"Can I see the hat?" Maudie asked, gesturing to stack of green bowler hats on the shelf.
"Why?" Reason asked, pushing the cart.
"I'se wanna look at it." Maudie answered.
Serena Joy had offered to take them home, but needed to make a vanilla extract run on the way. Reason had wanted to stay in the car but Maudie had wanted to look and, taking that as a good sign, Reason had indulged her.
She was starting to wish she hadn't.
It wasn't that Maudie was being bad, but the tyke was just curious about everything, asking questions, asking to see things, messing with them, case in point putting the bowler hat on her head.
"Maudie, no." Reason responded, removing the hat, "You're gonna get lice doing that." With Maudie's long hair, the young mother had no doubt that lice would be a nightmare.
"Mommy, what lice?" Maudie asked.
"Lice," Reason began, putting the hat back up, "Are these awful little bugs that get in your hair and make you ich, and sometimes they hide in strange hats."
"Ew." Maudie responded.
Just them Serena Joy walked over to them. "Well, I finally found it." She declared, holding a bottle of extract up in victory. "They moved things around on me." As they made their way to the check-out, Serena Joy started talking to Maudie. "So, Maudie, me and your Mom worked out a deal for me to make something for your birthday." Reason was doing some work on Eliza Jane's car in return for Serena Joy making the cake, "Any request?"
Maudie immediately knew what she wanted. "Carmel fridge cookies!"
"Carmel refrigerator cookies?" Serena Joy repeated, to which Maudie nodded her confirmation. "Kid, I can make you anything. White cake, chocolate cake, lemon cake, apple meringue pie, I can even make you the armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias. "
"Serena, she has no idea what that even means." Reason told her in a low voice.
"The point is," Serena Joy began, "Of all the things you could ask for you want caramel refrigerator cookies?"
"I'se like caramel fridge cookies." Maudie told her matter of factly.
Serena Joy made a show of sighing, playing with the girl. "Alright, if that's what you want."
Meanwhile, at the bunker, Sam was trying to get Hannah on the phone. She was an hour or so later coming back from work and the qusi-ex-hunter was starting to get worried. Starch that. He had been worried for the last ten minutes and was just about to start looking for her. Just he about the call one more time, his own phone started to ring. It was Hannah.
"Sam, I am so sorry." Hannah said before Sam could even get a word out, "My phone was on vibrate, and a client needed me to meet her at her place of her work, and I couldn't get away to call. I'm on my way home right now, I'm about fifteen minutes out." After a beat she added, "On the plus side, I got at least one new client and I picked up Maudie's birthday present."
"Hannah, I already got her something, remember?" Sam told her.
"What are you talking about?" Hannah responded, confused, "No we didn't."
"Yeah, we did." Sam insisted, "Those animal blocks."
"Oh." Hannah said, remembering now, "Right. Well, now she's getting a plastic pink piggy bank with a rather large nose as well."
"Alright." Sam agreed, "I'll let the twins know you're on your way."
"Thank you." Hannah responded, "See you in a few."
"You too." Sam replied, stopping short of adding two words. His plan might be a bit ridiculous, but springing it on her over the phone in casual conversation was even worse.
On the night before her birthday, Maudie wouldn't stop moving, wiggling in seat at the slab.
"Okay, time to eat." Reason told her, sitting down a creation of rice, melted cheese and broccoli with a side of summer sausage for protein in front of her.
Maudie put her fork in the creation, but she was wiggling so she couldn't get it in there good enough to get any food.
"Okay, I think you're going to have to sit still, baby." Reason told her.
Maudie managed to sit still for a few seconds, getting few forkfuls of the food into her mouth. Then started wiggling again.
Reason couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you so—wiggly tonight?"
"I'm happy." Maudie answered, continuing to wiggle.
"Is that so?" Reason responded, "And what exactly are you happy about?"
"It's my birthday." Maudie answered, before actually managing to eat something.
"Not until tomorrow honey." Reason reminded her.
Maudie's face fell. "Oh."
Reason gave her smile. "Don't look so down. It's only a day away."
Maudie's face brightened, as she repeated, happier, "Oh."
"Is it tomorrow yet?" Maudie asked later as Reason tucked her into bed along with Seal and Nessie and Dana.
"No yet, baby." Reason told her, pulling the cover over her, "You have to go sleep to get to tomorrow."
"Oh." Maude responded.
"That's favorite word today, isn't it?" Reason quipped, before pulling out the children's Bible, "Now, where were we?"
"The Story and the Song." Maudie told her. The child had heard all the tales in the book so many times she could recite them by heart.
"Right," Reason responded before beginning to read, "The Story and the Song. The Heaves are singing how great God is…."
Reason was woken up that next morning, not by her alarm, but by little hands nudging her. "Mommy, Mommy…"
Reason slowly came back to reality. "What is it, baby?"
"Am I free yet?" Maudie asked.
Reason sat up and looked for something with the time on it. She finally found her phone, which while it didn't do that much, still had the time on it, which said five forty-five. Reason was still tired –she had worked a double shift to get today off—but she didn't think she was about to get back to sleep. "Yeah, baby, you're three." In truth, Maudie had been born at night, but who got that specific anyway?
"Yay!" Maudie shouted, trying to jump from the bed. Fortunately, Reason was able to catch her.
"Careful now." Reason cautioned, pulling her back onto the bed.
After getting some breakfast into Maudie and both of them taking a shower, Reason helped Maudie get into a white long-sleeve shirt, covered by blue jumper with pink flowers.
"You are so beautiful." Reason told her momentarily amazed that this creature existed. That she had managed to make something so utterly perfect.
"You beaut-i-ful too, Mommy." Maudie responded.
Just then there was knock on the door. "Just a minute!" Reason called out, before addressing Maudie, "Stay here, Mommy will be right back."
Going to the door, Reason was surprised to see a girl with long dark hair standing there.
"Alex," Reason beamed, engulfing the girl in a hug, "I thought you couldn't make it."
"I talked Jody and letting me get ride here and back." Alex explained before pulling away. Holding out a brightly wrapped package, she said, "Here. For Maudie."
"I'll start a pile." Reason said, before ushering her inside, "How did you even know how to find us? You've never even been here.
"I had a general location." Alex explained, "Figured it out from there."
As Reason put the gift on the table, she saw a little head peeking out from the bed room. "You can come out, Maudie."
Maudie not only came out, she ran and threw herself at Alex. "I guess someone's happy to see me." The teen said, lifting Maudie up into the air.
"I free." Maudie informed, holding up three fingers.
"Are you?" Alex asked, feigning ignorance.
"Yeah." Maudie confirmed, nodding.
"Congratulations." Alex responded, giving her a hug. After sitting her down, she walked off in the corner with Reason. "And, ah, I didn't forget you either." She told her friend, pulling out a sling backpack.
"Alex," Reason gasped, "You really shouldn't have."
"Hey, it's your birthday, too." Alex reasoned.
That part Maudie overheard. "Mommy's birthday, too?"
Both young women turned to look at the little girl. Reason crouched down in front of her and decided it was best to tell her the truth. "Yes, you were born on Mommy's birthday, which means we have the same birthday."
In truth, Maudie had been a bit overdue and Reason had been starting to worry when the contractions had started in the middle of the diner while the bus was refueling. Nine hours of labor Maudie wailed her way into the world, kicking and generally making her displeasure known.
Alex had stuffed a few beauty products as well and together the three girls help each other paint their nails a pale bubblegum pink, Alex and Reason working together to coat Maudie's tiny fingernails.
Serena Joy and the Winchester showed up about the same time, but Serena Joy had an unexpected guess with her.
"Rawls?" Reason asked, upon seeing her other boss.
"Don't worry, I'm just here to help carry stuff, then I'll be on my way." Rawls assured her, walking in.
"No, I don't mind." Reason told him, "I was just surprise."
Meanwhile, Maudie was attacked Dean and Cas. "I free now, too!" She informed them, trying to get them both into a rather awkward hug.
Maudie decided she wanted to do cookies first, which lead Reason trying to figure out how to stick a candle into a pile of flat, round, light brown cookies.
"Who wants birthday cookies anyway?" Alex wondered aloud, trying to help Reason secure the candle.
"My child." Reason answered, as the half the stack fell over. She really should have insisted Maudie ask for a cake.
That was when Sam came over saying, "Here, let me try." After few different tries, he suggested, can't we just stick it through a cookie?"
Reason took one of the cookies and applied pressure until she had a small hole, and put the candle through. "Anybody got a lighter?"
Hannah handed her Caroline's lighter.
"Thanks." Reason said, taking if from her and lighting the candle. She turned around, slightly nervous. Maudie didn't really like the fire last year, trying back away from it and refusing to blow.
This year, however, she seemed mesmerized by the fire as everyone seen. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, to you, happy birthday dear Maudie, happy birthday to you."
Maudie started to blow, then, realizing she was alone said, "Mommy, blow, too."
"They're not my birthday cookies, baby." Reason told her.
"But it your birthday, too." Maudie pointed out.
Everybody looked around for a moment, expect for Serena Joy who said, "So, you finally told her."
"Actually, I accidentally mentioned it in front of her." Alex admitted.
"So, you and your child were born on the same day?" Hannah recapped, "Huh."
"Well, to be fair, the same day seventeen years apart." Serena Joy commented.
"Yeah, I just didn't mention it because it's not really important anymore." Reason explained, before turning back to her to her child, "Okay, Maudie, you want to blow out the candle together, we'll blow out the candle together. On three. One, two, three." After three, they both blew on the candle, together managing to extinguish the flame with just two blows.
After the cookies, it was time for presents, Maudie immediately going for the green bowler had to the table. "Can I put this on. Does it have the lice?"
Reason took it from her, looking into it. "I think it's good. "Reason told her, before removing the ribbon and setting the hat on the grinning girl. "Now, let's see what else we got here." Grabbing a present at random, she helped Maudie get it down, reading the tag, "This one is…also from Miss Serena."
Maudie started tearing into the paper and managing to get enough of the box unwrapped, to reveal the brown packaging. The tape proved a little much for her, though. "Mommy, help."
Reason managed to get the tape off and pulled out…a smaller plastic, tan box with a logo on the front saying it was a box of oranges and some sort of white dish holding part of a fish on top on the top.
"Mommy, what that?" Maudie asked, pointing to the box.
"I'm not sure." Reason admitted, examining the box closely before looking at Serena Joy with a questioning look.
"Put a coin on the plate." Serena Joy instructed.
Reason pulled out a penny and put it on the plate and a little plastic white cat peeked out, raising out its paw and taking a coin with a "meow," as it went back in the box.
Maudie was delighted, clapping her hands and going, "Again, again!" However, as Reason fished for another, coin, she couldn't but think about how expensive this had to be.
"Reason Joanna, McCarthy, don't you dare ask me about the price." Serena Joy told her, knowing what her friend was thinking, "That's for me to worry about."
"Okay, but this is probably going to be a little embarrassing." Reason informed her, taking two gifts down. "Okay, these are from Mommy."
The first, gift, a soft pink bunny rabbit on its knees, it's hand folded in prayer , only required the removal of the removal of a ribbon wrapped around, while the second gift, something much heavier, retired the tearing of wrapping until it reveal and sturdy looking statue if a brown boat with a little read house on side, from which each side popped out the head of two giraffes, two elephants, two pandas and two lions.
Reason had never got what was so cute about Noah's Ark. It probably crowded and smelly and their occupants had literally just saw the whole world get destroyed not to mention the millions of bloated water-logged corpses that were floating up all around it. And of course, there was the fact that world had become so corrupt, so evil, so rotten down to the very core, that God went with the nuclear option. And yet still people painted it in nurseries, had it for themes of baby showers, read their kids paired down story book versions, made banks of it. Maybe it was the rainbow. But, when she saw the bank, she put her distaste aside to get her little girl the one thing she wanted.
It took Maudie a minute to figure it out, but when she saw the slot she squealed, "It's a bank!" Then she hugged it, then hugged Reason.
By the end of the unwrapping, Maudie had about four banks: The Noah's Ark, the cat in the orange box, the star-spangled piggy bank and small brown jackalope bank, one of those plastic flocked rabbits with antlers on it, from Rawls. In addition to this she got set of cloth blocks decorated to look like various zoo animals, plush puddle purse, (From Alex, how knew she was already getting a bank), and a copy of the X-Files, Earth Children Are Weird (Charlie, who met Dana during her time in Lebanon, by mail).
"Fank you!" Maudie exclaimed when it was all finished, jumping up and down in a pile of banks. "Fank you, fank you fank you!" She had already thanked everyone at least once, but apparently felt the need to thank everyone again. Then she took a purple block with an elephant's features on it and held it out to the boys. "Play?"
The boys didn't have to be asked twice, almost immediately coming up to their friend.
As they played, the adults helped Reason clean up.
"Thanks for coming, guys." Reason told the Winchesters, plus Alex as they all began to leave.
"Do you weally have to go?" Maudie asked, sad that they were going.
"Sorry, but we have to." Sam told her.
"We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Alex assured her, leaning down and giving her another hug, "Happy birthday." Then, looking at Reason she said, "You too, birthday, girl."
"Thanks." Reason replied, "See you when I drop Maudie off?"
"Definitely." Alex assured her, "I won't be going back until a bit before noon."
And with that, the last guests left.
Everyone had pitched in and helped to clean up and they helped the toddlers clean up to certain extent because they were still of the age when they needed guidance in that area, but there was still some organization of Maudie's treasures that needed to be done before bed, mainly, finding a place to store her audience of banks.
"There we go." Reason said, lining the last of the banks up along the wall in the bedroom and Maudie put the some more change into the Jackalope. Picking up Maudie up and continuing to the bed, she continued, "Your banks are all organized."
Suddenly Maudie got really quiet.
"What is it, baby?" Reason asked.
"You didn't get anything." Maudie mumbled sadly, "But it was your birthday, too."
"Well, Alex got me some things, remember?" Reason reminded her, pointing to her little pink nails.
"But I got more." Maudie told her, "That's not fair."
"I don't need a lot of presents." Reason assured her, "Three years ago today I got the best gift anyone could ever did me."
"What?" Maudie asked, not getting it.
Reason grinned, "You, silly." She tickled the child a little, making her giggle. "Now come on, let's check out this book."