Gia was stirred from her sleep by the sweet smell of freshly baked waffles. It was only Wednesday, but she smiled as she realised why this was happening. Mr Goodall...Eric...had remembered.

She couldn't think why she had let it cross her mind that he wouldn't, he and the Morans had been friends for longer than she'd been alive, he had quite literally known her for her entire life. Indeed, one of the many things that connected the Morans and the Goodalls was the fact that Emma was born only two days after Gia, meaning they had literally grown up together. As she headed for the shower, she heard Emma humming.

"Oh...sorry, I was...um..." Emma stammered as she pulled a towel around herself, stepping out of the shower.

"Someone seems happy." Gia commented.

"Who wouldn't be with waffles for breakfast?" Emma asked her. "It's about the only thing he can cook without burning us all to death."

"He's not that bad." Gia told her. Emma just laughed.

"Trust me, he really is." She answered. "So...I'll see you downstairs?"

"Yeah, sure." Gia replied, heading for the shower as Emma left the room. She couldn't help but smile. She had a feeling today would be a good day.

In the kitchen, Eric was busy making the waffles for breakfast. It was just one thing he could do for Gia on what he was sure would be a very difficult day for her. It was the first birthday she would celebrate at the Goodall house. In the last year, she had been forced out of the closet, and lost the life she thought she knew. Her father was still being held in remand, awaiting his trial date, and her mother...her mother she had barely seen since the whole sorry tale had begun.

As Emma got downstairs, she kissed him on the cheek.

"Waffles?" She asked him. He just chuckled.

"We both know the waffle iron is pretty muh the only thing I can use without burning the place down." He answered. He knew that Gia loved waffles, her own parents made them for her on her birthday each year, and he wanted at least one thing to be the same for her. "So, David told me you took a friend to the plant."

"Yeah, his name's..." Emma's words tailed off. Like pretty much everyone else, she only knew him as Spider. "He's a friend."

"David seemed to think he might be more than that." Eric said as he poured her a cup of coffee. "Well?"

"Dad, he's...a friend." She repeated. She hated when he got like this. He was more than a little paranoid when anyone got close to Emma. Indeed, Gia was the only one he'd never suspected of meaning her harm, and that was because he had personally watched them both growing up together. He just smiled.

"I could always..."

"Dad for the Love of GOD!" She yelled. "He's a friend! And even if there was more to it, don't you think one of the reasons I've never had a boyfriend is because you're the scary guy that does a full CIA background check on anyone that even looks at me?"

"OK, he's a friend." Eric replied. He had a lot of reasons to be so 'paranoid' as Emma put it. His business meant that there were many people that had pretty legitimate reasons to want to hurt him. Beyond that, he was always scared that Emma would run across someone that wanted to hurt her for their own reasons. His life had taught him one thing, some people just wanted to hurt others, even if there was no logical reason behind it. It was why he had started to teach Emma self-defence up until she told him that Gia was teaching her Tae Kwon-Do. He loved the fact his daughter believed the best in people, but he wanted her to be prepared for when they showed the worst of themselves. Eric had seen the worst in people in his time, and wanted Emma to be prepared to keep herself safe.

Gia came bounding down, and smiled as she saw them in the kitchen.

"Well, there she is, the Birthday girl herself." Eric welcomed her, gesturing to the table. "You should have waffles in about..."

Just then, the waffle iron started bleeping. He got up and made his way over to turn it out.

"I want you to come straight home after school today, I'm ordering in something special." He told them. He gulped as he prepared for the next part. "Gia...your mother's coming over."

"Oh, right." Gia replied, not entirely sure about this part. She had barely seen her mother since she'd been kicked out of the house. She had accepted that her mom hadn't been the one to make the decision to throw her out on the street when she came out, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt that when she needed her the most, her mother had failed her and not defied her father. "Um...what are we having?"

"It's Sicilian, from that place a couple of blocks over." He informed them.

"That sounds...nice." Gia replied. Eric knew that she wasn't overly keen on the idea, but he had been hoping that she would see her mother on her own volition before now. He put down a newspaper.

"Happy Birthday." He repeated as he laid down her waffle before her. Gia just smiled as she saw the paper.

"So what is it this time?" Emma asked her.

"February 14th 1929." She answered. It was something of a tradition between the Goodalls and the Morans. Gia knew she'd get her real present later, but she always got a newspaper on her birthday, one relating to one of her ancestors. Her surname was Moran, just like the infamous gangster Bugs Moran. He was related to her, albeit somewhat distantly. It didn't mean that it didn't appeal to Eric's sense of humour to give her a newspaper relating to his crimes each year. He had always told her it was important to remember the past.

"So...any special plans?" Emma asked her.

"Not really, it is still midweek." Gia said with a shrug. "Maybe I'll see The Great Gatsby at the weekend..."

"So...no special birthday plans?" Emma asked her. "Perhaps with a certain..."

"Will you let that go?" Gia groaned.

"I just thought, there would be worse ways to spend your birthday..."

"I am not with Cat!" Gia put down flatly. Emma just shrugged.

"Whatever you say." She answered as Eric gave her a waffle. She started to cut it up as Gia rolled her eyes.

"Sometimes you really suck do you know that?" Gia complained, returning to her breakfast.

A while later, Eric dropped the girls off at school. Gia and Emma walked in, finding Troy, Jake, Noah and Jordan waiting on them by Gia's locker. The Yellow Ranger just smiled as she saw them.

"Guys?" She asked.

"Happy birthday!" They all chorused. Jake pulled a gift out from behind his back. From its shape, it was clearly a teddy bear that had been wrapped at the last possible second. Gia accepted the gift with a massive grin.

"Thanks, I'll um..." Gia stammered. "I'll open it later."

"Don't you want to know what it is?" Jake asked. Gia just gave him a little look, taking one of the bears paws.

"I'm sure my curiosity can wait." She replied. Just then, Spider came around the corner. He looked among the group.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked. He looked to the gift in Gia's hands. "I thought..."

"My birthday's on Saturday." Emma informed him. "Gia and I were born the same week."

"Many happy returns." He told her. "You do know that bear was probably made in some sweat shop by some kid earning a nickel a day right?"

"It's the thought that counts." Jake said a little impatiently, taking the bear from her. He, like Noah, wasn't especially fond of the guy. One of the incidents that had distanced Spider from the rest of the students was when he once performed a one-man sit-in protest on the centre spot of the soccer pitch over the fact the school used leather soccer balls. He just smiled.

"I guess everyone thinks that." He answered. "Say Emma, great pictures!"

"Really?" She asked. "You used them?"

"Well...one of them for the article." He told her. "Maybe we could go somewhere and talk about them? I think it'd be great if you got some shots of the protest on Saturday"

"Actually we..."

"It's fine Noah." Emma replied, shying away. She looked to Troy to see his reaction, but he didn't seem to have one. He didn't seem to notice or care that she was about to leave with another guy. She looked back to Spider. "I think that'd make a great story."

As they left, Jake saw Noah watching them leave.

"What gives dude?" He asked.

"He's an asshole." Noah said bluntly.

"Well...that much is obvious, but seriously, what's the big deal?" Jake asked.

"Nothing I guess." Noah replied. "I just don't trust the guy."

"Emma's a big girl." Gia stated. "Between her dad and me, she's been taught a lot. I feel seriously sorry for anyone that wants to mess with her."

"That's our cue." Jake replied as the bell rang. "So, Home Ec first period! Got to love getting two breakfasts!"

"How exactly do you hoover down so much food and stay as skinny as a rake?" Jordan asked him. Jake just shrugged as the guys walked away.

"What can I say, genetics have been good to me." He replied. "You coming Gia?"

"I have study hall." She informed them. "I know how to cook...thank God, Eric' a sweetheart but he's definitely a menace in the kitchen."

As they left, Gia turned back to her locker, putting her present inside, and fetching out some books. As she closed it, she jumped with a start as Cat appeared before her, giving her a fright.

"God Cat, what the hell?" Gia complained as they both knelt down, picking up her books. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Sorry." She replied. "Um...this is your birthday right?"

"Yeah, it is." Gia answered, before furrowing her brows. "Wait...how did you know that?"

"The Flagship gives birthday alerts." She replied under her breath. "So...I have a gift for you."

"Really?" Gia asked with a smile. Cat reached into her bag, pulling out a box, wrapped in red paper. Gia smiled.

"Wait, you really got me something?" She asked. Cat just nodded.

"I hope you like it." Cat answered. Gia started to unwrap the gift, pulling open the box. Inside, there was a clay sculpture of a Megaforce Ranger. Gia inspected it with a huge grin on her face.

"This...this is amazing." She replied. "You made this?"

"Yeah, you like it?" Cat asked her. Gia just nodded.

"This is really great, thanks for this." She told her. "Everyone's trying really hard to make sure today doesn't suck."

"It's hard isn't it?" Cat asked her. "For me it was the first Christmas after I moved in with my brother."

Gia just nodded in agreement. While her friends were supportive, none of them really knew what she was going through. This was the first time she'd be celebrating a birthday since her dad had found out about her sexuality and she'd moved to the Goodall's place. A lot had happened to her in a short time, and the occasion just reminded her of what things had been like before.

"It is." Gia told her, holding up the sculpture. "Thanks again for this."

"It's the Yellow Ranger." Cat told her. "I know it's hard to tell them apart, but...the designs on their chests mark them apart. Yellow and Black have the same glyph, and Yellow has...well...boobs."

"I think that's probably why Noah didn't like the fact you made him the Yellow Ranger in your comics." Gia responded.

"I'm glad you liked the gift." Cat told her. "Happy Birthday kay?"

Gia couldn't help smiling as she put the sculpture in her locker. Perhaps her seventeenth birthday wouldn't be as bad as she had thought.