"Happy birthday dear Deke-y, happy birthday to you!~"
Deke bounced on his feet and clapped his hands together happily.
The seven of them had managed to get together for the first time since Deke was born- exactly two years ago that day. And for Deke himself, it was practically the first time he was seeing all of his family in one place.
And since they all adored him, he was loving (and definitely taking advantage of) the huge amount of attention he was being given.
"Oi, Deke-y boy," Hunter called from his deck chair, "come over here for a sec."
Deke toddled over. "Gwampa!"
"No, you can't ask him to get you a beer." Bobbi scolded from her own deck chair. Owen snorted.
They were all in the back garden to make the most of the nice weather. Unlike her parents in Inverness, Alya's home's front garden was nowhere near as secluded or private. But the back garden was large enough for four long deck chairs and a picnic blanket.
"Damn." Hunter remarked. "When he's older then."
Using the side of the chair as support, Deke hopped up and down with glee. "Gwampa! Gwampa!"
Hunter groaned. "Ugh, can you go and bother someone else now?"
"You were the one who called him over there." Jemma commented, earning yet another groan from Hunter.
"Children are such hard work."
"Hey!" Exclaimed Owen, causing the group to laugh.
Alya patted down the free space on the blanket next to her and spoke in her best child-luring voice. "Come here darling, leave Grandpa alone. I want to sing you a special version of the happy birthday song that your Nana and Bobo used to sing to me when I was little."
It took a few more calls to get Deke to stop bobbing up and down and to actually listen. But he eventually did and planted his bottom down to listen to his mother.
"Ready?" Alya asked once Deke had stopped fidgeting. Her son nodded.
"Alright then, it goes like this: happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey~… and you smell like one too!"
She poked at his tummy once she'd finished singing, and Deke burst into a fit of untamable giggles.
"Aw, I remember singing that to you!" Said Jemma. "It was your idea, wasn't it dear?"
There was no response.
"Is he asleep?" Bobbi asked, sitting up to get a better look at Fitz's slumped form.
Jemma peered sideways and gently lifted the newspaper from her husband's face. "He is!" She announced angrily. "I'm going to wake him up, he shouldn't miss his grandson's birthday!"
"No Mum, leave him be." Alya said.
"Yeah," Agreed Owen, "the longer he's asleep the longer he won't insult me."
"Pshh, he doesn't mean it, you know that." Teased Jemma.
The three of them playfully arguing proved as a good distraction for Deke.
Resting on the arm of Fitz's chair was a half-drunk glass of juice. Hunter snorted as Deke silently (for once) tip-toed his way towards it.
"Come on babe, you totally see how your dad treats me, right?"
Alya feigned innocence. "Actually, I don't-"
"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL-"
All heads turned to see Fitz sit up, covered in a sticky, orange mess.
Deke blew a raspberry. "Messy Bobo."
The shock in the garden disappeared almost instantly and everyone laughed uncontrollably.
Well, everyone apart from Fitz.