DM A Birthday is A Birthday
[This takes place not long after the events of ''Under The Weather'' by Firewalker71]
Gru squeezed her hand on the way to the anaesthetic room. Edith relaxed and smiled bravely. She liked the feeling of Gru's strong hand securing her. Her birth father had never been like this. He had often been drunk and killed himself while driving.
''Edith honey, it's all over'' Gru said gently. Edith sighed, she put down the new ninja comic [that Gru had given her] after reading it for a while, and wriggled her toes under the blue sheets.
''Can I have a drink please?'' she asked quietly. ''Sure you can keetten'' Gru answered walking off, but he soon came back. ''Edith I brought your favourite juice box'' he said, handing it to her. He sat down to sip his coffee that he'd brought for himself.
Edith just sulkily sucked the straw of her juice. Even when people passing smiled at her, she couldn't smile back, or when anyone said 'hello' she said 'hello back quietly.
Edith was not in the best of moods at the moment, she had had an operation only seconds ago to remove her appendix after she had been diagnosed with appendicitis and her birthday was in a couple of days, she'd be 7 years old and she was in hospital.
The next day, Edith woke to the sound of birds cheeping. A nurse came by to speak to Gru. ''Mr Gru' your daughter's operation went very well' she said 'please make sure she waits a while before eating''. ''Ok'' Gru nodded.
''What her name anyway?'' the nurse asked trying to make notes. ''Edith'' Gru replied. ''Hi Edith' the nurse smiled 'I'm Jess and if you have any questions, let me know ok?''.
Edith nodded quietly. ''Wow' Jess explained 'you're a grouch, is that stomach still hurting you even after that operation?''. ''No'' Edith muttered. Jess checked her notes.
''Hey I've got it' she said 'you're the birthday girl, and you're stuck here for the big day, is that it?''. ''Yes'' Edith admitted. ''Were you planning anything?'' Jess asked. ''Not yet' Gru answered 'but we will do something when we go home''.
''Well' Jess said 'You might have to careful about what Edith does''. ''That's not fair' Edith grumbled 'I'm trapped here in this stupid bed''. She thumped the mattress of her hospital bed hard and her lip quivered.
''Hey' Jess said gently 'being in hospital doesn't bring the world to end, birthdays will always be birthdays''. ''How?'' Edith asked, surprised. ''Wait and see'' Jess replied, and she winked at Gru.
Later that evening before bedtime, Jess came round to make sure Edith was all right. The big operation was over and the sun was beginning to set and Edith found herself yawning sleepily and found a big white plaster over her stomach. Gru read ''Three sleepy kittens'' before she went to sleep.
The next morning was Edith's birthday. She spent the morning opening cards and presents. She got a new a ninja outfit from Gru, and a iPod full ninja songs from Margo and Agnes. Then she heard the tune 'Happy Birthday to you'.
Children from all over the ward came to join in. [Margo and Agnes Jessica came over with a trolley filled with boxes of stuffed crust pizza [Margo and Agnes were even invited] ''Party time everyone'' Jess called.
Then Jess brought in the cake, it was big enough for everyone to share. After Edith had blown out the candles, Jess winked at her and said ''What did I tell you?''. ''A birthday's a birthday, even if you're in hospital'' Edith laughed.
When the time came for Edith to finally go home. She couldn't help practising her first ninja skills in her new outfit, she till wore her knit cap of course, and she listened to her iPod like mad.
One day however, when Edith was practising away as usual. Gru asked her to run an errand. Edith was so carried away with listening to her headphones, she walked into the road without thinking or looking!, but fortunately Gru saw everything.
He pulled Edith back seconds before a car hit her! ''Whoa Edith' he scolded, pulling off one of her headphones, 'that was a close thing, Listening to headphones while crossing de road is very dangerous!, you can't hear any of de traffic coming. You've only just got out of de hospital. You don't want to go back, do you?''.
''Oh sorry' Edith apologized, 'I was listening to me new iPod, ''It's nice that you like your present Edith' Gru said, 'but safety comes first, my advice is that you take off your headphones when crossing de roads''.
The End