This is for those of you who have stuck with me through the crazy college years with my insane schedule. I graduate in May, so I thought this would be a nice treat for all of us. Thank you for all of your support! I promise I WILL get through RRR and UH. :-) But for now, I hope you like this short one-shot about a girl who never had a birthday like this. Those of you who know Misty know what this means to her. Leave me a review to let me know what you think!
Birthday Surprise
She didn't notice the figure slip onto the covers beside her and she slept on as an arm slipped silently over her side.
"Frank…" she mumbled, not at all awake. The figure smiled at the name. She began to murmur warnings in her sleep, "...watch out...but he's...wait for…" The arm gently tightened around her waist over the covers, trying to arouse her.
Misty Drew slowly rose to a semi-consciousness. "Nancy?" She groaned, "I don't wanna get up yet." She felt the figure move beside her, then decided to beg, "Please? Just a few more…" She began to drift off again, but the figure leaned over her to wake her up. Suddenly, someone was kissing her!
Misty jolted awake, pushing against the man whose face was now inches from hers. "Who do you think y—?!" She pulled her fist back defensively, but a soft laugh made her hesitate. She squinted in the dark as he lowered his hands from their protective stance near his face.
"Whew, I thought for sure you were gonna deck me," his voice was laced with merriment, "Remind me not to startle you awake again."
"Frank?" Misty stared wide-eyed at her boyfriend, fully conscious now.
She tried to sit up, but he swung a leg over her, sitting on her waist, and whispered in her ear, "Happy Birthday."
His lips tickled her ear, sending shivers down her spine. A smile spread across her lips, "What are you doing here?"
He shrugged, "We thought it would be a fun surprise."
"You flew down here just for my birthday?" Frank lived in New York and she lived in Illinois, so they didn't always get as much time together as they would have liked.
"Of course," he answered, leaning back down. He gently kissed her again. This time, she relaxed under his touch. "Good morning," he whispered when he pulled away.
"Mmm...good morning," she murmured. After a pause, she stretched her arms above her head and looked into the handsome face of Frank Hardy. His brown hair was combed smoothly over and his sweet smile made his chocolatey eyes light up.
"Did you know you talk about cases in your sleep?" he teased.
"Do not!" she was glad for the cover of dark to hide her blush. She'd actually been dreaming up a new one...and he'd been there, but she didn't have to tell him that.
"Do so," he laughed, taking her hands in his.
"Do not," she mumbled, taking her hands back. She shimmied as best she could further under the covers until just her eyes peered out over the top of her sheet. He gave her a strange look, but didn't say anything. In an effort to change the subject, she poked her chin over the sheet and pinned it down to her chest and quickly asked another question, "Is Joe here too?"
He nodded, grinning widely. "Oh, definitely," he said, "He's downstairs trying to convince Hannah that he's a poor, starved college kid." He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
Misty smiled. "Well, I guess it's technically true." Hannah was an excellent cook, and Joe always loved a good meal. "Wait," her green eyes lit up in alarm as a thought occurred to her, "Does my father know you're in here?"
Frank feigned an expression of fear and then grinned down at her mischievously before leaning down for another kiss, but Misty pushed against his shoulders, keeping him at bay. "I'm serious! He'll kill us if—"
"Relax, he knows." His brown eyes danced in the dim light of dawn streaming through her curtains. "And I promised him no funny business," he said, his lips inches from hers, but before he kissed her, he sat up abruptly. "Now, turn over."
Misty's brows creased in confusion, "What?"
Frank glanced at the clock, and then back at her again, "I told them I'd have you down in an hour, so turn over."
"Why?" she asked as she complied, but before he could answer, she felt his fingers press into her shoulders and a new sense of relief flooded her. She tried not to drool in her pillow as he rubbed her shoulders and moved to her back. He methodically worked on the spots he knew were usually the most sore for her until she felt a pleasant tingle all over. After a while, he took each of her hands and massaged every finger and both palms. Finally, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Are you decent?"
"Mmhmm," she hummed, her brain in a wonderful fog of contentment. She felt him gently pull the covers back and she shivered as the slight chill of the morning air hit her.
Frank noted her reaction and replaced part of the covers, leaving her feet exposed. Wordlessly, he knelt at the foot of her bed and began to massage her feet. He smiled as he heard her sigh. She worked hard and he knew how sore she must be after her most recent case. Nancy had told him they'd done a lot of running for it.
Frank and Joe had been planning to surprise her with a visit for a few months now. They'd coordinated everything with Nancy and Mr. Drew to keep it secret. The boys had flown in late last night and drove over early this morning. It had been Nancy's idea for him to wake her. It was his job to give her a good start to the day and to keep her here until Hannah was ready.
Glancing over at the clock again, he squeezed her foot once more and then patted her calf, "Come on, sleepy head, time to get up."
She grunted again, "Now I really don't wanna get up." Her words were muffled by her pillow.
He smiled and tugged on a foot, "Come on. Hannah will kill me if your breakfast is cold."
Her head popped up, "Breakfast? Ooh!" Misty was generally a morning person, but not until she'd had her breakfast.
"Yeah, breakfast," he outright laughed at her as she literally rolled out of bed. Shaking his head, he stood. Under his breath, he mumbled with a smile and followed her out into the hallway, "You silly goose."
The pair traipsed downstairs and into the kitchen. Misty held her nose high into the air, sniffing, "Something smells absolutely heavenly!"
"Well, I sure hope so!" Hannah Gruen, the Drew's loving housekeeper grinned and enveloped the young Drew in a large embrace, "Happy Birthday, dear!"
"Thanks, Hannah," Misty kissed the old woman's cheek and turned to the table. "French toast! Yes!" She pumped her fist into the air. Her favorite!
"With fresh strawberries from the garden," Hannah slid a steaming plate onto the table.
"It's about time!" blonde-headed Joe Hardy rounded the corner into the kitchen and nearly picked Misty up in his giant hug. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd starve!"
Misty snuggled against his embrace, "Good to see you too, Joe." Joe was like the older brother she'd never had. He always made her laugh and he was a pretty good listener too, but he'd never admit that.
Misty kissed her father's cheek as he wandered into the kitchen with a mug of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other. He nodded in Frank's direction, and smiled at his two daughters before finding his seat at the head of the table.
"No rush," Nancy said, slipping into a seat next to her younger sister, "but we do have the whole day planned out for you, so after breakfast, we've got to get ready to go out."
"Out?" Misty glanced at Nancy, noting the sly twinkle in her deep blue eyes, as she swallowed another bite of her breakfast.
"Yes, out!" Joe nearly shouted, "You can't stay home on your birthday!"
Misty stuck her tongue out at him, "But it's my birthday. I can do what I want."
Her family chuckled around the room, each concentrating on their own plates.
"What?" she was taken aback by the eerily immediate response. When no one opted to clue her in, she reached for her juice and looked from one person to the next.
"You're serious?!" Misty's mouth hung open in disbelief. She stood mid-step on the short stack of stairs that led down into the garage. A distant jingle sounded near her left ear, but she hardly registered the noise over the gleeful giggle of her sister behind her.
"Well?" Carson chuckled, dangling a set of keys near his daughter's ear, "what do you think?"
"Think?" Misty mumbled, her gaze fixed upon the small car parked behind Nancy's blue mustang. Frank and Joe stood beside the small, hunter green Ford escort, grinning from ear to ear. Something snapped inside Misty and she reached for the keys her father held, nearly knocking him over with her crushing embrace. "This is amazing!" she breathed, unlocking the doors.
"Happy birthday, baby," Carson kissed her forehead and watched as she slid behind the wheel of her first car.
"Ah," Nancy warned, holding a finger up just as Misty turned the key—
Chink chink chink tck tck tck chink…
Misty stopped turning the key at the awful noise, glancing wide-eyed at her sister. Nancy looked between Misty and their father. "It needs a little work," she admitted, holding her palms up with a small smile.
"That's right," Carson held up a plastic bag, clanking with the sounds of metal, "But the mechanic assured me that it would run like a dream after you put in a new starter."
"Pop the hood!" Frank hit the hood with his hand, excited. Joe took the bag of parts and tools from Mr. Drew and the man left the kids to their work.
"Not so fast, boys," Nancy pried the bag from Joe's hands and handed it to Misty. She nodded to Frank, a signal only they knew, "Frank."
"Right," he tipped his head to Nance and winked at Misty before abruptly taking off in his rented car.
"Where's he goin'?" Misty held the bag of tools in one hand and pointed after her long gone boyfriend with the other, extremely confused at the turn of events.
"Oh, he'll be back," Joe shooed Nancy, who ran back into the house to attend to her own plans. He gently took Misty's bag and dumped out the contents, "Let's see what you've got here." After a close examination of the parts and tools, Joe began to show Misty some of the basics about the parts under her hood. "It's a lot to take in at once," he glanced over at her, hoping he wasn't going too fast.
Misty shook her head, "No, it actually makes sense." She pointed to the radiator cap, the oil stick, the various fluids and other parts, naming them as he'd told her. Together they pushed the car into the driveway and jacked it up. Just as she started to ask a question, Frank pulled back into the driveway.
"Okay," Joe clapped his hands. He called over his shoulders as his brother came up behind them, "I think she's got the basics down."
"Great," Bess Marvin came around the corner, her long, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Then let's get started."
"Bess?" Misty couldn't believe her eyes. Bess was the fashionista of the gang, but today, she wore a simple t-shirt and an old pair of jeans. She threaded her ponytail through a raggedy baseball cap and picked up a wrench, spinning it expertly in her hand. Before Misty could say anything more, Bess Marvin was under the car, tinkering away.
"And, we'll leave you to it," Joe clapped Misty on the shoulder and the boys headed for their car and drove off.
Bess's muffled voice called up through the engine block, "Misty I'm not doing this for you. Get down here!" Misty quickly obeyed, listening as Bess showed her how to change the oil and change a tire. Finally, Bess watched as she talked her friend through putting in a new starter. By the end of the morning, the two were covered in grease and laughing uncontrollably.
"Okay, turn her over!" Bess called from under the hood. Misty pushed the excited flutter in her stomach down as she turned the key in the ignition again. She couldn't help let loose an enthusiastic whoop as the car started without hesitation.
"Bess! We did it!" Misty jumped out of the car just as the petite blonde slammed the hood shut, rubbing her hands on an old cloth. Misty had to stifle a giggle as she took in the sight before her.
"What?" Bess's blue eyes were dead serious in the question.
"I never would have…" Misty trailed off, staring at the girl before her, "Bess Marvin, star designer in the making, shop-a-holic, and…mechanic extraordinaire?" Bess had been a natural under the car. It obviously wasn't her first time working with a run-down car. Something in her eyes had lit up, a contagious excitement. Misty guessed it was a skill and passion not many people knew that Bess possessed.
Bess shrugged, tossing a wrench she'd been cleaning back into the toolbox at their feet. "Next time we'll talk about how to use jumper cables."
Nancy came bursting out of the house, "I heard the car start!"
"Nan," Misty shook her head, "Did you know—?"
Nancy brushed her off, "Yes, now, no time for explanations, we're running late."
"Late? For what?" Nancy shooed her little sister into the house with instructions to wash up and change.
Nancy let Misty loose at the nearest bookstore with a gift card and told her to be back in an hour and a half. She knew it wasn't much time and that Misty could easily have gotten lost for hours in the store, but they had a schedule to keep and even bookworms had to eat sometime. The girls dropped the books off at the house and headed for the local park.
"Nancy," Misty nearly laughed, "Stop checking your watch! You look like the white rabbit with a nervous tick." Nancy scoffed, feigning hurt as she pulled into a parking space and unbuckled.
"Not at all," she retorted, "I just happen to want lunch before sundown!"
"And why wouldn't we—Ned!" Misty grinned as Nancy's fiance greeted the girls each with a kiss on the cheek.
"Happy birthday, Misty," Ned handed her a sealed envelope, while gently pulling Nancy to him.
"What's this?" she looked up, but the pair was gone. "Hmm!" she turned around in a circle, looking far and wide for the couple. "Well, I'll be!" she turned her attention back to the small envelope in her hand. Meandering over to the empty pavilion in front of the car, she sat to open the strange gift.
"A scavenger hunt?" Misty's eyes lit up, but soon, she noticed there was no list of items to collect. "What is this?" she mused, pulling out the lone clue with the note.
Happy Birthday, Misty.
I hope you can find each
item on my hunt. You'll
know you've reached the
end when we meet again.
Love, Ned
Her first clue seemed easy enough. It led her down the path she often walked around the baseball field and tennis court. At the end of the clue, she found another. Each clue led her to a new spot in the park and with each riddle she collected a new item. Half an hour later, she had picked a four-leafed clover, found a fiery orange maple leaf, collected a rock from the wishing fountain, and pocketed at zip-lock bag of sand from the shore near the lake. Her final clue had her the most puzzled of all.
Stems of men
With eyes black as night
Rimmed in gold
To shine its light
.
Find me here
Standing tall
To end this game
Once and for all
But who had black eyes rimmed in gold? What did "stems of men" even mean? With a huff, she settled herself onto the nearest bench. Closing her eyes, she listened to the gentle summer breeze bristle around her. The wind carried bits of chatter from wandering families, the splashes of children in the lake, and the yelps of dogs running for frisbees.
Ned had been particular with his scavenger hunt. She smiled at the thought he'd put into his gift. He knew her well. She often went to the park for time alone to enjoy the beauty of the world around her. Each riddle had led her to a place she loved in the park. What was another of her favorite spots? What…? Her eyes flew open, fairly sparkling in the sunlight with her sudden revelation. The sunflower fields!
Misty raced through the park until she came to the fields on the edge, filled with sunflowers as tall as men for nearly as far as the eye could see. The flowers reached hungrily for the sunlight, filling the air with a sweet summer aroma. The petals of the flowers shone like sunlight around the dark centers.
"Well," Misty spun at the sound of Ned's voice, "we were just beginning to wonder if you got lost!" Misty proudly brought her treasures to Ned and he led her to the picnic grove on the other side of the field where the others waited.
As the pair came out of the mass of sunflowers, Misty saw Bess and Nancy laying food out on a checkered blanket. Off to the side George Fayne and Joe were putting up a net. Frank tossed Misty a bottle of water and waved them over. The group enjoyed one of Hannah's delicious picnic lunches, savoring the warmth of the summer sun.
Just as the last cookie was devoured, Misty felt herself sliding into a hazy state. "I would be perfectly okay with a short nap," she yawned, laying on the blanket.
"Oh, no you don't," Nancy piped up, pulling on her sister's arms.
Misty moaned playfully, "Nooo! No more surprises."
"But we're not done yet," Joe helped Nancy pull Misty to her feet.
"George, you're up," Nancy pushed Misty toward their friend George Fayne. George was tall and tanned from all the time she spent playing in the sun. She quickly divided the group into two teams and handed each player a racket.
"Badminton tournament," Misty's green eyes were suddenly alert as she realized what the net was for.
"What else did you expect?" George's brown eyes glowed at the excitement. The friends tossed the birdie back and forth over the net, filling the air with laughter. Even passersby stopped to watch for a few minutes before carrying on their way.
As competitive as the group was, they soon lost count of whose team was winning and whose was not. Eventually, the started coming up with more creative ways to keep a score. They would see how long they could keep the birdie in the air between the teams, or see how far someone could bat it. By evening, the crew was thoroughly exhausted.
Just as stomachs began to rumble anew, the last rays of day reflected off of the lakeside, sending soothing colors back into the sky. Misty and Frank sat on the shore, watching the sun set as the others packed up the remains of the picnic lunch and impromptu badminton games. As the sun slowly gave way to darkness, a chill crept back into the air. Frank pulled a light flannel jacket out to hang over Misty's shoulders. He smiled as she snuggled closer to him.
"Well," she sighed, watching the gentle waves of the lake from the last speedboat to drive by for the evening, "I must admit that was a very successful day of birthday surprises."
"Oh?" Frank looked down at her, "and what makes you think the day is over?" She glanced up at him, a question burned into her molten green eyes. With a chuckle, he led her to the car.
"Where are the others now?" she asked.
"This way," he opened the passenger door of his rented car for her, "There's one last surprise for the birthday girl."
"Joe!" Misty tried to cover her chuckle with her hands, but the attempt was unsuccessful. She and Frank had returned to the Drew household to find each of their friends snuggled into a living room full of sleeping bags and fresh popcorn. Hannah brought in trays of hot soup for dinner, insisting pop corn wasn't enough to feed them for the night. And though it at first seemed as if everyone was dressed in pj's for the ultimate slumber party, Joe had dressed in a costume all his own.
"My lady," he bowed, taking her hand to lead her to the center of the sleeping pallets. As she settled in between George and Nancy, Misty looked suspiciously at the three boys who stood before the girls. Frank had hurried out of the room, but returned in his own outlandish outfit.
Ned started off the evening, addressing the girls. He wore a long white robe, tied together with a golden ribbon. Pulling out a tall white hat and placing it on his head, he began, "Movies…movies…are what bwing us togethah today…" The girls burst into fits of giggles at his impression.
Joe stepped up, dressed from head to toe in black, including a black mask. Swiftly, he pulled out a wrapped gift and handed it to Misty. She fought the remnants of her laughter as she revealed her very own DVD copy of The Princess Bride.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Bess pointed to Frank.
Appalled, he drew his plastic sword, pointing it at Bess, "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
"No," Nancy wiped tears from her eyes, "I can't take it."
Frank's face filled with mock indignation. His nostrils flared and he crisply switched targets, pointing his weapon at the eldest redhead, repeating his line with even more gusto, "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father...? Prepare to die!" This time he said it more like a question. With a confused look, he drew his sword back and scratched the top of his head, suddenly uncertain.
Misty fell back into the pile of pillows, unable to believe the absurdity of the boys. Gasping for breath, she waved the DVD at Joe, "Enough. Just put in the movie."
He bowed, grinning in that charming Hardy way as he gently took the case from her hands. "As you wish," he whispered, his blue eyes glimmering.
Joe started the movie, and the boys settled in among the girls. Just as the electronic beeping of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" sounded, Carson stepped into the room with a large bowl of orange candies in hand. Lifting one up, he grinned, "Anybody wanna peanut?"
He handed the bowl of circus peanuts to Nancy and leaned down to kiss each of the girls before bidding them a good night. Misty lay her head against Nancy's shoulder, treasuring the laughter around her as the movie played on. The greatest gift she could have, she knew, was the love of her friends and family.