“Hell, Brooke.” C.C. spoke up. “Aren’t you going to finish it? Jeez, if I want to drink I’d better do it myself.”

“Yeah, C.C. go ahead. You can finish it by adding your own for a change,” Terri egged her on.

C.C. stood up boldly with the glass of beer in her hand and proclaimed, “Sam Addams for life and Molson forever!”

Brooke turned from Sam to see the boisterous woman, not realizing that she still had her arm around the blonde’s shoulder. “C.C. that’s wrong. It’s Sam Addams forever but Molson for life.”

The brunette stopped in mid drink and thought for a moment. “Yeah, I knew that,” she assured her sister before letting out a loud hiccup that surprised her as well as everyone else. “I stand corrected by my older sister.” C.C. laughed and downed her beer after first lifting it in Sam’s direction.

The family all laughed and followed suit, downing the toast in their hands while Brooke whispered in Sam’s ear again, “Happy Birthday, Sam.”

The blonde took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, wanting to savor the moment. “Thanks, Brooke,” she said softly. “That was the best present yet.

“You’re welcome.” Brooke winked at her. “And just wait, there’s quite a bit more.”

“MORE?” Sam asked, astounded at what she already knew about. “What could you possibly do that would top this? Tell me.”

“You’ve only gotten the small stuff,” Brooke gave her a little squeeze, then winked at Peter and motioned with her head. “Mom, should I tell her?” Brooke let her arm slide down from around Sam’s shoulders.

“I don’t know…” Mable looked at her daughter then at the blonde. “You think she’ll like it?”

“I damn sure hope so.” Brooke had never given that a thought.

Mable shooed her daughter off, “You go do what you have to…I’ll get her there.”

“Don’t worry, Sam. Mom and Crystal will help you, right Crystal?”

“Hey, whatever I can do. Come on Sam, it’s got to be fun with these guys all around.” Crystal egged her cousin on.

Brooke reached into her half-opened shirt and produced a blindfold. Holding it up, she smiled and motioned with her finger for Sam to turn around. “Trust me, Sam. It’s only to ensure the surprise until the right moment.

“Oh…” she looked at Brooke, then her mother. “Okay, you know that I trust you.” Sam turned around and allowed the blindfold to be put in place.

“Can you see anything?” Brooke asked as she turned her around and waved her hand in front of Sam’s face. Waiting a few seconds, she leaned into the blonde and fiddled with the knot.

“Nope, nothing.” Sam advised her after twisting her head around trying to see out. Then, while Brooke was still close she whispered, “But I can still smell.” She sniffed the air and smiled, “And you smell delicious.”

“Later, Darlin’,” Brooke whispered back as she moved away. “Okay, everyone. You know where to go.”

“I know…I know.” Sam muttered under her breath as Crystal and Mabel both took her by an arm.

Brooke walked out toward the patio as she removed her outer shirt. Coming up behind the woman in a cut-off shirt missing the sleeves and half of the body, Crystal had a clear shot of Brooke’s lower back. As Brooke raised her arms to put her long hair into a ponytail, the tattoo came into view. Drums blazing with fire and the words written above it started Crystal thinking.

Grabbing the pair of drumsticks in one hand and the sunglasses in the other from the table next to the door, Brooke turned around to see the honored guest following behind. “You okay, Sam?”

Crystal watched as Sam nodded, then turned her gaze to the woman at the door. Now it came to her. “SweetMaryJesusandJoseph!” Her eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open.

Sam sensed her cousin’s shock. “Crystal…am I going to like this?”

“Uh…um…”

Mable stepped in to ease Sam’s trepidation. “You’re going to love it, Dear.”

“Now you’re scaring me,” Sam took in a breath, not knowing what to expect as she heard the sound of a guitar. “Petey, is that you? Tell me that you’re going to sing Happy Birthday to me now.”

“Sure, I’ll sing to you, Toots. But not that song.” He looked around at his two band members, then settled on Brooke as she sat down behind the kit and got comfortable.

Sam was startled by the new set of hands on her shoulders as someone leaned in and talked to her.

“Well, they’re going to sing something, that’s for sure.” C.C. nudged her roommate. “And it’s just for you.”

“God, not one of your drinking songs, C.C. Have pity on your mother.” Sam laughed knowing how rowdy her friend could get.

“Not likely,” C.C. said and walked away.

The next thing Sam knew, she heard Brooke’s voice loudly count off the beat to four and the area was filled with the sounds of ‘Inside Your Head’. Mable pulled the blindfold off and stood back giving Sam a front row view of the group of musicians.

Squinting to adjust her eyes to the light, Sam started to recognize the song and before she knew it, the band had come into view.

“OhMyGod!” She turned and yanked on her cousin’s arm. “Crystal…do you see…see who that is?” Tears were forming in the young woman’s eyes as a smile grew in intensity across her face. She knew how much Brooke despised being Loran and now, here she was, taking on that role, just to give Sam the one thing that she’d ever dreamed of…seeing Anti-Zero live in concert. The blonde was filled with such love for the woman that she thought her small body would bust from holding it in.

“Uh…Sam?”

The blonde stood smiling, her gaze directed at only one musician, Loran. “What, Crys?”

“Loran…Your Brooke is Loran?”

“Yeah,” a huge smile came to Sam’s face. “Isn’t she great?”

“But…she…I mean…isn’t she…” Crystal stuttered, unable to put her thoughts into words.

Just then Brooke placed her sunglasses on top of her head and winked at Sam as they ended one song and moved into another.

Sam nodded along with the beat of the music. “Yeah, and don’t say it here. No one else but C.C. and her mom knows.”

“Knows what?” Crystal asked.

Leaning in to keep the secret safe, Sam whispered. “Knows that Brooke and I are…ah…”

“OH!” Crystal’s eyes grew bigger as she got the message. “Seeing one another? But I thought that Loran was…” She searched for a better way to put it but couldn’t. “…uhm…ah…slut?” Crystal looked at Brooke and then back to Sam. “She didn’t seem that way at all now when I just met her.”

“Loran, yes. Well, that’s what they wanted us to think. They did a good job with rumors and stories about her exploits.” Sam looked up to Brooke and returned a wink to the woman. “Brooke. She’s just like me.” Sam nudged Crystal as she centered her eyes on her favorite drummer and smiled.

The group was really warmed up, now that they were several songs into their gig, when Sam heard the opening strains of her favorite song, Anti-Zero. Immediately her head started bobbing with the music and soon her body was dancing shamelessly, as if no one was watching. She couldn’t help herself when that song came on and she knew not to fight it.

Sam danced her way over to Brooke’s mother. “I don’t know how she did it…but God, you’ve got to love her for it.” She turned just in time to see the drummer move her mic closer to her mouth and knew that Brooke would be singing her heart out soon.

Mable viewed the young woman with pride. “Actually, Dear, that would be your job.”

“Oh, I will Mom, don’t worry about that,” Sam assured her.

They shared a look, and then the matriarch hugged Sam. “So, are you any better with that toast of hers now, or is it still bothering you?”

“I’m still wondering if that was a fluke or did she really know of my coming. If that’s what you mean.”

“What do you mean, Sam?” Mable noticed that her dancing had slowed down some and motioned for her to move away from the others. “I think we need to talk, Sam. Do you mind?”

The blonde looked back to the dark-haired drummer and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.” She stopped her dancing now altogether and followed the older woman back toward the house. “Before you say anything Mom, I did the math. I was still in my mother’s womb when she was at camp that year.”

The matriarch laughed. “You know, Brooke had turned her nose up at the mere mention of alcohol until that summer. It seemed like everything changed then.”

“I’m being foolish, aren’t I?” Sam looked down to her feet. “It’s just a little spooky. Don’t you think?”

“Not at all, Dear,” Mable put her arm around Sam and pulled her into a hug. “Not really. She was so funny as a child.”

“Funny?” The blonde looked up, waiting to hear the story. “How?”

“I remember Brooke came home on Valentine’s Day from school that year…” Mable let her mind go back to that day. “She was nine then and had never really been one to make up things. That was when she invented her own little imaginary friend, or at least that’s what Henry and I thought.”

“Hmm…I think we all do at times,” Sam offered remembering her own childhood.

“Well, it didn’t last long. Valentine’s Day was the first we ever heard of her and then, poof…” Mable exaggerated the word, throwing her arm up and then continued. “She wasn’t there anymore.”

“I wonder why?” Sam turned to look back at Brooke as she played, well into her music.

Mable joined her and slowly told the rest of her story. “Don’t know. Brooke had been planning for weeks what to wear for trick or treating that year. I remember I asked her when she came home from school that Halloween afternoon if she needed a costume for her friend…” the woman paused and turned pale.