Going Blue

A Birthday Surprise and an Answer

"You almost finished hanging those streamers?" Hal called to me from the kitchen.

"Almost. How's the cake coming along?" I asked when he walked into the room.

"Well Alfred just kicked me out of the kitchen so he can focus on icing it, but before that it didn't explode like last year's. I'm taking that as a win."

I laughed as I remembered the disaster of my last birthday party. "I was cleaning cake out of my hair and ears for three days. Literally anything would be better than that."

"Yeah yeah. Laugh it up." He looked at me on the step-stool for a moment before asking, "you sure you're up for this? I mean you just recovered from a cold, it's ok if you want to put it off a couple of days."

"I appreciate it Dad, but I'm fine," I reassured him. "A couple days of rest and a little lantern healing and I'm not even contagious anymore."

"Alright, alright," he conceded, then went back to our earlier conversation. "You gotta admit though: it was nice of Bruce to let Alfred come over for a while. Goodness knows how much he needs the guy."

"And goodness knows how much Alfred needs a break from B," I responded.

"It is my pleasure to serve Master Bruce to the best of my ability," Alfred said as he suddenly appeared in the room, shocking both of us.

"Oh jeez! Give me a heart attack why don't ya," Dad said as he clutched his chest. "Don't you knock?"

"Apologies Master Hal." He turned to me, "Miss Evelyn it appears that your guests have started to arrive."

"Thanks Alfred," I said as I walked down the hall to the front door.

Opening it I saw Katie and Allie, who's a friend from my school here in Coast City. "Happy Birthday!" They shouted, popping some confetti.

"Thanks guys. Come on in; we're almost done setting up."

Just as I started closing the door I spotted a familiar black car driving down the road, heading my way. "I said she could bring a friend but did she have to bring him," I grumbled, but slapped on a smile as Katherine, another friend from Coast stepped out of the car with her big brother Peter. A brother who had made it more than clear that he had his sights set on me, and anything short of a door slamming in his face didn't register as a negative answer; and even that counted as a 'maybe not'.

"Hey, Eve."

"Hello Sugar."

'Please get here soon Dick. I don't know how long I can go before I punch him through a wall again.' It took everything I had to resist the urge as he eyed me up like an Angus Steak. "Come on in," I barely ground out.

"I didn't want to bring him either but my folks said I had to or I couldn't come," Kat whispered to me as they came in.

"I understand. At least he'll have to tread carefully with Dad here and Dick on his way," I whispered back.

"Silver linings right?"

I shut the door and we walked back to the family room to enjoy the party. About ten minutes of me trying my best to ignore Peter's terrible attempts at flirting with me later and Dick arrived with Babs; marking them as the final arrivals to my party.

After a while of playing games like Pin the Tail, Cornhole, Jenga, Darts, and Ring Toss we finally sat down to open the presents. Barbara and Katie combined their savings to get me a new laptop, that they had tweaked to make better.

"Guys this is way too much. How can I-? Why did you-?" I couldn't even form a proper sentence I was so shocked.

"Just accept it from the both of us like you should," Babs gently told me, though her tone left no room for arguments. I nodded and pulled them into a hug.