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When she woke up on that early December day, she knew the day would be special. Ben and Nathan had stayed up late the night before, blowing up balloons, and Julie had baked a cake. Dave had tacked the Rafter birthday banner to hang above the kitchen, and Rachel had wrapped presents late into the night.

She was already awake as Rachel stepped over to the cot, grinning to her bear (a favourite that Rita and Theo Karandonis next door had given her).

"Happy first birthday baby", Rachel whispered, standing over the cot. Ruby beamed up at her, puling herself up on the bars to hold her arms out to her mother. "I can't believe you're one!"

The little girl grinned at her, as Rachel lifted her out of the cot, cradling her in her arms.

"Happy birthday baby girl".

It had been a whole year. One of the longest years of Rachel's life, and yet the shortest at the same time.

In that time, the four pound, six ounce baby girl had grown into her size one clothes, toddling around the house and making life difficult for her uncles (Nathan had learned the hard way to put his Lego up high, as he found Ruby smashing it to pieces in the lounge room one afternoon).

She had learned how to say 'mum', 'pa', 'pop' and a garbled sound that Ben and Nathan were convinced was 'uncle' (Ben, Nathan and boy next door Carbo were taking bets on which name she would say first).

She had moved on from a diet of solely formula to one that contained a variety of vegetables and fruits, bananas being her favourite.

She had cut six teeth (making her mother consider buying shares in Bonjela during the nights that Ruby had kept her awake, her mouth in pain) that made her smile even cuter.

Julie and Dave (with some insistence from Ben and Nathan) had firmly told Rachel that a first birthday party for little Ruby was going to happen, whether the girl liked it or not. Rachel had objected at first (wanting to spent the day at the park with the little girl, Ruby's absolute favourite place in the world), but had come to love the idea.

So she had printed invitations (rather than making them, she had had enough of that when she made the invitations for her naming day, the day where Nathan, Ben and Libby were declared her unofficial godparents), delivering them to everyone invited. Her grandparents, the Karandonis family next door, and of course, her little group of friends (including Alex and Grace Barton, Jake's brother and mother, who absolutely adored little Ruby). It was a mishmash group, but Rachel wouldn't want anyone else to celebrate her daughter's first birthday.

"I can't believe she's one!" Ben commented, as Rachel carried her into the kitchen. Plopping her into the highchair, Rachel nodded.

"I know!"

They had both grown up so much within the year, Rachel barely recognised herself some days.


After breakfast of Julie's famous banana pancakes (a hit with the baby) and diced peaches (another of her favourites), Rachel carried Ruby off to dress her into her birthday outfit (an early present from her grandparents, a green overall dress over a light pink stripy shirt, complete with little white sandals), before getting ready for the real celebrations.

Their guests were scheduled to start arriving at ten thirty, enough time for a small celebration before Ruby crashed for her nap. But with a party hat secured on her head, Ruby didn't look like she would be sleeping any time soon.

"We're gonna party!" Ben said, tossing Ruby up into the air and making her squeal with excitement. "Happy birthday Ruby! Can you say Ben? Can you say Uncle Ben?"

"Nah, she wants to say Uncle Nathan!" Nathan grinned.

She babbled excitedly, her sounds coming out garbled and the pair weren't able to make out even a single sound.

"No idea". Ben shrugged, setting her down on her feet. The little girl toddled away to play with the blocks in the corner, ignoring Nathan completely.

A knock on the door signalled the first of their guests, and Rachel bounded towards it excitedly. "Ruby, come on!"

But Ruby ignored her, continuing to hammer the blocks against each other.

"Hi Nan, hi Granddad", Rachel smiled, as she opened the door.

"Hello darling!" Louise wrapped her arms around her granddaughter, peppering her with kisses. "Where is the munchkin?"

Nathan scooped her up, blocks in hand, bringing her into the hallway. Ruby grinned as she saw her great grandparents, reaching out for Ted. Ted took her in his arms, kissing her cheek.

"She's grown so much since we last saw her!" Louise commented.

"She never stops growing", Ben commented.

"A bit like you! Come here; give your old nan a hug!"

The Karandonis family were next to arrive, showering her with affection and gifts. Rachel thanked them endlessly, all the while waiting for her friends to arrive so they could start the party.

And when that final knock on the door came, she plucked Ruby from her father's arms, carrying her towards the front door.

"Who else is there to come?" she heard her granddad ask her mother.

"Oh, Rachel's friends", Julie answered.

"Happy birthday!"

Rachel, laughing, opened the door to find Jake, Libby, Camel and George standing on the front doorstep, armed with presents and stuffed toys and balloons, huge grins on their faces.

"Hi!"

Ruby waved excitedly, holding out her arms to Libby (Aunty Libby was one of her favourite people) and the older girl reacted just as enthusiastically, taking her into her arms and kissing the top of her head.

"Happy birthday baby girl!" Libby cooed.

"Happy birthday munchkin!" Jake beamed at her, laughing as she gave him a toothy grin in return.

"Happy birthday Ruby Lou!" George reached out to tickle her under the chin, making her giggle.

"Happy birthday kiddo!" Camel just beamed, his smile becoming even wider when Ruby grinned at him.

(They were her beloved uncles and aunt, always able to get a smile out of the little girl.)

"Happy birthday Ruby!" Alex, almost hidden behind his brother and a giant green and pink lizard (matching Ruby's outfit) said excitedly.

Rachel, still laughing, opened the door even wider to let the group of four (Libby still balancing Ruby in her arms) into the house. "Thank you so much for coming-"

"Like we'd miss this!" Jake laughed, taking Alex's hand as he helped him into the house. "Mum is so sorry she couldn't make it, she got a last minute shift at work, and she really couldn't turn it down".

"That's fine", Rachel said with a smile. "I'll send some cake home with you, though, alright? Mum made it, not me", she said hastily, when she saw their faces.

(Food technology was not her best subject, and Jake never failed to remind her, laughing his head off. "Rock scones!")


After a full morning of opening presents (in which newly turned one year old Ruby Louise got ridiculously spoilt), eating and celebrating with cake (which Ruby stuck her hand into, making Rachel laugh and Julie sigh dramatically, having spent the whole afternoon before making), the little girl crashed, on the floor and on top of her pink and green lizard (a new favourite).

"Shoes and all", Libby said, shaking her head. "I'm jealous of all the sleep she gets!"

Louise laughed. "I can't believe she's one. I remember a year ago, she was this tiny little thing, too small to even fit in my arms, and now she's a big girl, running around like she owns the place".

"Everything is severely child locked", Ben nodded in agreement (child locked to the point where he had stood in front of a cupboard screaming something along the lines of 'Mum, how the hell do you open this?!').

"She's a big girl now", Rachel said fondly, running a hand through the mousy brown hair on top of her head (it was halfway between deciding to turn blonde, like Rachel hoped, or turning dark, like Daniel's had been. Rachel was praying for it to turn blonde). With one hand under her neck to support her head and the other wrapping under her back, she lifted her into her arms, carrying her towards the cot.

A year ago, she could barely hold her baby girl.

But a year made such a difference.