Yes, Roja is excited for her birthday. She can’t remember ever having a real birthday party, not even with her first foster family. Friday, her birthday, started like every other day at the Morellis' house. Anne wished her a happy birthday when they met in the kitchen to get breakfast ready for everyone and Lola couldn’t hold back and ran towards Roja to hug her when she first saw her in the morning. Oren and Lucia did the same during breakfast. The rest of the day, Roja spent her time reading in the library.

Now, as it’s almost time for dinner and, therefore, the birthday party, Roja opens her wardrobe to get the red dress out. Putting it on gives her that special feeling again. The short sleeves cover her shoulders and all the bruises on her back while the bit of lace at the front gives the dress a cute look. Together with her brown hair, the dark red dress might make her skin a bit paler than normal but Roja likes that smile on her face that she can’t suppress. Wearing this dress is a decision she made, nobody else makes her wear it. Neither Dexter nor Ric will have a say in what she wears ever again. At least that’s what she wishes for.

Roja is relieved that nobody asked where she got her scars from, even though she’s sure that Lola saw many of them. Covering them with the bracelets gives her a feeling of being like everyone else. Just a second after Roja is done brushing her long hair, Lola knocks on the door. “Close your eyes and let me guide you downstairs!” she says, hoping that her best friend will trust her. Roja closes her eyes but is shortly startled when Lola touches her shoulder and elbow to guide her.

It takes them some time to go down the stairs to the living room, which feels like an eternity to Roja. Lola tries her best at guiding her friend and is relieved when both make it to the living room without getting hurt. There, Oren, Lucia and Anne are already waiting for them in front of a large table with a lot of food. “Stay here and keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them!” Lola orders before getting in line with the others.

Once everyone’s ready, she tells Roja to open her eyes. It takes her a short moment to take everything in. The food looks delicious and there’s a table with presents. Her friends smile at her and shout, “Happy Birthday!” Roja is so overjoyed that she doesn’t know what to say. As she thanks everyone for being there, Lola runs to the table with the presents and takes one to hand it over to Roja.

“Open it! Open it!” Lola begs.

“You’re more excited about the presents than Roja,” Lucia says while laughing.

Lola laughs about herself before explaining, “I just want to see her face when she opens mine!”

Anne interferes, “I’m sorry I didn’t get you something, but I made the birthday cake.” Roja looks to the kitchen and sees a big cake with her name on it. Before she can say thank you, Lola starts asking her to open the present again. However, Oren catches Roja’s attention by waving.

“My present for you is in the cake. It’s the key to your room. Everybody needs privacy, so now you can finally lock your door. Just don’t lock yourself out!” he explains with a slight smile on his face.

“You’ll need that key because my presents for you are a lot of new clothes that you need to protect from my daughter,” Lucia says with a knowing look at her daughter. The three family members start laughing. Roja looks at the table with the presents, imagining that in each one of them is another new piece of clothing.

“Now finally open mine!” Lola begs again and Roja finally starts pulling off the wrapping carefully. “I thought this could help us keep in touch when you’re in the library and I’m in the kitchen,” Lola explains. Roja opens the box and takes out a mobile phone.

“You got me a phone?” she asks in disbelief. “I’ve never had one!” she adds excitedly.

“Mine, Oren’s, Mum’s and Jason’s numbers are already saved. Mary will give you her number tomorrow. Sadly, those are the only numbers you can call right now, Jason wanted it to be a bit restricted. I think he’s also letting one of his guys check what you’re doing online, so be a bit careful,” Lola warns her. Any other person would have become suspicious about this family at this point, but for Roja, it all seems reasonable. She doesn’t know that this isn’t normal.

“Now you can call us if you get lost here!” Oren points out. “Can we eat now?” he asks. His mother gives him a playfully angry look before breaking out in laughter again. The twins and Anne join in while Roja just stands there and watches them. She’s grateful for this view. The always hungry Oren, the confident Lola and their loving mother give her a feeling of happiness that she didn’t have for a very long time. This sight doesn’t make her miss her own family anymore but it fills her with hope.

“Roja, is that a smile?” Lucia asks. Lola stares at Roja for a short moment before starting to cheer,

“It is a smile!” Roja can’t stop smiling, although it feels a bit awkward to see someone cheering just because she’s smiling. However, she knows Lola is cheering because she cares about her just like all the others here. But Jason isn’t here.

As expected, the food is delicious and Oren has a hard time trying to leave some of it for the others. Luckily, the cake is big enough for all of them, there’s even some of it left for the next day. Roja doesn’t really talk much while eating but she enjoys listening to all the stories. In general, she is very relieved to see that the party is smaller than Lola made it seem. However, after some time passed, it’s getting difficult for her to be around that many other people. At that moment, someone else enters the room. The blonde guy greets all of them and then looks directly at Roja, “You must be Roja. Happy Birthday! I’m Rover, one of Jason’s friends.” He gives her his kindest smile and keeps a good distance to her, hoping not to scare her.

The shy girl tries to say something but she doesn’t know how to react. Lola saves her by offering Rover a piece of the cake. “No, thanks, I already had dinner. I’m actually just here to tell Roja that Jason is waiting in the garden,” Rover replies.

Oren, Lola and Lucia share a knowing look while Roja mumbles a very quiet “Thank you.”

“He’s an idiot for not coming in himself, he’s missing out on the food!” Oren states. Rover nods while looking at the few leftovers on the table.

As he says goodbye, Lola tells Roja not to let Jason wait. “We’ll take care of everything here. I bet Oren wants to take care of the rest of the cake,” she says. They both look over to her brother who’s about to eat another piece of cake.

Just as Roja is done thanking Lola for the small but enjoyable party, Oren shouts, “What is that?! No! Why me?!” Everyone looks at him in shock while he pulls a key out of his mouth. “I totally forgot where I put it,” he says before starting to laugh.

“I’ll put it on your bed later,” Anne says and takes the key to clean it. For Roja, it is now time to head outside and see what Jason has prepared. If she only knew that she’s about to meet outside in the dark with a gang leader.