After all of Erik's siblings went to bed, it was time for Liona to head home. Erik escorted her to her car, even though it was just outside the house.
"Goodnight, Lia." Erik gave her a peck on the cheek, probably because it looked as if his mom were watching them from the tiny kitchen window.
Although she wanted to kiss him more, she restrained herself. She had already promised to see him at his work places as much as she could get away with during the rest of the week. After reluctantly getting in her car, she was grateful that it seemed some of the heat was off of Erik. Attending dinner that evening and answering most of Julie's questions, it looked like his mother would stop nagging him.
On her way home, she thought about the rest of her evening.
Once all but Erik and Nikki had gone to bed, Liona had explained all the electronics that her grandparent's charity had sent over on her behalf. Walking through on how to set up each device and showing them the paid for service contracts for the next year seemed to ease a lot of Erik's worries about communicating with her. Both Nikki and Erik got the newest model of cell phones, while their mom got a different model, but just as new. The older of the younger siblings both got older cell phones as well, but Julie insisted they were only to be used sparingly, which prompted her to explain how to set up the parental controls for those devices.
Reaching home, Liona headed inside. She was mentally exhausted after all she had been through that night. It never occurred to her that answering questions and having to explain yourself to her boyfriend's mother would wear her out.
Trudging through the mudroom, she reached the foyer and noticed that her dad's office light was still on, peeking out through the curtains used as a privacy cover. Deciding to peer in and let her dad know she was home, she instead found that it was her mom in there instead.
"Oh, I thought it was Dad in here. What are you still doing up, Mom? Don't you have work early tomorrow?"
"Welcome home Baby. I have work, but I just can't decide what I should get your father for his birthday this year. I'm stuck and no matter how much I try to narrow it down, I feel like it just isn't enough." Her mom sighed as she stared at her personal computer screen.
"I completely forgot Dad's birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks!" Liona nearly yelped in surprise. She had been so focused on her own life, she had forgotten that April was just around the corner; with it, came her dad's birthday.
"You would never forget your dad's birthday, Liona. You've never once forgotten since you could remember." Her mom turned her head and smiled.
Liona was grateful for the reminder and for the fact her mom wasn't asking where she had been, even though it was close to her curfew.
"I wouldn't intentionally forget his birthday, but I've had a lot on my mind lately." It wasn't a lie. She had been worried about a ton of things. The least of them being what she would get her dad this year. More pressing things had occupied her attention since her birthday.
"Anyway, I'm heading to bed, Mom. Good luck and goodnight!" She stepped in further to give her mom a hug before bed. As she did, she glanced at her mom's screen and saw an ad for something that gave her an idea of what she could get her dad.
The next day, after school, she drove straight to her family's favorite place, where they always bought their jewelry. Erik had already been in contact with her via his new phone, so she knew he was swamped at work. He didn't have time to hang out with her today, which worked out well for her plans.
"Hello, welcome to Leda's House of Treasures! How can I help you today?" The shopkeeper greeted her as she walked in.
"Hi Alexandrovna, how's business been going lately?" Liona greeted the granddaughter of the original owner of this shop. The lady's grandchildren ran it now that their grandmother was retired.
"Ah, the young Miss Bartley. Business is always good when your family graces the shop!" The lady laughed. "What can I do for you today?"
"I had an idea for my dad's birthday and I was wondering if I could get a rush put on something?"
"Of course! Anything for our best patrons!"
Liona explained her idea before she picked out a suitable item after discussing it with Alexandrovna. With the present dilemma on her end solved, Liona just needed to pick it up in a couple of weeks.
The next two weeks flew by and the next thing Liona knew, it was the day before her dad's birthday. She just needed to pick up her dad's birthday gift. On her way back from the shop, she grew more excited to give his present to him. The small pocket sized item was modeled after an antique item that no one used anymore, but her dad loved historical items. While an actual antique was out of her budget, she could get him a replica, which allowed her to customize it for him even more.
Waking up the next day, Liona hurried to get dressed and down the stairs before her dad could wake up and prepare breakfast for the family. Today, she would cook for him and the rest of her siblings. Her mom was still at the hospital until later this evening, so she didn't have to worry about her portion.
Once breakfast was ready and waiting, Liona placed her dad's gift that was wrapped in a small box with a little colored ribbon, in front of his customary seat at the dining table. He would be down any minute now, and she wanted to see his reaction to the gift before she left for school.
As soon as he entered the dining room, she greeted him happily and ushered him to his seat, wishing him a happy birthday as she did.
"Thank you Liona. Breakfast smells wonderful. You've outdone yourself yet again!" The praise nearly got to her before she shrugged the polite words off. Then she gestured at the box in front of him, indicating he should open his gift.
As Leon carefully pulled the ribbon off of the box, Liona watched her dad's reaction to what was inside.
"Oh, my! It's magnificent!" Leon exclaimed as he pulled out the small item.
Leona's gift was a gold pocket watch with the engraving of a stately lion standing on its hind legs, holding onto their family tree, with the words for King of Lions engraved in Latin across the top. Embedded in the cover were several small gems of significance to their family, representing each of her family's birthstones as a branch on the family tree. Although it wasn't a big watch, there was room on the design for more branches to be represented by their birthstones. Of course, those branches were for her dad's eventual grandchildren since he and her mom were long since done having children.
"Thank you, Liona! It's beautiful! I'll treasure it always!" She watched as her dad nearly teared up at her thoughtful gift. Although the gift was expensive, it was well worth her dad's reaction. It had cost all of her birthday money to pay for it, but that didn't matter when her dad loved it so much.
She watched him open it up and see his name and his birthday, April 1st, engraved on the inside cover. After he closed it again, he immediately attached the gold chain to the watch and thread it through the buttonhole of his suit vest that he was wearing for work, before tucking the watch into his pocket.
Shortly after, Liona's siblings arrived for breakfast and they, too, gave their gifts to their dad. Although none of them were as elaborate or as expensive as her gift, they were loved just as much as hers.
After breakfast, Liona had to rush off to school. She had plans to study with Alli and Chloe for a quiz that was happening in her literature class. She had promised to put more effort into her aunt's class. Since Erik had been really busy ever since he had been recognized for his contributions at work, that meant that she hadn't been able to hang out with him much. Although she dropped off a bento for him every day, and gave him at least one quick kiss if she could get away with it. Erik preferred to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum while he was on the clock. She respected that, but still considered a small kiss mild affection, so it shouldn't count as an overly public display.