Chapter 14 - Lila Got Another Birthday Cake
For months, Lila refused red icing.
Not cake.
Just red icing.
I never forced it.
Her eighth birthday was at home.
Six children.
Pizza.
A movie.
Small white cake with lavender flowers.
No mansion.
No formal relatives.
No Vivienne.
When I carried the cake in, Lila got quiet.
I noticed immediately.
“Want me to put it away?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
We sang.
She blew out eight candles.
Then stared at the frosting.
Her friend Sophie stuck one finger into the edge and stole a tiny piece.
Lila gasped.
Everyone froze.
Then Sophie looked terrified.
“Sorry!”
For half a second, I worried.
Then Lila laughed.
Actually laughed.
She dipped one finger into the icing and dotted Sophie’s nose.
The children erupted.
I nearly cried.
Not because cake had magical healing power.
Because the object had stopped belonging entirely to one terrible memory.
Lila got to decide what cake meant next.
May you like
That mattered.
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