Author's Note: I've finally finished another chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it. Sorry it took so long for this to come out, my personal life has been really busy and disorganized. Also, if it isn't too much trouble, I would really appreciate more reviews. I love getting feedback be it positive or negative.

6th Birthday Party

It was a busy day in the Gunther household. Welkin and Alicia were working around the clock to prepare for Isara's 6th birthday tomorrow, hanging decorations up, getting ingredients ready for bread and cake as well as getting a birthday gift.

"So who's coming this year?" Welkin asked Alicia as they prepared to go to bed after an exhausting day.

"Well, Largo & Varrot can't make it this year sadly. But I managed to invite Marina and Ted, Zaka and Laura, Leon and Kreis, Rosie, Oh and Claudia as well." Alicia responded.

"You invited Claudia? I didn't knew you two stayed in touch." Welkin responded with a little surprise. Claudia Mann was one of the engineers who served in Squad 7 during the war. Welkin recalled she was a bit clumsy but a good-hearted young lady.

"Yep. Apparently she's a nurse now." Alicia explained.

"I see…" Welkin responded with slight curiosity.

Suddenly the bedroom door creaked opened. Isara stood there holding her teddy bear, she seemed bothered by something.

"What's wrong Isara? Did you have a bad dream?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"No…Can you read me a bedtime story please Mommy? I can't sleep…" Isara asked meekly as she clutched onto her teddy bear.

Alicia could only smile warmly at Isara's request.

"Of course." Alicia responded.

—

A few days earlier…

Claudia had just gotten home from the hospital where she worked at. She was mainly in charge of janitorial work despite being a certified nurse. She felt frustrated, even though it was her 1st month on the job, She didn't even get one chance to prove herself as a nurse to the staff.

"If only the hospital trusted me…" Claudia said to herself out loud as she looked through her mail.

She was casually shifting through the envelopes when she noticed a name she recognized, Alicia Gunther. She remembered Alicia as one of her friends she had during her service to Squad 7 during the war.

She quickly opened the envelope and read the letter.

Dear Claudia,

I hope you've been alright since the war ended. Anyway, our daughter's turning six years old. Welkin & I are celebrating with a birthday party. You're invited if you wish to come. I know you've been busy working as a nurse but we hope you can come.

Regards,

Alicia Gunther

Claudia was stunned. She had never been invited to a birthday party before. Part of her wanted to go, but part of her didn't want to go. She always felt she was cursed with some form of bad luck and felt like a burden on other people.

After thinking about it for a while, She made the decision to actually go.

"Looks like I'll have to go find a birthday gift." Claudia said smiling to herself.

—

"Mommy, when are the guests coming?" Isara asked her mother.

"They should be here soon sweetie. Just wait a little bit okay." Alicia responded gently.

"Okay…" Isara responded meekly. She was starting to get a little bored.

"Is everything ready Alicia?" Welkin asked his wife.

"Yep. Everything's prepared. All that's left is the guests!" Alicia responded.

"Hey, daddy, what did you get me for my birthday?" Isara asked her father innocently.

Welkin kneeled down so that he was at his daughter's height.

"Sorry, Isara, it's a surprise." he responded gently.

Soon afterward, there was a few knocks at the door.

"I'll get it." Welkin said.

Welkin quickly went to the door and opened it. Zaka and Laura were the first to arrive.

"Hey there, I'm glad you two could make it." Welkin said greeting both of them.

"Hey, glad I could come." Zaka replied in his laid back voice.

"Laura!" Isara squealed as she and her friend hugged.

"Happy Birthday Isara!" Laura replied.

As Laura and Isara began playing in the backyard, the second guest soon arrived.

"Hey, what's up?" Rosie said greeting both Welkin and Alicia.

"We've been doing wonderful." Welkin said.

"I see the kid made a friend. Is she from school?" Rosie said observing Isara.

"Yep. She's Zaka's niece actually." Alicia said.

"W-what? I didn't know that at all…" Rosie replied with a little shock.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Zaka responded chiming in.

Rosie could only blush a little in embarrassment.

—

Soon afterwards, two more guests arrived.

"Hey Welkin! Alicia! Where's the birthday girl at?" Ted said greeting Welkin and Alicia.

"She's playing in the backyard with her friend right now" Welkin said.

"Ah, I see. Whoa Alicia! Are you having another child or something?" Ted said with a little shock noticing Alicia's slightly swollen abdomen.

"Yep…Soon Isara is going to be a big sister." Alicia responded warmly.

"Marina! You kept your promise!" Isara said with joy as she soon ran up and tackle hugged Marina.

"I-Isara!" Marina replied with surprise as she feel to the ground.

Isara giggled as she hugged Marina.

"Awww….You're blushing." Ted said teasing his girlfriend a little.

Marina simply swallowed her pride as she hugged Isara back.

"Happy 6th birthday Isara." Marina replied softly.

"Come on Isara, let's play hide and seek now!" Laura said from the backyard.

"Coming!" Isara said as she ran over to her friend.

—

"Welkin, Bro! It's great to see you again!" Leon said greeting Welkin and Alicia.

"Hey Leon! It's great to see you too." Welkin replied.

"Welkin, Alicia, how's everything been? I heard you're having another child." Kreis asked.

"Yeah, it's been a little busy, but Isara is really looking forward to becoming an older sister." Alicia replied warmly as she rubbed her stomach.

"Hey, bro, I managed to get a really nice gift for Isara while I was traveling across Europa." Leon said almost holding in his excitement.

"Oh yeah that's right. You're a competitive racer now! You've got to tell us which countries you've been to!" Welkin responded.

"Which ones are you curious about?" Leon asked Welkin.

"Any of them really, I'm just curious about how the nature in those nations differ from Gallia." Welkin replied.

"Oh, Welkin, you never change…" Alicia responded with slight embarrassment.

—

The Gunther household was soon a full house of people talking amongst each other.

"Are you sure you invited Claudia? She hasn't arrived yet." Welkin asked Alicia.

Soon afterwards, a door knock was heard at the front.

"I'll get it." Alicia said as she walked towards the door and opened it.

"H-hey, hope I'm not too late, I missed my initial train ride so I had to wait for the 2nd train arrival." Claudia said almost anxious.

"Claudia! You came! It's great to see you again!" Alicia said greeting her.

"You-you're not concerned that I'm late?" Claudia asked.

"Of course not. You're here now aren't you? That's what matters." Alicia responded with a blank but confused expression.

"Oh, okay…" Claudia responded.

"Oh? Is that a first aid kit?" Alicia asked with curiosity noticing the white box Claudia was holding along with the present.

"Oh, I tend to be very clumsy, so I always bring this with me in case I trip or something." Claudia responded.

—

As everyone continued to talk among each other, Welkin sat next to Claudia who was just casually sitting on a couch by herself.

"So, Claudia, how's working at the hospital been like?" Welkin asked Claudia.

Claudia froze for a few seconds before responding.

"Not very good to be honest, I'm a certified nurse but it took me a couple times to pass the exam. So I'm stuck doing janitorial work until they feel that I'm trustworthy. It's frustrating to be honest. I want to be useful to the hospital but I feel like they don't really trust me." Claudia responded.

"Oh, I see. You shouldn't really worry about it too much. During the war a lot of the people in my squad didn't trust me initially until I pulled off a successful mission. You just have to prove yourself in a way." Welkin explained trying to cheer Claudia up.

"You really think I can prove myself to the hospital?" Claudia replied almost looking optimistic.

"Well, of course you can, anything is possible if you-" Welkin said before the sound of crying and sobbing interrupted them.

Welkin quickly stood up. He recognized the sound immediately, the crying was coming from his daughter, Isara.

"What's wrong?" Welkin said with concern running over to Alicia.

Alicia was busy comforting Isara as she explained to Welkin, "She and Laura were playing at the outskirts of the woods nearby when Isara tripped and scraped her knees."

"It hurts mommy…and it's bleeding." Isara said weeping, tears coming down her face.

"There, there, it's alright…" Alicia said comforting her.

Claudia soon walked towards the family.

"Hey, are you okay? Luckily I come prepared for these sort of things." Claudia said in a soft tone to Isara as she quickly opened her first aid kit.

First, she cleaned the blood off of Isara's knees.

"Now this might sting for a moment." Claudia said as she then got some anti-infection medicine ready.

She then dabbed the medicine onto Isara's knees. Isara winced a little bit as she felt a brief moment of pain.

Claudia then got some bandages and gently places them on Isara's knees.

"There, all done! Are you feeling better?" Claudia asked.

Isara quickly smiled.

"I do! Thank you so much!" Isara said as she hugged Claudia.

Claudia smiled gently but felt nervous, she wasn't used to this kind of praise before.

—

Soon afterwards, it was time for birthday cake. Like last year it was vanilla flavored but served with some of Alicia's freshly baked bread this time around.

As soon as the candles were placed on the cake, Rosie soon sang a birthday song for Isara. The same one she had sung for her last year.

"Don't forget to make a wish Isara." Welkin said gently.

"Don't worry daddy, I already have one." Isara replied gently.

She then blew out the candles on the cake.

"Oh, by the way, You have a really pretty singing voice Rosie! How do you do it?" Isara said with curiosity.

"Uhhh….Thanks and it's a secret." Rosie said blushing a little, she wasn't used to this kind of praise from children.

"Sounds like someone isn't used to compliments." Zaka said chiming in.

—

The cake was then served to the guests. Claudia decided to try out the bread first before eating her cake slice.

"This is delicious!" Claudia said with joy as she took a bite of the bread.

"I know! Isn't mommy's bread great?" Isara said chiming in.

"It is!" Claudia replied.

"If you want some to take home I can make more if you want." Alicia offered Claudia.

"Thank you. I'll consider it." Claudia responded.

"Hey, Isara wanna play more?" Laura asked.

"Sure!" Isara replied.

The two girls went outside to play a little bit more.

"Be careful not to get hurt again!" Alicia said.

—

Soon afterwards, it was time for the presents. Isara looked very excited to open all of them.

"Hey open ours first Isara!" Laura exclaimed handing Isara a uniquely shaped gift-wrapped box.

Isara opened it. The gift that Laura and Zaka gave her was the Enigma Box, a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

"Hey, I don't think this has even been released into stores yet. How'd you get one?" Welkin asked with innocent curiosity.

"Well, I did design it at the toy factory I work at in Fouzen." Zaka said

"Wait, you work at a toy factory now?" Rosie said a little surprised.

"Yeah and I design toys there for a living now." Zaka responded.

"Isara, I hope you like it. That toy is going to be in stores two weeks from now. You're basically the first child to have one." Zaka explained to Isara.

"I like it a lot! Thank you Laura & Zaka!" Isara replied with joy.

Isara looked around at the pile of presents and picked one. This one was from Leon and Kreis.

Leon had gotten Isara a rather unique looking toy plane.

"It looks different than the last one." Isara said observing the gift.

"It's not just any toy plane, it's small replica of a plane they're making in this nation I visited! Rumor has it that it's being designed for passengers so that people can easily go to faraway nations easier and faster. Think of it like a train in the sky." Leon explained to Isara.

"Really? That's amazing! Thank you so much!" Isara exclaimed as she hugged both Leon and Kreis.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world?" Leon whispered to Kreis.

"I'm aware of that." Kreis said.

"Oh, how about this one?" Isara said as she picked out another present from the pile.

"Oh, that one's mine." Rosie said.

Isara opened it up and looked a little confused.

"Ummm…what is it?" Isara asked with confusion but with curiosity as well.

"It's a microphone. Well, it's not exactly the type you sing into while on stage, it's more a type you see in radio stations. I got it while visiting another nation and the owner of the radio station I visited insisted on giving it to me." Rosie explained.

"Really? That's amazing! Thank you Rosie!" Isara said.

"Your welcome kiddo." Rosie replied.

"This one next! this one next!" Isara said with excitement.

"That's ones ours! Hope you like it!" Ted said with enthusiasm.

Isara quickly opened it up and smiled.

"It's a clown outfit and a red nose!" Isara said with joy.

"Yep! It was mine when I was younger. I hope it brings lots of laughter to you!" Ted explained.

"I like it a lot! Thank you!" Isara said she hugged both Ted & Marina.

"Wow! An actual clown outfit! You've been getting lots of nice presents Isara." Welkin said gently.

"Oh! Oh! Daddy! Put the red nose on!" Isara said with excitement.

"Eh? Why?" Welkin asked slightly confused.

"I just want to see what it looks like on you. Pretty please daddy?" Isara asked with an adorable pouty face.

"Well…Alright…" Welkin said.

He put the red nose on only to make a goofy looking face with his tongue sticking out.

Isara started to laugh out loud as did the entire room.

"Way to go Lt. Clown Nose!" Leon said.

Welkin's face simply turned a shade of deep red with embarrassment.

"Thank you daddy. That was really funny!" Isara said as she hugged her father.

"Anything for you. Oh! Here's your present by the way!" Welkin said handing Isara his gift for her.

"What did you get me?" Isara asked with excitement while opening up the gift.

"It's a encyclopedia book on flowers! I hope you like it!" Welkin replied.

"Yep. Daddy insisted on getting that for you while we were at the bookstore." Alicia said chiming in.

"I love it! Thank you mommy and daddy!" Isara squealed as she hugged her parents.

All that remained was Claudia's gift.

"Umm…I hope you really like it, I felt my gift should come from the heart so I found something similar to that." Claudia said handing Isara her birthday present.

Isara slowing opened up the gift and gasped real loud when she saw it.

"Is this that doctor thing that allows you to listen to heartbeats!?" Isara said surprised.

"Y-yes, It's called a stethoscope. It belonged to me while I was training as a nurse. Do you like it?" Claudia asked almost sweating from nervousness.

"I LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Isara squealed real loud as she tackle hugged Claudia.

Claudia was taken off guard that Isara not only liked the gift but had tackled hugged her. But, she felt really relieved and happy.

"I'm glad you really like it." Claudia replied.

—

After a while the birthday party began to wind down into the evening and nighttime. Soon everyone waved their goodbyes and left.

"I hope you had fun Laura!" Isara said hugging her friend goodbye.

"I did! Happy birthday Isara!" Laura said.

All that remained was Claudia.

"Ummm…Can I have some bread to take home?" Claudia asked Alicia.

"Of course. I'll be right back." Alicia replied.

"Hey Welkin…what were you saying earlier about anything is possible?" Claudia asked Welkin while she waited for the bread.

"What do you mean?" Welkin asked slightly confused.

"You said I could prove myself to the hospital. Is that really possible?" Claudia asked.

"Claudia, anything is possible if you put your mind to it and you really want to accomplish something. Look at how you helped out Isara earlier today, she got hurt and you helped her out. You didn't need approval for that, you did what you had to do to help out. If you did that at the hospital with that kind of confidence and gentle kindness, I'm sure you can prove yourself." Welkin explained gently to Claudia.

Claudia simply smiled. It all made sense to her now.

"Thank you Welkin." Claudia replied.

"Here's the bread! Is 5 enough?" Alicia asked handing Claudia a brown bag full of bread.

"It is! Thanks Alicia!" Claudia responded.

"You're leaving now?" Isara said.

"Yep. I gotta go now. Are your knees okay from earlier? Claudia asked gently.

"Yeah! They are! Thanks for the gift Claudia!" Isara said hugging Claudia.

"Your welcome. Happy birthday Isara." Claudia said. She then left for home.

—

"Hey Mommy, can I try out that doctor thing before I go to bed?" Isara asked.

"Sure…who do you want try it out on?" Alicia asked Isara gently.

"Right there. I want to hear the baby's heartbeat." Isara said gently pointing to Alicia's stomach.

All Alicia could do was smile gently at her daughter's request. "Okay, let's give it a try." She said warmly.

Isara quickly put the earpieces in and placed the round part of the stethoscope on Alicia's abdomen when…

"I hear it Mommy! I hear it!" Isara said all of sudden while jumping with joy.

"Y-you do?" Alicia said almost taken back a bit.

"Yes! Please hear for yourself mommy!" Isara said giving earpiece part of the stethoscope to Alicia.

Alicia put the earpieces in and got teary-eyed with what she heard.

Bu-bump…bu-bump…bu-bump…bu-bump...

She could faintly hear the heartbeat of the little child growing inside of her.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Isara said noticing her mother wiping tears away.

"Yes. I'm just really happy Isara." Alicia replied softly.

"Hey, let's have daddy listen too!" Isara said energetically.

"Yeah, good idea. Let's have daddy listen as well." Alicia said gently.

It had been a wonderful day. Isara had gotten plenty of wonderful gifts and Alicia got to listen to the heartbeat of Isara's soon to be younger sibling.