Chapter 261

261 The Perfect Birthday

“What happened to yer shirt?! Ye know Ima the one that’s gotta fix yer clothes whenever ye two get too rambunctious with yer bed-sport!” Peggy yelled, making both Tidas and Skye flush.

Shasta smirked; “And someone’s hair looks like they just woke up from a nap..”

“No, you’re the only one who takes cat naps. We were busy doing other things..” Tidas quipped.

Shasta folded her ears back out of irritation, and a touch of jealousy as she snarked; “Shut up..”

Peggy put her balled up fists on her hips; “Ye two have No sense of propriety! Do ye have any idea how long we’ve all been waitin’?!”

Tidas quirked his eyebrow at Peggy as he played stupid; “Whose ‘all’ here? Why am I here?”

Peggy looked like a child that had gotten caught stealing a cookie. Her eyes bulged and her mouth gaped in shock as she thought that she’d just ruined the surprise. Skye had already told him the truth to get him to leave their bedroom, but Peggy didn’t know that.

Smacking Tidas lightly, Skye admitted the truth for him; “Don’t mess with her like that! He already knows why we’re here. Ima sorry we kept everyone, but we played with Zazzy, then-”

“Don’t go blamin’ the dragon for yer tardiness! Just get in here! We already started drinkin’!” Ronnie yelled as soon as he opened the door.

.....

Peering behind him; Zas, Klaus, and a bunch of shadows could be seen moving about within the restaurant. Tidas looked down at his wife, who beamed back at him cockily. He was in for a surprise..

The restaurant itself was quite nice. Off-white walls with various paintings of different spices growing in their natural habitats covered every wall. The floor was made of black walnut, and had warm brown undertones that matched all the frames around the paintings.

The main dining area was spacious, with plenty of tables and comfortable chairs to sit on. The bar room had fewer and smaller table sets, and half of it was kept barren for dancing. The bar ran nearly the entire length of one wall, but ended short of a door that led outside to the establishment’s outhouses.

Skye wished every building in Alcon could have the convenience of a real bathroom, but they weren’t quite there yet. Most of the sewer systems have been put in place now, but some business owners were hesitant to make the switch. Thankfully, Alfred’s tavern had been one of the first to be hooked into the system on his side of the city.

He’d actually been the one to suggest the Right Spice since he felt the Cat’s Paw lacked enough space for the guests to move around freely, once everyone showed up.. He had been right.

Everyone Skye had thought of to invite, minus Lawrence, her parents, and Petrie; was present. They all loved and respected her husband, which was exactly the type of people that she thought he should be surrounded by on his special day..

As the guest of honor entered, he was surrounded by people he cared about. Maevis and Nicolas fluttered over with smiles on their faces. He still looked a bit down due to Mae’s admonishment for abandoning her during the Summer Games, but the alcohol was helping his mood considerably.

As he looked over the room, Tidas saw many members of the RMC, other than Zas and Shasta. Corporal Radcliffe was present, and a bunch of others that were always in his squad whenever he took to the battlefield. Even Captain Tanner had made it a point to show up.

Some newer faces that Tidas had become acquainted with, that he liked, were there as well. Including the new Earth mage that had helped him build Zazzy’s Place. She waved excitedly from a corner of the room, but didn’t seem to be talking with the others much. Except with the Water mage that was one of Marco’s newer guards.

Skye was particularly excited to see Sheri, and to finally meet the fabled Kari. She’d never met another Earth mage aside from Maevis before, so she was excited to talk with her. Sheri was constantly at Marco’s beck and call, so the only time they ever got to talk was when they saw each other at the the R&D Department.

She was perfectly aware that everything she saw or heard was reported back to the Crowned Prince, but Skye didn’t care. She liked Sheri as a person, and wouldn’t hold her job against her. Plus, she occasionally let details about Marco slip, too. Like the true nature of Marco and Karena’s relationship.

Skye already knew they were a sham as a couple, but the verification took the pressure off a bit. She’d felt bad for Karena for years for having to deal with Marco as a husband. Knowing now that there wasn’t any real love lost between either of them had made her lingering sympathies disappear.

Skye kissed her husband’s cheek, then broke off with Maevis to go talk with the two. She still had questions about how Sheri had used her magic during the trials last year, and she just wanted to talk to Kari in general. After smiling and waving her off, Zas, Shasta, and Jakub yanked Tidas towards the bar room..

Shasta, Zas, Nicolas, and Jakub immediately took shots of whiskey with Tidas before Authur Tanner challenged him to a beer chugging contest. Almost everyone joined in, but only the two took it seriously. Shasta and Zas gave up when Jakub’s drink went down the wrong tube, and beer wound up coming out of his nose.

They laughed boisterously as Tidas and Arthur slammed two beers each; both rounds ending in a tie. They went to do a third when Shasta broke them up with a suggestion of actual drinking games.

They played a couple rounds of Beer Pong, and four rounds of Presidents and Assholes before Skye had to heal her husband’s drunkenness. He wasn’t used to drinking so much anymore, and was starting to look a bit pale. After she took away most of his buzz, Tidas lovingly thanked her, then played two more rounds before Alfred called everyone back into the dining room.

He, the owner, and Peggy had cooked a meal fit for the banquet hall at the palace, except better. Skye had pulled out all the stops; with multiple backup plans in place for the most possible complications.

If they were more than an hour late, ‘bust out the booze’. If they passed the two hour marker, then they had to ‘cook a meal fit for the king’. Skye had paid for everything in advance; from renting out the entire restaurant for an undetermined amount of time, to paying for everyone’s food and drinks. She didn’t want to leave anything up to chance.

Skye didn’t think that they’d be later than two, to two and a half hours, but knew what time they would’ve ate at Zazzy’s Place regardless. Between the drinking and the eating gap; Skye made sure to have plenty of Tidas’ favorite dish for his drunken munchies.

Alfred was actually happy that they were late, but wasn’t about to say it out loud for fear of Peggy. She was helping him and the owner to cook in between tending to the guests. Skye had requested limited staff, to keep the party private. So Peggy was picking up the slack.

The roasts needed to finish cooking, the gravy base had to be made, and the vegetables needed to be chopped and simmer; it was a lot to do with just two.. Not to mention the several pounds of rice that they had to cook on top of it.

Peggy was a saving grace to them.

It was the same thing that they ate at Zazzy’s Place, but was one of Tidas’ favorite meals. Skye felt a little bad that he was eating the same thing twice. But as far as Tidas was concerned; he could eat it every day, and never get tired of it.

As the party progressed, Skye began to fret about Tidas’ birthday pies. She didn’t know how he was going to bake them all in time, but Dean had given his word. According to Alfred, he was known for his dedication and love of pie, so despite her nerves, she had faith in him.

When a knock came from the front entrance, and someone called out for her, Skye’s heart lept in her chest. She made her way through the sea of people, praying everything had turned out alright. When she got to the door, her heart dropped.

Staring at the baker’s empty hands, Skye asked in a strained voice; “Dean, Where’s the Pie?!”

Smiling broadly at her, Dean replied; “I got a couple baker buddies of mine helping me out. They’ll be going around to the back right about now with the order. I just wanted to say thank you for your generosity.. I can bake all the pies I want to with the amount that you paid me! Stop by any time for a free pie, on the house!”

Skye beamed at the baker man as she thanked him. She invited him in, but he’d refused on the premise of waking up early to hunt down new ingredients. After talking about how his son was doing for a minute(whom was all better now), Dean left, and Skye returned to the party.

After sticking twenty tiny candles on one of the pies; Alfred, the owner, Peggy, and Skye all trotted out of the kitchen with their sweets in tow. As they walked through the groups of partygoers everyone was excited to try the alluring confections. Tidas in particular was extremely excited for it.

Ever since they were little, Skye was the only one to give him pie instead of cake for his birthday. Even his closest friends still got him cupcakes, or cake in general. This was his first birthday since they’d been apart, and she had still remembered after all these years.. The sentiment touched his heart.

Neither of them understood what had actually transpired between them earlier. They only knew of the profound connection that they now shared. And that all the little discrepancies in their personalities lately had been due to that growing connection.

Tidas had acted more impulsively based on his emotions, like his wife usually did. While Skye thought and reacted far more level-headedly than she’d ever been in her life. The emotional switch was enlightening. Giving each of them a glimpse into how the other thought and felt.

As Tidas readied to blow out his candles, he focused on the single wish that he made every year. No matter what kind of sweet the candles were on, or how many wishes he got to make on the day: it was always the same..

‘I wish for Skye and I to never be apart again..’

After blowing them out, Skye wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, and kiss his cheek. She stared into his eyes with a gentle smile as she wished him a heart-felt; “Happy Birthday, Love..”

Everyone was cheering and clanking cups as Tidas thanked everyone for being a part of the best birthday he’d ever had. As the food, drinks, and good times flowed, Tidas beamed at Skye as he replied with restrained emotion; “Thank you, Skye.. I love you..”