It was kind of ironic that she was born on what was supposed to be the most luckiest day of the year. She had celebrated her birthday for the first years of her life, as a child, but after her 13th year her celebrations weren't celebrations anymore. After coming to the HIVE there were no celebrations for birthdays. If anything, the birthday kid was expected to work the whole day serving Brother Blood. They were screamed at if they even spoke a word.
Back to the present, she had waited the night before till it turned 12:00 am.
Wally had woken up and noticed that the bed was cold next to him and saw Jinx sitting up, her head looking over her shoulder at the alarm clock next to her. He put his large hand on her bare thigh above her pink silk pajama shorts making her look at him.
"What happened? Is something up?"
His voice was deeper than the usual tenor she heard during the day, but she shook her head no and laid down next to him.
Wally put his lean arm over her, pulling her to his chest. He kissed her cheek and took a whiff of her hair before sleeping.
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That morning, Jinx was sitting up in bed when Wally woke up. It was the same position she was in the night before and he wondered if she slept. He put his arm over her spot on the bed and found it cold again. That meant Jinx stayed up the whole night.
The alarm clock said 8:07.
He got up and stretched his long arms letting out a yawn.
"Good morning, beautiful." Wally kissed her cheek and nuzzled the part of her neck near her ear.
She nodded but didn't answer. He noticed that her posture was rigid, tense. Jinx's face despite her bangs covering her forehead was scrunched up together.
There was a look of sadness in her eyes even though he saw no sign of any tears.
The whole day she was like this. Her posture was rigid and tense. They didn't take patrol today because Wally knew it was a special day. At least it was supposed to be. He read her file and knew today was her birthday.
He never knew anyone that acted like Jinx did on her birthday. Her actions weren't the only weird thing.
Jinx hadn't uttered a word all day.
She didn't say anything to him at all. She didn't say anything period.
He found her staring at walls like they were the most interesting thing in the world. And when he would call her, she would shake herself. Like she was in a trance.
He brought her favorite foods from all parts of the world but she refused to eat. She hadn't eaten anything all day.
Wally even brought her a cake!
It was a two tiered cake decorated with his colors. One tier was yellow and the other was red. There was a little action figure on top with him smirking and hands on his hips.
"I know you love the cake Jinxie, it's a custom made from the best bakery in France."
She looked at it from their couch with a nod of her head and turned her attention back to the tv. Normally, she would say a snarky comment with a roll of her eyes.
When she reacted like that, he pulled out another cake with her colors. A purple and black tier with a Jinx action figure.
"I'm kidding! I got you one too, it's a Jinx cake with it's own cute little Jinxie."
She nodded her head not turning her head this time.
In a second he was standing in front of her with his hands on his hips like the action figure, only this time he wasn't smirking.
His brows were scrunched together at he tried to meet her eyes. She avoided his eyes as much as possible until he grabbed her cheeks in one hand, puckering her lips.
Jinx finally looked into his blue eyes.
"Jinx, baby, I'm breaking my back just trying to make you at least smile on your birthday but you won't even say a word."
She gave him a look of annoyance.
"I'm not interrupting anything you're doing, the TV is off and has been off the whole day. None of your shows are scheduled for today, so. . ." he broke off, "I know today is your birthday. I read your file and memorized it."
Jinx let out a laugh. She quickly regained herself and turned back into a deadpan expression.
He let go of her cheeks and his face lit up.
"Finally, I get a reaction out of Raven the II!"
Jinx crossed her legs on the couch and her arms over her chest. Wally took this as a sign to sit next to her.
The two of them didn't say anything to each other for a while. Jinx seemed to be having a battle in her head. She was conflicted with telling him or not. Until one part of her mind won.
"For birthdays, in the HIVE," she said quietly and with struggle, "we were forced to work even harder than the other kids. We weren't even allowed to speak. If you did speak, then,"
She didn't want to continue. He didn't want her to either. They both knew what happened to children that didn't obey orders.
Wally looked at her. So that's why she was acting the way she was acting. Without words, all the lights in the apartment were off. He had changed to his pajamas and had a big bucket of popcorn with her favorite movie on.
"I promise to you, your birthday will never be the same." Jinx smiled a small smile and hugged him with all her might.
And you know, for the rest of her life, she had never regretted anything.
