what went down on his birthday (all jokes aside).

Matt had mentioned that he didn’t want too much fuss for his birthday, so his mum (J), stepdad (P) and I decided to throw him a little surprise party. Not necessarily a “SURPRISE!” people-jumping-out-from-behind-things kind of surprise party, but a surprise gathering of friends.

P put the word out to Matty’s closest friends and family. We came up with a plan. A few days beforehand, we’d tell Matty that we would be going out to dinner… but that we could only get a reservation for later in the evening. Then, I’d take him out for a ‘pre-dinner’ birthday drink, allowing the guests an opportunity to arrive at the house. Matty and I would then return to the house under the pretext of picking up J and P to go to the restaurant.

First thing in the morning, Matty went out for a birthday run with his friend. It was the perfect start to the day for him, and whilst he was out his mum baked (and hid) a cake, then we three conspirators headed out to pick up the supplies we needed. Matty was, of course, a little suspicious that we were planning something. (He admitted so to Flirt when she phoned to wish him ‘happy birthday’, and she duly told me.) I told him that I had a little surprise for him before dinner… the idea being that I’d present our pre-dinner drinks as the surprise.

There was a lot of sneaking around… whilst Matty was taking his post-run shower, we brought in the groceries from the car. When he lay down on the couch for a nap, his mum and I quietly prepared food for the party. Matt’s mum was in her element. I don’t think she gets to be so sneaky very often… the glint in her eyes was telling.

At 6pm, Matt and I headed out for his ‘surprise’. He was quite thrilled when he realised what we were doing, and we spent a lovely hour sipping wine, chatting and sharing a yummy salad. (I tried to surreptitiously convince him to eat something a bit more substantial, but he didn’t want to spoil his appetite for dinner.) I gave him the pressie and card that I’d very classily sneaked into the restaurant down the back of my pants. Funnily enough, what I’d chosen for him was something I hadn’t realised he’d been admiring in a store over a week ago.

When the time came, we drove back to the house. As we neared the entrance, Matt spotted a friend’s car. “Hey, that’s S’s car. I wonder what he’s doing.” Pulling into the carpark, he commented on all the cars. “Wow, look at all the cars. Somebody must be having a party.”

The funniest bit was when we got out of the car. The first thing I noticed, was that I could see and hear the fire going in the back yard. “Wow… look at those stars,” I said. Matt turned his eyes skyward, and started telling me something about the stars. I have to confess that I wasn’t really listening. I was very conscious of the crackling fire, and was trying to keep his attention on the night sky, whilst leading him to the front door.

We almost made it inside. He suddenly turned around and said, “hey, there are people here.” (Hee hee.) Perhaps needless to say, but a lovely evening was had by all.

_{(Yes, in case you’re wondering, there were some pants-free episodes. With Matthew, there always are.)}