The garden was bejeweled with twinkling lights wrapped around the trees giving a magical look. It was only during his childhood Devin celebrated his birthday. When he came to a certain age, he would party with his friends.
He felt like he was back to his childhood days with birthday cones, friends, and family gathered together. It was embarrassing for an adult, at least for him, to cut the cake, but Leena practically dragged him and presented him in front of the cake.
''Leena baked this cake to surprise Devin,'' Aunt Jalapeno proudly said. ''Birthday boy, you should praise your wife for that.''
Surprise? Devin scoffed. Like an actor, he followed the script and hugged Leena tightly the moment she opened the cover. ''I loved the surprise, Sweetheart. It's marvelous. Thank you so much for the gift..''
''You are welcome, dear husband.'' Sheepishly, Leena smiled. She clearly told him to shed happy tears, but this idiot..
''Oh, my Leena.'' Evelyn dotingly looked at her daughter-in-law's ardent face. ''Why did you take so much effort at this time.''
''We could have ordered one, baby.'' Heather butted in. ''Don't take pressure during this time.''
''It's nothing, mom. It's the least I could do for his birthday.''
Look at her taking praisings for nothing. I have done half of the work, Devin mused.
''Sister-in-law, You are the best.'' Adney's cheerful tone surprised Evelyn and Fredrick again. They have seen Leena and Adney fight like Tom and Jerry whenever they meet. Suddenly, they have seen a drastic change in their relationship since yesterday. Evelyn observed his son's attitude towards Leena completely changed. Infact, Adney stuck to her like glue and helped her with the decoration. Devin guessed Adney realized Leena was the one he was worshipping.
''Thank you, brother-in-law.'' She sweetly replied.
Meanwhile, Carrot watched the cake with enthusiasm. Like a deserter, Cutie licked her lips for the nth time with longing. She had the urge to snatch the knife from Devin's hands and cut it by herself, but her noisy dad would give her a big class if she didn't behave.
''Can you stop the praises and cut the cake? I am starving here.'' Andrew's voice screamed from somewhere behind.
Cutie smiled ear to ear, hearing Andrew's voice. She would floss Carrot's teeth, although she doesn't know how to do it. That's how much she appreciates Andrew right now.
''How many years did you starve in your previous life that you eat like a hungry pig in the present life. Donkey fellow?''
Not only Reese and Harley, Everybody sighed. The drama started.
Hearing the comments from his enemy, the line of Andrew's mouth twisted into a scowl. He narrowed his eyes at Jasper with spite. ''My bad, I could have sworn I was dealing with an adult, but no.''
''Is that how you talk to your brother-in-law? Remember, you haven't got my blessings for the_''
''Mr. Jasper Allen, and Mr. Andrew Dawson.'' Leena interrupted their talks. ''I am giving you full rights. You are free to leave this party.''
''What did I tell you before coming to the party, Jasper?'' Harley's voice laced with threat. Meanwhile, Reese sternly looked at Andrew. ''Behave at least for today.'' Reese and Harley guessed it already. These two will never get along with each other.
Jasper and Andrew studied each other with unforgiving judgment and turned their heads away with a loud hmph.
Right after Devin cut the cake, Cutie and Carrot jumped into action. While Leena was having fun with friends and family, Kurt dragged Devin to a secret place where no one could hear their talks. ''What is it? Don't tell me we got another problem with Enger.''
''Well, he will rot in hell for the lifetime. That I can ensure...but..'' Kurt sighed. ''We seized his Visa, his investments, everything related to him, but the strange thing is, his bank balance is zero. It happened right before we entered his house to capture him.''
Confusion replaced Devin's calm eyes.
''You remember Adney insisted on coming to the Bahamas with us?'' Kurt continued as he saw Devin's nod. ''As the Ferry boat neared the island, I saw Adney open his laptop and secretly working on something. I ignored speculating that he was playing a game. After I saw his relationship with your wife today, something was wrong. Adney is not opening his mouth, but I am sure he came there with a purpose.''
''You mean..'' Instantly, Devin's eyes shifted in the direction where Leena was.
''The transactions of debits are destroyed in the backend,'' Kurt added. ''FBI is thoroughly looking for the records. I hope you got my point.'' Everywhere she goes, either she follows trouble or purposefully finds trouble.
Devin tried to suppress his smile, but his restraint failed to curb it. It's not that he is pleased by the illegal activity but how she played the role of a fool to fool the fool who thinks that he is fooling her. He already knows Leena's intention of hacking into the account. ''I am sure she will make use of that money for a better purpose..I must say better than your FBI.''
''That's not my point, Vincy.''
''That's the only point I perceived.'' Devin patted his friend's shoulder. ''Cover it up.'' With that, Devin made his way back to the garden.
''Cover it up! Is that easy?'' Kurt kicked the trunk of the tree hard. ''Argh!'' The pain coursed his leg to the point of numbing his senses for seconds. Realizing his mistake, Kurt trudged back to the garden in hopes of finding his love. Well, he found, but his blood instantly boiled hearing Kyle's...
''If it is a girl, Leena's sharp nose, and if it is a son, I wish he would get Devin's eyes.'' Kyle cheerfully said as she gobbled the last piece on her plate. ''Devin's eyes are beauteous.''
''I know, right.'' Reese joined for the treat. ''I would always tell the same thing to Leena.''
Leena completely ignored her son getting Devin's hazel eyes. She was fangirling about her daughter having a sharp nose.
Meanwhile, Kurt, hearing the comments, unable to suppress his anger, called out Kyle's name from a distance. ''Kyle, let's go home.''
''Huh? Already? We are yet to have dinner.''
Kurt appeared in front of her. ''Do you still have room for dinner after eating three pieces of_''
''Someone challenged me.'' Leena interrupted. ''If they don't find my name_''
''Let's have dinner here.'' Kurt cut her off before she brought the topic of the girly outfit. Damn this Elysian! He immediately fled away to find his friends.
''He is just a paper tiger,'' Leena grumbled. Meanwhile, Kyle wondered if something had gone wrong with Kurt's system again.
During dinner, the hot topic was Leena and Devin's wedding. Francis was looking for the day to see his baby in the wedding dress.
''Two months is very little time. Can we make it?'' Reese questioned.
Leena fidgeted over Reese's statement. Infact it's not easy, but if it exceeds more than two months, her bump will start to show up.
''Don't get tensed up.'' Devin squeezed her hands assuringly. ''We are going with the date as planned. Just that we need to speed up.''
From the next day, the wedding preparations started.