Fifteen

Laura Lovegrove

Most disappointing birthday ever. I wake up around 8am, It’s a tradition in our family that on birthdays, Father’s Day and Mother’s day, the person who’s day it is, gets breakfast in bed. So, usually, on my birthday I tend to wake up pretty early, probably because I am so excited.

I open the presents, then Mum wants a picture of me in bed with breakfast and the unwrapped gifts and I flatly refuse. “I look disgusting, mum, no chance” I say.

Then Mum, Dad and Claire all rush around getting ready to leave. Claire has a Calisthenics Competition and Mum and Dad are going to watch. I hate calisthenics so I decide to stay home for my birthday. As I get to the kitchen in my pyjamas, Dad ushers me to the pantry and points to a ‘Green’s Chocolate Cake Mix’ packet.

 'You like baking' He says. 'Happy Birthday'

Great. I ask him what I get to have for dinner on, you know, my birthday.

'There are sausages in the fridge.'

Brilliant. After they leave I put on ‘Win a Date With Tad Hamilton’ which I got for my birthday and bake my cake. I was pretty chuffed with the end result. I decide to put it in the fridge and wait till everyone else is home before I try a piece. We always sing happy birthday and then do the cutting of the cake, even when it is just us.

Mum, Dad and Claire get home several hours later and a small part of me secretly hoped they had brought me home something special, like Goodberry’s or Chinese Takeout to make up for my, otherwise, boring birthday.

They stampede in, dumping stuff on the table, Caterwauling about the calisthenics results.

'That adjudicator was an idiot!' Claire says. Mum agrees and they continue to agree on a long list of things that seem to outrage them. Dad asks how my day was. I say it was fine.

'Well I’m off to bed.' He announces to everyone, Mum and Claire are in agreement that it is time for them to head to bed too. After all that I get back into bed and reflect on my incredibly average birthday.

Didn’t even cut the cake.