Mamoru took off his glasses and shrugged off his white coat.
"Finished with your last patient?" the receptionist asked, and at his nod, she smiled. "Why don't you head home a little early today? I'll take care of everything here."
"Thanks, Noriko," he said, waving, "see you tomorrow."
"Happy Birthday," she said as he left, and he grinned.
It was a short drive from the clinic where he worked to his home in one of the outer wards of the city. The house was a new build when they bought it years ago, and still looked modern with its brown brick and decorative doorway. It was a bit out of the center of the city, but it had a small garden in the back and was close to the public park, and tiny Chibi-Usa had even indicated her approval by clapping her chubby baby hands together for the very first time when she saw the house, as if she knew it'd become a wonderful home.
Mamoru parked in the small driveway, opening the car door to the sight of his teenage daughter on the front steps, busy typing on her smart phone.
"Hi, Chibi-Usa," he said. At 15, she was hardly 'chibi' anymore, but he was sure he'd never be able to give up the nickname.
"Hey, dad!" she said, reaching a hand up to slap his hand in greeting, not glancing up from the screen.
"That's all I get, huh?" he joked, reaching down to muss her strawberry blonde bangs a little.
"Daaaaad!" She said, "Not the hair!" Then she grinned up at him. "Happy Birthday."
He smiled and opened the door, to the sweet promise of air conditioning, an escape from the brutal late-summer heat.
"Daddy!" Kousagi stumbled down the stairs, throwing herself in his arms from the bottom step. "Welcome home! Happy Birthday!"
"Ko-chan!," Mamoru laughed, stumbling back a bit. "You are getting a bit old for this I think-" he dropped his briefcase on the floor by his feet, and she scrambled down from his arms, blonde curls bouncing around her face. He straightened his spine and groaned a little. He might be getting too old for this, he thought, smirking a little. Although he stayed in shape, he wasn't blind to the new pulls on his back and neck sometimes, to the small smattering of gray gathered at his temples. The years keep coming, but they kept seeming to get better.
Kousagi grinned a chubby, ten-year-old grin at him. "I am a growing girl, Daddy." Her eyes lit up. "Tonight we'll have cake!"
"Mom's 'baking' it now," Chibi-Usa said, walking in from the doorway and closing the door behind her. "Which is funny, because I don't smell any smoke?"
"Ha ha," Kousagi said sarcastically. "I like Mommy's food. Sometimes."
"That's 'cause you'll eat anything," Chibi-Usa said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed an apple off the kitchen table and took a bite.
"Hey, hey!" Usagi called from the kitchen, "Don't spoil your dinner! I cooked tonight."
"Yikes," Chibi-Usa whispered, tossing Mamoru an apple and taking a second one for herself, "Here, Dad, better fill up on food that won't kill us first."
Mamoru winked at her, and walked into the kitchen. Usagi was pulling a cake out of the oven, and setting it on the counter. "I think I finally got it this year!" she said, eyes widening. Then she turned and smiled at Mamoru. "Happy Birthday."
She pulled the oven mitts off her hands. "How's it feel to be 40, grandpa?" she teased.
"You'll find out soon enough," he kissed her nose and she giggled. Although her face was still strangely youthful, the years had given her slight smile lines along her eyes, there were one or two strands of gray lost among the blonde waves of her hair, and she'd grown softer around the curves of her body. But Usagi still laughed like a teenager.
"Uh, Mom?" Chibi-Usa said, pointing at the cake.
"Oh no!" Usagi cried, as the center of the cake completely collapsed in on itself.
"What time's Auntie Mako coming with the real cake?" Kousagi whispered to her sister.
"After dinner," Chibi-Usa answered. "Like always."
"Do you think she'll bring the baby when she comes?" Kousagi's eyes lit up.
Usagi pulled off her flour-smeared apron and folded it in half. "I can't imagine they wouldn't bring the baby," she said and Kousagi squealed.
"Okay, girls, go set the table," she said and Kousagi scampered off. Chibi-Usa sauntered off at a slower pace, pulling her phone out of her pocket again and quickly tapping on the screen with her thumbs.
Usagi's shoulders slumped as she looked down at her cake. "I tried," she sighed. Mamoru wrapped his arms around her from behind, putting his chin on her shoulder.
"One of these times, I'm sure you'll get it."
"You say that every year," she pointed out, and he kissed her cheek.
"Maybe when I turn 80," he said.
Usagi turned in his arms and pulled a face at him, "When you are 80, we'll have to put your slice in the blender for you," she laughed.
He put his forehead to hers. "Here's to another 40 years of failed birthday cakes." He'd just started kissing her when a teenage wail went up from the doorway.
"Mooom! Daaaaaad!" Chibi-Usa cried, covering her eyes. "Seriously, I can never turn a corner in this house without my eyes being assaulted, ugh!"
Kousagi just giggled. "Yuck," she said, echoing her sister. "My eyes are salted."
"Old people shouldn't kiss," Chibi-Usa said, firmly. "That's only for people my age."
Mamoru turned and raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, young lady, just who are you kissing?"
She flushed, "Nobody! Jeeze!"
Usagi giggled again, "Let her be, she's just being a teenager."
"Yeah, I remember being teenager," he muttered darkly, opening the fridge and pulling out juice and water.
They set the table and all sat down to eat. Usagi's curry rice wasn't half bad, even Chibi-Usa had to admit.
"Hey, Daddy?" Kousagi asked, putting down her glass, leaving a milk mustache on her upper lip.
"Yes, princess?"
"Watcha ya gonna wish for? when you blow out the candle this year?"
"Well, that's a secret, baby," Usagi said. "You can't tell your wish, or it won't come true."
"I'd wish for a giant bag of M&Ms as big as this house!"
"Me too," Usagi said, winking at her youngest daughter.
"Well?" Chibi-Usa asked, turning toward her father. "What will you wish for?"
"I can't think of anything," he said, smiling at Usagi. "I already have everything I could ask for."
The girls groaned simultaneously. "Oh, jeeze," Chibi-Usa said, rolling her eyes.
"So cheesy," said Kousagi, shaking her head.
Usagi grinned and grabbed his hand under the table. "Shoulda gone for the M&Ms," she said, with a wink.
And, to the utter dismay of her daughters, Usagi leaned over and kissed him, right at the table. "Happy Birthday, Mamo-chan."
so it turns out I *do* have a heart.
(the title comes from Jeremy Messersmith's Miracles which is one song that randomly makes me burst into tears so now you know that and can use it against me if it ever came to that, I guess)
Also, I wanted to put in a scene where Kousagi and Mamoru put cat food out for the neighborhood cats who all come and they play with them together, (because this happens, every night), but it didn't fit the in the pace of the story. Here is now though. :-P