Chapter 155: 123. The Happiest Demon

"Cass!" Kaylee stated impatiently as she stood in my bedroom doorway. "What are you doing? They'll be here any minute! C'mon, everyone else is in the backyard. You cannot miss this!"

I was laying on my bed staring at the ceiling and cuddling one of my big plushie buns, but I looked over towards my girlfriend and apologized. "Sorry, I just need another half minute. I'll meet you out back in a moment."

"Fine," she sighed. "Just don't be late. This is important!"

I watched as she turned and headed towards the back door, then sighed as I looked up at the ceiling again. I already knew everyone was outside, my window looked out over the backyard and I could see them out there.

She was right about the party though, it was very important. And I wasn't going to miss it, and I wouldn't be late. I just had a lot on my mind, and it felt like I really hadn't had enough time to deal with stuff yet.

For one thing there was the whole demonic transformation thing. Kaylee hadn't mentioned it yet today, but I knew she was going to bring it up again sooner or later. That wasn't even the biggest problem on my mind, but it sort of led to the real issue.

This was the ninth of July, just over a week had passed since Canada Day and I still hadn't told anyone about the conversation I had that evening with the mystery voice in my head. Mostly because I was scared what they'd say, or do. Or what they'd think of me.

The whole 'hearing voices' thing seemed like the definition of being 'crazy'. And the fact that I had access to unimaginable power meant people would worry that if I was crazy I must be super dangerous. Even if they didn't automatically think I was dangerous, they'd still probably be worried about me.

"They're going to find out sooner or later Cass," that voice in my head suddenly spoke up. "But that doesn't have to be today. Kaylee's right, it's time for us to get out there."

I sighed quietly, then whispered "This isn't helping. You're not helping."

"Fine," not-me responded. "If you get up and go join your friends right now, then I'll stay quiet until you need me."

"I don't need you at all," I grumbled as I pulled myself upright, then finally got up off the bed.

Not-me pointed out, "You will when Kaylee asks us to make her part-demon. You don't have the power for that, and you don't know how to do it. I have more than enough power, and I know how to do it. Anyways let's go outside and join the party. I'll be quiet."

That made me grimace, but I didn't bother to respond. Instead I went out the back door and had a quick look around to see if there was any last-minute stuff for me to do.

It looked like everything was all ready to go, Kaylee and Sasha and the wolfgirls already finished setting things up. There was a cooler full of drinks, bowls of chips and pork rinds, and a plate of veggie sticks with some dip. The BBQ was already heating up, and someone's phone was plugged into a speaker so we had some music playing.

Brooke and Paige were talking with Cerys, Sasha and Melanie were next to the BBQ, and as soon as I emerged from the house Kaylee moved to stand next to me. My timing turned out to be perfect, as it was only a half minute later when Nina and Willow came around the side of the house and into the backyard, with my parents right behind them.

"Hi gang," Willow waved as she subtly steered Nina towards the group.

Brooke Paige and Cerys all moved to meet my sister and the sorceress, along with Sasha and Melanie. Me and Kaylee did as well, along with mom and mum. All my earlier anxiety and worries were momentarily forgotten as I focused on my little sister.

By that point she was obviously starting to wonder what was up, since we all kind of had her surrounded. Then my girlfriend grinned and gave the signal, and we all spoke up at practically the same time.

"Happy birthday Nina!"

The small demon's eyes went wide like saucers, and for a second it looked like she didn't know whether to smile or cry. So I reached out and pulled her into a hug, and I repeated it quietly as I held her. "Happy birthday sis. I hope you don't mind the surprise?"

She hugged me back as she asked softly, "How did you know?"

"It wasn't me," I shook my head. Then I nodded towards my girlfriend and told her, "Kaylee figured it out. And she's the one who organized the party, she wanted it to be a surprise. So you can thank her. Or blame her, it's up to you."

Nina pulled free of my hug then turned and wrapped her arms around Kaylee.

"Thank you!" she said as she gave my girlfriend a tight hug. "But how? How'd you know it was my birthday?"

The cute redhead smiled as she returned the hug, "You gave us the clues last summer. You told us what year you were born, and that you came from somewhere near Beirut? I did a little research and found out a few things about demonic births, then it was easy to check the records. July ninth, five-fifty-one CE stood out, and I knew that had to be it. So happy one thousand four hundred and seventy-first birthday Nina."

My little sister finally pulled back from the hug as she wiped away some happy tears. She smiled, "Thank you Kaylee! No-one's ever done anything like this for me before!"

Sasha grimaced, "For that I apologize Nina. You deserve much better friends than I ever was, and I'm happy you've finally found them."

"Thanks Sasha," the small demon smiled as she wiped away a few more tears. "And yeah, I've got a lot of great friends now. And that includes you too."

Then she turned and gave our parents a hug as well as she added, "And I've got a great family! And I'm so happy right now I don't even know what to do or say!"

"Well how about we get the party started?" Melanie suggested. "Grab a drink, help yourself to some snacks! The BBQ's ready to go, since we missed out on ribs last week that's what I'll be cooking up today."

Nina had to wipe away a few more tears again, but she had a big smile on her face as she insisted on giving the wolfgirl a hug. Then she hugged Cerys too, and basically made her way through the whole group, hugging everyone and thanking them for coming.

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Then there were the birthday cards, and a few small gifts too. Brooke even brought a card from Melody, the shape-shifter was the only one of our friends who couldn't make it but she'd sent something along with an apology. She was up north with her boyfriends looking at apartments or houses they could rent together.

With the greetings and stuff all out of the way things kind of settled down again, and soon our backyard was full of the sounds of happy people enjoying a sunny summer afternoon together.

It was also full of the smell of ribs cooking on the grill. The werewolfs were taking care of that, Cerys got a whole mess of ribs from her uncle and Melanie mixed up some home-made BBQ sauce. Me and Sasha helped too, between the two of us we made a potato salad and some coleslaw.

Instead of doing like a proper sit-down dinner everything was way more relaxed. Me and Sasha put the salads out along with some bread rolls and stuff, and a pile of napkins and paper plates and all that. When they were ready the first batch of ribs were set out on a platter then Melanie got the second batch on the grill.

So everyone could grab whatever they wanted, eat a bit while talking and mingling and stuff, then take a break before going back for more. I could tell the ribs were a big hit, same with the salads and everything else. And Sasha looked like she was proud of her contribution which was cute.

It was kind of nice actually, like she could have been bitter or depressed or sad about having to deal with mortal necessities like preparing and eating food and stuff like that. Instead she just accepted it and did her best to adapt and learn and cope. Although to be fair I had a feeling the century she spent fading away in exile played a big part in her learning humility and stuff. Like after that experience she was just happy to have a corporeal form and friends to talk to, even if it meant being mortal.

Once the last of the ribs were cooked Melanie shut down the BBQ, then she and Cerys finally helped themselves to some food and started to mingle around as well. Not that they'd been isolated or anything while they focused on the cooking, but with that out of the way they could relax and sit down and enjoy the party with the rest of us.

And it was a good party, I thought. All our friends looked happy, there was good food, the music was nice. Even mom and mum seemed to be enjoying themselves. And most importantly, Nina looked really happy. Like I remembered how happy Melanie looked when we did her surprise party back in April, but the wolfgirl had nothing on my little sister in terms of smiles and grins and happy tears and all that stuff.

"Thanks Kaylee," I said at one point, when me and my girlfriend had a quiet moment together. We were sitting off to one side, both of us had finished eating and we were just enjoying our drinks. Water for me, cola for her. I leaned closer and slipped an arm around her as I clarified, "Thanks for figuring out when Nina's birthday was, and thanks for organizing the party."

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and smiled, "You're welcome Cass. I'm glad it all worked out. Nina looks happy."

"Yeah," I nodded. "The last time I saw her smiling so much was when my parents and I invited her to join our family."

Kaylee leaned closer and whispered, "You're good people. So's she. I'm happy I finally figured that out, but sorry it took me so long."

"And that kind of brings me to something else," she added, before she paused for another gulp of her cola. "I've made my decision Cass. I want to go ahead with what we've talked about? I want you to make me a demon, like you and Nina."

Just like that my happy relaxed mood chilled and condensed into a cold lump in my gut. I sighed, then finally nodded as I whispered "All right Kaylee. Not right now though, alright? Not in the middle of Nina's party."

"Of course not," she agreed. "We still have the cake and everything. Maybe we can do it tomorrow? Or Monday. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't in a hurry, now that I've made up my mind I'm kind of impatient? But I know it's a big deal, for both of us. So I'm not going to bug you for it today. But I'd like to do it soon."

I nodded again, "Ok. Maybe we can talk more tonight, after the party? At least to pick a time and day and stuff."

"Thanks Cass," Kaylee smiled, then leaned in and gave me a kiss. As she pulled back she added, "I'm also still thinking about moving in with you? Um, maybe if you can do the thing like Sasha talked about, then I'd just share your bedroom. If that's ok with you?"

That made me blush, but it also helped get my mind off the other topic which was nice. I kissed her back then nodded, "Of course it's ok Kaylee. And yeah, I'm still planning to talk to Sasha about that sooner or later. I guess sooner. It sounds pretty cool to be honest, but also a bit scary. I don't want to break our house."

"You won't," she grinned. "I have faith in you, cutie."

That actually left me feeling a little weird. Like 'having faith in me' took on a totally different meaning because of the whole goddess thing.

Fortunately there was a mundane distraction to help take my mind off all the complicated stuff. It seemed like everyone else was finished with dinner, so I suggested we tidy things up a bit. Kaylee agreed, and the two of us got up and got started. The left-over ribs and salad went into the fridge, we rounded up the trash and put that in the bin, and we topped up the snack bowls just in case.

And finally, while we were both in the kitchen Kaylee decided it was time for the big dessert reveal. She got out the cake while I grabbed more paper plates and plastic forks, and we headed back out into the yard together.

My little sister's eyes lit up when she saw the birthday cake. It was a confetti cake, vanilla angel food sponge full of candy sprinkles, covered in a thick layer of gleaming white icing dusted with more colourful sprinkles. It looked like the sort of thing an eight-year-old might like, but Kaylee guessed right when she figured it would appeal to Nina.

The small demon didn't even cringe when everyone sang happy birthday for her, then we cut the cake and Kaylee made sure Nina got the biggest slice.

In addition to the cake we put on the kettle and made instant coffee and instant hot chocolate for whoever was interested. Mom and mum had coffee, so did Brooke and Paige. Me and Nina and Kaylee went with the hot cocoa, while everyone else was happy with soda or water or whatever.

"Well hon," mom addressed Nina while everyone was enjoying their cake and hot drinks and stuff, "What do you think? Tanya and I are sorry it took so long for someone to throw you a birthday party, but we hope you've enjoyed this one?"

Despite having a mouthful of cake my little sister had a big smile on her face. Her eyes were wide and it looked like she had more happy tears starting to pool in them as she slowly nodded. Then she gulped, and finally replied, "I'm the happiest demon ever!"

"Thank you Kaylee!" she added as she looked to my girlfriend. "This is the best!"

"You're welcome Nina," Kaylee smiled back. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."

"I am!" the small demon insisted as she nodded enthusiastically. Then she shovelled another chunk of cake into her mouth, and beamed with a big happy grin.