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First birthdays are important. At least that’s what he’s always heard. In all honesty, Copia would classify all birthdays as important. It was something that he’d never experienced as a child. Most of the time the sisters in the orphanage were too busy with other kids or something else entirely to even grant the idea of a party for any of the children they were tasked with. It wasn’t that big of an issue, no one was treated better than the other. Only that left him at a bit of a loss when it came to the actual date of his own birthday. At this point he was purely going off guessing. All he knew was that he was close to fifty (he thinks; give or take).
The Cardinal stands in the living area of his chambers. He lets out a nervous noise as he wrings his hands together. He takes in the shabby decorations that decorate the area. It’s ….well, it’s a really pathetic attempt in his eyes, but in his defense he’s never actually attended a party to know what decorations should look like. He’s got the typical ‘Happy Birthday’ banner strewn along the wall and a few streamers here and there, accompanied by a balloon or two but — fuck, it looks absolutely horrible. What if she hates it? Do babies remember first birthdays? What if she sees photos of it in the future and gets mad at him? Copia’s head swims with horrible outcomes.
He makes another noise. This one is closer to a whine than anything.
A knock at the door has him practically jumping out of his own skin with a yelp.
Copia hurries to the door, stopping to smooth out his cassock and take a few deep breaths before he opens it. On the other side of the threshold stands Rain and Sunshine, the latter who wastes no time in rushing in and admiring all of the decorations. Copia has to remind himself that she’s more than likely just being nice and doesn’t actually think he’s done a good job.
“You have the cake, sí?” The Cardinal asks as he turns his attention back to Rain.
The ghoul nods and presents him with said cake.
Copia's frown immediately deepens. "This wasn't the color agreed upon." He looks back to the ghoul that blinks several times at him.
"Sorry. It's all the kitchen staff said they had."
His mood plummets even more. It’s not a bad cake…per-say. However, he had politely asked the kitchen staff if they could make a tiny round cake, really no more than for the toddler herself, and if they could please use a pinkish red color. Granted the baby was only a year old, but Copia was pretty sure her favorite color was red and most definitely not because she recognized him by his red cassock.
Now as he looks at this cake he feels even more defeated. The color is all wrong, being white instead of reddish. It also looks like it’s been dropped a few times. Although Copia isn’t so sure that’s all due to the kitchen staff and not a ghoul or two. Either way he adds it to his ever growing list of things that are going to ruin today.
Sighing, Copia takes the cake from Rain. “It’s alright. Thank you for bringing it here.” He tries to make it sound genuine but he knows his smile is so obviously fake it’s almost painful.”I’ll uhm – I’ll see what I can do with it.” Defeatedly he trudges back to his small kitchenette.
He places the plate on the counter and steps back to get a better look at the cake. Oh, this really is going to be a terrible day. Rolling up his sleeves, Copia carefully gets to work scraping the icing from the cake. It takes a little longer than he’d like it to but finally he’s left with an icingless cake and a bowl of icing. He snags a small glass from the cabinet and very gently places it over the center of the cake. That’s the part that looks the best, he decides. Carefully, Copia pushes the glass into the cake until there’s a circular cut out within it. With even more care, he pries the cake from the glass, letting out a relieved sigh when it rests nicely on a saucer. The cake honestly looks more child sized now and quietly he pats himself on the back. Now…the subject of the icing.
Food coloring is clearly something he doesn’t have. There’s never been a need to want or need it. But now he curses himself for not thinking ahead of time about this issue. It’s then he recalls he has a small container of strawberries somewhere in his mini fridge. Nearly a year later and for some reason or another his craving for the fruit had still remained so he’d opted to keep a small amount of them on hand.
After placing the icing back on the smaller portion of the cake, Copia slices the berries in half until he has enough to stick to the icing. It isn’t exactly the way he imagined the cake to look when red, but it’s better than nothing. A strawberry cake, very fitting for his piccola fragola, if he had to say so himself.
There’s a squeal from the doorway and an orange blur that hurries itself over to his side.
“Pretty!” Sunshine looks at the cake then at him. Her pointed teeth sticking out as she smiles.
Copia chuckles nervously. He knows she won't intentionally do anything to mess it up but he still worries. "Thank you." He pats her head, receiving a purr in return.
"Oh, it does look better!" Rain bustles into the kitchenette as well and Copia feels that spike of anxiety again.
"Let's – Let's go back in the other room, yea?" To say he feels better when all three of them are back in the living room is an understatement. Copia physically feels himself relax tremendously.
It doesn't take long for the rest of the other ghouls to show up. Cumulus and Cirrus bring the candle which Copia is still unsure of but apparently candles are necessary for a birthday party. Why babies need to be near fire, he can’t comprehend.
Swiss and Mountain arrive dragging a “reluctant” Dewdrop. As much as the ghoul plays it off that he dislikes kids and wants nothing to do with them, Copia can easily see the facade drop when he sees Copia’s daughter.
All that leaves now is Aether. Copia had practically begged the ghoul ( not that it took much convincing) to take the baby for the day so the surprise wouldn’t be spoiled. Now as he looked around though, Copia was thinking he may have jumped the gun. There really was no surprise here to spoil.
Stop that. He has to tell himself. She’ll love it either way.
Cumulus must sense his hesitation because she places a clawed hand on his shoulder and smiles. “She’ll love it.”
“You think so?” Copia can’t help the nervousness that still seeps from his voice.
“Of course!”
Her words are meant to comfort but Copia knows that his attempt at a party is pathetic compared to other parent’s. He wishes he could do better for Athaliah but compared to his own upbringing this is better. “Thank you.” He smiles.
Once everyone seems to have settled in nicely, Copia makes his way back to the kitchenette to retrieve the small cake. Aether should be arriving any moment now and Copia has to remind himself to stay calm. The last thing he wants is for something to ruin this now.
Copia cradles the cake close to his chest in hopes to keep it protected. It works – for the most part. At least until a force bumps into him.
“Don’t yell at Rain!” Sunshine’s voice echoes as she shoves Dew, who promptly crashes into Copia, unaware that he’s behind him.
For a split second everything is silent in his ears as he watches the cake fly from his hands. Copia lets out a distressed yelp as he watches it collide with the ground, immediately crushing it – and then the ghouls are saying something to him – Copia knows this but all he can focus on is the ruined cake in front of him and of course now would be the moment that Aether would make his debut with the baby.
“We have arri –” Aether’s voice cuts off as his brow furrows.
Copia tries not to look at anyone in particular. Instead he sighs and steps over the mess, fetching the baby from Aether’s arms.
“C, I didn’t mean –”
“It’s alright.” Copia smiles sadly at Dewdrop. “Really. It’s fine.” He should have known as soon as the decorations looked bad that the day would continue to spiral. That’s typically how things work for him. He tries not to let any of them see his lower lip tremble but he knows the crack in his voice betrays him. He sniffs trying to reset his facial expression as one of pacifism. “On second thought, I think it may be best if we just don’t have the celebration, yea? Besides, she’s probably ready for a nap anyway.” He adds, bouncing the baby on his hip.
There’s a sea of concerned and confused expressions aimed his way, followed by a string of apologies from Sunshine.
“It’s okay. Really.” Copia reassures them but when he catches Cumulus’s eyes he feels miserable. The way she’s looking at him is the same way someone would look at a kicked cur. He averts his eyes quicker than need be and Copia knows the ghoulette is practically reading his mind with the way she seems to accept defeat as well.
Cirrus spends a moment rounding them all up before urging everyone out. Copia knows that he should have probably reacted differently but he ignores it. There’s another apology here and there tossed his way and he simply nods in acknowledgement.
Aether tosses the remains of the cake into the garbage bin and then focuses a frown on him. “You know you can still have another party, right?”
Yes, I know that but it won’t be this one ! Copia wants to scream but doesn’t. “Maybe.” He really just wants Aether gone now. “Thank you for watching her though.”
Copia stops when he realizes that Aether isn’t following him to the door. Instead the ghoul is still standing in the middle of the room. “We’re good. I promise.” He adds with a forced smile that the ghoul no doubt sees through.
Reluctantly, Aether brushes past him, a gentle hand on his shoulder as he slips out the door. “Just don’t be too hard on yourself. Okay?”
“Sì. I won’t.”
The large ghoul still wears that frown as he looks back and Copia feels like a bug under a magnifying glass. Of course Aether would realize something is still wrong. They had the closest bond. “I promise.” He adds with a smile and closes the door as Aether steps over the threshold.
Finally alone behind the safety of his own door, Copia lets out a choked sob but quickly wipes it away with a gloved hand as he notices the tiny face staring up at him with wide frightened eyes.
“Mi dispiace. It’s just been a rough day, yea?” Copia lets out a tired hiss as the baby yanks on one of his sideburns. "Eh, let's not do that, okay? Your papa has already had enough excitement for one day." He gently pries her fingers away and sighs. "You must be hungry, hm? Let's see what we can find."
Copia repositions the toddler on his hip as he makes his way into the kitchen. It would be ten times easier to just go down the hall to the cafeteria and get something to eat but he doesn't really want to do that. He read somewhere that babies need good food to grow and ultimately decided that meant taste as well. She can try cafeteria food when he knows she'll hate it like the rest of them.
It takes him longer than he probably likes to admit, but finally Copia has the toddler squared away and after a quick bedtime story, he’s able to place her into her crib (which is getting smaller by the day, something that he’s sad to have to admit.) “We will try again next year, hmm bambina?” He runs a finger across her smooth cheek. It earns him a sigh and he straightens with a smile. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
—--
As the days drag on slowly afterward, Copia feels like he’s running on fumes. Between the never ending paperwork, Imperator’s ridiculous meetings, and the baby, Copia has had hardly a minute to relax, let alone sleep.
He tells himself mentally that this is for the best. It helps distract him from the horror that was the attempted birthday party. Besides, it was probably best that he’d wait till next year to celebrate. It would give him a proper amount of time to plan and make the party actually be good.
“Cardinal?” Cumulus pokes her head around the door and Copia thinks he must be more tired than he thought, seeing as he didn’t even hear it open.
“Eh, yes. Did you need something?” His voice even sounds tired and he knows it. It shows in the way the ghoulettes face softens.
“Can I show you something?”
Copia blinks then scratches at his sideburn nervously. “Now?” He begins stacking all the papers that are strewn across the desk in an attempt to make them look neater. “I – I am a little busy.” A nervous laugh follows.
“It won’t take long. Promise.”
“Alright. Alright.” His back pops loudly as he stands and spends a moment stretching. He fetches his red biretta and places it atop his head neatly. “Lead the way then.”
Cumulus grins from ear to ear, her amusement only growing when the Cardinal steps into the hall and sees why she was hiding behind the door.
The baby in her arms giggles and reaches its stubby hands out for Copia who’s entered their line of sight. He wastes no time in taking her from the ghoulette, still puzzled. “I don’t understand. What does she have to do with this?” His head tilts like a dog awaiting its master’s command.
“You’ll see. Just c’mon.” Cumulus takes his free hand in her own and the three of them make their way down the hall.
It takes Copia longer than he’d like to admit before he realizes they’re heading to the ghoul den. Satan only knows what issue he was walking into. The last time he’d been dragged here had been when Swiss and Mountain had set the sprinkler system off somehow. It can’t be any worse than that. At least that’s what he tells himself.
He mentally prepares himself for the worst as the ghoulette opens the door. Only what’s behind it is — definitely not what he thought.
Instead Copia is met with a small set up that mildly resembles the one he had several days ago. On the small table that occupies the ghoul den is a cake about the same size as the one he had before. Instead of being covered in strawberries the icing is solid red (as he originally wanted) and a single strawberry sits on top for decoration. The same ‘happy birthday’ banner is hung along the wall and each ghoul looks at him with adoration.
“Eh?” His brain is still slow to process what’s occurring.
“We wanted to make it up to you.” Cirrus starts. “After what happened the other day. You worked so hard and it seemed wrong to not do anything in apology.” She now looks to Sunshine who shyly makes her way closer to Copia.
“We even made a cake!” She says, motioning to it on the table.
Oh. It finally dawns on him what’s happening. They’re recreating the party he had planned. He shakes his head to clear it as he feels his lip begin to tremble from the sentimental gesture.
“You all did this?” Copia takes in everything with awe.
“Of course.” Aether lays a hand on his shoulder. “We couldn’t let her first birthday slide, now could we.” He grins and chucks the baby under the chin who giggles in return.
Copia immediately feels the most stupid grin settle on his face. Of course he knew his ghouls loved him and the baby, but thinking and hearing them were two different things. There’s a sudden overwhelming feeling filling his chest but unlike usual, it’s not because of panic.
“You all really didn’t need to do all of this.” He still wears the goofy grin.
Cirrus shushes him as she ushers him further into the room and takes the baby to place her in her highchair.
Everything after that feels like a blur. They all watch as the toddler shoves her tiny hands into the cake, eating a few bites here and there, only to smile up at Copia with a cake covered face. He smiles back as she smears a streak of red icing across his face. This was how he had imagined the first failed attempt at the party, minus his stress. Nothing but pure joy and bliss.
In the long run, Copia thinks it’s probably for the best that it worked out this way. He feels like he’s able to enjoy the day more than if he had been the one to throw the party.
The event ends with Cumulus taking a picture of him holding the baby. Copia has the biggest grin on his icing smeared face while the baby is caught mid laugh, her cake covered face full of nothing but joy.
Maybe, he thinks, just maybe, it’s better if the ghouls throw birthday parties in the future.