Short Intermissions
The Best Birthday Present
The day before school started Steven threw Jenny a belated birthday party. She had only just become well enough to enjoy a party and was making up for lost time. She ran around like a little tornado beating every one of her friends in the games, swimming in the miniature sea and eating with gusto the gem based treats that were served. All the time chattering away.
Steven couldn't understand the appeal of gem food so he ate his steak with the adults. Finally it was time for the cake and presents. They all sang happy birthday as Steven himself served a large ice cream cake. Jenny smiled diplomatically but Steven could see she was sick of ice cream. Finally it was time to open the presents.
Jenny had undergone a growth spurt so most of her presents were clothes. Jasper invited herself in and had given Jenny a wiry looking puppy. Jenny laughed as she hugged the puppy. Steven made a note to get some dog food in the morning. Then the Off Colors gave Jenny an electronics kit and Jenny's grandmothers gave her a transportation pod. Steven glared at them. He did not want a repeat of what happened two weeks ago.
"Yeah, well she'll need that for school," admitted Jet.
Steven's father handed Jenny another stuffed alien and then it was time for Steven's gift. He didn't have a lot of money so the present was a cheap bicycle. Still Jenny loved it. She gave Steven a hug and a kiss as a thank you. Jenny started to nod off. It was time for the party to end. Jenny the perfect host waved her friends goodbye as they left.
Once everyone was gone Jenny smiled, "Best birthday ever."
Steven chuckled remembering another birthday before Jenny was born.
"Daddy how come we never celebrate your birthday?"asked Jenny.
"I am a grownup we don't have to celebrate birthdays," replied Steven as he picked her up.
"That's not true. Alice Clove's daddy celebrated his birthday last week. I got so many great presents I don't know which was the best," Jenny yawned.
"It looks like its time for bed." He picked her up
"Daddy what was the best birthday you ever got?"
She could hear Daddy's thoughts 'clean answer, clean answer'.
Daddy cleared his throat, "Well Jenny on my 19th birthday, Pearl the Gem Prime minister arranged for a huge bash. You see my 18th birthday was a disaster. I still looked like a little boy and was treated as such. Now chips and hot dogs seem great now but when you get bigger you want more."
"Like beer and a deep sea fishing trip?"asked Jenny.
"Close enough, well what took the cake was the cake. Bismuth came in dressed like a clown carrying a big slab cake. I had-"
"Wait Bismuth the first gem doctor?"
"She wasn't a doctor then. Actually your mother gave her the idea of healing gems. But let's get back to the story. I ran out of the party crying. Pearl felt responsible so she was determined to make up for it.
She organized the other Peridots to make a huge water park just off of Rossmore and invited the entire town as well as my friends from Beach City."
"Sounds like a great party."
"I guess it was. I wasn't there. Pearl also bought me a very expensive sports car. You see the reason why I wasn't there was very simple. Your mother was pregnant with you. The night before my birthday she was complaining of stomach pains and went to bed early. When we got up your mother's water broke. She went into labor. I rushed her straight into the hospital and after a few hours there you were. So you see your mother gave me the best birthday present I ever got – you."
Stars appeared in Jenny's eyes.
Housefire
Steven thought everything was going to be fine when he let Jenny sleep over at a friend's house. After eating a very unnutritious meal of beer and poutine the phone rang. Cautiously he picked it up. Jenny was on the line.
"Daddy, can you pick me up at Maggie's house?" asked Jenny.
"What happened?"sighed Steven. So much for a night of adult movies.
"We had a little spot of fire."
That did it. Steven drove the car down into Port Rush he could hear the sirens of the fire trucks as they passed him. Sure enough there was Jenny and Maggie's family waiting for him outside their burning house. Steven got out trying not to look upset.
"Maggie and I were playing with brand new chemistry set," blurted out Jenny.
"See this is why you should never play with a chemistry set without adult supervision," scolded Steven.
"Actually we did," added Maggie.
The fire fighters placed a rather singed looking man on a stretcher and carried him to the ambulance. Behind the family the fire fighters worked to contain the blaze.
"Really?" said Steven raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, really Daddy," replied Jenny looking angry. She began her story:
You see Daddy, Maggie's family just gave her a brand new chemistry set. She couldn't wait to try it out and so after dinner Maggie's father took her chemistry set into the garage. The first thing Mr. Simpson did was set out all the chemicals and equipment out on his workbench. We looked at the recipe book together.
"Ooh this looks like a good recipe, let's see 2 mohls of Sulfur and 2 mohls of- what's a mohl?" asked Mr. Simpson.
We mixed the concoction in equal parts and got the desired result. Honestly, Daddy I think that Mr. Simpson was having more fun than us. He turned on the Bunsen burner saying he wanted try some real chemistry. Maggie found a recipe that she liked as she carefully measured out the ingredients her Daddy got impatient. While the test tube was over the flames he poured everything all at once. The tube started to fizz and spit. It didn't look safe. A drop landed in the flames and combusted.
Then it happened. From what I can tell we used too much chemicals. The test tube exploded setting the work bench, chemistry kit and Mr. Simpson's sweater on fire. As Mr. Simpson ran around squawking Maggie put out the fire with a fire extinguisher nearby. By that time Mr. Simpson had set the rest of the garage on fire. I panicked Daddy. I took the other fire extinguisher and sprayed Maggie's Daddy. That still left the rest of the garage on fire with old newspapers, gasoline and oily rags inside. We left the garage and ran back into the house. Maggie's Mummy called the fire department and then I called you.
Steven looked down at his daughter. He could see that she was telling the truth, "Come on Jenny let's go home."
"Daddy?" asked Jenny.
"What is it Princess?" asked Steven.
"Can Maggie and her Mum come over for a sleep over?"
