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The knocking at the door was insistent and Curtis bit back a bark of annoyance at whoever was marking his wood with their knuckles, flinging open the door to find one of the women from the village standing there with flushed cheeks and wide eyes, something in her hand.
"Oh! Curtis." She gasped "I just got off the phone with the May… Ianto. He was asking about Gemini's Birthday at the weekend and I realised she hadn't handed out all of the invites she was supposed to at school this week. I am so sorry, Maisey's was still in her school bag, under the swinging bag. She must have overlooked it."
Curtis looked from her to the screwed up envelope in her hand and knew instantly that it was no accident. This child one of the few that did not sit with Maisey and seemed uncomfortable around her. She had not overlooked anything. Maisey had not been invited and he also knew without asking that it was likely the ONLY envelope still in her bag.
"Not to worry Seri. Maisey is having her own little party, just us family that day. She doesn't need charity" he said with what he hoped was not too much anger, but he knew it showed as her face fell "I hope she enjoys her birthday and whoever is doing your cake does not hold a grudge that his beloved niece has been bullied yet again by your child. I had hoped this was behind us."
"Oh please, I do not want Maisey to think we don't like her" Seri sighed.
"She does not think anything. She knows. Your daughter not only tells her, she wrote her a story telling her that horrible wild children get run over in the road and die in the ditch like stray dogs. Remember? River was quite angry at that little story time reading event." Curtis sighed, knowing he had to stop getting so personalised, he had to be more subjective. Tad would. "Look, no point going over it. Your daughter has decided who her friends are and has made it clear Maisey does not fit her ideals. Maisey has plenty of other friends. She does not need to go to a party where she is not welcome and will feel uncomfortable all afternoon. Your daughter will also be upset and uncomfortable at having her birthday turned into a life lesson on sharing. It is her birthday, she deserves to have a nice party. Maisey will have her own special one and we will hope that maybe next year Gemini is more generous."
"I am so sorry" Seri sighed, her shudders drooping as she saw that she could not fix her daughter's nasty display of dislike. As she started to walk away she noticed Ianto standing on his front porch looking over and she raised her hand, relieved that he waved back.
Then it hit her what Curtis said and she started to pick up her pace, rushing for the cake shop to try to save things before Ton found out.
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YES! It's BAAAAACK. Only $100 or another hard drive so the data could be retrieved and transferred and another $100 for the service. Jesus wept, half the cost of a laptop. Erggggg. Well … got it all back though. Will be doing double back-ups from now on, I can tell ya
