Things with the Squid Sisters took off once their first song was out. Sam was happy to find himself humming along to the song on the radio as he moved a rickety old table into his new apartment. He set it down in the kitchen before turning to see Pepper and Calamari carry a couch into the main room.

"Just put it down wherever!" He said quickly.

They both got it out of the doorway and sat it down by the window. "Where'd you get this, Sam?" It's old." Cal asked as she shook her cramping hands.

"A garage sale! Pretty good deal, right?"

"...well...it's somewhere to sit." Pepper shrugged, and decided to sit on the arm himself.

"Maybe I'll save up for a better one. Or maybe I'll get a raise. Callie and Marie really took off!" Sam said with a hopeful grin.

"Oh yeah, aren't they basically the Inkopolis News now?" Calamari asked as she sat down as well.

"Yeah, basically. Zachary moved the old news anchors to another position so Callie and Marie could have it full time." Sam said and put his hand on his hips in a proud stance. "...it's crazy what a month will do."

"It's crazy what a good manager will do." Pepper said with a equally proud smile.

Sam smiled sheepishly. "...they've just got lots of talent. And personality."

"You're not wrong." Calamari muttered. "Anyways...we got the table, bed, couch… anything else we need to move in?"

"No that's it! I'm pretty much moved in. Got the basics." Sam said.

Pepper raised an eyebrow as if to say 'this is all you've got?' before Calamari cut in. "Good, cool. I can take a nap before we go out later."

"Oh, nice where are you going?" Sam asked quickly.

"It's Shrimp and Sal's birthday, we're just gonna go out later and get dinner or something." Calamari explained with a shrug. "You wanna go?"

"Oh no I'm alright. Callie and Marie have a concert later I gotta be there." Sam sighed, and sat on the coffee table they brought in earlier. "Happy Birthday to them though!"

"I'll let them know you said that." Calamari said, then paused as if she thought of something. "...Hey Sam, when is your birthday?"

"Oh, my birthday?" Sam asked sounding surprised. He sort of looked like no one had asked him that question before. "Uuuhhhh…."

There was an uncomfortably long silence before Cal spoke up. "...please tell me you know when your birthday is."

"...nnnoooo I...do not." Sam finally admitted. He saw the look that Calamari and Pepper were giving him and he quickly put up his hands in defense. "Okay listen, I'm the oldest out of three. My parents didn't ever like...say when my birthday was and it's not like I had an older sibling to remember when my birthday is so I just...never...found out?"

"You've never celebrated your birthday? Ever?" Pepper slowly asked.

"No not really, I really just focused on making sure my sisters had a birthday. I never asked." Sam said with a shrug. "...would you guys stop looking at me like I'm an alien."

"We're going to the public records office right now, we're going to get your birth certificate and we're going to find out when your birthday is and we're gonna celebrate it." Calamari said as she stood and walked to the door, motioning for them to follow.

"...so no nap?" Sam asked with a little disappointment.

"No nap until we know when your birthday is, come on!"

He followed her out to the car and climbed in the front seat. He seemed pretty puzzled by all of this. Calamari took him up to the office and waited in line with him. She walked up to the counter with him after a little bit of waiting. The woman smiled, "Hello, what can I do for you two?"

"I need a birth certificate."

"Oh, alright, what's the name?" She asked, looking to the computer in front of her.

"U-Uh...Samuel Osa." Sam spoke up.

She did a little typing. "...John and Mimi Osa?" She asked after a second, and Sam nodded grimly.

"Yeah, those are my parents."

She turned around as the printer behind her started up and spit out a piece of paper which she promptly handed to them. "Here's a copy, anything else?"

"No, no that's it. Thank you!" Calamari said, and hurried off to the side of the room with her, Pepper and Sam. "...okay. If you want to place bets on when his birthday is now is the time."

Pepper kind of hummed. "...I'll put $5 on August."

"We're literally in August, as if his birthday would be so soon. I'll put $5 on….May." Calamari said, and glanced at Sam.

He looked between them, before putting his hands up. "I'm not gonna bet on when my own birthday is that sounds weird."

"...okay, okay fine. Ready?" Calamari asked, before turning the paper over and looking for his birthday. She found it right at the top. "Born to John and Mimi Osa...August 21st."

"I'll take my five now, thanks." Pepper said and held his hand out, to which Cal just slapped his hand.

"There's your five. Anyways, damn Sam your birthday is literally in a week. How convenient to the plot!" Calamari said. "...we can actually plan for your birthday."

"...huh. You don't have to, I'm not really like...dying for one. I've gone without. I don't see the big deal." Sam said after a long moment and just shrugged.

"Uh, we'll make sure it's an awesome party, alright? Everyone needs a birthday party at least once. Right, Pepper?"

"I gotta agree." He said. "...we'll do something for you Sam!"

"...well, if you're sure…" Sam said uneasily.

"We're sure! Come on, now we know when your birthday is we can actually nap." Calamari said, heading for the door. Sam followed eagerly in hopes of getting to nap with her.

The rest of the week seemed to go quietly. He didn't mention his birthday again, and neither did Calamari. However, it was obvious she was planning something.

He found himself working from home alot when Callie and Marie took over his office. They said that it was a matter of national security, and he'd thank them later. He just...kind of blinked, and decided to work at his apartment instead, only coming up to the studio for the news sessions. He sometimes found himself just hanging out at Calamari's apartment, just like today.

He glanced up over his phone at the news. They were saying something about the mysterious disappearance of the great zapfish, which he totally zoned out.

"Why don't you just turn the TV off, Sam?" Calamari said without glancing up from the weapon she was fixing.

"...yeah, I guess. Can we turn the radio on?" He asked, looking back over the couch at her sitting at the workbench.

"Sounds good to me." She muttered, and Sam reached over for the controls to turn the TV off and turned the Radio on instead. The first thing that came on was classical music.

"Oh, damn, sorry I turned that on to fall asleep the other night." Calamari said quickly. "You can change it."

"...just to fall asleep?" Sam asked, and he looked at her with a rather judgmental look on his face.

"Yeah, I mean that's what classical music is basically for right?"

"Uh, no." Sam said quickly, turning the radio up a little bit.

"...what, you like classical music?" Calamari asked with a raised brow.

"...yeah, I do actually." He answered and crossed his arms.

Calamari actually looked up from her work to watch him for a few seconds before she spoke again. "...you're not joking, huh? You manage pop stars, you deal with pop music all day long….and your favorite kind of music is classical?"

"Yep! I never got to listen to it much when I was a kid but now I can and I absolutely love it." Sam said just a little defensively.

"...oh, well...okay in my self defense I really thought you were joking at first or just fucking with me but...if you really like classical music...then alright that's fine." She said.

"...soooo….we can listen to it?" Sam asked in a hopeful tone.

"We can listen to it." Calamari said, and smiled when Sam smiled too. He walked over to her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "...you're the best girlfriend." He muttered.

She laughed a little, and suddenly pulled away when Sam kissed her ear too and made her shriek a little. "-h-hey oh my god don't do that!"

He kind of laughed, "Sorry, sorry." He said, just resting his chin on her shoulder a little and nuzzling the crook of her neck.

"...good lord are you feeling snuggly or what?" She asked, turning her head a little to kiss his head.

"Yeeaaahhh...maybe you should take a break from working on that and just snuggle with me." He suggested.

She paused, acting like she was thinking about it. "...hmmm...I don't know Sam…"

"Come on, pleeaasseeee…?"

She sighed, then smirked at him. "Weellll okay. I guess so."

She put the screwdriver she was using down, and stood up to walk over to the couch. She sat down on the end, and Sam took his place next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She wasn't surprised to find him fast asleep in the next five minutes. She just smiled, and picked up her phone to look around for tickets to the next classical concert she could find.

The morning of his birthday, Sam was awoken by his phone ringing at his bedside table. He opened his eyes, blinking away sleep as he reached out for it and answered it without even looking at who it was. "..hello…?"

"Morning, Sam." Calamari said on the other end of the line. "You sound like you just woke up."

"Yeah kind of…" He said and sat up. "...what's going on?"

"What time do you get off work tonight?"

"Uhh like...five. Maybe. It depends on if Callie and Marie are still using my office as a makeshift CIA." He answered as he slowly climbed out of bed.

"Okay, well try and get off work by three. Wear some nice clothes, meet me at my place okay? We've got a date. A birthday date." Calamari said quickly.

"A birthday date wh...oh yeah." He said, and glanced at the calendar on his wall.

"...you almost forgot, huh?" Calamari laughed,

"Y-Yeah I...hey I've never had a birthday before, okay?" Sam said with as sleepy grin.

"I know, I know...listen I know you have to be at work soon I just wanted to tell you that...and, Happy Birthday."

"...thank you Cal," Sam said. "I really gotta go but I'll see you later today, okay?"

"Alright, I'll see you." She said, then paused. "...hey, love you."

That really made Sam smile. "...love you too, Cal. Bye."

Once he hung up, he started to get ready to go into work. He pulled his hair up into a makeshift bun and pulled on some nice clothes. He grabbed a granola bar on his way out the door and he was on his way to work. When he got there, he prayed to the squid god that he had his office back but was disappointed when he pushed open his door and saw Callie and Maire sitting at his desk.

"Oh my god you're still here." He said, his shoulders sagging.

"Oh my god we're still here." Marie said, not taking her eyes off the screen. Callie didn't even talk, she seemed hooked.

"...sooo...are you guys gonna tell me what's going on yet?" Sam asked as he sat his stuff on the desk.

"No because it's a matter of national security." Marie said, before cursing under her breath at something on the screen.

"Okay well, it's my birthday and apparently that's a big deal so all I want for my birthday is to find out what's going on." Sam said as he crossed his arms.

"Happy Birthday," Marie muttered then went silent.

He kind of rolled his eyes, and then suddenly marched around the desk to lean over their shoulders and see what they were looking at. He saw a radio sitting by Callie's hand, and on the screen was like a view from someone's gopro. The person shot down a creatuer that was just a tentacle.

"Who are we watching?"

Marie kind of sighed with defeat. "...this is Agent Three."

"...oh. Agent three." Sam repeated. "What is agent 3 doing?"

"Agent 3 is trying to get the Great Zapfish back from the Octarians. Remember them from school?"

"Oh, oh yeah!"

"Right. So we're helping her get it back, and we're talking to her from like...the radio."

"...huh. Okay…" Sam trailed off. He wasn't totally sure how to respond to that. "...can I help at all?"

"Not really, but...keep it hush." Marie said before she grabbed the radio. "Take a break, three. We'll be back later, alright?"

Callie sighed and stood up straight. She turned to see Sam. "-oh, hey Sam when did you get here?"

"Sam's been here." Marie muttered, sitting back in the chair.

"Oh, sorry. I was too caught up with three. It's so scary, she's out there risking her life." Callie said quickly.

"Yeah it looks dangerous." Sam said and glanced at the clock. "Sorry to be your boring bossy manager but you guys really need to get out on the set, though."

"Yeah, I guess so. Come on Callie." Marie said and stood to usher her cousin towards the door. As soon as Callie was out the door, she paused. "...hey Sam?" She asked.

"...yeah?"

"Sorry about earlier. I really meant it when I said happy birthday." She said and stepped over to take his hand as she looked up at him. "...we really should go out to celebrate, me and you."

Sam's face went a little red. "Y-You think so?"

"Yeah. I'm sure you've got plans tonight but...maybe tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" He said quickly. "That sounds awesome!"

"Alright, then I'll see you tomorrow." She said, squeezing his hand and taking her hand away to leave.

Sam was left staring at the door, blushing like an idiot.

He stayed for a few of the shows, but ultimately left early. He texted Calamari on the way home to ask exactly how fancy he needed to dress, and groaned a tiny bit when she answered 'very fancy'.

He took a little bit to get dressed, putting his hair up in a nicer way than normal and putting on the nicest thing he had. At five, he showed up at Calamari's door and knocked. He nervously straightened his jacket out as he waited.

Calamari answered the door a few moments later, and he found himself looking up at the most beautiful inkling he felt like he'd ever seen. She wore an elegant looking cream dress along with white heels that made her taller than she already was.

"...oh my god Cal you look amazing." Was the first thing he said to her as he stared at her slack jawed.

She smiled, "Aww thank you Sam, you look pretty good yourself." She said and stepped aside to let him in. She leaned down (much farther than normal, thanks to the heels) to kiss him. "...happy birthday." She whispered when she pulled away.

"Thanks," He said softly, keeping an arm around her waist when she pulled away. "So where are we going that you have to look so beautiful?"

"It's kind of a surprise." She said, grabbing her keys off the hook by the door, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm all good!" He said, and turned to open the door for her and locked the door behind him when they left. He held an arm out for her as they walked out ot her car, which made Cal blush and chuckle just a little.

She drove them more downtown, and parked just down the street from a very large, fancy building. Sam again offered her arm as they walked, and he took her to the front doors. It was then, he finally seemed to realize where they were.

He looked up at Cal with wide eyes. "-oh my god Cal."

She grinned down at him. "...yeah?"

"Oh my god Cal are we gonna see a concert?"

"Oh my god Sam we are." She said as her grin grew wider.

"...a classical concert?"

"A classical concert."

"I get to see a classical concert? In person?!"

"Absolutely." She said, watching him jump up and down a little like a child.

"Oh my god I could kiss you-" He said quickly. He could barely contain himself as they turned in tickets and went to find their seats.

Calamari had never seen someone so excited, especially about classical music. Even if she was close to falling asleep the entire time, Sam was leaning forwards in his seat to watch the people in the orchestra and the conductor, and his fingers and feet tapped along with the music. She found it quite cute.

The concert felt a little bit like it dragged on forever for her, but when it was finally over Sam sighed and sat back in his seat. "...awwww man...that was so good." He said.

"You liked it?" She asked hopefully.

"Liked it? I loved it! If I went back in time and told 14 year old me that one day I was going to be at a live concert he'd lose his goddamn mind. He also wouldn't believe me, especially if I said I went to see it with my girlfriend but...anyways whatever. I just...oh my god thank you so much." He said quickly.

"...I'm really glad you enjoyed it." Cal said with a smile before she asked. "...hey, you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it I'm starving." Sam replied, slowly getting up from his seat and stretching a little.

"Good, I hope you don't mind but I did kind of reserve a spot at that restaurant you liked so much."

"-oh my god did you really? Hell yeah!"

Calamari laughed and got to her feet to walk out with him, making their way down the street hand in hand. She was thankful the restaurant was nearby, because these heels were probably going to kill her. They walked inside, and Calamari told the hostess their names. She brought them both over to their table which he was shocked to find was a long table with quite a few people at it.

He saw Callie and Marie, Zach, Pepper, Sal and Shrimp. He definitely noticed Marie's sneaky little grin.

"Holy shit everyone's here." Sam said as everyone waved and greeted him with happy birthdays and hellos.

Callie stood to hug him tightly. "You look great, Sam!" She said with a gigantic grin. She straightened his jacket a little bit and stepped back to glance at her Cousin. "What do you think Marie?"

"Very, very good looking." She answered, resting her chin in her hand as she watched him.

Sam's face went red and he playfully rolled his eyes a little, smiled and went to sit besides her and across from Calamari. "...thanks, you two." He said. "Actually thanks to all you guys, I didn't think I was gonna get to have dinner with everyone."

"Of course! Calamari said you'd never celebrated your birthday before." Zach said. "There's no way we could pass that up!"

He kind of laughed. "I guess not. Thank you guys…."

The rest of the night was wonderful. He chatted with the others, ate some delicious food and he was even shocked to find out he had presents. That part really seemed to blow his mind. Everyone had gotten him some stuff he needed for work, even so far as Calamari getting him a new laptop. He hated to admit it, but there were definitely tears at some point.

By the time he got home, he was exhausted but...he felt so happy. He felt happier than he'd been in his entire life. He had friends, a girlfriend, his own place, a job...

Now, more than ever, he felt like the luckiest man in the world.

Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you SOOOO much for reading! I appreciate all the reviews and messages, it makes me so happy!

I actually wanted to share my friend code with you guys. I play as my own characters a bunch, so if you think you can kick Calamari's ass at turf war then try your hand. (You can, I suck at splatoon).

FRIEND CODE!: SW-7112-2620-8829