Four Paws and A New Tale

Chapter 21:

School had gone back, life was good, Jacob and Pixie were closer than ever though whilst he abused the language barrier she grew quite frustrated with it.

"Hey Pixie, want a bath?"

"I'll kill you."

"Love you to."

It had been a source of great amusement and confusion over the past months but on days like today they operated on the same level.

Jacob cooked food while Pixie set out decorations, the two hurried about their work as they prepared the room.

A short time later their job was done, an assortment of party foods had been placed on the table and the living room of Jacob's home had been covered with streamers and balloons.

The duo had no time to admire their handiwork as they heard a knock at the door, Jacob opened it without a word.

Tim was blindfolded, Rosie guided him inside snickering quietly.

"Rosie where are you taking me?" Tim asked with a sigh.

"Hang on, almost there."

Tim kicked his toe on a chair and yelped.

"Clumsy." Rosie muttered.

"Excuse me if I can't see anything." Tim grumbled.

"About that..." Rosie whipped off the blindfold and Tim looked around in confusion.

"What's all this?" He asked.

Jacob stepped forward, shook Tim's hand and brought him into a bro-hug, "Happy birthday bro."

"Birthday?"

Rosie giggled, "Yep, we asked your little brother ages ago, he said your birthday was today and so... Surprise!"

Tim threw back his head and bellowed a hearty laugh, his birthday was a month away, but his little brother always got confused with June and July.

Tim thanked his friends for the party, he didn't tell them the truth, he was too busy enjoying himself.

Later that night they sat around a small fire in Jacob's backyard, they all sat in camping chairs with Tim in the middle, Rosie on one side and Jacob on the other, Pixie lay asleep on Jacob's lap.

Jacob handed Tim a small box covered in colourful paper, "Happy birthday."

"Ha, thanks." Tim accepted the gift and unwrapped it, inside was a necklace, from it hung an object from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, a Time Gear.

Tim stared at the necklace in awe, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time was his favourite game ever and Jacob knew it.

He stared at the necklace and stroked the Time Gear, he smiled brightly and put it on, grinning from ear to ear.

Jacob laughed, Rosie shook her head at the silly boys, "Mine next!" She said, pulling a box from under her chair.

Tim accepted it gratefully and opened it, it was a Pokémon Go hat, it had a Zapdos on it and the brim lit up a bright yellow.

Tim put the hat on and laughed loudly, they all were silent for a while as they stared into the fire and admired the stars.

"I can't think of anything better than this." Tim said.

"I can." Jacob replied with a sly smile.

Tim took the bait, "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"Sleep." Cradling Pixie, Jacob stood from his chair and walked back to the house but called over his shoulder. "You two should hurry up, it's getting late!"

Tim and Rosie both blushed, they knew that Jacob hadn't been talking about going to bed, Tim looked at Rosie, she was staring at the sky and he could still see a tinge of red on her cheeks.

Tim swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Rosie..." she looked at him and offered a sweet but sad smile, he gathered his courage and kept going.

"Rosie do you want to go out with me sometime?"

Rosie blushed a crimson red, she had been caught off guard, despite Jacob's goading she hadn't expected Tim to actually ask her. Tim sat nervously awaiting an answer and when Rosie realised she hadn't yet replied she blurted out, "Screw that, I'll be your girlfriend right here and now if that's what you're asking."

Now Tim was caught off guard, his mouth hung open, but he smiled and said, "Well ok then, I'd be happy to be your boyfriend."

"About damn time!" Jacob called from inside the house.

They both glared in his general direction but then he came out with a speaker and they danced around the firelight late into the night.