Best Birthday Ever
Virgil was a glass-half-full kind of guy – always had been and probably always would be. He liked to look on the brighter side of life. Which was why he had a lot of best birthdays, despite the unpredictable and sometimes heart-breaking nature of their world.
His sixth birthday was probably his earliest best birthday that he could remember. They'd had his whole class over to the house, which was quite the feat considering it was the summer holidays. There had been Jell-O and ice-cream, and his mom's homemade chocolate and raspberry cake. His dad had set up the best slip-and-slide to help them beat the heat and it was all anyone could talk about when school started again. His parents had brought him new paints, and Scott got him a sketch pad, and John gave him a book about art. Four-year-old Gordon's gift had been disappearing to Grandma's for the day (something Virgil really appreciated).
When he turned ten he had two parties. The first, being the evening of his birthday, had been a family affair. Turning ten was a big deal – a milestone, their dad called it – and so that meant he got to see all the relatives who would normally only send money and a card in the mail. Of course, most of them didn't know him that well so the gifts were a bit impersonal. But his Uncle Lee brought him a new bike, which was a solid black but was covered in splodges of bright colours to look paint-splattered. He got to show it off at his second party the next day.
The next year, his eleventh birthday, was very different because that was his first birthday without his mom. You'd expect that one to be particularly bad but, well, Virgil was even an optimist back then. The day was made particularly special because his dad took the day off work. There was no party – he hadn't wanted one. It was just the seven of them. Him, his brothers, dad, and grandma. They had a picnic by the lake with sandwiches and strawberries and lots of cake. But mostly it was a lazy day where they all just sat and talked. It was the most normal Virgil had felt in ages.
The quietest birthday he ever had was his nineteenth – but Virgil loved it nonetheless. He'd come home from college only to find out that the others couldn't make it. An emergency had sprung up at Tracy Industries that required his father's attention, Scott's leave had been cancelled on account of rising tensions where he was posted, John had come down with the flu. Gordon was still on his year-long training with WASP and had promised to visit him when it was over to make it up to him. It was just him, grandma, and Alan. But the three of them had a blast, and Virgil got to have his kid brother to himself for a change.
Of course, then there were the birthdays that came after the beginning of International Rescue. So often he found himself on missions – as was the hazard of their work. But for most of the part, this didn't dampen his day. One year he had a group of firemen bring him a cupcake on his break when they'd overheard it was his birthday. Another, he'd helped a pregnant lady deliver her twins in the back of Thunderbird Two after rescuing her from a landslide she'd been buried in. It was two boys, and she'd named the first one after him. Then there had been the rescue of Doctor Peck and helping him find the cure for his daughter. That one had had the added bonus of the attempted surprise party; the failure of which had since become a running joke.
But this year… this birthday was certain to go down as his favourite.
Because this year his dad was home. Home and safe and back behind his desk. Exactly where he should be. For once – with no rescues, and nothing to worry about anymore – it felt like the universe was smiling down on them.
And as far as Virgil was concerned, there was nothing in the world that could top that. It really was the best birthday ever.