After Shannon blew out the candles, Carmen cut the cake while Shannon stood beside her, taking the job of putting slices onto plates far more seriously than she needed to.
"Careful," Carmen told her as Shannon tried to cut a piece twice the size of everyone else's.
"That one is for Ryan," Shannon said.
"Why is his bigger?"
"Because he helped decorate."
"I helped decorate too," Maribel said from the table.
Shannon looked at the slice, then at Maribel.
"Fine. He gets a normal one."
Molly laughed from the sofa. "A very fair system."
The cake was passed around, and everyone found somewhere to sit. Molly took the armchair beside Carmen. Marlon stayed near the window with his plate in one hand, still positioned so he could see both the living room and part of the street through a gap in the curtain. Maribel sat at the end of the couch, while Summer stayed close to the kitchen doorway.
I took a seat on the other side of the sofa.
The first bite stopped me.
God.
