Hey everyone! Yay! I got to update! I have been busy this week, but it's a good thing. I feel so weird not having a set schedule because of camp. So being busy is a good thing. But I really liked this chapter, I feel like it is an important moment for first time parents. I know I'll probably make it a big deal when I get married and have kids. So here is this chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Inception is Mr. Nolan's. He's a genius, what can I say?
"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this." Eames told Arthur and Ariadne as they paced around the living room.
"Eames, it's his first birthday. He deserves it to be special." Ariadne replied, stopping to look at her son who was crawling around on the floor.
"He's not going to remember it anyways!" Eames reasoned.
Arthur glared at Eames, turning to look at Cobb for support. Cobb chuckled and moved to stand next to his friend.
"Eames, just let it go. You don't understand. At least not until you have kids. Then it all becomes too real and you do crazy things."
"Crazy is an understatement." Eames mumbled.
"It's more important to the parents." Yusuf chimed in. He hadn't been around much, and it was his first time actually meeting Aiden, but he understood the importance of a baby's first birthday.
"I guess so." Eames replied in disbelief. "I just don't understand why he needs presents, cake, and friends. He's a baby! How does he even know what a friend is?" Eames stood up, raising his hands in exasperation.
"Just let it go Eames." Cobb chuckled. Eames scowled and turned to Arthur and Ariadne. "Well I'm leaving. I don't want to be here for any more of this nonsense."
Aiden gurgled and hiccupped as Eames walked by, oblivious to the stress and restlessness his parents were dealing with. Ariadne smiled and bent down to scoop him up, playfully tickling him.
Arthur grinned and walked over to the two, kissing Aiden's nose. Cobb watched the interaction tenderly. He remembered how he and Mal had been when Philippa was born. Her first birthday was disastrous, which is why he wanted to help Arthur and Ariadne out.
Yusuf cleared his throat and stood up, clearly uncomfortable watching such an intimate moment between the family.
"I'm going to leave. Let me know when the party is. I'll be there for sure." He smiled warmly at them and left quickly.
"Alright, let's finish planning this party." Cobb rubbed his hands together, waiting for Arthur and Ariadne to stop freaking out.
Ariadne nodded and took a seat across from Cobb. Arthur followed, gracefully sitting down and taking Aiden from Ariadne, bouncing him on his lap.
"Now, you need to remember that you don't have to go all out for this. I suggest you keep the party small, only close people. It makes it more special and intimate. It also keeps you from having to stress out." Cobb started. He held up his hand when Ariadne opened her mouth to protest.
"Trust me on this. You also don't need balloons and tons of decorations. First birthdays are special, but it isn't about the look of things. Remember to relax and keep in memorable. A cake, a nice small meal, and a few presents will suffice."
Arthur nodded, turning to look at Ariadne. She looked hesitant, but he knew she'd listen to Cobb. They did ask him to help for a reason.
"Alright, but you better go shopping with us. Because if not, I'll go crazy." Ariadne replied, knowing that if she didn't have Cobb there to control her, she'd go all out on this.
"You do have a camera right?" Cobb asked.
"Of course." Arthur replied. "And a video camera. We've managed to get his first everything's on film so far." He beamed proudly.
Cobb shook his head and grinned. "You really are new parents. Well then, we have everything settled. You just need to make your guest list, and then we'll go shopping."
He stood up and reached for Aiden. Arthur handed him over and watched as Cobb said goodbye to him and tickled him before handing him back to his mother.
"I'll see you two later."
"Thanks Cobb." Ariadne stood up and hugged the Extractor. He nodded and left, leaving the three alone.
Arthur and Ariadne had decided that they just wanted to spend Aiden's birthday with the team. They were pretty much family and they couldn't think of anyone else they'd rather spend this special time with.
Ariadne had cooked up a nice French meal, with Arthur's help, and she had added a few small decorations to the dining and living room. Arthur had ordered a cake and he wouldn't let anyone see it until it was time. Not even Ariadne knew what it looked like.
Cobb, James, Philippa, and Miles were the first to arrive. The older men insisting on helping set up the tables. James and Philippa took it upon themselves to take care of Aiden while the adults prepared his party.
"This all looks delicious Ariadne." Cobb had commented, taking out the dishes and setting them on the table.
Ariadne blushed. "Thanks."
"Arthur helped you didn't he?" He asked, taking in her sheepish expression.
"A little." She admitted.
"But in her defense she was doing fine." Arthur grinned, kissing her temple.
"Where's the cake?" Miles asked, looking around the kitchen.
"Arthur hid it. He won't even let me see it until it's time." Ariadne grumbled, glaring at her husband.
"Trust me, it's worth the wait." He winked at her and she pouted, wrinkling her nose. Arthur chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.
"You're cute when you do that." He whispered before kissing her softly.
"Gross! Uncle Artie is kissing Auntie Ari!" James shrieked, running out of the kitchen.
Cobb and Miles laughed, playfully pulling the two apart. "Not in front of the children." Cobb scolded.
A loud knock on the door resounded through the room. Arthur sighed, knowing very well who it was. He stalked towards the door, opening it slowly but Eames shoved it open, ramming the door into Arthur's nose.
Arthur keeled over, holding his nose as blood streamed down his face. Eames, a look of horror on his face, knelt down and helped Arthur up.
"Arthur! I'm so sorry! I didn't think your nose was so close to the door."
"Shut up and get me something to stop the bleeding. I think it might be broken." Arthur snapped.
Eames nodded and rushed to the kitchen, finding Cobb and Ariadne talking. When they saw Eames worried face they stopped talking and looked at him.
"What's wrong?" Ariadne asked.
"I just gave your husband a bloody nose. It might be broken."
Ariadne sighed and shook her head. "You know, if you keep causing trouble Arthur is going to ban you from the house."
She excused herself and left to look for a wash cloth. When she came back Arthur was sitting down at the kitchen table holding his nose. Blood was thick around his nose and there was some in his hands, but the bleeding had stopped. She grimaced and slowly made her way to him, carefully cleaning off the blood.
"Well it's not swollen. Does it hurt?" She asked.
Arthur shook his head. "Just a bit. I don't think it's broken, but he hit me hard." Arthur scowled and looked over to where Eames was playing with Aiden.
"Watch him." He pointed to the Forger. Ariadne rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Well I guess we're just waiting on Yusuf." Ariadne said, trying to change the subject and help Arthur cool off a bit. "Why don't you start filming and I'll take some pictures."
Arthur nodded, hoping that his face wouldn't swell up and turn nasty. He didn't want pictures of him with a black eye and bruised nose for his sons first birthday.
"Ari." He quickly called out before she started to get carried away with taking pictures. She turned around, her summer dress twirling as she did so.
"Hmm?"
"I'm not swelling or bruising am I?" He asked, hoping that he wasn't.
Ariadne moved closer to him, taking his face in her hands and turning it gently. She cleared her throat and made a small noise.
"You'll be fine. There's some swelling, but it doesn't look like you'll bruise. At least not tonight. You might tomorrow." She replied, kissing his cheek when he grimaced.
"Well take lost of pictures of me now while I still look good then." Arthur mumbled.
"You always look good." She said, kissing him softly.
Pleased with her comment Arthur stood up a little straighter and headed to the living room to pick up his son. Aiden was enjoying all the attention he was getting, crawling towards James and Philippa and cooing at Eames.
"Come here little buddy." Arthur said, picking Aiden up and swinging him up. Aidne let out a giggle and waved his hands in front of Arthur's face. Patting it when Arthur pulled him closer. Arthur chuckled and turned when a flash went off.
Ariadne grinned and showed him the picture. It was the perfect Kodak moment, as cliché as that sounded.
"See, you look fine." Ariadne smiled widely at him, kissing her son on the cheek. "Both of you do. I swear, he looks just like you." She shook her head and walked off, taking pictures of James and Philippa, Eames, Cobb, Miles, and the kids together, and a group picture.
She took pictures throughout the night, the memory card ended up getting full and she couldn't take any more pictures without deleting any. She sighed and turned to Arthur, who was smirking.
"Don't worry, I've gotten just about everything on film. We can record Aiden eating the cake."
"But I wanted pictures of him eating cake." She pouted and turned on the camera, browsing through pictures and deciding which ones to delete.
She sighed, closed her eyes, and deleted ten pictures. Arthur chuckled and pulled her into a hug. She mumbled something about evil cameras before hearing a squeal and jumping.
Aiden was trying to stand up. Ariadne gasped and pulled Arthur with her to the living room.
"Turn the camera on Arthur! Start filming! He's finally starting to stand up!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth in excitement.
"He hasn't started walking yet?" Eames asked.
Arthur and Ariadne shook their heads. "We were worried he wouldn't learn."
"Babies learn at their own paces. It's not unusual for babies to start learning at one. Some learn sooner, others don't. I think he's just observant like his parents and wanted to get it right. See." Miles said, motioning towards Aiden who was slowly pulling himself up and trying to stand straight.
"My God. He's anal like Arthur." Eames declared.
"Shut up Eames! Don't ruin this moment." Arthur hissed, still recording his son.
"It's a very important and memorable moment. Leave them alone." Cobb defended.
"It's almost as big as their first words." Miles agreed. "Has he started talking yet?"
Ariadne nodded. "He says papa and mama."
"Papa? Who taught him that?" Eames asked, earning glares from everyone in the room.
"We don't know. He just started saying it. We tried to get him to say dada, but he liked papa instead." Arthur replied.
Eames rolled his eyes, not believing that Aiden was taking after his dad so much. It was ridiculous. They don't need another stick in the mud around.
"Just what we need, another stick in the mud." He groaned. Arthur smacked the back of his head, glaring.
"My son is not a stick in the mud."
"Well he's taking after you, so I'd say he is." Eames retorted.
Ariadne glared at Eames. "Eames, don't talk about my son and husband like that." She warned.
"Alright, alright. Ease up a bit will you?"
"Papa!" Aiden called out, crawling towards his dad after falling down. Arthur looked down, moving the video camera to record his son.
"Hey buddy." Arthur smiled as Aiden reached up and made a grabbing motion with his hands. "You want me to pick you up?"
Arthur quickly handed the video camera to Cobb and picked up his son. He led the group to the kitchen, preparing Aiden for his first birthday cake. He placed him in his high chair and Ariadne made sure she took pictures of the cake, Aiden, and Arthur cutting the cake while Cobb recorded every moment.
Arthur placed a small piece of cake in front of Aiden, holding his hands back while everyone sang happy birthday to him. As soon as they finished singing and Arthur and Ariadne helped Aiden blow out the candles, Arthur let go of Aiden's hands and he grabbed the piece of cake, smashing it between his fingers and placing it in his mouth.
Ariadne and Arthur laughed while Eames made a disgusted face and James asked why he couldn't do that.
"Alright, let's get you cleaned up little man." Arthur finally said, grimacing as he looked at Aiden's dirty clothes, face, and hands. Ariadne giggled and rolled her eyes.
"I'll clean up here." Cobb offered.
"I'm actually going to head out now." Yusuf yawned and smiled fondly at Aiden. "Happy birthday Aiden." He quietly told the cooing baby in Arthur's arms.
"I think I'll head out too." Eames said, stretching. He walked towards Arthur and Aiden and knelt down so he was eye level with the baby.
"Don't be too much of a stick in the mud like your father. I want to be able to give you awesome gifts that you'll use." Eames winked at Arthur and patted Aiden on the head. He squealed and started kicking as Eames stood up.
"Don't tell my son stuff like that Eames." Arthur warned, sighing as he walked away.
"I'll see you all later." Eames told Ariadne, kissing her cheek before leaving.
"We'll stay and help clean up." Miles offered.
"You really don't have to do that." Ariadne protested.
"Ah, but we want to." Miles grinned and started picking up the plastic plates and throwing them away. Cobb and the kids were cleaning up the living room and Ariadne was putting food away. She smiled fondly at the cake, noticing that Arthur had ordered a cake with tiny bishops and dice as the border. It was a red and white cake, and in the middle was Aiden's name in fancy writing.
Arthur walked back out, carrying a clean baby. He noticed Ariadne smiling at the cake and raised his eyebrows.
"A penny for your thoughts."
Ariadne jumped slightly. "Oh, I was just thinking of what a great cake you picked." She smiled at him and moved closer to kiss him.
"Well I had to special order it." Arthur blushed.
"You're adorable." Ariadne cupped his cheek and kissed him, shrieking when Aiden pulled her hair. "Ow!"
"Aiden!" Arthur scolded gently. Aiden giggled, but kept his grip on his mother's hair.
"Please let go of mommy's hair." Arthur softly asked, gently opening his tiny hand, releasing Ariadne's hair from his grip.
"Well it looks like he's picking up a bad habit." Cobb chuckled. Ariadne frowned, rubbing her scalp.
"I'll break that habit." Arthur replied, a frown also on his face.
Cobb laughed and called his kids. "We're going to head out now. James and Philippa are going to be out soon."
"Thank you for coming Cobb." Ariadne smiled, and moved to hug him as the kids ran into the room and ran around Arthur's legs.
"We want to say bye to Aiden!" They exclaimed. Arthur laughed and knelt down. James hugged the small baby and Philippa kissed him on the nose.
"Bye Aiden! Happy Birthday!" They said as the skipped to their father's side.
"May I?" Cobb asked, reaching out. Arthur handed Aiden to Cobb. "Happy Birthday Aiden. You have some awesome parents. So I'd say you have the best birthday gift ever."
"Daddy! I'm tired!" James whined.
"Alright, we better go."
Ariadne took Aiden from Cobb and watched as he and Arthur hugged. Miles walked up behind Arthur and Ariadne and placed his hands on their shoulders.
"You have a beautiful baby. He's going to grow up to be such a gentleman. I'm proud of you two. And if you ever need a sitter, call me." Miles grinned and tickled Aiden.
"Goodnight. Thank you for everything." Arthur told the men. They nodded and quietly left.
The house was now silent and Ariadne and Arthur had to sigh in relief. They walked to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, Aiden still in Ariadne's arms.
Aiden let out a huge yawn and attempted to keep his eyes open. Arthur smiled and brushed his hair back. He looked at Ariadne but she was already asleep. He reached for the camera and took a picture of this moment, not wanting to forget it. He pulled his family closer to him and closed his eyes, letting sleep overtake him.
Hehe...baby's first birthday! I really couldn't resist! :) So what did you think? Let me know! After this chapter I'm going to do one where it jumps through a couple of years. I'll write little snippets about different ages, but I want to get to Aiden a little older so he can ask questions that shock his parents ;) Hehe! Review please!