Sour Candy | T. Drake ✔

[35] Birthday Boy

Upon their return, Damian and Cassandra did not tell Tim anything about Mona. It was more than clear that the girl wanted nothing to do with them and Cass had told Damian to not tell Tim as it would worry him more.

However, they knew they would have to tell Bruce but thought of delaying it for the time being.

As of yet, neither Mona nor Talia had any plans to bother them and Cassandra too suggested that they should wait and see what Talia is up to before telling anyone about Mona. It was truly odd for Talia to spare Mona and even make her the successor so Cass thought that there must be some hidden motive behind it however, acting too quickly would be foolish.

It was Tim's birthday and preparations for a surprise party were underway with the entire family and the Beaumonts trying to keep it a secret from him. It wasn't that hard to keep it from him as Tim was so busy with his work that he forgot about it altogether.

He had just returned from Wayne Tech and gone straight to his room, intending to review the presentation they were supposed to hold regarding their latest project. He didn't even realize when he fell asleep, his head dropping down on his desk with the laptop still switched on.

On the other hand, Dora had baked the cake for him and soon after shop hours ended, she and Alex quickly cleaned up the place and came to Wayne Manor. Steph opened the door and let them in, her features radiant with excitement.

"What a beautiful cake!" She exclaimed, "Dora, when my birthday comes, promise me to bake me an even prettier cake. One with pink hearts on top."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure your cake would be far prettier than this one," Alex replied, earning himself a light shove from his sister.

"Where's Tim?" Dora asked noticing that they were freely going about discussing their plan.

"He went to his room and is probably asleep," she replied, "so it's way easier to set everything up."

"Oh..."

"He's going to be surprised, that's for sure."

Richard and Jason had stocked up on the confetti and party poppers, Cassandra and Barbara tying up the colorful balloons. Damian was trying his best to seem unaffected by the whole ordeal though he had gotten Tim a gift which he had decided to give to him later on when none of the other siblings would be around.

With everything prepared, they all went up to Tim's room and found the door unlocked. Damian stepped back when Jason gestured him to push open the door so Alex turned the doorknob instead and they all stepped in.

The lights were switched off as Tim hadn't bothered to open them and was working in the dim light of his laptop, straining his eyes as usual.

As expected, he was still asleep and his laptop had shut off from battery drainage as well.

Jason had a mischievous smirk on his face as he took out the air horn, stepping closer to Tim and blew it. A loud gong went off and right next moment, Jay was pinned down to the ground with Tim holding onto his wrists tightly.

His eyes hadn't even fully opened yet but his grip was strong as he held the elder boy down despite all the struggle Jason was putting up while the rest of them burst into laughter.

"Happy Birthday, Replacement," Jay spoke up and shocked blue looked down in his flecked irises, "now let me sit up because the only other way I have of freeing myself of you is a kick to the stomach but it won't be nice to kick the birthday boy now, would it?" 

Tim let go of him immediately, one hand rubbing at his eyes as he tried to process what was happening. The lights were switched on and shortly after his vision adjusted, barely making out the familiar faces in front of him so he rubbed at his tired eyes again.

He could hear everyone singing the Birthday song but he was totally blanked out on why they were all in his room and was even more surprised to see Dora and Alex there as well. Dora was holding a beautifully decorated cake while Steph and Cass were holding a lot of balloons that went pop one by one as Barbara burst them with a fork.

"Is that a cake?" He asked groggily, "who's birthday is it?"

"Yours," Richard burst open the confetti, the colorful wisps showering over him.

He rolled off of Jason who sat up but Tim still seemed rather lost on what was happening as another burst of confetti fell over him.

"Happy Birthday, Tim," Dora said softly and his blue eyes focused, realizing that they were all there for him and had arranged a surprise birthday party.

"Oh... Thank you so much," a smile broke out on his face as he stood up and took Jay's arm, heaving him off the floor as he addressed him, "and sorry for earlier."

"Next time I will blow the horn from a safe distance," he replied at which Tim chuckled, "or better still, we'll get Damian to do it. The aftermath would definitely be hilarious."

"Not happening," Dami remarked, "but unlike Todd, I would gladly kick you in the stomach if you did anything of this sort to me, Drake."

"Wait till next year then," Tim nodded.

"Guys, you remember that we have to cut the cake too?" Steph spoke up, "Dora baked this especially for you, Timmy."

His smile widened as he looked over at Dora and Barbara gently pinched his cheek, "how cute."

"Now before these two go into lovestruck mode, let's just cut the cake," Alex took the cake from Dora and placed it on Tim's desk while Richard cleared it up by putting his laptop and files aside.

"Alexander!"

"Later, Dora," he smiled, honey shaded irises gleaming in mischief, "alright so here goes: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..."

"Happy Birthday dear Timothy, Happy Birthday to you," he had loudly started singing and was joined by Jason and Richard as well, "may you have many more, may you have many more. Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to you!" 

Tim picked up the knife and cut the cake among loud clapping and showers of confetti. He couldn't hold back the delighted smile that had taken over his face, rows of pearly white teeth showing non stop.

"Thank you so so much," he exclaimed and was engulfed into a group hug shortly afterwards. "I love you guys," he breathed when they let go of him, the smile on his face brighter than usual.

***