CHAPTER FORTY-NINE IS HERE. LET'S GO!

(I think this top bit here is starting to become a bit redundant. I think I may just start end up keeping this bit here empty every now and again, letting you guys go right into the chapter. Or do you guys like my random nonsense things I type up here on occasion?)


Chapter 49: The Third of September

"..."

Things… have felt off lately.

It's been a month since the fiasco with Diana and Silk. We all made it home safe and sound once we woke up that night.

Snowy and Andr were, at first, rather miffed that Susie and I took off without even a word, but their moods changed the moment they saw Diana and Silk were with us, this time staying for good. Snowy in particular seemed overjoyed to see them, and had to be held back by Andr to prevent her from tackling them both to the ground.

Things between Diana and Silk… well, I don't want to say they've changed, but… they certainly seem a bit more relaxed with each other, particularly when it comes to me.

By now the other three already knew about Diana and Silk's feelings towards me, and it seemed like they knew that as well, but even so, all too often I'd see Diana and Silk shy away from me when they hear someone approaching. Even worse was when the pair of them were together. You'd just see it in their eyes: they wanted to go back to hugging or kissing or whatever we were doing, but they didn't want to make the other feel awkward.

Even so, it makes me feel much better knowing that they're happy being here. They said it themselves: the only reason they left is because they thought the other wanted to leave.

Diana's simply glad to have Silk back to normal, and Silk… well, she's gotten over her… 'possession', let's call it, and has been largely the same. Though, I keep noticing that when she goes out to 'unwind', I see her feeding every cow she can that massive plains in front of our house, petting them and seemingly talking to all of them. I suppose she took slaughtering Mrs. Cow a little too hard, and was trying to make up for it somehow. Hell, I even saw her trying to secretly pull one closer to the house so she could keep it close by, and only stopped once I asked her what she was doing.

And... it's been gnawing at me for ages, but I have yet to tell anyone about what I saw regarding Herobrine. I can't help it. He scares me enough on my own. I don't need my friends panicking about it too. I do know I'll have to let them in on it eventually. But for as long as I can, I'm keeping it to myself.

The house, meanwhile, has been slowly expanding ever since then, with the now six of us actually finishing the basement floor we had been planning. It was slightly larger than the other higher-up floors, allowing us to actually make even MORE rooms (eight in total, I believe). Susie also seemed a bit excited about it, since it would be a lot easier to either safely keep her patients in the lowest floor (allowing me free roam of the bulk of the house) or to keep me safe (letting me move about the basement and first floors freely) while her patients moved upstairs.

At first, Diana and Silk had stayed in the same room they used to be in, but as soon as the basement was finished they decided to take one of the rooms down there, saying that it felt a bit more homely than the upper floors.

"I mean, I guess that makes sense. We DID make this floor for that specific purpose, right?" I reasoned.

Now the pair happily share a room down there, while the now free upstairs room has been renovated to become a (now permanent) sick bay bedroom, with a matching one downstairs. Guests either stay down in the one in the basement and get treated by Susie when she checks up on them, or stay upstairs in the second floor bedroom and go to the actual sick bay when Susie wishes. It works a lot more in practice than you'd think.

In other home improvements, I finally got sick of the six of us crammed up at the counter area. Andr tried to pass mashed potatoes and accidentally dropped the (thankfully cooled) pot on Susie. I finally buckled down one day and, after a week-long effort, managed to make a sturdy table for the six of us, complete with chairs. I even made extras on the chance that if someone came to the house and was okay with a human so they could eat with us (a rare chance, sure, but a chance no less).

But improvements haven't been made just to the house. Recently, we made a discovery of another cave system not even a minute out from the first one (so obviously there we were stunned we missed it), and it was LOADED with ore.

With the influx of iron and other precious resources, I started thinking of a way to get to and from Blockington easier. Sure, I could fly, and the walk wasn't TOO bad, but still, flying was more of a solo option, and with traveling we had to make a day of it. So, I figured it would be a good idea to start making a sort of personal minecart track from the house to Blockington.

It's not finished yet. We're still working on digging out the pathway and actually making the iron tracks to get there (which is turning out to be a lot more than anticipated). So far, I want to say we've made about a third, maybe halfway, but there's still a lot to go, and that's just the tunnel itself, not any of the railing. And it doesn't help that we need to build this underground, because we don't want ANYONE to be able to see it and use it. Only the people we trust should know where it is and be able to use it.

All of this is running through my head as I wander around the house, with… an odd sort of dread hanging in my stomach. I wasn't sure where it was coming from: it was still a beautiful August day, and the weather was finally shifting to be cooler.

I double checked everything I could think of: all my friends, the notes I made for myself to keep on track of everything, even the mysterious book (which was the first time I'd cracked open the book since the whole Diana/Silk conflict). Nothing.

Everything seemed to confirm that I was in the clear for at least another week.

So why did I feel such dread?

I couldn't explain it, so I eventually let it go. But it still lingered in my mind.

One day, something pleasantly unexpected happened: End the Enderman showed up at our door. At first, Susie didn't recognize him, but as soon as she did she allowed him to enter and called me up from downstairs.

End looked just the same as he did when I saw him last: tall, Enderman-y, and with those same swirly purple eyes. I always found it hard to stare at those for any extended period of time.

End greeted us cheerfully, saying that he and Paige were just fine. "She's actually managed to smuggle me in once or twice, and we were able to keep each other company."

Me and Susie raised an eyebrow, but for different reasons: Susie was concerned about 'What if you were seen?', but I was worried about… what exactly he and my sister meant by 'keeping each other company.'

Then I silently kicked myself. I HIGHLY doubted she and End were going THAT far. They may like each other, but there's no way Paige would be doing anything sexual with End. She's barely even a teenager, after all.

The others, hearing the sounds of talking, came down to see who was hear. End was quite surprised to see so many people here: I guess Paige didn't really let him know about that.

End and Andr both had a bit of a moment together. I had almost forgotten the two of them were sorta brother and sister, but Andr seemed to be pretty glad to see her half-brother again.

He started sounding like he was going to leave, but Susie insisted that he should stay, at least for a little.

"Sorry Susie. I just wanted to stop by. Oh! That reminds me…" he suddenly remembered.

He pulled out a paper, neatly folded thrice, and handed it not to Susie, but to me. "Paige wanted me to give you this. Said something about wanting you to come and visit for a while, or something? Not sure."

I took the letter and thanked End. He left not to long after.

I retreated into the bathroom to read Paige's letter in peace.

For some reason, as I unfolded the message, I couldn't help but feel… apprehensive. For reasons I couldn't understand, I did not want to read the letter. But that was ridiculous, right?

I started reading the letter:

"Dear Cameron,"

"I hope you're doing well. It's been a fair while since we last saw each other, right?"

"I'm doing quite well over here in Blockington. Things are a bit off from normal: namely a slightly increased guard patrolling the city, and a few rumors and whatnot, but other than that nothing else."

"Listen, I was wondering something: this weekend I'm taking off from work. I really think you should come over that weekend, maybe bring one of your friends or two. I'm sure you know why?"

I squinted. S… should I?

"After all, it's not too long after the third, right? You should come over this weekend and celebrate with me! It'll be the first time I'll be able to hold a proper celebration in ages."

"Try to write back if End hasn't left yet. But if he has, I hope I'll see you later this week!"

"Love, Paige."

I was… curious. What exactly did Paige mean…?

I was having one of those moments where I KNOW I should know exactly what someone is talking about, but I can't. Like how I forgot to spell 'iron' the other day, and had to embarrassingly ask Silk how you spelled it. I KNOW how it's spelled, but… I just forget.

But this was almost three times as strong as that, and it was insanely irritating knowing that whatever Paige is talking about SHOULD be something I knew, but…

I looked at the letter once more, and noticed that she had scribbled something in the back, seemingly last minute:

"P.S.: I know we won't see each other until after the third, so I'll say it here:"

"Happy Early Birthday!"

"Love, Paige."

My… my birth… birthday…

Of… of course… how could I have been so ignorant?

I slowly got out of the bathroom and, for the first time, noticed the calendar on the wall, from my last Blockington trip.

Today was the last day of August. It'll be September 3rd in three days time.

My birthday…

I… was met with a lot of crushing regret.

You might be wondering how the hell I'm not getting excited about that. After all, it's not every day I get to turn seventeen.

But… well, that… incident… with my parents… d-dying, and all that…

My birthday hadn't been too far before that. And every time I think about my birthday…

It's like I can't help but remember it as the day my parents died. Which is stupid, cause it was almost a week after the fact, more or less. But I can't help but associate the two, since they're such huge life events.

And, well, there's also the fact that… I haven't had a real, proper birthday in almost six years. In fact, during my traveling days, those days were often the hardest to travel, like they were cursed. Like on my twelfth birthday, where I had to cross a taiga and ripped my coat into pieces not even thirty seconds into the biome (those damn berry bushes). Or my fourteenth, where I was stuck boating through across a huge lake and my boat capsized. I lost a lot of food that day, not to mention a fair few books. Or my sixteenth, the last one I had before meeting Susie, where a bunch of Creepers somehow were all located in the exact clearing I fell into while travelling atop a forest. Had I not been any less of a fancy sword swinger, I would've died then and there, but I still was injured for a good while afterwards.

Every one of my birthdays since the death of my parents has been one of the hardest days I've ever had to face. I wasn't keen on having a repeat of that. With my luck, I'd likely end up choking on breakfast and have to be rushed up to the sick bay for the rest of the day.

I dejectedly shoved the letter into the sock drawer and headed back out into the main.

Susie quickly noticed the expression on my face and pulled me aside. "What? Is something wrong with your sister?"

"Wha- no. Not that." I denied.

"Then… what's wrong?" she asked.

I didn't answer. I just sighed and walked away.

Susie didn't push, even though she looked like she really wanted to.

The following two days were a literal nightmare to push through. Though I put on a brave face and no one asked any questions, I'm fairly certain everyone knew something was troubling me.

Susie started asking if, since I didn't want to talk, if she could just read the letter. I refused, telling her I already threw it away.

But I hadn't. I sometimes pulled it out every now and again from the sock drawer and reread it, wondering if it was even worth trying to explain to Paige why I didn't want to celebrate it.

I put it away and went back out. Susie suddenly came up to me, and she looked a little concerned. "Cameron, Snowy says we're running out of firewood. Can you go grab some more?"

I squinted in confusion. I was sure I just restocked the pile next to the fireplace not even a day ago. And yet, glancing over, sure enough, no firewood left.

"Yeah, I got it." I agreed.

The pile of wood outside the house was running a bit low, now that I looked. I took a little extra time chopping down a tree or two to add to the pile, just in case.

Soon enough I had an armful of logs ready to go. I lugged them all inside and set them next to the fireplace, ready to go.

Susie emerged from the bedroom right as I straightened. "Oh, thank you Cameron. It's gonna get colder very soon, so we need to be ready."

Was… was I imagining something, or was her voice a little higher than normal?

She, a bit stiffer than normal, disappeared upstairs, excusing herself to 'check on her supplies'.

I felt a sort of unease growing in my stomach. I went into the bedroom.

I noticed it the moment I entered: my sock drawer was slightly ajar.

I panicked for a second: did Susie…?

Then I exhaled. No… no, no. She wouldn't, right? She doesn't ever go into that drawer for any other reason than to put away my clean laundry (she had a habit of waiting until I was away, like on a mining trip, and doing my entire laundry for me).

I looked inside the drawer. The letter was still there, exactly the same place I left it. I even went so far as to open it up just to see. As far as I could tell, she hadn't touched it.

I breathed again. Not wanting to risk that happening again, I folded it carefully and stashed it away into my bag, inside my secret compartment. Should be safer there.

Dinner wasn't long after. But… the others seemed to be watching Susie rather curiously. It did seem like Susie was… conflicted about something.

That feeling of unease crept into me again, but I assured myself I was imagining it.

"Susie…?" I asked.

Susie jumped up, surprised. She looked very distracted.

"Y-yes, Cameron?" she asked.

"Is… is something wrong?" Snowy asked, gently cozying up to Susie. "I mean, you told us to-"

Susie INSTANTLY started shushing the wolf girl, glancing frightfully at me.

I blinked at her, confused by her sudden attitude change. I heard her frantically whisper to Snowy, "Not here, not now… after…"

Dinner was MUCH quieter after that. The moment we finished I pulled Susie aside, quietly asking her what she was worried about. She glanced around, as though checking for eavesdroppers, and then ushered me into our bedroom.

The moment she closed the door (even going so far as to lock it), I knew she was worried about something EXTREMELY serious. She turned to me and sat down at the edge of the bed, prompting me to do the same.

She looked incredibly concerned. Neither of us said a thing for nearly five minutes, until I finally couldn't take it.

"Soo… what's wrong?" I asked.

Susie glanced around one more time, and then flipped herself around me so now she was sitting on my lap. Her expression still hadn't changed.

"Uhh… Susie?" I asked again, confused.

"Why…?" she quietly mused.

Thoroughly lost, I only offered her a face of growing confusion.

"Why didn't you tell us…?" she mused again.

"Tell you… about what…?" I asked.

I suddenly had a horrible drop in my stomach moments before she spoke again. But there was no way, right? She couldn't have-

"Why didn't you tell us it was almost your birthday…?" Susie whispered.

I paled heavily. My immediate reaction was to stall.

"I… wait, what?" I responded, noticing my hands were shaking ever so gently.

"I… the letter…" Susie responded, glancing over to the sock drawer. "I-I know it wasn't right, but… you've been getting more and more upset lately, and it all seemed to originate after you got that letter… I had to know."

I could literally FEEL the blood draining from my face. I shakily asked, "Y-you… you didn't tell-"

"N-no! I-I never told the others, promise!" Susie quickly responded. Her tone sounded genuine enough, but… why did it sound fake as well?

Susie stayed quiet for a moment, took a few deep breaths, and then continued. "Why didn't you tell us? The others would've loved to know…"

I sighed softly, and slowly told her my reasoning. She stayed quiet throughout the story, as I relived many of those painful days and thoughts I had during my previous birthdays.

"So… I didn't want to say anything… because I didn't want you guys to make a big deal out of it. I haven't had a real reason to celebrate it over the years anyway. I just didn't want you all to get worked up over it."

"But that's silly! Your birthday is the BEST time to celebrate!" Susie insisted, taking ahold of my hands. "The others would LOVE to spend it with you, I'm sure!"

I shook my head. "Even if I did, it's too late now. I don't see how you could pull one together on such short notice…"

Susie had no comeback for that.

Eventually, I got up and started getting ready for bed. I was in a low mood, but I didn't blame Susie.

I crawled into bed a little later. Susie had left once I started getting ready, probably to clean up the front. A part of me considered going to help, but by then the fire was out, so I figured she was done.

I waited for Susie to come back. The seconds turned to a minute, and then two. Three. Five…

Finally Susie came back in. I looked at her, asking silently, 'Everything okay?'

She gave me another look that said, 'Don't worry.'

She joined me in the bed and pulled us together. I had my back facing her, but when I tried to turn around to face her she pulled herself tighter against me.

It was… actually rather comforting, being held like this. Susie's hug was very warm. I felt myself drifting into sleep.

The last thing I remember feeling before passing out completely was what felt like Susie's arms releasing me, but by that point I was no longer conscious enough to think about it.

I soon returned to my dreams. Vivianna and Aira were already waiting for me, and they welcomed me with open arms.

The whole night went by, with me enjoying their company like I usually do. I half-expected them to mention something about my birthday, maybe even just a passing phrase as the clock hit midnight or something. But nothing ever came. I was a little grateful, but… maybe because of Susie, I suddenly felt… a bit sad that they hadn't.

I shook that aside as I woke up. They must've been trying to keep my happy by not mentioning it.

As I woke up, I started to notice something: it was rather loud in the main room. Not, like, SUPER loud, but loud enough to be noticeable.

Then I noticed Susie wasn't here. Her half of the bed was neatly made, with a small note on the pillow. I put my glasses on and took the note.

"Cameron, if you're reading this, don't get out of bed just yet. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Still a bit out of the loop having just woken up, I didn't immediately understand what this was all about.

That's when the bedroom door opened up, and in stepped Susie. She had a large tray in her hands, and she was smiling BEYOND cheerfully.

"Good morning, Cameron. I made you breakfast." she chirped, carefully setting the tray in front of me. All of my favorite breakfast food was laid out for me: eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, toast, biscuits, the works. She even went so far as to bring a small pitcher of milk, with a glass next to it at the ready.

I stared at the tray, a bit taken back, and then looked up at Susie's unchanged expression. "Umm… what's all this about?" I asked.

"Well…" Susie murmured, rubbing her arm. "I know you said that you didn't want to celebrate 'you-know-what'... but I still wanted to do something for you."

Susie took my silence as acceptance. "So… yeah! Go ahead and, ah, eat up, okay?"

"What… what about the others?" I asked slowly. "Don't they want-"

"Oh don't worry! The others all agree that you should have the morning to yourself, just until you wake up fully at least!" Susie responded.

She planted a short kiss on my forehead, smiled at me one more time, and left with a bounce in her step.

It was suddenly a lot quieter than I remembered.

I… I wasn't sure what to make of all this. This was more than I was used to. As far as I knew, my birthday's weren't meant to be this… nice.

So… why did my heart feel light as a feather?

Eventually, my stomach started begging to be filled, so I finally turned towards the food in front of me.

I slowly ate my way through all of Susie's wonderful cooking. Somehow, it tasted even better than it normally did, and that's saying something. The butter was always the perfect softness, the milk was nice and smooth, the toast was perfectly crispy, the eggs were perfectly cooked, all of it was just… amazing.

Finally, I set the tray aside and got up, stomach full. I… I was already feeling happier about today.

And then I entered the main. And it suddenly got even better.

Somehow, the entire main room was decorated in homemade party favors. Paper streamers, colorful wool decor… even the fire somehow felt more… festive.

And then, I looked over at the counter, and was met with five identically smiling faces.

"SURPRISE!" a torrent of voices shouted.

I suddenly found myself at the center of a very large, multi-armed hug from five different people. There was clapping, and laughing, and babbling...

I finally managed to separate myself, blushing and at a complete loss for words. "Wh-wha… what…"

"It's your birthday party…!" Andr cheered softly. "We… might've sorta overheard what you and Susie were talking about last night…"

"I... may have told them to hide in the bathroom and outside so they could overhear..." Susie admitted, shyly holding her arm.

"And… we know you didn't want us to make a big fuss about it…" Diana added on, gently running her fingers through her hair. "But… you haven't had us to celebrate your special day with before. We want to make sure you have fun."

"Face it, bud. We're throwing you a party, because you deserve it." Silk continued. "If not for you, we wouldn't even BE here right now."

"You're the most important person in the world to me, Master!" Snowy insisted, hugging me tightly. "I want to make sure that your special day is one you won't forget! You don't have to worry about all those bad birthday's anymore. We're here to make sure this one is right!"

I slowly looked at each of my friends, one by one. They each were looking at me with smiles, but also… with hesitant gazes. They openly admitted to eavesdropping, and very much knew I didn't want to have a party. And yet they threw one anyway.

I was quiet for all of about thirty seconds. When I finally found my voice, it was… shaky, to put it mildly. "I… you guys… this…"

Snowy clamped around me even tighter. "C'mon Master! We even baked you a cake!"

I glanced behind her towards the table. At the head of the table was easily the largest cake I've ever seen in my life. It was so big I can't even imagine how I hadn't noticed it before. And the smell…

Chocolate. Rich, creamy, smooth chocolate. The kind of stuff that I haven't ate in years. Even Susie's hot cocoa, which was already really good, didn't even compare to that masterpiece.

A rush of emotions started running through me at lightning speed. It… it felt like I was back home, with my family, standing at the dinner table with a fresh cake ready and all my friends and family standing around, smiling and jolly.

I… I started shaking hard. The others all seemed to take that as in I was shaking in anger, and each took a half step back.

I… I couldn't hold it in any longer. The waterworks started flowing, and it would probably be a lie to say that my tears were dignified. You can't even begin to understand the wave of emotion that was passing through me…

Susie was the first to react. The moment I started crying, she came up to me and hugged me, a cloth in hand. Silently she dabbed away at my tears, looking into my eyes with the most sweetest expression you could imagine.

"Y-you… you guys…" I managed, my voice croaky. "Th-this… this is…"

"Shhhh…" Susie shushed, hugging me properly, tossing the rag aside. "It's okay."

When I finally managed to part from Susie, my legs were barely able to hold me. She gently helped me walk over and sit me down at the head of the table, right in front of the… my… massive cake.

The others, each with near identical expressions of joy (and mild relief that I wasn't angry, I suppose), took seats themselves.

"Go on, Cameron. Blow out the candles." Andr urged, looking at the candles placed atop the slab of sugary delight.

Although overwhelmed with emotion, I still couldn't resist glancing around. "W-well? No birthday song?"

Silk snorted. "You're already a mess as it is, bud. I think a birthday song would literally break you."

I managed a chuckle, wiping at the last remaining tears in my eyes. "F-fair enough."

I stood back up and looked at the candles.

Seventeen bright, colorful sticks of fire warmed my face…

And one more extra one, larger than the rest, right in the center.

'One to grow on…' I remembered, as my mother always said.

I inhaled, and the others all watched me expectantly…

'Here's… to a brand-new me.' I thought.

And all the candles were snuffed out in one blow.

The applause was tremendous. Talking immediately ensued as Susie quickly removed the candles and started slicing up the cake.

That cake… it was the best cake I've ever tasted. Perfectly creamy, sweet, and smooth.

Everyone else soon dug into their slice of cake as well (aside from Snowy, who we learned the hard way gets pretty bad indigestion if she eats too much chocolate, she instead focused on a small plate of bone-shaped sugar cookies.), and the talking continued for a long time.

Piece by piece, the cake was taken down. Even I managed to shove down triple helpings, what with all the breakfast Susie had given me not that long ago.

Eventually, Susie wrapped up what was left of the cake and stored it away for us to enjoy later, if we wanted.

"Is it time for me to give him this yet?" Snowy piped up, in her hand a…

I blinked. She… had a present. A present almost as big as that cake had been, with white wrapping paper and a red bow tied around it.

"Wait… presents too…?" I asked, hardly believing it.

"Well, it wouldn't be your birthday without at least a couple, wouldn't it?" Diana asked, her own present in gray wrapping paper and a green ribbon in her hands.

"How… so let me get this straight…" I chuckled, looking at all of them. "Not only did you manage to hear about my birthday, decorate this whole room, and bake that cake between last night and now, but you guys even somehow got me presents…?"

"I didn't mind." Andr responded, fingers tapping her small present in black paper. "I was more concerned with making sure you'd be happy. I… do hope my present it okay…"

"Next time, give us a little more warning though." Silk responded, cheekily grinning as she laid her vividly purple present on the table. "Present hunting isn't as fun when it's the night before, ya'know."

"I… you guys…" I repeated, looking at each of them. I still was in a form of shock that they did all this for me.

"Go on Master! Open mine first!" Snowy giggled, pushing hers towards me.

With one last glance around, just to make sure that this was actually mine, I tore the wrapping paper off.

Snowy's gift was a large, fluffy coat, almost exactly like hers (save that this was a bright red). It was exactly my size, and I noticed on the cuffs she had stitched tiny little bones in a large circle. She even stitched my name on the back, in her adorable handwriting too, no less.

"How… how'd you make this? This is great!" I exclaimed, looking at it up and down.

Snowy gently fidgeted, tapping her fingers together. "W-well, I… may have had a little help…"

Susie was grinning broadly at Snowy. "Awww, it was your idea Snowy. Own it! I only helped with the stitching."

"Yeah, but I would've probably poked myself a hundred times over had you not helped me…" Snowy admitted, blushing furiously.

Susie grinned, then turned towards Andr. "Andr, you next?"

Andr blushed even more furiously than Snowy and gently slid her gift towards me as I carefully set my new coat aside.

Curious, I pull the wrapping off. My eyes widened as three Ender Pearls were presented to me, set in a small, protective glass case.

"How…" I started. Ender Pearls aren't what you'd call a common resource, and there's only one way I know to get them, and it ain't pretty.

"It's… complicated." Andr responded, blushing furiously. "I, ah… thought you'd like those, just in case, you know… if something was to happen…"

I stared at the Ender Pearls again, then grinned and safely tucked them into my bag. "I'm sure I'll find a use for them. Thanks!"

Andr blushed even harder, and her head seemed to retreat into her hoodie out of embarrassment. Diana cleared her throat.

"Seems I'm next." she calmly stated, sliding me a rather long, yet thin package.

Knowing Diana, I expected it to be something archery related. Perhaps she had hand-crafted me a bow, which would be great, or maybe she finally figured out how to build a crossbow. She's been trying for ages now.

But the truth was even crazier. I knew what it was the moment I pulled the wrapping paper away.

I was staring at the bow. The one with that same purple glow, that somehow seemed to mend itself.

For a good twenty seconds I stared at it, dumbfounded, then looked up at Diana and responded, "I can't-"

"You can and you will." Diana retorted, leaning back into her seat.

"But I gave this to you so long ago, and you said it yourself, you LOVE this bow!" I retorted, sliding the bow away. Somehow getting the bow back felt… wrong.

"I do. But I still want you to have it. Every time I looked at it… it reminded me of you. I would much rather let you keep it than have me horde it for myself." Diana responded.

I hesitated for a good ten seconds, then slowly slid the bow towards me.

It… felt familiar. It still looked like it had just been crafted the other day. And unless my eyes were once again deceiving me, the purple aura appeared to intensify for a fraction of a second as I took it. As though it was made of glass, I picked it up and leaned it against the wall for me to pick up later.

Silk grunted. "Finally, my turn. Took long enough." she mildly complained with a smirk, sliding her gift over.

It was rather small. I wasn't exactly sure what Silk had gotten me. I imagined it had SOMETHING to do with her side-passion of weaving, but I couldn't imagine what.

I torn the paper away and found…

"Oh! Isn't this…" I started to say.

I had seen these once or twice over at Blockington. They were called a survival bracelet, or something along those lines. Essentially it was an EXTREMELY long bit of string, first thickened into a rope, then weaved together tightly into a large loop. The idea was that, should you be in some sort of dangerous situation, the bracelet could be undone and then you'd have a large bit of useful string. Great for tying up sticks, keeping pressure on a wound, you name it.

"This is actually pretty cool." I responded, fastening the bracelet around my wrist. Although certainly not the most immediately useful gift, I was certain there'd be a time when it would be useful. Who knows?

"It was a bit hard, considering how much I had to weave it back and forth…" Silk responded, rubbing the back of her head. "It's just… something useful to have if things go south again, y'know?"

"I very much do." I responded, grinning.

Four girls down. Susie was the only one left, and she had a small smile on her face. "It would seem… as though I'm last."

Her present was modestly sized, and wrapped in all green paper. Rather than gently slide it over like everyone else had, she stood and delivered it to me, just so that she could give me another hug after setting it in front of me.

"I hope you like it…" she whispered, releasing me.

Eagerly, I tore the paper off. I wasn't sure what to expect.

I was a little bit taken back once I tore the paper off. It… was a book. A book that was entirely black: no visible title or anything.

Confused, I glanced around the entire cover of the book. Nothing.

I glanced over at Susie. She mouthed, "Open it."

I opened it up to the first page.

My eyes went wide open.

It… it was a picture. THE picture, in fact, that was the first thing I ever took way back when I fixed that old camera. That memory was so long ago, but looking at the photo of me, Susie and Snowy standing there in front of the fireplace… it brought so many memories back.

I flipped through the pages. Susie had slowly grown attached to that camera once I fixed it up, I remembered, and even more so once I got back from the S&S. She had pictures in this album of so many events and memories, and yet I remembered just about every last one.

The last picture I found before the pages became blank was, to my knowledge, the last picture Susie had taken to that point, not even a week ago. She had set the camera up in such a way, and everyone suddenly posed in such a way to where… it felt like we were all just a bunch of goofy friends that were hanging out together. In it's own way… it was a beautiful shot.

I was fighting back another wave of tears. "S-Susie… this… this is amazing…"

"There's… one more thing…" Susie murmured.

She gently flipped the book all the way to the back.

A single spot for a photo was here, currently empty.

Susie had written out a small message here, underneath where the picture goes.

"We may have our own memories to share, but we will never forget the ones that came before us."

"Cameron's Family - 2010"

I… I was shaking.

"I… I thought… perhaps you'd want a more… permanent place to keep your photo." Susie explained, gently massaging my shoulder.

The others had all gathered around at this point. Seems like they knew what Susie was planning on giving me long in advance.

I… I was quiet for a moment.

"You don't have to, of course." Susie responded, nodding. "I just though it might be something you'd consider."

I was hesitant for about thirty seconds.

And I slowly reached for my bag.

And pulled out the photo.

My family smiled back at me.

The wave of loss hit me all over again, but I was much better at keeping control of myself at this stage.

I allowed myself one more glance.

And then I silently slid it into place.

My family smiled at me as they became a part of the album.

For a moment, no one said anything. We all just kinda… stared at my family with the same sad gaze.

Then, I sighed, and slowly closed the book.

I stood, and looked at each of my five friends.

They all waited for me to say something.

Finally, I found my voice. "You guys… I… this has been the best birthday ever. I… I can't thank you enough."

They responded almost instantly. Another group hug was shared.

And in the center of it all, I looked at the album, still tightly in my grasp.

"And thank you all… for becoming a part of my new family…"


The rest of the day was… perfect.

It was as though Notch himself had set out to make this the absolutely most beautifully perfect day in existence. The sky outside had not even a single blocky cloud, the weather was crystal clear, even the temperature of the air felt perfectly comfortable.

Inside the house, I was constantly given showers of compassion from my friends. Each and every one of them were truly out to make sure that today would be the best day of my life.

Dinner came, and Susie pulled out ALL the stops. Never before had I seen her cook with such determination, but she did not disappoint. Just about EVERY last thing you could imagine to eat for dinner was spread out buffet-style across the counters and table, and everyone was eating as much as they could.

It certainly was daunting, but all of the plates were eventually picked clean of food. Though I think I speak for everyone when I say that we couldn't eat even a single bite more. There was just that much wonderful stuff spread out for us.

But, unfortunately, as I am all too aware, all good things must come to an end. Dinner was soon cleaned up, and everyone, myself included, seemed exhausted.

"I hope that was worth it, bud…" Silk commented, barely able to keep her head off the table to avoid passing out.

"It was." I agreed, yawning heartily. "This… this was the best birthday I've ever had."

Slowly, one by one, everyone started filing away towards their bedrooms. Each and every one of them made sure to come up to me and give me one last hug and happy birthday before filing off. I don't doubt that some of them passed out the second they hit the bed: I couldn't blame them.

I sighed in content.

Susie was the last one to stay, and she stayed with me the longest, despite clearly looking the most spent of all of them. She had put so much stock into making me happy, and it was clearly catching up to her.

We shared one last glass of hot cocoa before slowly making out way to the bed. By that point, the fireplace was nothing more than embers, and I realized that it was REALLY late. Probably midnight, if not later.

We were so drained we didn't even bother with the night routines; we just collapsed into the bed together.

Susie, bless her heart, still felt like she had to ask me something before bed.

"So? Did you… like everything?" she asked.

"Like you even need me to say it." I responded. "Come here, you beautiful creature."

We kissed, our lips as soft as the moonlight above.

And then, as for me, I felt my head hit the pillow, and that was that.

I was out.

But I had had the best birthday of my entire life.

And I…

I was happy.


Sooo? How'd I do?

I know how much people really did want to have birthdays happen already, and FINALLY I got around to doing the first one!

Of course, it WAS quite a bit of work, so I'll need to make sure I'm up the task of writing another one. For that reason, I hope you'll forgive me if I don't go… as deep as I did this time. It might be as simple as a mention in the future chapters, or I may do another whole event. I don't know.

But get this: We're on Chapter 49. DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THAT MEANS?!

WE ARE ABOUT TO HIT FIFTY FREAKING CHAPTERS ON THIS STORY.

Do you realize how INSANE that is?! I'm freaking out again just writing these author's notes!

As such, for reaching such an important milestone, I feel as though it's only appropriate that I write something… befitting this kind of achievement.

You know what that means!

Expect a super long, super special chapter 50, coming soon-ish-maybe-kidna-whoknows!

As always, I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this chapter. And again, if you ever want to get your MC on with me, you know the drill. Though that may be slightly harder, considering I don't have the awesome computer access I usually do at my college, and my laptop is starting to have problems as Minecraft keeps updating. It can still RUN, just… not very well (lol).

Until next time, my dear readers, this is ButterHunter, who wished that each and every one of you will…

Stay awesome! =D