Nine year-old Nathan sat on the floor of the living room, trying to wrap up a present. He was having trouble taping up the edges. Karen came up to her youngest son and sat down next to him.

"Need some help, Nate?" she asked.

"No. I want to do this by myself."

The next day was Lucas's tenth birthday. Karen and Nathan were wrapping up presents and baking a chocolate cake while Dan had taken Lucas out to see a movie to get him out of the way.

"Alright, Nathan. But if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me."

Nathan was determined to get his own present for Lucas this year. All of the previous times, Karen or Dan had taken Nathan to the mall with them and they had picked out some presents together. This year, Nathan wanted it to give Lucas something that he had bought himself. So he had saved up his allowance and asked Karen to take him to the mall. There, he came across a really cool model airplane building kit that cost a bit more than he could afford. Karen helped him out, however, and they left the store with Nathan grinning from ear to ear.

"Luke's going to love it," Nathan smiled.

"I'm sure he will, sweetie," Karen said. "I'm proud of you for saving up your allowance to buy your brother a birthday present. It shows that you're growing up."

"Not as fast as Lucas," Nathan sighed. "I can't wait to be ten!"

"You'll be there soon enough," Karen smiled. "For now just enjoy being nine. Don't wish your life away."

"What does that mean?" Nathan looked confused.

"You'll understand later, I guess... Do you want to help me mix the batter?"

"YES!" Nathan jumped up. "Do I get to lick the spoon after?"

"As long as you don't put it back into the bowl after," Karen laughed, remembering what happened when she and the boys were making the cake for Dan's birthday.

"OK!" Nathan ran into the kitchen and started vigorously mixing the chocolate batter.

"Nathan! Not so fast, you'll spill it all!" Karen ran after him.

That night, after Dan and Lucas had come home, the family had dinner together.

"How was your day?" Karen asked her eldest.

"Great!" Lucas said between bites of spaghetti.

"Me and Dad went to see the new mafia movie that just came out and it's PG-13, but because Dad was with me they let me in! It was sooo cool!"

"No way!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Dan!" Karen looked reprovingly at her husband.

"Lucas, that was supposed to be a secret," Dan laughed. "Oh well. Come on, Karen, it wasn't that inappropriate."

"A mafia movie? For an almost ten year-old?"

"Well, nothing else that was playing was any good."

"Your father's terrible," Karen looked at Lucas. "But I suppose one movie isn't going to corrupt your young mind."

"So can I see the R-rated movie that you and Dad took out the other day?"

"Don't push your luck," Dan looked at his son. "You're turning ten tomorrow, not seventeen."

"Dad?" Nathan piped up. "Can you take me to see a movie sometime?"

"You see what you've done?" Karen looked at Dan. "Now Nathan wants to see the movie too!"

For the rest of dinner, the Scott family argued the appropriateness of PG-13 movies, with Dan, Nathan and Lucas on one side, and Karen on the other.

Sometime after dinner, Karen put Nathan to bed. She still tucked in both of her boys, despite them sometimes telling her that they were getting too old for that. Deep down, she knew that they liked being tucked in and babied.

Lucas had an extra thirty minutes, so long as he was quiet, because he was almost a year older than Nathan. Thirty minutes later, Karen came up to him, reading A Series of Unfortunate Events on the couch, and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Luke, it's time for bed," she said.

"Already? Just five more minutes, please, Mom?"

"Lucas, the earlier you go to bed, the earlier you'll wake up and be ten years old, a double-digit number."

"That's right!" Lucas smiled. "I'll be older than Nathan!"

"Yep," Karen smiled. "So, go wash up, okay? I'll come into your room in a second."

"Sure Mom," Lucas smiled.

After Lucas was all washed up and lying in bed, Karen came in. "I cannot believe my baby is turning ten tomorrow," she said, unsure of whether she was speaking to herself or to Lucas.

"I'm not a baby!" Lucas protested.

"You'll always be my baby," Karen said. "Now go to sleep. When you wake up, it'll be your birthday."
Karen kissed him on the forehead and turned off the lights.

The next morning Karen, Dan and Nathan came into Lucas's room.

"Happy Birthday Lucas!" they rushed over to hug him.

"Thanks, everyone," Lucas said groggily.

"Happy tenth, Brother!" Nathan said.

"Thanks!"

"Now Lucas," Dan smiled. "We could give you time to sleep, or we could open presents. Which would you prefer?'

"PRESENTS!" Lucas yelled out.

"Alright, then," Dan smiled. "Karen, I think our boy wants to open presents first."

A little while later, Lucas was sitting in his bed, surrounded by his birthday presents. A new basketball, some new basketball clothes, a little net for his room, new books, new toys, a couple of computer games and lots of candy.

"Thanks Mom, Dan, Nate," Luke smiled. "This is the best birthday ever!"

"Wait, Luke, I have one more thing for you," Nathan said as Karen nodded at him.

"But I thought," Luke started, but Lucas put a messily wrapped package into his arms.

"A model airplane kit!" Lucas exclaimed as he tore open the wrapping. "Thanks, bro!"

"Nathan bought it all by himself," Karen smiled.

"Thanks, Nate," Luke smiled. "T hat was really nice of you."

"Hey," Nathan looked embarassed. "You're my only brother. I can give up a little allowance for you."

Everyone laughed. "Son," Dan smiled. "Let's go down and have some pancakes. Then your grandparents will come over and we'll all have some birthday cake. And later, you can pick the place where we'll go for dinner."

"Pizza Palace!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Karen laughed. "But it's up to you, Luke."

The Scott family spent a really fun day together. After pancakes, both the Scott grandparents and the Roe grandparents came over. The family hugged, kissed, gave Lucas his presents, ate birthday cake and reminisced about the good old days when the boys were small and well-behaved. For dinner, they all went to Pizza Palace, Lucas's favourite restaurant. After pizza and ice-cream, it was finally time to go home. Back home, Lucas lay in his bed while Karen and Dan sat on both sides of him.

"Did you have a fun day, son?" Dan asked.

"The best! Thanks Mom and Dad," Lucas exclaimed.

"You're welcome, Luke," Karen smiled. "I just want you to know that I love you very much and I want you to have a very happy birthday."

"Me too, Son," Dan who was normally not very good with emotions, said. "I love you."

"Thanks. I'm just kind of sad now that my birthday's over," Lucas sighed.

"Well, you still have your birthday party tomorrow. All your friends will come over."

"Oh yeah," Lucas smiled. "That'll be fun!"

"We love you, son," Karen said again. "Happy Birthday."