As Bright As Your Eyes Tonight

Happy Birthday

This story is a birthday present for the always awesome TooOldForThis13. Happy Birthday!

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I'd like to thank the council and the fine folks of the TNN/"Unhinged R Us" discord for their support and their assistance with this fic. Couldn't have done it without y'all, so thank you.

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Autumn Fortune-Knight doesn't do birthdays. Specifically, she doesn't do her birthday. It's simply another day to her. For the last 30 years, her birthday was barely acknowledged, let alone celebrated. In fact, she hadn't had a real birthday party since that summer before her mother left.

For the first 18 years of her life, birthdays were celebrated with lavish parties and presents galore, but they were always hollow and performative. All done so Roger could preserve his image as a doting, caring father. The parties were always held over Autumn's head, yet another way Roger could control her every move. He loved nothing more than to take any opportunity to remind Autumn of how much of a perpetual disappointment she was and she better not do anything to make him look bad at these parties. But there was always Reece. He did his best to slip her a card or an actual present she would be able to enjoy unlike the ones presented to her at the parties and always secretly returned after the fact. Until... there wasn't Reece, until Reece too disappeared from her life and the parties became ever harder to bear as Roger paraded his "pride and joy" to all his friends and business associates as he secretly hissed in her ear about whatever perceived misstep she had made. When she moved out of her father's house at 21, cards and wrapped presents began to appear on her doorstep, always promptly ignored and discarded.

For her 35th birthday, Marjorie took Autumn out for drinks, after weeks and weeks of convincing and the later surrender to the idea of free alcohol. Autumn refused any further acknowledgement of her birthday.

But now for her 36th birthday, her life was dramatically different... Her brother was back in her life, their past strife and estrangement cleared up after they learned about the machinations and manipulations of their father. On top of all that, Autumn Knight was no more on this birthday.

Autumn marveled at how much her life had changed in the last 365 days. When she turned 35, she was in a causal relationship with a woman who would soon break up with her and she had no one in her life except Marjorie. Now, as she approached her 36th birthday, she was happily married to the love of her life, a man she thought she would never find and has found a family among her coworkers that she never thought she would have. Even Mia, the woman who had once been like a sister to her and later a mortal enemy, was again a friend, no matter how reluctantly.

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Winter was appalled when he found out that Autumn hadn't had a true birthday celebration in over 30 years. Her birthdays were always filled with hollow gestures and loneliness, but now things were different. As her husband, he was determined to make the day perfect for her, to finally give her a true birthday, but he needed help. Winter had one goal this August 23rd – to give Autumn a birthday that was truly all about her... for the first time in her life.

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With only a few weeks to go before Autumn's birthday, Winter slowly began enlisting their friends and family's help to make Autumn's birthday truly special. But first, he needed Marjorie's help...

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Winter knew that Autumn was at her father's office today for a board meeting so he knew today was he best chance to get Marjorie alone in her office. As Charlotte and Sorscha kept the children occupied in soft play, he quietly asked his colleagues if they wouldn't mind if he slipped away to the office for a moment. Both women readily agreed, happy to do anything they could to help Winter give Autumn the birthday she deserved. The couple had been through so much turmoil this year that the two women knew a bit more joy in their lives was much needed.