Once all the plates and bowls of food were in their places, I quickly did a once over in the mirror to make sure I looked good for Nick. Every time he stares at me or just stops everything he's doing because I look beautiful, shivers run down my spine and my heart flutters. That's one thing I absolutely love. The way he looks at me like I'm the only girl in the world; the only person who matters to him. The care and love shine so brightly in his eyes when they're on me that I am almost addicted to it, that I will do everything I can to take his breath away.

Just when I was satisfied with how I looked, I heard keys jingle by the door. They're here! I quickly jogged over to a spot next to Lily and waited for Ryan to walk in. The low laughter of both of the men echoed through the halls as they took off their coats and shoes. As they got closer to the kitchen, I anxiously waited for their arrival.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the doorways and Lily, Nick, and I all yelled, "Surprise!"

Ryan stood with wide eyes for a brief moment before looking around the room at all the decorations and food and asking, "you did this all for me?"

"Of course! I always want you to have an amazing birthday!" Lily cheerfully replied with a glowing smile. Ryan also having a giant beaming smile on his face. He quickly made his way over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissing her while he picked her up and spun her around. "God, I love you," he let out between kisses.

While Ryan was busy pecking every inch of his wife's face, Nick walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. He quickly kissed me and stared into my eyes just how he always does, with all the love and compassion in this world just for me. "You look beautiful," he groaned.

"Why say it like that?"

"Because I won't be able to keep my eyes off of you,"

There it was. The shivers and the heart fluttering. The corners of my mouth lifted up into a teasing smirk. "Exactly what I was going for,"

He leaned his head down by my ear and whispered, "you shouldn't tease me if you want to walk tomorrow," His lips lightly brushed over my ear lobe as he spoke, causing even more shivers to run down my spine, and by the smirk which appeared on his face, I knew he could tell just the effect he had on me.

I let a pout form on my face as I said, "but I have to train the new employees at the restaurant tomorrow,"

"They can wait a few days. I missed you,"

"You saw me this morning," I softly shook my head while smiling.

"So? I can never get enough of you,"

"Well, in that case, I missed you too," I said before standing up on my tippy toes and kissing his soft lips.

We only pulled apart when someone cleared their throat. We both turned toward the sound to see Ryan with his arm wrapped around Lily, both smiling at us.

"Wait a sec, why aren't you freaking out?" Ryan suddenly accused.

"I found out a few days ago," lily shrugged.

"Oh come on, I wanted to see your reaction," Ryan pouted.

"I don't think you would have. I might be deaf in my right ear now. Who knew phone speakers even went that loud?" I added.

Ryan chuckled. "Sometimes I think I should buy one of the readers that measure the decibels of a sound for you,"

"She would probably break it," Nick joked.

We all burst out laughing while Lily pouted saying she was not that loud and to stop making fun of her. After we all stopped laughing, we took our seats and began with a toast.

"Ryan, it's your special day today, so I, with the help of Amelia, made dinner and dessert for you tonight. Tonight, your one year older. So, here's to a great year of wonderful stories and some great ones for the next year as well. Cheers!" We all clanked glasses of champagne, well expect for Nick because he's driving and Lily because she hates the taste of any alcohol.

"Well, then let's eat the amazing food Amelia made," Ryan announced, which was followed by Lily hitting his shoulder.

"Hey, how come you didn't think I cooked this?" Lily accused, raising an eyebrow.

Ryan let out a deep chuckle before swinging his arm around her shoulders, bring her close, and replying, "because you, my dear wife, freak out when you have to cook for a lot of people. If you did cook all this, you would be passed out on the couch right now."

She leaned her forehead down to his shoulder and slightly shook her head. "Whatever."

"Don't be like that," he kissed the top of her head and soothingly rubbed her shoulder. "I love all the food you make for me. Plus, the cake smells absolutely delicious."

She peeked her head up to look at him with big puppy dog eyes. "Really?" She asked with a little smile.

"Yep, that's one of the things I'm looking forward to eating tonight," Ryan emphasized.

Lily's eyes instantly grew wide as she registered the dirty joke, her face turning red right after. "Ryan!" She smacked his chest while trying to hide her smile.

The night went on with lots of laughter and fun. It was nice to get together with friends with the man I love and just have a plain old good time. We are till our bellies stretched the tops that we were wearing and sang a very cringe version of happy birthday, so all in all it was an amazing night.

After everyone finished dessert, Lily brought out a second present for Ryan, the first being concert tickets to his favorite rock band. The bag was pretty small, making everyone wonder what it was.

"I thought you already got me a present," Ryan questioned.

"This is just something extra I decided to add in," she replied with a eager look on her face.

Ryan took the bag from her and slowly took the tissue paper out. He pulled out a small little t-shirt with a suit and tie printed on it. Instantly his eyes wider and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Really?" He asked hopefully.

"Really," lily replied with her own smile to match his.

Ryan scooped up his wife and spun her around while constantly kissing her face, stopping for the occasional I love you or I'm going to be a dad. I looked up toward Nick to see a huge smile on his face while he watched his best friend's happiness. Ryan quickly stopped and shoved a phone into Nick's hands.

"Take a photo, Yeah?" Ryan said before posing with one hand holding up the left side of the t-shirt, lily holding the right, and the other hand protectively over Lily's belly.

"You know, that will be us in a few years," Nick said while taking photos.

"You want kids?" I asked while the corners of my lips turned upward.

"Of course,"

"How many?"

"Five,"

"What?!" He chuckled at my reaction. "That's way too many,"

He put an arm around me after giving Ryan his phone back. "Don't worry. We'll cross that bridge when we get there," he dismissed.

"Still, five is too many," I insisted.

"Don't worry about it," he mischievously smirked.

"But—"

He started to walk toward the door to leave the house.

"Nick!" I yelled.

No reply.

Just a deep chuckle.

~*~

"Are we going home?" Nick asked.

"Can we stop at the restaurant first? I left some papers I have to fax tomorrow morning there."

"Yeah, Of course."

We drove to the restaurant talking about little things like how I was excited to open the restaurant soon and he was excited to try the food on the menu. I've been keeping it secret, so I could surprise him with all the different dishes I created. I learned he is extremely impatient when it comes it surprises. Apparently, he even tried to threaten one of my employees to show him what's on the menu, but I walked right in before anything happen.

Once we arrived, I quickly made my way to unlock the door since it was like a freezer outside. As I opened the door, I heard the car beep signaling that Nick locked it and was going to follow me up. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him because I know for a fact he'll try to find the menu.

When I turned on the lights however, all the thoughts I had before completely vanished.

The restaurant was trashed and there was a message written in black spray paint on the wall.

I want her.