Colin was soon set to age up and Kyla knew this so she set up a cake so that Colin would be able to celebrate his special day where he went from child to teenager. Underneath all the sadness of the days preceding, it was a small ray of joy. And all of the family assembled to celebrate the occasion.
The detectives who had become close friends of the family had set over gifts for Colin. Even though Haruo and Parker had been bitter rivals for River's affection in high-school, Parker had felt a bittersweet connection to River and Haruo's offspring and grandchildren and vowed to watch over their grandchildren; to make sure that they were OK. "It's the least I can do to honor their memory." he had said at the funeral to Braden. "Call on me if you need anything."
Alfredo (their gardener), Braden and the family cheered on Colin as he went to blow out the candles on his birthday cake.
His mother blew a shrill blast on the party horn. The Watcher is certain that most of the party goers went deaf.
There were plenty of noisemakers in play; the cacophony of noise in that kitchen/dining area was insane. But they all wanted something to celebrate; there had been too little of that over the past few days.
Colin stood tall as he aged up into a teenager while his parents, the hired help and his sisters watched.
...and the family sat down to partake of the birthday cake.
Afterwards, they knew that they all had to go downstairs and start training because Braden expected it out of them. What he had been told had really resonated with them, so they were determined to get in the best physical shape of their lives.
The one trespasser who decided to crawl onto the Chikamori's property got his rear-end toasted.
Maybe that might teach him not to trespass on other people's property.
