The door to the small room opened, and four pairs of footsteps walked in, trying to be quiet but failing as they told each other to keep quiet. Alexandra had woken since the people coming in had turned the handle door to walk into the room.

"One, two, three..." Vanessa, Alexandra's mother, said before everyone started to sing, 'Happy Birthday.'

Alexandra opened her eyes, a smile coming over her face. "Happy Birthday, Lex," Rosa, Alexandra's younger sister, said. Rosa is the family's baby and usually has her mother and father wrapped around her little finger. Alexandra had moved to a sitting position when Rosa came over to hug her.

"Happy Birthday, Lex," Eric said, waiting for Rosa to pull away to give her sister a bear hug. Eric had turned 16 last month and now believed himself to be super strong and capable of doing anything.

After Eric was done, Julio, Alexandra's father, and Vanessa, Alexandra's mother, went to her and hugged her. Vanessa pulled away and took Alexandra's face in her hands. "I can't believe you have become an official adult now."

"How does it feel to be 21?" Julio asked as he also took in his beautiful daughter.

"I don't feel any different," Alexandra said as she looked at her family. She knew they loved her, and during her younger years, her parents worked and still keep working hard so that her brother, sister, and herself had everything they needed to live a happy life.

"Come on, blow the candles on the cake," Eric said as he looked from the waisting candles on the cake to his sister.

"We are going to be eating more candles than cake in a minute," Rosa said, trying to hide her disappointment.

Alexandra started to laugh because they all knew that Rosa loved eating her cake, and she hated when the candle wax was overused according to her. "Come on, make a wish and blow out your candle, sweety," Vanessa said as she looked at Alexandra, her firstborn, with love.

Alexandra closed her eyes to make her wish, and once she was done, she opened her eyes and blew out the candles.

"Yay, we get cake now," Rosa said as she took the cake and walked out the door.

"Rosa, do not eat all the cake by yourself, you can have a small piece, and that is it," Vanessa called after her as she went out the door.

"Come on, kiddo, get up and get ready," Julio said as he made his way out the door taking Eric with him.

"Breakfast is ready; it's your favorite, so hurry up and come to the table," Vanessa said as she closed the door behind her.

Alexandra grabbed a pair of jeans and a hoodie she had put aside the night before when she heard the notifications on her phone go off.

'Good morning Birthday Girl. Are you ready for today?' Lilian texted. Lilian had become friends with Alexandra since their sophomore year of high school. She had been one of the few people who decided to still talk to Alexandra after the sophomore dance disaster. Alexandra had been looking forward to the dance, considering it was the first dance her parents had let go to, only to have it ruined by Samual Tranten, the popular sophomore.

Samual is one of the star soccer players on the varsity team. He was 5'6 with dark brown hair and hazel eyes that would still be your heart and mind when the light hit them just right. Most of the girls in school had gone brain-dead when it came to him. His involvement in sports and the fact that he did come from a wealthy family resulted in a flock of girls following him around the school.

Alexandra smiled at her phone and sent a quick reply, 'Morning gorgeous, ready as I will ever be."

Alexandra got her bag from her desk chair and left her room. "Mom, Dad, thank you for breakfast. I will see you guys later. Lilian is here for me already." Alexandra said as she walked through the kitchen to go out the door.

Before Alexandra could open the door, Vanessa stopped her, "Honey, before you leave, your father and I have something to tell you."

That stopped Alexandra in her tracks, and turned back to her parents. "What is the matter? Is everything okay? You are not sick, are you?" Alexandra asked, getting anxious.

"Everything is okay, honey; nobody is sick. It has nothing to do with that," Vanessa said as she looked from her daughter to her husband.

"Lex honey, this year we are not going to be here to celebrate your birthday with you," Julio said, "your mother and I got invited to a convention, and we have to leave tonight to be able to make it."

"Okay, so you need me to care for the two troublemakers?" Alexandra asked as she looked at both Rosa and Eric.

"No, sweety, we are taking them with us," Vanessa said, "so we want you to go out with your friends and celebrate your 21st birthday like a 21-year-old would."

"We know things have been difficult for you since we moved and you had to start a new school. You help to care for your brother and sister, but we also want you to have fun and do things you should be doing as a 21-year-old." Julio said as he pulled out a small envelope from his back packet. "It's not much, but this is so you can get a new outfit and buy yourself something you want."

Alexandra took the envelope. She knew how hard her parents worked in the past and knew for her siblings and herself to have what they needed. "Thank you, Mom and Dad," Alexandra said, hugging them both.

"Now hurry up. Lilian will leave you behind if you don't get out there," Vanessa said as she wiped Alexandra's cheeks from her face.

Alexandra smiled and made her way to the door once again. Before closing the door, she turned to her parents and gave them the biggest smile she could imagine.

Once outside, Alexandra hurried to get into Lilian's car. "Hey, girl, what took you so long? I was about to send the swat team after you."

"You would," Alexandra said, laughing.

"So what toke you so long?" Lilian said as she pulled into traffic.

"My parents are not going to be home, and they told me to go out and have fun for my birthday tonight," Alexandra said.