Feeling awkward, she climbed out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel, thinking to herself that Ronnie had been gone too long. She was headed for the house when Jack stopped her. “Rose, come take a look at these steaks and tell me what you think.”
“Sure.” She moved over to the grill and looked at the various pieces of meat sizzling over the gas fire. “I hope everyone’s hungry. You made quite a bunch here. They look fine, though. Maybe a few more minutes.”
“Could you keep an eye on them for me? I have to visit the little men’s room.” He handed her the turning fork and walked away.
Ten minutes later the steaks were done and there was no sign of Ronnie or anyone else. Rose carefully piled the food on a plate and shut the grill off. “Where is everybody? I thought we were having a cookout,” she said to the empty air.
Inside the living room, Susan was supervising the hanging of the final decorations.
“Up a little,” the redhead said. “No, that’s too high. Bring it down a bit.” Ronnie stood on one of the upper rungs of the ladder, thinking that her sister was a pain in the ass when it came to decorating. The banner was perfect where it was before but Susan insisted it would better if it were up just a foot. John, Ricky, and Timmy were busy running multi-colored rolls of streamers around the living room.
“We have to hurry up or she’ll see it,” the executive grumped. She spared a glance at her watch.
“Where’s Maria, anyway? She was supposed to be here with the cake a half-hour ago.”
“She’ll be here, and if you’d just make it level, we’ll be done,” Susan said. They turned at the sound of the door sliding open. Ronnie shoved the thumbtack through the banner and stuck it to the wall, hopping off the ladder just as Rose stepped through the archway.
“Happy Birthday Rose!” They shouted, echoing the words printed on the banner. The young woman stood there speechless, her eyes wide with surprise. While she had thought it odd no one except Ronnie had wished her a happy birthday, she chalked it up to them not knowing. She had never guessed Ronnie would give her a party. John tugged on her wet shirt. “Aunt Rose, does this mean I can give you your present now?”
“In a little while, John,” Susan said, shooing her son away. “We have to eat first.”
“Um…uh…oh my.” Rose turned her shocked expression to her lover. “You planned this?”
“Maria’s on her way with your cake and I think Frank and Agnes are stopping by later,” Ronnie replied, crossing the room to stand in front of the overwhelmed woman. “Happy birthday, Honey.”
“It’s been so long since anyone gave me a party for my birthday,” Rose whispered. “I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it. You can count on this being an annual occurrence from now on.” She looked at the boys. “You guys go help your father make up the plates.” Once they left the room, she turned her attention back to Rose. “I love you. You didn’t think I’d let your birthday go by without throwing you a party, did you?”
“You didn’t say anything except about the bikini so I thought…” She shook her head and smiled.
“I should have known. Cartwrights love parties.”
“Well, that may be true, but this particular Cartwright had more of a reason to throw you a party than just your birthday.” At the quizzical look, Ronnie merely gave a sly smile. “You’ll see later. Come on, go get changed into something dry so we can dig into dinner before it gets cold.”
Maria arrived a short time later, the back seat of her car taken up with a large sheet cake. Ricky and Timmy got their fingers full of frosting before Ronnie could get it placed up out of reach. John insisted on sitting on Rose’s lap during dinner and the sight made Ronnie smile. The people who meant a great deal to her were there to help celebrate the birthday of the person who meant the most to her. Not a word was said when Maria joined them for dinner and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. Little side conversations took place all around her but the executive paid them no attention. Her focus was on the green-eyed beauty and the thought of the present hidden in the office.
Frank and Agnes arrived just as dinner was ending. Rose had to laugh at the sight of the big burly man carrying a fishing pole wrapped in dainty tissue paper.
“Gee Frank, I have no idea what you got her,” Ronnie said with a smirk.
“You know fishing poles aren’t the easiest things in the world to wrap,” he replied. “Took Agnes forever to get it done.” He walked over to Rose and gave her a kiss on the cheek while handing her the present. “Happy birthday, Blondie.”
“I guess it is time to open presents,” Ronnie announced.
“Well here, open mine first,” Frank said.
“It’s beautiful,” Rose said as the final wrapping was removed.
“That’s not just some run of the mill fishing pole you’ve got there, Blondie,” he said. “That’s a top of the line Power Pole with ultra sensitive tip and left handed reel. Maybe next time you go fishing you won’t toss the lunkers back in.”
“Oh, I probably will,” she admitted. “But it sure is fun to catch them.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve caught more sunfish than bass this season,” he grumbled good-naturedly.
“Aunt Rose, will you open my present now?” John asked, holding the gift in his hands.
“Of course I will, Sweetie,” she said, taking the present from him. The wrapping was torn away to reveal a bottle of her favorite perfume. “Thank you, John. It’s very nice.” She gave the young boy a kiss on the cheek. Looking up at Susan, she indicated her silent thanks with her eyes. Timmy and Ricky gave her presents as well, followed by a joint present from Susan and Jack while Maria gave her a brooch that was simply breathtaking.
After seeing the presents the other Cartwrights had given her, Rose knew the bikini was not the only present her lover had in store for her. Her suspicions were confirmed a minute later when Ronnie and Frank disappeared into the office.
Together they carried out a big, bulky looking box covered in green wrapping paper. Jack and Ricky moved everything off the coffee table to make room. Rose stood up and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I wonder what on earth it could possibly be? Looks kinda big.” The box was easily as long as her outstretched arms and half as high.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Ronnie replied, sharing a knowing grin with her sister as Rose began to unwrap the large box. While the box itself proclaimed that a twenty-seven inch color television was waiting inside but the young woman knew from the weight it was not the case. Besides, there were already a half dozen televisions floating around the house as it was. Surely Ronnie would not have bothered to buy another one. Her curiosity was piqued when she opened the box to reveal another box inside, this one wrapped in red holiday paper. “I ran out of birthday wrap so I used Christmas paper. I hope you don’t mind.”