A Year With You

Chapter 4: September -- Birthday!

"Simon. Simon. Simon!" A heavy knocking sounded on the basement his lab door, startling him into nearly dropping the Joke Gas sample he'd been working on.

Simon growled, taking a calming breath as he locked away his experiment, climbing up the stairs to open the door. "Yes, Theodore?"

"Hi Simon." Theo grinned.

"Hello, Theodore." Simon smiled back, his brother's good mood always infectious, despite the interruption to his work. "While I always enjoy conversing with you, was there anything specific you needed?"

"Our birthday's soon." Theodore sing-songed.

"I'm aware. My phone has a calendar." And it had been all the brothers had been talking about for weeks. "I'm sorry, Theo, but I was in the middle of something, so..."

"What are you gonna ask Bruce for?" Theodore asked, his smile shrinking just a little.

Simon narrowed his eyes, noticing an uncharacteristic nervousness in the other. "Why do you want to know?" It wasn't like he had anything against telling him, but it was an unspoken tradition that the three would keep their present requests secret from each other. It made things more exciting for all three of them.

"I... I want to ask for a pet." Theodore outright frowned now. "But I don't know if Alfred will let me, since he'll be the one that will take care of it when I'm out. I figured I'd have a better chance if I was the only one asking for one."

"Especially since you're the least likely to get bored of an animal." Simon filled in, nodding. "Well, no worries -- I have zero interest in adopting an animal. Babysitting HQ's hyenas is enough for me."

"Do you think Bruce and Alfred will say yes?" Theo asked.

"On one hand, owning an animal is a big responsibility." Simon smirked. "On the other, so's saving the city. It's not a definite, but I think you'll be fine."

"Oh, I hope so!" Theo hugged him. "Thanks Simon. Now I have to go talk to Al. Have fun with your experiments, bye!"

Simon shook his head, going down the stairs with a smile.

"An' a one, an' a two, an' a one two three four!"

Simon strummed on his guitar, singing in a bored voice. They'd practiced this same song at least twenty times by now.

"Stop!" Alvin yelled, turning around to face the others. "Guys, guys, guys -- do you even know what music is?!"

"I think we sound good." Theo complained, dropping his drumsticks on his bed and stretching.

"No one is going to care if we aren't perfect at own birthday." Simon added. "If we keep this up, we're going to be too sick of this song to play it at all."

"Ya playin' you're own birthday?" Harley asked, climbing through their window. "What, Brucey won' spring for a band? Ain't he rich?"

"We want to play." Simon explained.

"We're trying to start a band, but we just can't get this one right." Alvin groaned, rubbing his temple.

"Aren' ya musical geniuses or somethin'?" Harley asked, perching herself on Simon's desk. "Why're ya havin' trouble?"

"It's a four person song." Simon pushed her off his desk, reorganizing things she'd moved. "It's our favorite, but we're going to have to pick something else."

Alvin started to protest, then deflated, nodding sadly in agreement.

Harley sent a small glare to Simon for pushing her, then looked around at the trio. "Ya know... I sing."

"What?" Alvin blinked at her, followed by his brothers. "What do you mean, you sing?"

"I jus' mean, if ya need a fourth," She shrugged, "I'm happy ta help."

"I... Suppose there's no harm in trying." Simon smiled, sharing a glance with his brothers. "Let's give it a try."

"...and that's the way. We. Roooooll!" They finished the song to thunderous applause from the party guests.

"Ha, we knocked 'em down!" Harley cheered, jumping to do a midair split. She was wearing a pink and gold opera mask.

"That's not the expression." Simon half-heartedly corrected, staring happily at the cheering (masked) faces.

"What happens once but is celebrated again and again?" Edward a completely unrecognizable brunette in a green mask asked.

"That's surprisingly easy." Simon grinned, hugging him.

"He's not going to stump you on your birthday." Jonathan a redhead in a surprisingly-not-scarecrow-themed orange mask grumbled.

"Selina said I couldn't." Ed whispered, winking. "Happy birthday you three."

"Thanks." Simon looked around. Were there a lot villains then he expected to see at his birthday? Yes, yes there were. Was it a whole lot of fun? Definitely.

A loud crash followed by gasps told Simon that one of Bruce's ice sculpture things must've fallen. A complaining Joker man in a rainbow mask being led away by the scruff of his neck told him they were all lucky Alfred was against corporal punishment.

It was a good night. Dancing, friends, games -- everything one (or three) could want in a party. Including-

"Presents!" Theo yelled, jumping up and down. "Presents, presents, presents!"

"Give me, give me, gi-" Alvin caught Simon's glare and cleared his throat, "-ve us!"

They got puzzle books and boardgames, booksets and sports equipment, and even gardening supplies ("Thank you, Miss Isley!" Theo grinned, hugging his present. -- "You're welcome, Sprout." She smiled at him from behind her green and black mask). Then, it was time for the best presents -- the once Bruce and Alfred picked out!

"Each year, you boys make requests on what you want. But this year," Bruce chuckled, "Alvin merely wanted 'something fun', and Simon didn't ask for anything."

Simon facepalmed. He knew he'd forgotten something, but his experiment had been way too close to completion to worry about such things. Ah well, there's nothing he was really hoping for this year anyways.

"So we only had Young Sir Theodore's request to go off of." Alfred added. "So we may have fulfilled it for each of you."

Simon, Alvin, and Theodore shared a look, completely silent. Then they all talked at once.

"Please tell me-"

"You didn't!"

"Really!?"

"Surprise!" Bruce lifted a cloth off a table, revealing three kennels in blue, red, and green. "Come say hi to your new pets!"

"And know that they are your responsibility." Alfred huffed. "If you neglect them, they will be given away."

The brothers slowly approached the cages. Theo opened his first, since he'd requested this, finding a beautiful green bird he immediately started cooing over.

"I'm going to call you Emerald." Theo stroked her feathers. "Emma for short."

Alvin was next. To his delight, a brown puppy ran out and tried to play tug-of-war with his pants' leg. He laughed. "You've certainly got energy? Oh, you aren't too bad, are you... Ruby?"

As Theo listed bird facts to a bewildered waiter and Alvin played with his new dog, Simon just couldn't bring himself to open the last cage. He didn't want an animal, he didn't know what kind it was, what if he bonded to it but couldn't properly take care of it because of his time working and then Alfred would get rid of it and--

"Deep breaths, Kooks." A voice whispered in his ear, a slender hand on his shoulder. "I'll take it if ya don' want it, but put on a good show for all da guests, alrigh'?"

"Alright." Simon whispered back. He unlatched the cage, revealing a small dark grey kitten. He picked her up, and she lazily curled up in his arms, already purring. He smiled, already mentally cursing about getting attached, and petted the resting cat.

"She's so calm!" Harley grinned. "Cats are nevah that calm, in my experience. What's her name?"

Thinking of his brothers' choices, Simon answered "Sapphire."

"Hello Saphi." Harley cooed, gently petting her furry head.

Simon smiled as the kitten slowly sniffed her hand, looking curious. Maybe having a pet was going to be nice.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?