This is dedicated to Kiki for her birthday. Happy Birthday, hun :)
As you hinted so many times on twitter all TGW related gifts are welcome. ;) This is my version of a TGW birthday gift for you :)
I really hope you like it. So, enjoy and have a great day 3
Thanks to Mary for beta reading this 3
Alicia leaves the elevator on the floor of Agos, Florrick & Associates and heads straight to her office. It's not yet 9 am but she already wishes this day would be over. She says a brief good morning to her secretary and collects her messages before closing the door behind her. Once again she is glad her new office doesn't have glass walls like her previous one at Lockhart & Gardner. She enjoys having this one place at work where she doesn't have to pretend and keep her face at all times. Especially now. She sighs deeply and gets rid of her coat. She sits down at her desk and skims through her messages. Luckily nothing that needs her immediate attention. She turns her chair towards the window and thinks back on the morning before she left for work.
"Morning, babe." Peter greets her as she walks into the kitchen. "Aren't you a little late for work?" he kisses her on the cheek and hands her a cup of coffee.
"Morning. I'm going in a little later today as..."
"Yeah, you said no court today, right?" he cuts her off and takes a sip from his own mug.
...it's my birthday. She finishes the sentence in her head. She puts both hands around her mug and slowly sips the hot liquid. What is going on here? Could it really be that Peter had forgotten her birthday. He usually is good with anniversaries and other dates like this. Even during the time they were separated he always sent her flowers for her birthday. But this seems to be a day like any other to him.
"Morning, mom." Grace approaches her from behind and places a kiss on her cheek.
"Morning, sweetie." she turns towards her daughter smiling, expecting that she would wish her a happy birthday and would so spare herself to remind Peter of the date. But when she faces her Grace has already sat down at the table and helps herself to coffee and cereals.
A small sigh escapes her as she realizes it seems her daughter has forgotten her birthday too.
"I'll go get ready." she places her cup on the counter and leaves the kitchen.
"No breakfast, babe?" Peter calls after her.
"I'm not hungry. I'll just grab a quick shower and head to the office." she walks over to the stairs.
"Good, great! Eli will be over in a while anyhow." Peter leans in the doorway and watches her climb the stairs.
"All right. I won't be in your way."
A few moments later she steps into the shower with the feeling Peter wants her out of the house. She shakes her head at herself. She's sure there is a perfectly fine explanation that her family has forgotten about her birthday. Didn't she just say last week that she didn't want to celebrate this year? Right, but no congratulations at all? Not even some flowers. She has to admit that she is somewhat disappointed they have taken her words that seriously. She still doesn't want to celebrate in a big way but she was looking forward to a nice family breakfast this morning when Peter announced he'd come home the previous night. Now she knows it wasn't because of her birthday but for a meeting with Eli. She hopes at least Zach will call later in the day from college. She hurries rinsing her hair and soon is done dressing. As she walks down the stairs again she sees Peter and Eli sitting in the kitchen talking but they fall silent when they hear her on the steps.
"Hey, Eli." she smiles at the other man as she enters the kitchen.
"Everything all right?" she watches Peter inquiring while reaching for her cup of coffee that still stands on the counter.
"Yeah, everything good. Enjoy your day, hun." he smiles at her while she takes one last sip from her now cold coffee.
"You, too. Bye, Eli." she stops next to Peter and places a brief kiss on his lips before she hurries out the door.
~o~
"Alicia?" she turns around at the sound of Cary's voice.
"Yes, Cary? Good morning." she smiles at him while she positions her chair behind the desk again.
"Morning. Sweeney called. He's coming in. Conference room in half an hour."
"Did he say what it's about? Business or did he kill again?" she chuckles briefly.
"No, but he requested us both. So you better cancel all other appointments." Cary shrugs apologetically at her before he turns and leaves the office again.
Alicia exhales deeply before she starts gathering her files on Sweeney's ongoing cases.
~o~
Some long hours later Alicia finally comes home to an empty house. Great, she thinks. No one wished her a happy birthday all day. Not Cary nor her family including Zach. She would've even liked a call from Jackie but her cell stayed silent the whole day except for the work related calls. So she shut it off when she left the office.
She gets rid of her heels while walking into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. She scans the fridge and kitchen counter for a note from Peter telling her about his and Grace's whereabouts but finds nothing. She contemplates calling him and ask but she doesn't feel like talking. She takes a sip from her wine leaning against the counter pondering going straight to bed or waiting for the return of her family. She decides against both and walks up the stairs to run herself a bath.
She just settles into the warm water when she hears the front door downstairs and a few seconds later Peter's voice calling out her name. She thinks about not answering for a split second but what sense would it make. He'll find her eventually.
"In here." she calls back and a few moments later the door opens.
"Hey, babe. How was your day?" he smiles at her while she rolls her eyes at him.
"That good, huh?" he chuckles and she is tempted to throw the sponge that lays on the rim of the tub at him.
"Don't ask. Where have you been?" she reaches for her glass and takes another sip of her wine before leaning back and closing her eyes.
"At my mother's. I just came back to get you. Your cell is off."
"Get me to go where?" she opens her eyes again raising a brow at Peter.
"To my mother's. My sister is in town and my mom insists on dinner." he pulls a towel from the rail spreading it in front of him indicating her to get out of the tub.
"No, Peter. Not after the day I've had. Just tell them I am still at work." she shakes her head at him. Spending the evening with her in-laws is the worst she can imagine right now. Given the choice she'd rather be stuck again with Sweeney and Cary in the conference room than going to this dinner.
"Come on, babe. It'll be fun. It's been forever since we saw them." he smiles encouragingly at her.
"Not long enough, if you ask me." she rolls her eyes again and earns a low chuckle from him.
"True." he winks at her. "But you gotta see it like this, if you come along you get to spend time with me and Grace which you won't if you stay here or if you were still stuck at work. And if I remember correctly you have been complaining about a lack of family time lately, right, hun?"
"Ok." Alicia sighs in defeat. He's right. This day has not turned out how she imagined but at least she'll get to spend some time with her family. What more can she ask for.
"But you better not stop me if I get in an argument with your sister!" she steps out of the tub into Peter's arms wrapping the towel around her placing a brief kiss on her nose.
"I promise." he smiles at her while she frees her arms from the towel moving them around his neck to draw him into a slow kiss.
"We can still stay." she whispers once they break the kiss.
"Don't tempt me, babe." Peter loosens the embrace and steps back.
"Ok, I'll get dressed." she pouts at him.
"I'll wait downstairs for you." his gaze lingers on her before he turns and leaves the room.
A little while later she walks into the living room finding Peter on the couch typing on his cell.
"Ready?" he looks up at her.
"Yes, but where is Grace?"
"The kid's are already at my mother's." he hits a few more buttons on his phone before he stands up.
"The kids?" Alicia shots him a curious look.
"Old habit. I meant Grace. Can we go?" he heads out into the hall helping Alicia put on her coat.
~o~
"Are you sure the dinner is here?" Alicia gestures towards the dark house once they pull into Jackie's driveway.
"Sure." Peter gets out of the car leading the way to the front door behind which he vanishes into the unlit hallway.
"Peter...what...?" Alicia slowly follows Peter into the house. Suddenly the lights go on and a loud mixture of 'Surprise!' and 'Happy Birthday!' shouts surround her.
She needs a few seconds to realize that all of her family, some colleagues and friends are gathered in front of her.
Peter and her kids emerge first from the crowd to hug and congratulate her.
"I thought you all had forgotten about it." Alicia is on the verge of tears hugging her family close.
"It was so hard not to say anything, Mom." Grace places a kiss on her cheek.
"Sorry, I didn't call, Mom. But Dad gave us serious instructions." Zach steps back and smirks at her and his father.
"So, this was your idea, Peter. I should've known it!" she slaps him playfully on his shoulder flashing him an angry stare.
"Sorry, babe." Peter casts down his gaze. "But I had already planned all of this and then you said you didn't want to celebrate at all. So I came up with this radical idea. Are you mad?" he peers up again with an apologetic glance.
Alicia tries to maintain her serious face but all too soon her lips curl up into a small smile.
"I was mad this morning. No, mad is not the right word. I was disappointed that no one remembered my birthday but I had never thought it was on purpose." she reaches for Peter's hand and squeezes it lightly.
"Happy Birthday, babe." he leans in to kiss her briefly on the lips and steps aside to let Alicia's mother, Owen and the other guests congratulate Alicia.
A while later Alicia finds herself alone in the dining room watching some of the guests dancing through the open doors to the living room.
She chuckles at the odd pairings. Somehow Eli has ended up with Veronica and Jackie with Owen.
"Having fun?" Peter walks up behind her and places a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, it was just an exhausting day. But thanks for doing this." she turns her head and smiles at him.
"So, too beat to dance with your husband?" he sits down next to her.
"No, but we might need to save Eli and Owen first." she gestures towards the living room.
"Yes, I saw that. You really think they need saving?" he laughs.
"Come on." Alicia stands up grabbing Peter's hand pulling him with her.
"But you save Eli, ok?" she looks at him laughing at the panic rising in his face upon the prospect to dance with his mother-in-law.
"Coward!" she teases him an amused smile playing on her lips.
"Maybe, but I'll get my dance later?"
"Sure."
~o~
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Owen." Alicia hugs her mother and brother good bye at the door.
"This was a nice idea, Alicia. Though it was Peter's."
"Mom, you never fail to disappoint me." Alicia rolls her eyes.
"I try. Good night, Alicia." Veronica just winks at her.
Alicia closes the door walking back into the living room where she finds Peter on the couch his back facing her. She walks up behind him sliding her arms around his shoulder kissing him on the cheek.
"Thank you. I had a great time. This was the perfect gift." she rests her chin on his shoulder asking herself why she dreaded this day so much this year. Even to the point she didn't want to celebrate at all. So she really is happy that Peter organized this party for her despite the method of total ignorance he choose to surprise her even more.
"Speaking of your gift. The party wasn't all you're getting." he smirks at her grabbing her hand that rests on his chest.
"Really? But this was already enough. It surely wasn't easy to organize all this and make sure everyone behaved in the same cruel way." her tone is laced with accusation but her eyes reveal she's mocking him.
"The last part was easy." he teases her back while she walks around the couch to sit down next to him.
"If you say so." she plays along with his taunting. "So, what other gift do I get?"
He reaches into his shirt pocket to retrieve a small card that he hands her, smiling.
Alicia takes it from him reading the short text written on the inside:
The greatest gift
you can give
To someone
Is your time.
She looks up flashing Peter a puzzled glance.
"That's a beautiful quote, Peter, but what am I missing?"
"The last months were not easy on us. New working situations for both of us, we moved and Zach left for college. And I know we both keep complaining about the little time we have as a family, not to mention the time we actually spend as a couple. So next week we both have off." he hears her gasp at his words, opening her mouth to surely object, so he cuts her off immediately. "No discussion. I already talked to Cary. All is arranged. All you have to do is decide if we stay home or go somewhere. Your call, babe." he smiles at her slightly amused by the disbelief he reads in her features.
"Can you do that? Just not be in the office for a week?"
"I made it possible. So stop questioning it and start thinking about where you want to go."
"This really is the perfect gift." she leans in to kiss him softly on the lips.
"Your welcome, babe." he smiles at her once they break the kiss.
"Sorry, we didn't get our dance." she smiles sadly.
"Then let's do it now." he stands up offering her his arm.
"Now? We have no music." she watches him skeptical.
"Who needs music?" he prompts, pulling her upwards into his arms once her hand rests in his.
They start swaying to the soundless music.
"Are you happy?" Peter breaks the comfortable silence after a while.
"Yes."