"Together now," Greta directed the girls closer to each other for a photo-op. "Closer!"

   Fia was more hesitant than Bri but snuggled close to get a good photo. Right after, they called over Beth. She was happy to pose for pictures as always.

   "I think that's enough, Mom," Fia said once she spotted the candle on the cake had become too low for the cake.

   "I think so too," Beth said while walking around the table to give the birthday girls the space they needed.

   "Do we blow the candles together?" Bri whispered to Fia.

   "No idea."

   They both stood there cluelessly while the guests sang the happy birthday song. Bri's mom had to tell them to blow the candles at the same time before it completely sunk into the cake.

   Their tenth birthday was the talk of the entire year that even Joanna couldn't top it off and the Bamfords hadn't returned yet to celebrate Indy's tenth birthday.

   The two years they were gone had gone by both slowly and quickly for the four girls. Many things happened that Indy had missed out on and would continue to never know in full detail. For Joanna, it was a blessing.

   Though she'd come to be more civil with everyone, she was still remembered as that girl who bullied Bri at one point. Even in high school, no one quite forgot.

   Fifth grade past them by more unceremoniously than fourth grade had been as a whole. However, going into sixth was different.

   They were all eleven and Indy had returned just before her birthday.

   Sixth grade made they were entering the realms of what Regina had called, the best days of her life when she was in sixth grade.

   Nowadays, she relishes her older teen years.

   She and Fia hadn't reconciled and rarely talked to each other. In front of the family, they pretended to be cordial, but most of the time, Regina couldn't stand her little sister. The only upside was that Fia was now throwing grand parties thanks to Bri.

   Their eleventh birthday had been just as big as their tenth, which put Mona in a bit of a pickle when preparing Indy's with last-minute additions in her attempt to outdo her friends. It didn't take, but it did give Mona the idea to throw a joint birthday for all girls for their 12th birthday.

   Turning 12 was not a particular event that most people celebrated in grandeur. However, for Lina, it was the perfect time to throw the biggest party she could afford for her only daughter.

   Lina was 12 when her red string appeared. As if to wish her daughter luck, she decided to join Mona in convincing Greta and Phoebe.

   Thrilled by the prospects, all four of them planned together the grandest birthday possible.

   Unfortunately, Fia couldn't forget Joanna's prior transgression and made sure to convince her mom not to let them add one more person.

   Amber, who'd stopped celebrating her birthdays as the girls did, threw a 12th birthday with Tobias. Unlike the rumors, they hadn't gotten engaged. After all, they were only 12.

   Lina on the other hand expressed how 12 was not that young, considering that she was that only when she moved in with her husband's family.

   She was the modern story of a Cinderella sans the stepmother and stepsisters. She came from a poverty-stricken family, practically homeless before she met Elias. His family put her through school and gave her all a child could ever need growing up and more.

   She believed wholeheartedly that the red string was the most important thing that could happen to Beth because it had been life-changing for her.

   Beth knew the story of her parents and took to heart every piece of the story.

   She never told Fia about her mom.

   "You just don't understand," Beth told her just before the end of sixth grade. "The red string is super important to me. Please, let us do the sleepover like we did back then."

   Fia clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.

   "Fine," she waved her hand dismissively, "You're going to cry about it again if we don't."

   "Can we not fight?" Indy asked, plopping down on the couch.

   They were having a sleepover at Bri's, the coziest of all the houses. Earlier, their birthday had been thrown at Indy's house because they had a large backyard.

   Since their travel, they had more people to invite.

   "You know, where we lived last year, the birthdays are worse than here. Everyone makes these banners and announces to the whole city that their child is turning a year older. They have their faces posted everywhere too. So, Fia, waiting until midnight isn't that bad."

   Fia looked at Indy with a scrunched face.

   Indy nodded and said, "Yeah, it was that bad over there. My mom even made brochures she had Dad pass around at his work. I was so embarrassed."

   Bri laughed, "Did your mom do the balloons with your face printed on them?"

   "Worse!" Indy exclaimed. "She had billboards plastered with my face."

   Beth couldn't help but laugh at that.

   "Oh my god, Indy. You hate that kind of thing!" She said between fits of laughter.

   "Exactly. I wish she'd think about what I want for my birthday for once."

   "This year is kinda over the top too, though, wasn't it?" Bri assessed their faces.

   They all seemed to think along the same lines.

   "Mom had me changing into like five dresses even though I said I'd only do three," Beth admitted.

   "I mean," Indy shook her head, "You agreed to change. She was always going to up the number."

   "Well, how many times did you change?" Fia asked Indy.

   They heard Indy breathe with gritted teeth. "Like ten times, not counting the dress I wore when you guys came early."

   The four girls shared stories, laughing jovially through the late evening and night until midnight struck.

   Beth smiled to herself. She found comfort in experiencing tradition again.

   "Please let one of our red strings come this year," she said, lacing her fingers together.

   Her eyes were shut tight as she prayed.

   Indy prayed too, in silence.

   "Please give Beth her red string. You can take mine."

   Bri prayed aloud, "Please fulfill Beth's wish. I can wait another year."

   Fia rolled her eyes but decided to pray too.

   "Please show these girls their red string," she said.

   Beth blushed, and as soon as they finished their prayers, she thanked them with teary eyes.

   "I'm so ready to meet my soulmate, you know. Like, my gut is telling me, it's time, that we saw each other. Oh my god, I wonder what he'll be like. I want what my mom got, a perfect guy and a perfect addition to our family."

   "You'd be an addition to his family too, remember," Fia told her.

   "I know."

   Beth did know. She'd always known what she wanted out of receiving her red string and what she believed the other person expected of her too. She'd read up on unconditional love and how to express it in the best way. She was well-read on family and friendship. She also knew why Amber and Tobias worked so well together even through the years of growing up.

   "We're still so young though, to think about family? I mean, starting our own." Bri's eyes bulged. "I can't imagine thinking about how my life would be once I'm my mom's age. Nope."

   "I imagine I'll be really successful like Auntie Greta," Indy confessed.

   "My mom?" Fia said, laughing.

   "Your mom is awesome, Fia."

   Fia didn't know this. Her mom was like her dad, workers, and parents, but not awesome. Awesome was reserved for things that were beyond cool. Her mom was not that at all.

   "Try imagining it from now on," Beth yawned as she spoke, "but maybe it's time to dream instead."

   Indy smiled, "Okay, go to sleep, sleepyhead."

   "I'm beat too!" Fia fell back onto her sleeping bag.

   "Imagining my life..." Bri fell asleep with a smile on her face.

   Meanwhile, Indy started to entertain the idea of imagining her life with her unknown soulmate attached to her pinky, but even a shadow of what he'd look like couldn't form in her mind. It's as if it didn't want to be imagined.

   Maybe she just wasn't good at imagining.

   She tried imagining herself as an older woman next to her friends who were also older women.

   She saw what she wanted to see, so it wasn't her imagination.

   She'd never really tried to imagine him, but even giving him a pronoun seemed out of place for her. Her soulmate was an entity that couldn't yet be defined unless she saw it and met it. They were just someone tugging at her pinky every now and again to remind her that her waiting ended a long time ago. She only needed to meet him if she so wished to as the path was laid out before her eyes.

   Her eyes drooped to a close.

   "Good night, Fia..." she managed to grumble.

   Fia was awake, eyes wide open.

   Someday, she'll tell the girls that she'd stopped waiting since they were five.