Author's Note: So now the real fun begins! Mia's Birthday Dinner, not as fun as her actual birthday party (which was a lot of fun to write by the way. Heheheh, Poor Mike, he just can't win, but we'll get to that in a couple of chapters 'grins'), but still a lot of fun overall. Anyway, I'll just up and let you all ready and you can then, tell me what you think.


Chapter Two

I wasn't. On time, that is, when I got to the restaurant.

No matter how fast I ran home, changed my clothes, got Mia's present before running from home to the restaurant where Mia's birthday dinner was being held, I was still late.

And almost the moment that I reached it, the moment that I arrived out front of Les Hautes Manger front doors I knew I wasn't going to fit in.

I was half tempted to turn and bolt; feeling panic and lack of self-worth start to overwhelm me as I looked into a restaurant fill with people dressed in expensive clothes and with huge check books.

It was a place I'd never fit into, a world where I did not belong, even if I tried. A world I didn't even really want to belong to, except…

Just when I started to give into the overwhelming desire to just head home, I saw her.

She was sitting at a table with her father, mother, grandmother and step-father, looking bored out of her mind, but there was also something else, she looked lonely, like she too, felt like she didn't belonged in there anymore than I did.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, braced myself and walked inside the restaurant. The looks I received as I entered did nothing to calm my nervousness, but I forced myself to ignore the looks, focusing mainly on trying to regain my breath from all the running I had done this afternoon.

It was Lars who saw me first, who stopped the head waiter guy from giving me a hard time by coming over to where I was hesitating, taking me firmly by the shoulder and basically dragged me over to where everyone else was sitting.

"You'll do fine." Lars muttered, before giving me a final push causing everyone at Mia's table to look around at me, which was just as nerve-racking as actually coming into the restaurant.

Though Mia's surprised, happy look that she gave me as I sat down beside her did help calm me down, my heart was still racing but I wasn't feeling like I was going to be sick from nerves anytime soon. Especially when everyone else at the table welcomed me warmly. Well, when I say everyone, Mia's grandmother excluded though she seemed to be holding her tongue, possibly for Mia's sake since it was her birthday after all.

I was grateful that almost immediately after I had sat down, it was decided that it was time to give Mia her birthday presents, taking away some of the awkwardness that I had been feeling for my late arrival.

So while Mia opened her gifts, I focus most of my energy on trying to get myself to relax in the company that I was currently in. I mean, it possibly wouldn't have been so bad if it had just been Mia, her Mom and Mr G because hey, I've known Helen since I was nine years old and we've always gotten on well. I've always thought she was cool for an adult and she, when she spoke to me, never treated me like a child. And Mr G, he's been one of my favourite teachers since I started at AEHS in year nine, so while, yeah it was weird to be having dinner with my year nine algebra teacher, it wasn't half as bad as having dinner with Mia's father and her grandmother. I mean, beside the well known fact that no father likes any guy who dates his daughter, there is also the extra bonus of him being a Crown Prince of a country (albeit a small one, but hey, it's still on the world map!), meaning if I do something wrong in his eyes, I could be knocked off by one of his bodyguard (maybe Lars), and no one would ever know where the hell my body ended up. And Mia's grandmother? Don't even get me started, but for the moment, she seems to be leaving me alone… for now.

I tuned back into what was going on around me once Helen and Mr G had finished setting the ground rules for Mia's new mobile phone, which she was insanely happy about, even with all the rules that go with her having it. In fact, the real reason behind her being given one by them is so that Helen can get in contact with Mia for when she goes in to labour because she wants Mia there for the birth of her new little brother or sister. Something, I know, for a fact that Mia is trying to wiggle her way out of. Not the having her new little brother or sister, just not being around when they're being born into the world.

Anyway, it was sort of amusing how everyone at the table sort of held their breath when Clarisse handed Mia her gift, though I couldn't see much danger in a large envelope. Actually the envelope contained something that was more surprising than dangerous, causing Mia's eyes to widen in disbelief as she read the letter that was inside the envelope before looking at her Grandmother, quite speechless.

It was even more amusing to see Clarisse looking uncomfortable for once, especially when she spends so much of her time making others uncomfortable.

She tried to cover her discomfort by sniffing and looking disinterested as she said, in her thick French accent, sounding bored and nonchalant, "I can't help you end world hunger, but I suppose I can help you send one little girl to bed every night with a good dinner."

Mia looked even more surprised that she started to blurt out something that sounded like, "But, Grandmere! You hate poor people!"

She said it so fast that only a couple at our table caught on to what she had said and had to make it look like we were coughing instead of laughing. Mr G winked at me and I felt myself becoming more comfortable.

With great glee, Mia showed me the letter that declared her the official sponsor of an African orphan girl by the name of Johanna. I smiled, as I knew just how much this meant to her.

Lil is always talking about changing the world and making a difference (which she probably will, from sheer will and brute force if nothing else), but it is Mia whose heart is really into this type of thing. Saving the Whales, Green Peace, helping starving orphan, these are all things Mia wants to do with all her heart.

She wants to make a difference and is actually taking the steps to make those differences, not simply talking about them and then getting bored. I'm not saying that Lil does this because in truth she doesn't care about the world. She does, very much and she wants to help change it for the better but she has a very much an 'Now' personality.

If she can't make a difference at this very moment, she moves on to something else, unlike Mia, who actually sticks by what she believes in, and is in it for the long haul.

I was a little surprise, but then not really, when Lars gave Mia a present next. You could see that Clarisse didn't approve but kept her mouth shut and Mia's father looked a little surprised but no one said anything as he gave to her his present or when she opened it.

"Here Princess," Lars said with a smile as he came forward from his wall, where he had been standing doing his bodyguard duty, "Happy Birthday."

He handed her an odd looking package and Mia smiled back at him, though there was a surprise look in her eyes as she unwrapped it.

It was a cap, but not just any cap. It was an authentic New York Police Department Bomb Squad baseball cap, from an actual NYPD bomb squad. It was given to Lars after he did a sweep of Clarisse's suite at the Plaza for any incendiary devices prior to a visit from the Pope. He was so proud to be given it by the bomb squad that I was a little startled that he would give it to Mia.

As was Mia, who looked from it to him, her facial expression confused. She knew how much Lars loved that cap just as well as I did. We had heard the story of how he got it often enough to know how much value he held it at.

But Lars seemed to be fairly sure on giving Mia the cap because he simply grinned at her and told her once more Happy Birthday.

I started to get nervous again then as I fumbled with a small, flat box that was sitting innocently in my jacket pocket. I couldn't think how to give it to her. I guess I should blame shyness, but in truth I simply didn't want to give it to her in front of her family. Stupid, right? But I just couldn't find the courage to simply hand it to her.

So it was something of a blessing when the adults started talking, a very neutral topic I might point out, and Mia stood up with her diary and her new purple pen (from her dad) with HRH Princess Amelia Renaldo engraved on it (you could just tell that Helen wanted to say something about the Renaldo but was holding her tongue) and headed for the restaurant's ladies room, so that she could write in her diary in peace.

I got up almost as soon as she had left the table and followed her, catching her just as she started down the stairs to the ladies room.

"Mia," I said as I caught her arm, stopping her from going down the stairs. She looked around at me in surprise, "this is for you. Happy Birthday." I said with a smile as I pulled out the flat box wrapped in gold foil from within my jacket pocket and handed it to her.

Her eyes widen in surprise as she took the box from me, carefully placing her diary and new pen down upon the stairs railing as she did so.

But she didn't open it; she just kept looking up at me in surprise.

"Michael," she protested slowly, staring up into my eyes, "but you already gave me a present! You wrote that song for me! You got detention for me!" I saw a hint of distress as she finished and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, that." I was a tiny bit embarrassed about that, the getting the detention part, that hadn't been a part of my plan. I could feel my ears turning red, but I kept going, "That wasn't your present. This is."

Still, she hesitated for a moment until I said, "Go on, open it." and smiling down at her fondly.

With a small sigh and a somewhat coy smile at me, she opened my present, gasping softly as she did so.

"From when we were at the Non-Denominational Winter Dance," I said quickly, worried that she might not have understood the meaning behind my unusual birthday present, "Remember the paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling of the gym?" Because it was now that I was beginning to think how weird my choice of present for her was. A necklace with a tiny, silver snowflake? No one would understand what the pendant stood for. Which had kind of been the point behind my getting the snowflake necklace for her. That it would be something that was just between the two of us, that only we understood the meaning of the snowflake, but if she didn't get it…

But before I could worry too much about my odd present, her arms were suddenly wrapped around my neck, her mouth pressed against mine in a very welcoming, happy kiss.

"You like it?" I asked when we pulled apart for air.

Mia beamed widely up at me.

"I do, thank you so much." I just grinned back at her, kissing her again, even though I knew there were people around and probably looking straight at us, but at that moment I didn't care because I was happy. I was happy because she was happy.

When we finally pulled apart, she immediately started to try and put the necklace on, which, of course, made me even happier.

"Here." I said with a chuckle, taking the necklace from her, unclasping it and putting it around her neck, her turning her back to me so that I had an easier time re-clasping it for her, so that the snowflake now rested just below her collarbone.

"It's so pretty." Mia said smiling down at the snowflake.

"I'm glad that you like it."

"Of course."

I headed back to the table after that, to let Mia write in her diary in peace.

I sat back down in my seat and listened to the neutral talk of those around me. As I sat there listening, I could help but frown as I heard an unusual whimpering from underneath the table.

I leant a little down and looked under the table, feeling my mouth drop in disbelief at what I was seeing.

It was a dog, a tiny, balding one at that, sitting in a bag underneath the table by Clarisse's feet. So this was the infamous Rommel that Mia had told me about.

I looked up again and at the people around the table. I saw Mia's father looking at me and shaking his head, mouthing 'don't ask' before giving me an amused but self-suffering grin.

I grinned back at him, but that was when the ruckus started underneath the table.

I frowned again just as the bald, rat looking dog shot out from underneath our table.

"Um," I started but yelling around the restaurant drowned me out.

"Rommel!" Clarisse shrieked while the rest of us simply stared dumbstruck at the scene unfolding before us.

Oh, this can only go well, I thought as Mia's father, Lars, Mr G and I got up from our chairs, moving towards the rodent looking dog. And so it did, well, actually it got worse, as, of course, it would.

A busboy, who apparently hadn't notice the ruckus that was going on in the restaurant, was walking in our general direction carrying an enormous tray of half-empty soup bowls. We thought that we had Rommel cornered by the seafood bar, when the damn dog darted out and into the path of the busboy, tripping him up and the next thing everyone knew, there was lobster bisque flying everywhere.

Well, when I say everywhere, most of it landed on Mia's grandmother who gave this almighty shriek. It took a lot of effort not to crack up laughing at the scene in front of me, but somehow I managed to control myself by focusing my effort of grabbing the rodent or giant rat as the patrons of Les Hautes Manger were calling him.

He let out a pitiful yelp when I finally snagged him, his tiny legs still kicking out pathetically as I lifted him high off the restaurant floor. It took the combine effort of me, Lars and Mr.G to finally grab the stupid little dog, right before he could run out the revolving door and out into Fifth Avenue and becoming a rodent-dog pancake.

"Though why we don't just let that happen to the little…" Lars grumbled as he made sure that I had a firm hold on the stupid dog. Mr G chuckled while I grinned, before heading over to where Clarisse was being cleaned up by the overly apologetic Les Hautes staff members.

She glared at me as I came forward with her bloody dog, like this was all somehow my fault. I fought to control my face, to keep myself from glaring at her.

She took her stupid hairless dog from me without a word of thanks, clutching him to her chest, while the silly thing trembled in her arms as if he was mortally scarred by the damaged that he had caused.

It was then that Mia came back from the ladies, her eyes wide with shock as she took in the scene in front of her.

"What happen?" she started as she came to stand by my side.

"Do you want the full story or the cliff-notes version?" I asked as I watched her look around at the mess that had been caused by her grandmother's dog.

"Your grandmother's dog…" I started only to be interrupted by the manager informing the busboy that he was fired. The boy, Jangbu was his name, looked like he was going to cry. He kept apologizing over and over again to Clarisse.

With all the apologizing that he was doing, there was a moment that it looked like his manager was going to take back his words of firing him, except that Jangbu's repeated apology fell upon deaf ears when it came to Clarisse. Note to self; never, ever piss this woman off!

Anyway, I gave Mia the cliff notes version of what had happened and she looked horrified before turning furious.

I leant back, alongside with Lars, against one of the restaurants walls, and watched as Mia defended Jangbu against his being fired because of something that was all her grandmother's dog's fault.

It was quite impressive and it was obvious that Mia had the attention of everyone in the restaurant; every single patron was listening to what she was saying. And I think she would have had every patron in the restaurant demanding for Jangbu to get his job back, if only her grandmother hadn't been so stubborn.

She stubbornly ignored Mia's pleas on Jangbu's behalf, about him being an immigrant, that many busboys are and that they are new to this country, with families to support back in their homelands and so on but Clarisse simply snorted at what Mia was saying.

"Grandmere," Mia cried in desperation, looking beside herself with anger. Another note to self, never, ever, ever piss Mia off! "What makes Jangbu so different from Johanna, the African orphan you are sponsoring on my behalf? Both are merely trying to make their way on this planet we call Earth." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a number of patrons nodding along with what Mia was saying.

"The difference between Johanna and Jangbu," Clarisse snapped, giving Mia this sort of evil eyed glare, "is that Johanna did not SPILL SOUP ALL OVER ME!"

It became pretty clear after that that the argument over Jangbu's job was over.

"Well, that went well." Mia grumbled once we had left the restaurant twenty minutes later. I wrapped an arm around her, sliding us both a little further into the gathering crowd that was gathering outside the Les Hautes Manger. Someone had obviously rung the Papz, because they were starting to push their way through the crowd towards the restaurant.

Lars was close to our side but was making himself look like one of the curious crowd instead of standing out as Mia's bodyguard.

Helen, Mr G and Mia's father came to our side shortly afterwards. Helen looked somewhat smug, though her smug looked was being sent in Mia's Dads direction who was simply rolling his eyes back at her in irritation.

I saw Mia eying them, as if she was waiting for some sort of fight to break out between them. She didn't look concerned or bothered by the idea of them fighting (if fighting was what they were going to do), simply exasperated.

"Where's Grandmere?" Mia asked her father tiredly and he rolled his eyes.

"Has gone back to the Plaza."

"Leaving us with her mess." Mia grumbled as Helen gave a knowing snort.

"Yes, not that you'll be dealing with it." Mia's father said as he took hold of Mia's shoulders and marched her out of the crowd. Once we were clear, he handed her a fifty.

"Go and do something." He said nodding to both of us. "Have her home by ten thirty." He said to me while Helen mouthed 'eleven' at me.

"Yes sir." I said will nodding to Helen who grinned at me.

"Well, we're going to call it a night." Helen said as she hugged Mia before she took Mr G's arm and dragged him towards a taxi line-up.

"Bye Mom. Bye Mr G." Mia called, waving after them. "Bye Dad?" she said to her father.

"Night Mia, Happy Birthday." He gave her a hug before turning to me and held out his hand. "Good night Michael." I shook his hand and he too headed off into the crowd, though almost as soon as he entered the crowd, a huge man started shadowing him.

I glanced at Lars but he didn't look bothered by Mia's father's new shadow and I could only figure that he was Philippe's bodyguard.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked once we were alone (with Lars standing nearby of course.).

"Um, I don't really know." Mia said with a slight shake of her head, where she now donned her new NYPD bomb squad cap.

"Hungry?" though I found that at that very moment I wasn't.

Mia shook her head again.

"Not really, not after all that. Though, I guess, I wouldn't mind getting a pretzel."

"Pretzel it is then." I said and wrapped an arm around her waist and we started walking towards the pretzel stand that Mia is particularly fond of.

"Hmmm." I said as we walked down Fifth Avenue.

"What?" Mia asked, looking up at me curiously.

"I was just thinking that you were right."

"About?"

"About tonight being a source of free entertainment." I chuckled and she laughed.