"Okay," Barry's voice came over the comm, "I cleared the building and the fire is out. I'm heading back to CCPD. Let me know if I'm needed for anything else."

Cisco shut down his system monitoring the suit, "We will, Barry. See you later."

"Good work," Joe noted from the corner, "Now that's over, can you please check what's wrong with my phone so I can get back to work?"

Cisco held out his hand for the phone, "Let me see. This should only take a few minutes now we've finished."

"And on that note," Rip spoke up from his station "I need to pick up Jonas. I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Night," several people called as Rip left.

Silence fell in the room as Caitlin went back to her work while Cisco checked Joe's phone, he paused suddenly staring at the phone screen before checking his computer.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked concerned.

"Do you know what day it is in two days?" Cisco demanded.

Harry looked up from his work, "Saturday."

"Funny," Cisco frowned before continuing, "According to the dossier we put together for Rip, it's his birthday on Saturday."

"Are you sure?" Caitlin quickly accessed the file.

Cisco grimaced, "Of course I am."

"But is it the right date?" Joe asked, "Because remember how little we actually know about his past and he helped put it together."

"There's an easy way to find out," Cisco noted, he tilted his head up and called, "Gideon, can you confirm for us if it's Rip's birthday on Saturday?"

"The date you hold," Gideon said softly, "Is the closest approximate date that the Time Masters were able to determine as Captain Hunter's date of birth."

Silence filled the room for a few seconds as they all took this information in before Cisco nodded, "Alright. Then we are celebrating this," he announced, "Gideon, does Jonas know?"

"No, Mr Ramon. Captain Hunter has not imparted this information to his son."

Harry, Joe and Caitlin all moved to congregate around Cisco's station.

Joe frowned, "What are you planning, Cisco? You know Rip doesn't like a fuss being made about him?"

"Nothing over the top," Cisco assured the three of them.

"Then what?" Caitlin asked.

Cisco mused for a few seconds, "Joe, can you make dinner?"

Joe nodded.

"Good," he smiled a little more confident in his idea, "Clarissa has Jonas Friday night anyway so she can help him get a card and present. Gideon, can you give us ideas for gifts and put a rush on them?"

The AI's voice was filled with warmth, "Of course I can, Mr Ramon."

"We get gifts, a cake and have dinner as a family," Cisco told them, "What do you think?"

Caitlin smiled, "It's a wonderful idea."

Harry nodded.

"It is," Joe added before noting, "I'll need my phone to make any calls to arrange things."

Rolling his eyes, Cisco handed Joe the phone back, "Yeah, you need a new battery, but I'd just get a new phone. It'll be cheaper."

Rip had been surprised when Joe invited them for dinner on Saturday night, but it wasn't unusual, 'family dinners' were called randomly.

Clarissa had taken Jonas to a children's entertainment show that afternoon, Gideon showed him a clip of one of the shows and he was relieved not to have been dragged to it, which meant he'd had the entire day to himself.

He'd had a quiet day with Gideon, a quiet birthday in the home he'd made here in this time and place with his best friend. But he was looking forward to seeing his son and spending the evening with the people who had taken them in. Rip didn't need them to know the significance of the date (or the approximation of the date), all he wanted was to be in their company.

It had taken him by surprise how much he had come to care about the small group, and how much he enjoyed their company. After losing Miranda, Rip never thought he would ever find a family again, but he had.

Knocking on the door he smiled at the woman who opened it.

"Hi, Rip," Cecile greeted him with a smile and hug, "You're the last to arrive. Come on in. Jonas is in the kitchen helping make dessert."

Stepping in past her Rip headed to find his son, stalling as he came across everyone in the dining room all shouting, "Surprise."

Confused, the Happy Birthday signs and balloons filtered in just as Jonas ran to him. Rip automatically caught his son as he tried to understand what was happening.

"Happy Birthday, Daddy," Jonas wrapped his arms around Rip's neck, "Do you like your surprise party?"

Still stunned, Rip kissed his son's hair, "I do. Thank you," he looked up at the people standing watching, "You didn't have to do this?"

"Of course we didn't," Joe laughed, clapping his shoulder, "We wanted to. That's the point Rip."

Jonas turned to Joe, "Can we give Daddy his presents now?"

"I think that's a great idea," Joe said, opening his arms to the boy, "Come on, we'll go get them. Rip, you head into the living room."

x

"Gideon?" Rip asked as he entered the room alone, "Did you tell them about today?"

"No, Captain," she replied, "Mr Ramon discovered the information and they wanted to do this for you."

Rip bit his lip for a moment, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask."

Shaking his head, Rip was distracted when Jonas came running in holding a parcel followed by the rest of the family all carrying presents. He distracted himself from the overwhelming emotions hitting him by catching Jonas and pulling him onto his lap to hug.

"I got this for you, Daddy," Jonas handed him the present he was holding, "Open it."

With his bouncing son on his lap Rip managed to carefully open the paper, unlike Jonas and Miranda who both ripped the paper he had always been much more precise when unwrapping.

A smile touched his lips finding a mug with the words, 'Worlds Greatest Daddy' on it with a picture of him with Jonas. With it was a hand-made card from Jonas. Rip felt his eyes tear when he read the inscription inside.

To my Daddy, Happy Birthday. You're the best Daddy ever and I love you lots, Jonas.

Rip hugged Jonas close, "I love you lots too."

Jonas grinned at him before saying, "Everyone else has presents for you."

Nodding Rip allowed Jonas to slide off his lap but was relieved the little boy stayed at his side to see the presents Rip was given.

Within the next ten minutes, Rip opened several shirts, a boxset of Westerns, a few rare books he had been interested in and a voucher for a Thai cooking class.

x

Dinner was fantastic but that wasn't surprising, what had surprised Rip was the birthday cake they had made for him. With help from Jonas.

It had been extremely emotional moment for Rip when they brought it out with a few candles lit, which Jonas helped him blow out. He knew that he was part of the family these days, had been given gifts at Christmas but that had been different. Today though, today the people who he thought of as his family showed him that he was truly a part of theirs.

"So," Clarissa said, appearing at the back door looking out into the garden where Rip was drinking his tea, "You're hiding out here."

Rip shrugged, "I just…I just needed a few moments alone."

"Oh, my dear Rip," Clarissa moved to him and gently took his face in her hands, "Mary warned me how hard it was for you to accept affection. Even knowing you were loved by her and by Miranda the scars you bear from your childhood run deep, don't they?"

He swallowed and nodded in silence.

Clarissa pulled him down and placed a kiss on his forehead, just as his mother would, "You have a family now, Rip and we love you. So, come back inside for the rest of your party."

He almost asked for a few moments more but instead nodded and allowed Clarissa to lead him back inside. Returning to the living room, Rip sat beside Jonas, who was finishing his piece of cake, and joined in the conversation. Looking around the room where Joe, Cecile, Iris, Barry, Cisco, Lisa, Harry, Wally, Jessie and Clarissa sat with him, Rip smiled to himself.

"Hey," Cisco appeared when Rip was in the kitchen getting Jonas another drink, "I wanted to talk to you alone for a moment."

Rip nodded, "Okay."

"I have something else for you," Cisco explained, "Technically I've been pulling it together for a few months, but when I realised what today was, I made sure to finish it."

The younger man offered Rip a metal headband that looked familiar.

"Is this…"

Cisco nodded, "It will let you speak to Gideon face to face, just as we did at Christmas."

Rip stared at his friend, unable to find the words to express what this meant to him.

"The connection will only last about twenty-minutes," Cisco told him, "But it's only a mark one. I'll keep working on it."

"Thank you, Cisco," Rip said softly, "How does it work?"

Cisco grinned, "You'll need to be in either Star Labs or your house to use it, but it's basically plug and play," he chuckled as Jonas called looking for his drink, "You're wanted."

Grabbing the milk for Jonas, Rip held onto the headband tightly.

x

Jonas was fast asleep finally and Rip headed to his own room. Laying back on his bed he placed the headband on and activated it.

"Hello, Captain," Gideon said softly making him sit up to find her standing just outside the parlour on the Waverider.

"Gideon," Rip instantly moved and hugged her tightly.

He felt her holding onto him just as tightly before she whispered, "It's wonderful to have you here like this, Rip."

"This is incredible," Rip sighed as he let her go.

She smiled back, "Cisco has been working long and hard on the device. I did provide some assistance of course."

Rip laughed, "Of course. You know I can probably use this to recreate the dream sensors."

"If you wish, Captain," Gideon said, she turned and picked something up off the desk in the parlour, "I have a present for you also, Captain. Mr Ramon has the real one in Star Labs, but this allows me to give it to you myself."

Rip watched confused taking a hold of the leather-bound album she passed him. When he opened it Rip let out a small gasp of surprise seeing a picture of him and Miranda on their wedding day.

"What is this?" he asked confused.

Gideon touched his hand, "Cisco helped me use my memories to create it for you. It has photographs from what I saw of your time with Miranda as well as of Jonas from when he was a baby through until now."

Flipping through the pages he looked up when Gideon touched his hand, concern filling her eyes.

"Are you alright, Captain?" she asked, "Are you unhappy that I…"

She didn't get a chance to finish her question as Rip hugged her tightly, "No, I love this. It's an amazing gift."

"Happy birthday, Captain," Gideon whispered to him.

Moving back slightly, Rip looked into her eyes before leaning in closer and kissing her softly.

"Thank you."