They Promised Every Birthday, They Kept None Chapter 01

They Promised Every Birthday, They Kept None Chapter 01

On my twentieth birthday, I called out to the living room out of habit.

“Ethan, Liam, Derek—I’m twenty today. You promised you’d spend every birthday with me.”

Silence was my only answer.

On the couch sat three little rag dolls—one for Ethan, one for Liam, and one for Derek.

They stared back at me with round button eyes, the same way they had on countless lonely nights.

Then I remembered.

They had stopped wanting me a long time ago.

When I was ten, I was diagnosed with kidney disease.

Ethan brought Ashley Reed home from the foster system, saying she was a match for me, a sister sent to save my life.

But before she ever set foot in an operating room, she had already become the center of everyone’s world.

After chemo, I wasn’t allowed to eat spicy food. Ethan cooked spicy dishes every single night.

“Ashley’s going to lose a kidney soon. Let her eat what she likes for once.”

She set her sights on my coming-of-age necklace. Liam took it off my neck and handed it to her on the spot.

“She’s giving you a kidney. You can give her a necklace. Seems fair to me.”

Derek promised to drive me to my follow-up appointment but stood me up to take Ashley to a concert.

“She might not have many chances left. You can survive one night without him.”

Even the surgery that was supposed to save me got postponed because she wanted to see the ocean, go skydiving, and chase the northern lights.

And when I said I was scared of living alone in that big house and just wanted to come along, they sent me to a rundown rental apartment “for my own good.”

The night I moved in, I sewed three little dolls in their likenesses.

They kept me company through meals, sleepless nights, and every wave of pain.

Until today.

I spent all my savings on a beat-up used car.

I was going to see Lake Serenity—the place we’d all promised to visit together.

And then I was never coming back.

—

I’d lived in that apartment for three years, but I’d never really looked at it until now.

The wallpaper was peeling in sheets, exposing gray, crumbling drywall underneath.

The curtains had been washed so many times they felt like cardboard, their edges stained with mildew that wouldn’t come out.

The ancient window unit rattled overhead but only blew warm air.

The worst part was the smell.

Disinfectant, painkillers, and that metallic tang of blood I could never quite scrub away after coughing it up.

But the Carsons weren’t poor.

After our parents died in the crash, there was a trust fund.

Ethan built a successful logistics company. Liam became a well-known designer in the city.

Together, they bought a four-thousand-square-foot penthouse in Westbrook Towers.

Ashley had her own study, her own music room, and even a walk-in closet just for her collectibles and merch.

When they kicked me out, Ethan only said, “It’s just temporary. There’s no point renting anything nice. We’ll come get you when the surgery is scheduled.”

I waited day after day, year after year.

Three full years.

No one came to get me.

And that life-saving surgery never happened.

A sharp cramp twisted through my stomach.

I barely made it to the bathroom before I doubled over the sink and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

When I came back out, the living room light seemed to flicker and dim.

The three rag dolls still sat on the couch, staring at me with their round, innocent eyes.

Something inside me finally cracked.

“What are you looking at? You’re the ones who left me first!”

I stepped forward to grab them, and then my phone buzzed.

A text from Ethan.

[Come home for a bit. We need to talk.]

I stared at the word “home.”

My chest ached with a hope I knew I shouldn’t feel.

Maybe they did remember after all.

I rushed downstairs.

For the first time in ages, I didn’t wait for the bus. I called a ride instead.

When I pushed open the penthouse door, the living room was buzzing.

Ethan, Liam, and Derek were gathered around Ashley.

Four beautifully wrapped gifts sat in front of her.

Ethan ruffled her hair, his voice impossibly soft.

“Our Ashley is nineteen today. All grown up.”

Liam laughed.

“Grown up? She’ll always be our little princess, even at eighty.”

He leaned in.

“You love me best, right?”

Before Ashley could answer, Derek cut in with a grin.

“Nah, she loves me best. Remember when she was little, following me around and saying ‘Derek, Derek, Derek’ all day long?”

Ashley flushed pink.

The room dissolved into laughter.

I stood in the entryway like an intruder in someone else’s home.

Finally, Ethan noticed me.

His smile faded.

“Oh, Mia. You’re here.”

The laughter died.

Ashley glanced at me, picked up her gifts, and disappeared into her room.

The three of them looked at me with awkward, shifting eyes.

Liam broke the silence first.

“Don’t just stand there. Come sit.”

I walked over and took the farthest armchair.

Ethan cleared his throat.

“There’s something we need to discuss.”

He pulled a document from under the coffee table and slid it toward me.

“Take a look. If it seems fine, just sign it.”

I looked down.

At the top, in bold black letters:

[VOLUNTARY WAIVER OF LIVING DONOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANT]