Reaching for the Stars

Chapter 21: Birthday Party

"Happy birthday!"

Tom smiled wide. In front of him was a birthday cake, not big, but it was homemade. He spent the whole afternoon with Martin, Lucy, Nathan, and Yohan to make it, almost wrecking Andy's kitchen in the process.

In front of the cake were his friends. Tom almost cried, he was so touched that they would celebrate his birthday, even going an extra kilometre and throwing him a birthday party. Sure, few were here, but they were his friends, and he felt like he was home, celebrating his birthday with his family.

Those were strong words since he never actually celebrated his birthday, never exactly had a place which he could call home, and never really had a family.

He had one sad excuse for a birthday party, though.

"Let's just skip the gift exchange and eat the cake!" Martin said, excited.

The wolf laughed, "Go ahead. If it tastes bad we know Martin made it."

Everyone laughed.

He took the cake knife and took a slice of the cake, then put it on a small plate. The cake looked beautiful. The insides looked like a rainbow... a deformed one of course because they couldn't put the layers correctly, but still beautiful in its chaos. He really hoped it didn't taste too sweet or too chaotic, though.

"You're gonna give the first slice to who?" Lucy spoke up.

Tom looked around. His friends were smiling, but Martin especially looked like he wanted that first slice. He glanced at Octo who was smiling softly at him, then at Andy whose bright innocent smile rivalled the sun.

His smile almost faltered; he wished Max were here. He wanted to give the first slice to him.

"Well, I'm curious what does it taste like." He shrugged and took the first bite.

Almost everyone groaned.

He chuckled. "Okay, you big babies." He put his own plate aside and took other slices of the cake, putting them in separate plates.

"Here's for Martin. Thanks for being a best bud for me this year. T'es vraiment mon meilleur ami." He gave the second slice to Martin. The fox gladly took it and grinned a big thanks.

"Here's for Lucy. Thanks for not making me forget where I come from. Makasih banyak ya."

"Here's for Octo. Thanks for being my big brother and being there for me."

"Here's for James. Thanks for being the story dump whenever I, Martin, Ellie, and Lucy feel like talking about someone."

"Here's for Kevin. Thanks for being such a good and annoying friend for me."

"Here's for Andy. Thanks for being Mr Party Animal whose house we ravaged over and over. The rest of you whose names I can't mention all, feel free to take a slice of the cake."

They all laughed and accepted the slices, giving him congratulatory remarks. And just like that, Andy stepped aside and roared. "Let's get the party started!"

Tom laughed and took another bite.

Several hours of questionable life choices decided by Andy later, he sat down on the sofa next to Lucy with Octo sitting on the armrest—he seemed to like that spot on every sofa—watching the others dance to the song. Andy turned out to be quite a dancer, his moves as he danced with John's girlfriend were really great. Martin and Ellie also turned out to have perfected their moves.

The cake tasted really good, maybe a bit too sweet, but still good. And the cherry on top was... well, it had cherries on top. He took several more slices, then gave it for those who wanted more slices.