"You got it."
**
The private room was filled with birthday balloons. Renee Jennings had also ordered a custom banner, which read: "Happy 58th Birthday, Dalton Jenson!"
She handed the cake to a server. "Could you please keep this in the fridge for us? Thank you."
Soon, Michelle Fuller and Sylvia Brooks arrived, each carrying a bouquet of flowers.
"Huh? The birthday boy isn’t here yet?" Michelle Fuller asked, looking around the room curiously.
Renee Jennings was pulling out the banner, getting ready to hang it on the wall. "They’ll be here in a bit. Zane and Jasmine have dance class today, and it runs late."
"Ooh!" Michelle Fuller clapped her hands excitedly. "Then when we visit for the New Year, we can have Zane and Jasmine perform for us!"
Renee Jennings nodded. "Good point."
Sylvia Brooks came over to help with the banner, sighing. "The New Year was a nightmare for me as a kid. The adults always made me get up and perform something."
"Summer, my heart breaks for you," Michelle Fuller said with great sincerity. "So, this New Year’s, can you perform that childhood talent for me?"
Sylvia Brooks was speechless.
She looked at Michelle Fuller and said dryly, "I’m not exactly feeling the sympathy."
"Hehe." Michelle Fuller stuck out her tongue. "The sympathy is real, but I also really want to see you perform!"
Sylvia Brooks gave a resigned smile and asked, "Weren’t you ever made to perform for the adults when you were a kid?"
"Nope." Michelle Fuller shook her head. "I didn’t have any talents as a kid. I was a total crybaby, so who would dare ask me to perform?"
"Ah, I see." Sylvia Brooks turned to Renee Jennings. "What about you, Renee?"
Renee Jennings finished taping up the banner and hopped down from the stool. She put her hands on her hips, admiring her handiwork with a grin. "My special talent is stress-crawling around in the dark. Not exactly a crowd-pleaser."
Sylvia Brooks just assumed she was joking.
The door to the room was ajar, and the sound of laughter drifted in.
The three women turned toward the door at the same time.
The door swung open and Dalton Jenson walked in, leading the group. He had a warm, simple smile on his face, which froze the moment he saw the banner on the wall.
"This..." He pointed at the banner, looking dumbfounded. "It’s my birthday today?"
’Good heavens,’ he thought, ’we came to such a fancy place to eat... because it’s my birthday?’
"Dad, happy birthday." Renee Jennings’s lips curled into a slight smile as she handed him a folder. "This is your present from me."
"I get a present, too?" Dalton Jenson’s face flushed with nervousness, and he quickly waved his hands. "You don’t need to give me a gift. The thought is more than enough."