“You know what,” he whispered in my ear. “This whole party thing might not be so bad either.”
I kissed his cheek. “If anybody tries to mess up your birthday, they’ll have me to deal with.”
“So scary,” he murmured with a grin.
By the time we left for the day, everyone was in high spirits.
Tammie patted me on the back. “Great job today, kiddo,” she said. “You’re a natural problem solver.”
I laughed. “I wish. I hope it all works out.”
“Maybe it doesn’t even matter,” she said. “My kids are all leaving here with smiles on the day they dreaded most. Honestly, I half-expected nobody to show up, and that would be the end of drama club. You know what? I might actually sleep easy tonight.” She practically danced away.
Before I left, I caught up to Perdita. “I hope you don’t mind,” I said. “Dorian told me your news. I wanted to say congratulations.”
“Of course he did. It’s not a secret, so no worries. Thank you, for today, too. Our kids needed something to keep them occupied.”
It was amusing to me to hear so many adults think of one set of teens or the other as their kids. I was kind of in the middle, not in one group or the other. I still felt more welcome than I had back home. I could get used to that.