11 – Stellaluna’s Disappointing Birthday (2)

Saturday had arrived. The special event would take place around noon. Barry mentioned barbecuing hot dogs and hamburgers. “The ultimate American food!”

Stellaluna had no strong feelings towards hot dogs and hamburgers. She’d much rather have a fat, juicy steak. But she supposed that would be too expensive for Barry to do. He was already spending enough precious money on her. No, she wasn’t going to complain. Besides, she caught a glimpse of the giant cake two men brought in. It was still in a box, but the fact two men needed to carry it said a lot.

People started arriving. Most were people Stellaluna didn’t know well. Many ignored her, which was odd. So far, she hadn’t heard a single “happy birthday.” No one brought gifts. Not even Celine. She remained glued to her husband’s side, only giving her a quick “hello” before Waylon dragged her off.

Sebastian trailed behind them, with a young woman on his arm. The young woman looked around with a large smile on her face, like she was thrilled to be there with him. Sebastian did not smile, and kept most of his focus on the ground. He didn’t even introduce the woman. He only gave Stellaluna a polite nod as they walked past.

Yannick walked up to her, eyes rounded with concern. “I must you something say.”

“Yes?” Stellaluna expected a happy birthday, but his expression made her think otherwise.

“This… party? It is not for-”

“Stellaluna!” Barry showed up. “What are you doing, talking to servants? The cameras are finally here. Waylon is about to speak.”

“Huh?”

“Come on. Everyone’s in the garden now.” Barry tugged on her arm, leading her there.

In the garden, someone had set up what looked like hundreds of folding chairs. All faced a set-up stage with a podium. There were red, white, and blue ribbons and banners decorating the stage. Tables off to the side held mountains of food. People helped themselves as they took their seats.

Did Barry set up some sort of fourth of July themed play for her? It was only March.

Finally, she spotted Zailey with Nole. Someone she could share her confusion with. Unfortunately, Barry dragged her away to sit in the front row. They sat near a group of people setting up large video cameras.

A servant came by with two plates. One held a hot dog, hamburger, and chips. The other just a hot dog and chips. The servant gave the first plate to Barry, and the second to Stellaluna, then walked away.

Barry must have told the servant what to bring them. Another servant passed out cans of Hendi. The Henderson brothers and their sister, sat a few seats down. The chairs had cup holders. Stellaluna placed her can in one, and daintily ate a chip.

Waylon, Celine, Sebastian, and his girlfriend walked up to the podium. Celine stood on one side of Waylon, Sebastian and the girlfriend on the other. Waylon tapped the microphone. “Testing, testing.” His voice rang throughout the garden. “Right. Now, I know you’re all here for my surprise announcement.”

Surprise announcement? From Waylon? About her birthday? That didn’t make sense. Brow furrowed, Stellaluna took a bite of her hot dog.

“I’ve spent countless years as your mayor. But it’s time for me to do something bigger. Something better.”

Stellaluna’s heart sunk as reality punched her in the stomach. This wasn’t about her birthday at all!

“I am pleased to announce that I am running for Jefferson’s next governor!”

Everyone around her cheered and applauded. Stellaluna did not join in. Never before had she felt so stupid. Why would Barry do anything special for her? She’d get up and walk away. Have herself a cry. But she was in the front row, and everyone would see her leave. They’d ask questions. Instead, she held back tears as Waylon rambled on about all the good things he’d do as governor, and why everyone in the audience should vote for him.

“There’s something else I’d like to announce,” Waylon said towards the end of his speech.

That it was her birthday?

“My son is finally in a serious relationship with a woman. He has truly been cured!”

Stellaluna rolled her eyes as Waylon gestured towards Sebastian and his girlfriend, holding hands. Sebastian gave the crowd what looked like a forced smile as his girlfriend kissed his cheek. More cheers and applause.

As soon as the Barstow family left the stage, and the crowd broke into conversation, Barry turned to Stellaluna. “Waylon running for governor! Isn’t that a surprise?”

Stellaluna already knew he had plans for it. There had been plenty of rumors. All this did was confirm them. She set her half-eaten plate of food onto the empty chair next to her, and folded her arms tight.

“Someone from a small town like this, running for governor? Amazing.” Barry furrowed his brow at Stellaluna’s lack of enthusiasm. “Something wrong?”

“You tell me.” Stellaluna struggled to keep her voice even.

“Now, darling, you know how I feel about these mind games…”

“Think about today’s date.”

It took Barry a painfully long minute before it hit him. “Oh my God. Today’s our anniversary!”

Stellaluna slapped her forehead. “My birthday. Today is my birthday!”

“Oh, right. I suppose it is. Happy birthday.”

Waylon walked over, and Barry gave his congratulations. Stellaluna couldn’t take anymore of that nonsense, and stormed off.

~~~~~

Finally, Sebastian could stop listening to his father's obsession of announcing his run for governor. Unfortunately, this meant he had to listen to him fret about the actual run instead. He worried about Sebastian’s behavior in particular.

Ellie had arrived at the event with her parents, and left with her parents. The setup was a relief for Sebastian. The only downside was he had to listen to an uncensored version of his father all the way home.

“Now, boy.” Waylon’s voice was stern. “I don’t want any bullshit from you from now until December.”

“I know.”

“No scandals of any sort. No cheating on your girlfriend. No kissing men. No getting arrested. Nothing!”

“I know.”

“I don’t want you screwing this up for me. You almost cost me my mayor run.”

“I know.”

“You better. Because if you do, I’ll make you wish you were at Camp Hope!”

Sebastian doubted anyone could do anything to him that would make him wish he were at Camp Hope. But he wasn’t in an argumentative mood. “Okay.”

While his father rambled on about something else government-related, Sebastian’s watch pinged. He pulled out his phone to read a message from Ellie. A basic, “I made it home safe” type of text. Sebastian typed back a “glad to hear it.” For a second he debated on tacking on a heart emoji to make his words look extra convincing. But he realized that didn’t matter anymore. His dad got to parade him and his girlfriend around to show off how Sebastian had been cured. No longer did he need to fake the act. A week from now, Sebastian would be a single man again.

He just hoped there wouldn’t be a major scandal about it. He couldn’t see why him breaking up with Ellie would make the news. And his father said nothing about him not being allowed to break up with her.

“And I think now’s a good time for you to pop the question,” Waylon said nonchalantly.

The sentence snapped Sebastian out of his thoughts. “What!”

“It’ll be perfect. You two could get married right before the election. We’ll have a big wedding that’ll convince people to vote for us.”

“How is a wedding going to attract voters?”

“You’d be surprised.”

“I don’t want to marry Ellie.”

“Then who?” Waylon raised his voice. “Who are you going to marry instead? I don’t see girls lining up outside your bedroom door!”

“I don’t want to get married at all!”

The car came to a stop at a red light. Waylon turned around. “What did you just say?”

“I’m not ready to get married at all right now. I want to wait.” Sebastian swallowed a lump in his throat. “Please. I can’t do it yet.”

Waylon opened his mouth, but Celine touched his shoulder. “Let him wait until he’s ready. He’s got his whole life ahead of him.”

Waylon scowled at her. “Ellie’s not gonna wait around that long.”

“Marriage is a permanent thing,” Celine said. “We don’t even know if Ellie’s ready yet.”

“Her parents are ready enough.” Waylon shot Sebastian a final look. “We’ll revisit this conversation in November. Got it?”

Sebastian nodded. The relationship would be long over by then.