Annie fastened the ribbon tighter around my eyes.

“Good?” she asked, adjusting it. “You can’t see, right?”

I giggled. “No. Should I be scared?”

Annie squeezed my shoulders and navigated me through the kitchen. “That depends. Do you trust me?”

“Well, of course— ow!” I yelped, as I’d stubbed my toe on the pillar linking the kitchen to the main hall. “I mean— mostly.”

Annie just laughed.

I’d learned this was how it went with Annie; you could grumble and complain all you wanted, but she could never be anything but happy to save her life. She was one of those eternally sunny people, ever content to be a rainbow no matter how bad the rain.

I smirked. “Okay, maybe less than mostly.”

“C’mon, I’m your sister now, so you should trust me!” She said, laughing again.

An awkward silence followed.

Sure, we were technically sisters now, by adoption, but we’d never actually called each other that. Not out loud at least. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it, but... the word had triggered something inside of me, like a new, warm, heart-happy, feeling, and with it came a new excitement that made a thousand tiny butterflies explode in my chest—

“Ack!” I cried, nearly tripping on the step leading outside to the deck.

Annie winced. “Whoops. Sorry, my bad.”

“Explain to me,” I continued once I regained feeling in my toe, “where we’re going, exactly?”

I couldn’t see, but I knew her face was breaking into a smile. “You’ll know soon enough. Come on, walk over this way, and mind the grass.”

“What? Oh— the ground is soft now.” I said stupidly.

She giggled. “And sticky. Watch your step, there’s a rock right there—“

“Oh—“

We made our way through what I recognized as the back lawn, the hot sun making my forehead bead with sweat and my sundress stick to my back. All around we went, left and right and left again, before finally I heard us pass between some rustling hedges and stop.

Annie undid my blindfold, letting it slip to the ground, and then leaned into my ear to whisper.

“Open your eyes.”

I did, and my mouth dropped open.

There, nestled in between two tall oval-cut hedges trimmed neatly in emerald green, was the most beautiful flower garden I had ever seen. Pink peonies and maroon red roses bloomed in shallow clusters to my left, intertwining their stems, as if two young lovers kissing in the sun. Together they emitted a sweet, heavenly scent like sugared raspberries, while to my right, vibrant bluebells and white Queen Anne’s lace swayed gently in the mid morning light, the dainty frills of the lace adding a feminine touch to the tranquil, ocean-like bluebells.

Beneath my feet was a color gradient of sea foam to emerald to a rich earthy brown, the many shades of green complimenting and enhancing one another like a symphony of the grasses. Raising my eyes higher, I saw a stark-white wooden archway, its sides covered in rich olive-colored vines that bloomed wildflowers golden like the sun, their scent reminiscent of sweet lemonade on a spring afternoon. Beyond the archway, a rainbow trail of flowers led even farther into a secluded thicket grove, dark yet somehow so beautiful all the same.

“Whoa,” I breathed.

“I made it for you,” Annie said, tracing her fingers along one of the golden flowers on the archway. “Mom said you liked gardens, so I thought—“

“It’s perfect,” I said immediately. “It’s just... I can’t even describe...” my voice caught. “It’s a beautiful garden. Made by a sister, for a sister.”

Annie’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

Wait, had she just been... nervous?

Her face broke into an even wider smile. “I can’t believe you like it.”

“I love it,” I said again, kneeling down and picking one of the peonies and tying it into my hair. I picked another one and held out my hand. She took it and did the same, adding its petals to her long caramel-colored braid.

“This is what sisters do,” I told her, trying to hide all the happiness bubbling up inside me. “They pick flowers together.”

“Oh?” she asked, even more elated. “And what else do sisters do?”

I let myself smile even more. “This.”

I yanked her hand and pulled her deeper into the thicket, our obnoxiously loud laughter echoing all the way into the grove.