Eight years later

“Happy birthday to yoooooou!” Howie’s friends and family sang, finishing up the classic birthday song.
       “You look like a monkey, and you smell like one, too!” Kristie
finished, the smile on her face growing as she saw Howie scowl at her.
       Howie huffed at his friend before closing his eyes to make a wish,
then blew out all the candles. He managed to get them all in one blow,
which caused his mom to laugh, “I guess he really wanted his wish!”
       “Or he was just showing off,” Kristie chuckled, teasing her friend.
       “Well I do like to show off,” Howie teased, reaching over to mess up
Kristie’s hair.
       Hoke cleared his throat before starting to cut the cake and serve
everyone, trying to make sure the two kids didn’t suddenly start to
wrestle. He was used to that after the first few times Howie dared
mess up the poor girls hair.
       Howie’s friends surrounded him, all enjoying themselves and just
generally making fun of the birthday boy. Finally, Paula got
everyone’s attention by whistling sharply. Once everyone was looking
at her, she smiled, “It is my understanding that birthday parties
typically include birthday presents, correct?” she asked, pretending
to have to ponder that question. She laughed to herself as everyone
scrambled over to the table where all the gifts were, and his friends
began to declare which one he needed to open first.
       Kristie hung back, her gift hidden in another room- Howie’s bedroom,
actually, hoping she could get him alone to open it by themselves.
Howie looked for her as everyone sat down and simply perked an
eyebrow, silently gesturing to the seat next to him with a nod of his
head. She shrugged and slowly made her way over to him, sitting down.
Now that she was closer to the gifts, she began handing him each gift.
       The minute her hands landed on one gift, someone would yell at her,
“No, the blue one! Give him the blue one, first!” Josh demanded.
       Kristie scowled at Josh and shook her head no, continuing to reach
for the closest one. “He will open all of your presents, don’t worry,
I won’t let him forget anything. I promise, I won’t let him leave this
room until all his presents are open, ok?” She proceeded to hand Howie
the presents while everyone explained why they had found the perfect
present for him.
       Howie soon grew tired of the “My present is better than everyone
else’s” game, and was thankful when it was the last present. He
realized Kristie hadn’t said which was hers, so smiled at her as he
shook the box, “Is this one from you?”
       Paula smiled softly, “That’s from your dad and I.” She looked over at
Hoke and the parents shared a secret smile as their son began
unwrapping the box, only to find another box wrapped up inside it. The
poor kid had to unwrap 15 boxes before her found the treasure, a key
on a new keyring.
       Howie’s eyes looked at the key as he reached for it then looked at
both his parents, “What’s this?”
       “It would appear to be a key…” Paula said, grinning.
       “No duh! But a key to what?” he asked, looking at his dad, who wasn’t
any help either.
       Josh looked out the window, “Maybe it’s to that?” he asked, pointing
to a 1965 Ford Mustang that looked like it had seen better days.
       The only 3 people in the room who didn’t run outside with everyone
else were Paula, Hoke, and Kristie. Instead of running, they walked
after everyone, watching Howie’s reaction as the key slid into the
lock and unlocked the door. He looked up at His parents, “Seriosuly?”
       Paula laughed, “Seriously,” she nodded, encounraging her son to open the door.
       “It won’t start,” Hoke warned his son. “That’s your job. You need to
work on this until it runs and passes inspection.”
       Howie nodded enthusiastically, “I will! I promise! I’ll work on it
every day after school!”
       The other kids soon got bored looking at a car that didn’t work and
they all started back inside to keep the party going, dispersing among
the rooms where various activities were set up.
       Soon, Paula and Hoke disappeared, letting the kids have fun
with the video games, movies, games in the back yard, and other
activities for the kids to enjoy.
       Once people had decided what they wanted to do, Kristie tapped
Howie on the shoulder, "Can I talk to you?" she whispered in his ear
before heading up to his room.
       Howie excused himself and followed after Kristie, surprised
when he saw her go into his room. "What's up, Kris?" he asked softly.
"Everything okay?"
      Kristie nodded and offered him a little, "Yeah." She cleared
her throat and smiled, "I just wanted to give you your present. It's
kinda dorky, and I didn't want everyone else to see it," she
explained.
      Howie shook his head no, "Whatever it is, I highly doubt it's
dorky, Kris."
      Kristie chuckled softly and looked up at her friend, "I guess
we shall see." She carefully lifted a box up that had been carefully
gift wrapped and set it on the bed.
      Howie picked it up, trying to see how heavy it was and to shake
it, and nearly dropped it. "Christ, what's in it?" he asked, carefully
setting it on the bed. "Didja fill it with rocks or something?" he
laughed.
      "Yes, that's exactly it, Howie, because you rock!" she said,
rollin her eyes. "Now shut up and open it," she laughed, watching him.
      Howie grinned and began to unwrap the box, finding four smaller
boxes inside. "Which one first?" he asked, thankful it wasn't just one
more box, like his mom and dad had done.
      Kristie reached for a thin rectangular box, handing it to him
without a word. Howie quickly unwrapped it, looking at a picture
frame, reading the "gift certificate" inside. "20 hours of labor?" he
asked, perking an eyebrow.
      "At least. I figured you might need help building the car, and
I may not be the best mechanic, or hell, even know what I'm doing, but
I can learn, and I can help. I mean, I'll need rides around town and
you're now my only friend with a car, so if I help you, you might feel
guilty and help me," she rambled, finally shutting up when Howie began
to laugh.
      "It's ok, Kris, of course I'll drive you around- within reason,
and until you get a boyfriend with a car. Then, it's his turn," he
chuckled. "So, what's next?" he asked, looking in the box again.
      "Doesn't matter, just save the small one for last," she said,
sitting down on his bed.
      Howie reached for the largest box and lifted it out, unwrapping
a ratchett set, followed by a complete tool kit.
      "The guy at the shop said if you need any other tools other
than what you now own, you're doing something wrong," Kristie
explained.
      Howie set the tools aside, "I would ask how you knew to get me
all this," he started, but was interrupted by the girl.
      "Oh, I asked your mom for ideas, and she told me like a month
ago what she and your dad were doing. She suggested the ratchet set,
but I figured you can't take your dad's tools, he's kind of attached
to them." The girl chuckled, knowing how possessive his father was
over his tools. "One left," she said, reaching into the box to get the
smallest gift.
     "Oh, right," Howie said, reaching for it. He unwrapped it
carefully, revealing a green velvet jewelry box, lifting the lid
slowly. Inside, he saw a medallion and flipped it over to see the
inscription of St. Joseph, patron saint of men.
      Kristie looked at Howie, biting her lip. After a few seconds of
silence, she finally cleared her throat before asking, "That's your
saint, right? I remember you lost your medallion in gym a month ago."
      Howie looked up at Kristie and nodded, "Yeah, it's the right
one. Did my mom pick it out for you?"
     Kristie shook her head no, "You've worn the same medallion since
your first communion. I just happen to pay attention the little
details. I told you, it's dorky."
     Howie shook his head no and pulled his friend into a hug. "It's
not dorky at all, These were the best, thank you." He squeezed her
gently before slowly pulling away.
      "You're welcome, just let me know when you want to get started
on your car," Kris said as she stood up and made her way back
downstairs.
      Howie gently pulled his medallion out of the box, playing with
the chain as he thought that Kristie probably put the most thought
into her gifts. He eventually put his medallion on, looking in the mirror, seeing it sitting on his skin next to his crystal. He was still wondering why his dad told him that morning he had to wear it now, not just let it hang on his wall, but he shrugged off the thoughts and went to rejoin
the party.