We stopped at a motel the following day. We were all exhausted, needed a shower and some real food. Birdie went food shopping, and I wasn't allowed to be in mine and Che's room for some reason.

I mean, if he wanted to be alone he could've just said so. But no. He just told me to go hang out with my sister. And right now hanging out with Nat meant me massaging her feet because apparently, Birdie didn't do it right. I'd do anything for my sister, but seriously... I was getting pretty fed up with massaging her feet.

I didn't say anything of course. She was carrying my little nephews or nieces. I'd rub her feet until the end of time if that ensured their safety. Even if I was a little sick of it.

"We're nineteen years old now, Nate," Nat said thoughtfully and looked down at my working thumbs.

"Why does it feel like we're older?"

I shrugged.

"I feel way older than nineteen... I'm gonna be a teen mum. Hah, I don't think that's what Dad had in mind for my future."

"What did you have in mind?"

She looked up from my hands and met my gaze. "I don't know. I never really thought about the future much. It was easier to just forget about it. Can't really forget about it now, when I have these two critters kicking around in my uterus."

I snorted and looked back down at her tiny feet. "I think you can be more than a mum, though. You can be whatever you want. You're smart."

"Not like you and Che. If I can even learn a bit of Spanish, enough to get into a school and graduate from it?" She shook her head a bit. "Well... I'm not going to hold my breath."

"Nat, if I want to dream about me getting an education being an illiterate, then you can dream about it too."

She pulled her feet back and stuffed them under her, crossing her legs. "Nathan, I don't think illiterate people call themselves illiterates."

"Psh." I just replied and rolled my eyes.

A knock on the door pulled us out of our little awkward silence, and I rose to open it. Birdie was outside and smiled very widely at me.

"Come on," he said and looked over my shoulder at Nat. "Both of you, come with me."

I think Nat and I were wearing the exact same expression of confusion as we followed Birdie into the room Che and I shared. I stopped dead in my tracks when the door opened. Che had decorated the room in the colours of the Irish flag. Even found St. Patrick's day decorations with little paper leprechauns with pots of gold hanging on the walls.

"Surprise." Che smiled at me, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard. Che, Birdie and Nat looked a little weird at me first, and then they started laughing too.

"Fucking St. Paddy's day stuff?" I walked in and hugged Che closely. "You're the biggest dork in history. I love it!" I couldn't stop laughing. My boyfriend and brother-in-law had gone out and bought the most Irish thing they could think of, and it was so adorable, I couldn't even stop laughing. Nat was laughing hard now too, and I turned back towards her and pointed at one of the leprechauns on the wall, just laughing.

"You don't like it?" Che tried when most of the laughing had died down.

"I love it!" I said with the biggest smile ever.

"The sign over there says 'happy birthday' by the way," Che said and pointed to the sign hanging over the bed.

"You're the cutest person ever. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." I took his face in my hands and kissed him. I pulled back and looked back at my sister. "This is amazing!"

"It's... Something," she agreed and snorted. She had Birdie's hand in hers, and he looked beaming proud of that little acknowledgement of this madness.

"So, presents or cake first?" Che asked and put his arm around me. "Or both?" He smirked down at me, and I definitely knew what he was referring to. I bit down on my lip before replying.

"Both," I said with a low voice.

"You guys are being a little creepy," Nat pointed out and sat down on the bed. "I want cake."

"And cake you shall have," Birdie said and offered her a paper plate with balloons on it. He placed a pink cupcake on it with a little candle stuck in the glacéing. "Happy birthday, momma," he murmured softly and lit the candle. Che handed me a cupcake too, but this one had almost neon green frosting on it. I made a little 'cheers' motion to my sister, and we both blew out our candles.

"Make a wish," Che said.

"A wish? Why?" I asked.

"It's a thing, Nate. Just do it." Nat closed her eyes, straightened her back and then she opened her eyes again. "And no telling what you wish for."

I didn't get it, but I didn't mind. What more could I really wish for? Safe travels. Yeah. No more hiccups on the road and safe and smooth travels from here. That's all I wanted. I opened my eyes to a neatly wrapped present right in my face.

"And of course a present," Che said. His smile was so wide.

I shook my head a bit and took the present from him. I was careful about not ruining the paper as I unwrapped it. I found a white box inside with a picture of what appeared to be a phone? It looked a little like a phone. I was really confused.

"It's an MP3. I bought you an unlimited subscription to audiobooks. I took the liberty to download some for you..." Che sat down next to me and took the box from me, retrieving the phone looking thing. "So, you just scroll down," he said and put an earbud in my ear, "and it reads the title of the book for you."

A little voice said "Introduction to Biology" in my ear.

"So you won't get any problems with finding books since this thing was made for blind people. Even when you go into the little store on it, it reads out the title for you. See?" He showed me, and I heard the electronic voice read out loud for me. I looked up at Che kind of stunned.

"This..." I looked down at the little device again. "I won't be stupid with this."

"You're not stupid either way, Nathan."

"No... I won't be illiterate. I'll be able to read."

"Yeah, that was the idea."

"Che," I breathed and held the little mechanic rectangle close to my chest. "I won't ever be able to repay you for this."

"Oh please. It's a present. You don't repay gifts," he chuckled and placed his hand on top of my head. He kissed my forehead and then both of my cheeks.

"What did you get?" Nat asked and stretched a bit to see it. I showed it to her and told her how it worked. She kept smiling over at Che, as I explained. She then showed me a very pretty necklace, Birdie had gotten her. We had the best people ever. Seriously. No one compared to our people.

After eating ourselves fat in different sweets and cakes, Nat and Birdie retreated to their own room. I grabbed Che's shirt and pulled him down. I kissed him softly and smiled through it.

"This has been the best birthday ever," I murmured softly.

"Oh no, then I have to surpass it next year," he chuckled and started pushing me back towards the wall. "Do it even better. By then you turn 20. It's a big deal."

"You turn twenty soon," I pointed out. "When's your birthday?"

"16th of May."

"Why didn't you tell me in prison?"

"I would've, but you were in the sickbay then," he murmured softly and kissed me. He slowly leaned his body against mine, bending down in his knees a bit.

"I wanna buy you a present too," I breathed as he started moving away from my mouth.

"Yeah?"

I nodded and bit down on my lip. He pulled my shirt up.

"Lift up your arms," he murmured, and I did as told.

"What would you like? I don't..." I gasped when he started moving his hips, grinding me. "Know what you would like."

"You. With a bow on your head. A big red one," he snorted and pulled his own shirt off. He was back at my mouth in no time. I moved down his throat getting flashbacks to our very first kiss. That was almost a year ago now. I told him that, and he groaned.

"You don't know what I wanted to do to you in that bathroom."

"Tell me."

He groaned again and let his hands wander down to my ass, grabbing it. "I wanted to do that first." He then let his hand slip past the waistband on my trousers, really getting a handful and pulling me close to him. "I just wanted you closer. And very much naked."

"Why didn't you move on?" I murmured and slid my hands over his ribs.

"Didn't want our first time to be in a bathroom," he said and shrugged, looking down at me.

"And I knew you were getting out with me soon. I wanted it to be in at least a bed."

I chuckled and kissed him. "You got your wish."

"I did." He smiled down at me and pushed me up against the wall again. He then slowly knelt down in front of me. He kissed my stomach and then slowly pulled my trousers down. He took me in his hand and looked up at me.

"Happy birthday," he murmured softly and took me in his mouth. Air caught in my throat, and I groaned when I finally got air down my lungs. How he had gotten so good at that this fast was a mystery to me. It had taken me I don't know... At least a while! But Che was a natural. Maybe because he just went all in when it came to being intimate with me. He didn't ever hold back, not to my knowledge anyways. It never seemed he held back.

"Fuck..." I muttered under my breath. Che chuckled but didn't stop. "Che."

He still didn't stop.

"Che, I'm gonna..." And I didn't get to finish that sentence. I groaned and hunched over. And Che didn't stop at all. This was something he hadn't done before. He usually stopped when I warned him and finished me with his hand. Not this time though.

He finally stopped when I did and stretched to his full height. He grabbed an empty plastic cup that had been left on the tall dresser right next to us. He spat into it and smirked at me.

"Sorry," he murmured and shrugged a bit.

I didn't give a flying fuck. I grabbed him around the back of his neck and pulled him down. I kissed him deeply, and he returned the kiss hungrily. I pushed him back towards the bed. He dumped down on it, and I crawled into his lap. He hurried to undo his jeans and pulled them down. I sat down on him and immediately started moving up and down. I just wanted him so badly after what he had just done for me.

Okay, I always wanted him, but now it was a little extra. I kissed him again, and I felt him smiling, his teeth touching my lips.

"Did you like it?" he asked. How could he not think I liked it? Why did he need feedback on that?

I laughed and nodded. "Yes, I liked it very much."

He grabbed my thighs, rose from the bed with me in his arms. I was fast to circle my arms around his neck. I knew he wouldn't drop me, but I couldn't help it.

"Wall or bed?" he asked and smirked up at me.

"Wall," I breathed, and Che was over by that wall faster than a cheetah on its prey. He put me down and got me to turn around. He grabbed my hips and almost lifted me up from the floor, as he bent down in his knees so he could enter me again. I groaned and tried to bury my fingernails in the ugly ass wall.

"You're so beautiful, Nathan," he whispered in my ear. His hands wandered up my ribs and then down to my hips again, pulling them back toward himself, hard. I moaned loudly. Che chuckled and moved me just as much as he moved himself. "I love you."

"I love you too," I groaned back and started moving my hips with him by myself.

He exhaled loudly and swore under his breath. He slammed his hand into the wall next to my head, losing control completely.

I noticed small feathers spring out of his skin and I moved in to kiss his wrist. The second my lips hit his skin the feathers sprang out around the area my lips had touched him. Che groaned loudly and pressed me up against the wall with his entire body. I felt his hot breath hit the side of my face as he upped the intensity and the pace.

"Yes," I breathed.

Che kept going like a wild animal. I liked that about Che. He could be sweet and sensitive, very romantic and aware of me. But then he could be like this at other times. Every inch of a confident man who knew what he wantedand took it. I was more than happy to give it to him too.

"You're fucking amazing," I groaned and pressed my forehead to the wall. And Che came hard. It sounded like someone punched him in the stomach by the sound of the loud 'uff' sound he made. He, of course, held me close while he came down from the highest peak of his orgasm.

He chuckled tiredly and kissed the top of my head. I turned around and circled my arms around his neck again, holding him still while I kissed him.

"Best. Birthday. Ever," I murmured against lips, and he snorted.

"Did you cum again?" he panted.

"Doesn't matter," I chuckled and pulled my boyfriend back to the bed.

"Matters to me," Che said with a fire burning in his eyes. This turned out to be another night where we didn't get much sleep.