beautiful than the princess from the fairytale, with her tiara shining in the sun and her free curls in the wind. Though it wasn't Althea whom her tiny finger was pointing at, but one of the official princesses of the place in a green gown.

"Can we meet her! Pwease!"

"Sorry, Muni, but we only have time for one more ride before we meet Carol and the others at the shop for the roll call."

Departure time already. That day had flown too fast, and my stomach plummeted down like Munisa's grin as she realized she wouldn't meet her favorite princess.

"I can take her." I offered as I'd already been her designated driver for a few hours.

It was one less wheelchair to handle, and it wasn't nothing when Oliver, Althea, and the two chaperone parents were still helping the kids out of the wagons. Every ride was worse than a military convoy.

The whole fucking day trip was a whole military convoy to plan. I couldn't believe Althea had organized it all in so little time.

She could have just bought me a cup holder or a seat cushion for my chair, anything from those Google lists she'd searched, but no, she had wrapped a priceless day for me and all the kids of the clinic.

She was not only the most gorgeous princess on the outside, but she also had the most beautiful heart.

"Okay, we'll meet at the shop then. Do you have the map to get there?"

I nodded at Oliver as Munisa commanded me to 'moove'.

Had I said I was her driver? No, she probably thought I was her designated unicorn as she kicked her feet against my tibia. Not that I minded, as I didn't feel anything between my paralyzed side and my artificial calf, but sadly, I couldn't fly, nor run when she exclaimed,

"Oh no! She's yeaving. Hurry! Hurry!"

"I do, but can't take the stairs," I mumbled, pointing my chin towards the wheelchair access that led to a great detour, while I used all the strength in my arms to roll my chair as fast as I could.

Still, I couldn't compete with a princess twirling on two legs in the opposite direction. If it hadn't for Munisa, I would have already given up because I would have needed a miracle to catch up with her.

"I'll take over!" Althea rushed beside us like the miraculous apparition she was, her arms reaching for Munisa, and her brown gaze finding mine. "You meet us there?"

"Sure."—Five minutes later and out of breath, but the two princesses were still kneeling by Munisa who was rambling with grand gestures.

I didn't know what she was talking about with the hubbub of the park, but that made her favorite princess laugh, while Althea rolled her lips together.

The little chipmunk even waved at me at some point, though I stayed a few feet away to snap some pics for me and also for the girl's parents who couldn't be there and would surely love to see this extraordinary moment as Althea helped Munisa standing up to hug the princess.

Althea really did miracles.

Okay, it was thanks to her recent surgery that the little girl's stiff muscles moved more easily. Still, that encounter wouldn't have been possible without Althea.

She'd only been there for ten days, and she'd already done so much for everyone at the clinic. That already felt like a miracle, and a part of me wished she could have stayed forever—for the kids, obviously.

"Do you want me to take a pic while you join them?" A voice almost as gravelly as mine pulled me out of my daze, and turning to the white-haired man, I already had my fingers ready on the tablet to politely tell him and his mustache to fuck off when he added,

"Trust me, kids grow up too fast, and you and your wife will be happy to have those photos all together to look up to."

I should have told him Munisa wasn't our daughter and Althea wasn't even my girlfriend anymore. Fuck, I usually cursed everyone who tried to take pictures of me.

But all those words got lost, with my breath, somewhere between my dry throat and my shaky fingers as I handed him my phone.

It was like an out-of-body experience, except that, contrary to my accident, it was my heart racing too fast to stop as my thoughts drifted towards what it would have been to have Althea as my wife, to have a family with her.

I hadn't considered marriage when we'd been dating because we'd still been young, yet those infinite colors lighting up in her widening brown eyes when I joined them for the picture, they had always been my endgame, way before I'd realized.

And for an instant, it appeared within reach, as possible and real as the old man's words. Only for an instant, the span of the camera's flash, and then, the man gave me back my phone, and I quickly crashed back into reality.

"Thank you." I nodded, glancing down at the photo that looked almost normal. It was even my good side, as I'd been staring at Althea's eyes.

"You're welcome. You have an adorable daughter, who looks so much like her mother. Cherish them both," he whispered the last part—but sadly, not the rest—before walking away with one more smile at me and... my wife, who was standing right behind me with raised eyebrows. Oops.

"Did you tell him Munisa is our daughter?"

"No, I just didn't corre't him. Would've been too long to say. He's old." I waved my hand in the direction where he'd left, but his figure had already disappeared through the crowd. "And clearly delusional, so I didn't wanna crush him."

"So kind of you." She shook her head, her eyes rolling to the side, as much in sarcasm as to check on Munisa who hugged her favorite princess one last time. "And was he short-sighted too?"

"No, he must think so 'cause her skin's a mix of our two colors, and gotta admit, if you have a daughter one day, she'll be as cute as Muni."

Mamma Mia, even twice as cute if she had that same bashful smile and those dark doe eyes that avoided me as she shrugged.

"We'll never know."

"Wait, what do you m-mean?"

Sure, we could never know, and she could have only sons, who still would be so fucking cute. However, something told me it wasn't what she'd meant... probably the faraway shadows in her evading gaze, or the clench deep in my guts, which tightened when she explained,

"I don't plan on having biological kids."

"What? Why?" I gasped, my voice even heavier than usual, making her wide gaze snap back to me as if to remind me it wasn't the place to talk about that.

It wasn't my place to talk about that, and still, she replied in a murmur,

"I don't want to risk transmitting them the hereditary diseases of my family."

What the fuck? It didn't take me long to understand what she implied; I could still hear her voice when she'd first told me about her past and her family diseases, 'which are scientifically proven to be hereditary in 50% of cases'.

Yet I was still as stunned and confused as 17-year-old me, maybe even more as I watched her picking up Munisa in her arms with so much care and love.

***

*ALTHEA'S POV*

"Oh, here are the lovebirds! Did you have fun?" Carol waved, her twinkling gaze making my heart skip a beat until I realized her attention wasn't on Asher and me.

"Yes, thank you for dragging me here finally." Sarah appeared beside us, Caleb pushing her wheelchair, and both their smeared grins and dreamy gazes were the definition of 'lovebirds'.

It seemed their date had been a success, and I didn't even know why I'd thought the nurse could have been talking about anyone else, even less Asher and me. Well, surely because of the few comments we'd got on our way here about our 'beautiful family'.

Asher had been right, seeing us along with a small, golden-brown-skinned girl was enough for people to deduce she was our daughter. Though I didn't agree with him about the fact she could have inherited her cuteness from me because her charms were much more like his: irresistible and able to make anyone fold.

"S'already over?" The little girl pouted as Carol helped her back into her wheelchair.

"Not yet, we still have the most fun part: shopping!" I opened the shop door to add effect to my announcement; however, it was not as grand as Asher's words as he pulled out his credit card.

"My treat. Take ev'rything you want."

"Everything?!"

It didn't fall on deaf ears, but into a dozen mischievous eyes, blinking at Asher like they didn't know if he was joking or if he were Santa himself.

I knew this feeling. He'd once taken me into a cloth store with these same words and smug crooked smile.

"E-ve-ry-thing."

"Asher, you don't have to. It's your birthday." I lightly shook my head as the kids rushed through the aisles, followed in tow by the adults trying to calm them down—or maybe they were even more excited?

"I want to. I've got loads of money I never use, and today's s-special," he paused, his lips still twisted in the same smirk, yet when he peered at me from under his brows, a full smile was shining in the jade shades of his eyes, and it soon reached me too. "You made it special. Thank you."

"I'm glad you liked it."

I hadn't known what to expect with this surprise, and I certainly hadn't prepared for such a positive reaction and such an intense shine in his gaze, which made me avert my eyes.

"Choose something for you too."

My lips opened to protest, but I quickly closed them again in front of his lifted eyebrow. Asher Rohan never backed down, even less on his birthday.

Besides, it was impossible to resist in this wonderland of souvenirs and knick-knacks. Anyone walking through these aisles of toys, jewelry, mugs, keyrings... would have fallen back into childhood, and the little girl in me quickly led me towards the most colorful corner, where Gracie, Munisa, a few other kids, and Carol were already in awe in front of all tulle, glitters, and tiaras.

"Here, we have a few adaptative costumes with accessories for the wheelchairs too," one of the sales assistants explained while showing a few dresses: pink, blue, sparkling white...

"I want the green! The brincess and the frog!" Munisa pointed her small, determined finger up towards the green gown, not surprising anyone but the young woman who didn't know the daredevil she was behind her angelic look.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a wheelchair-friendly alternative for this one. Can she wear a regular dress for once maybe?" The sales assistant turned to Carol, surely to avoid Munisa's puppy eyes, though the nurse's wince made my chest shrivel even more as she shook her head and kneeled in front of the small girl.

"Sorry, Muni, but with your fresh stitches, you need an adaptative dress. Why not Cinderella?" Carol suggested, her lips quickly lifting back up in a kind smile, contrary to my ribcage staying as stiff as Munisa's frown when she added, "And I promise next year you'll get the green one."

Yet in spite of how tight my chest felt, what really broke my heart was Gracie's mutter.

"It's always the same... We never have as many choices as 'normal' kids."

"Can't we find something online? In specialized stores?" I whispered to Carol, more because I didn't trust the cracks of my voice than because of the saleswoman beside us, as she appeared as upset as us when Munisa sniffed, recounting her encounter with the princess today.

"I doubt it, sadly. There's more and more choices, but it's still limited."

Thus, unfair. I had no idea how hard it could be for the kids, who already faced so many hardships and battles every day, yet I knew too well what it was to not have the clothes you dreamed of as a child. It had been the reason why I'd chosen my job...

"I can adapt it myself." My foot stepped in front of the rack, and my hand reached up for the green dress before I could think, and if any shadow of doubt loomed over, the light switching in the little girl's eyes outshone it instantly when I leaned down to give her the gown.

"Really?! Tank you, Thea!"

In fact, it was so bright that when I lifted my gaze again and met Gracie's, I didn't hesitate one second.

"Yours too, Gracie. All of you, choose the costume you want, and I'll do the adaptations needed." I smiled at the five pairs of shining eyes before finding Carol's widening ones. "You'll have to tell me more about the requirements though?"

"Of course, sweetie. But are you sure? It's a lot of work."

"Yes, I love sewing, and there's more than a week before Halloween. Don't worry, I can do it."

"Oh, I don't doubt you. I know you can do miracles." Carol tilted her head to the side, her knowing glance pointing a few feet away to what indeed looked like an otherworldly scene.

Although I did nothing, nor blinking, nor breathing, only staring in awe as Asher scored in a small arcade basketball hoop.

He was so magnetizing when he had a ball in hand. It was even about how easily he threw the foam ball with one hand, or how he gave personalized tips to help both Francis and Theo score too. It was in his aura, something glowing from the inside out that made it obvious he was made for this.

Everyone could notice it, including the saleswoman near them who clapped as heartily as a cheerleader in an arena when he guided Theo to make a basket.

Actually, the young woman's clear eyes stayed magnetized to Asher when he went to the checkout and until we passed the door, which she held out while wishing him a 'happy birthday' for the third time. But who was counting?

Except maybe Oliver, who sang out as soon as we were out of ears, "Looks like the birthday boy made an impression on the saleswoman."

"It's only mark'ting 'cause I paid a big sum." Asher shrugged—clueless or modest, I wasn't sure. Though modesty had never been his thing.

"And is it marketing too to leave her phone number?" I pointed at one of the orange foam balls in his paper bag, and if the flutters of the girl's lashes when she'd served him hadn't, the black digits scribbled there finally hit him, making his green eyes widen until I found back the smugness I knew so well under his cocked eyebrow.

"Why? You're jealous?"

"Me? No, no, I'm not." You couldn't be jealous when someone wasn't yours. At least, it was what I'd assured myself seven years ago. "She looks nice and really pretty... You should call her."

What was called the tiny string of tension tightening from the corners of my unsure smile to the depths of my stomach as he considered my words, though? I still didn't know.

Yet the skip of my heart that released it like a big sigh of relief was all too familiar when he aimed the ball into the nearest bin.

"Nah, I'm not interested."

So... what do you think of this special day? 👀

A lot has happened with Asher and Althea, but also for Sarah and Caleb, and all the kids, and there's still a lot to come... 🤫🤭

Also, don't you think the song 'Something just like this' is so Ashea? 😍

Tell me all your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to vote ⭐️  if you liked it!

I love you, my little peaches!!! 🍑😘💕🥰✨