Chapter 38 Loving the Surprise

Lemmy never wanted to sleep so much before. Were the last few days just too emotionally draining? Was this just Ludwig's circadian rhythms toying with him? He didn't know. All he did know was the fact that his desire to stay in bed was strong. Some might even say too strong.

He internally sighed. He couldn't stay in bed; he had a lot to do today! Today was, after all, Ludwig's birthday. While the Koopa of the hour might not have any plans, Lemmy did. He had plans so cool and detailed that they would knock the frown right off of Ludwig's face. Or, rather, his own face.

So, with one more internal sigh to mourn his loss of beauty sleep, Lemmy rose to a sitting position. He opened his eyes, which turned out to be a big mistake as he got punched in the face by sunlight. Shrieking, he placed his hands to his face. "Why why…why is it so bright?"

"Morning Lems!"

Lemmy blinked through the scorching sunrays. "Ludwig?" He smiled. "You're up! That's good!"

Ludwig chuckled. "Well, I couldn't let a day like this go to waste." He came out of the sunlight and went to the foot of Lemmy's bed. Lemmy was excited to see a smile on his face again.

"You can say that again," Lemmy laughed. He didn't take his eyes off of his brother. He hadn't seen him smile like this in so long. It was like spotting an endangered animal in the wild; he didn't know when he would see it again.

"Yeah." Ludwig adjusted his stance and cleared his throat. "Now, in keeping with the Koopa family tradition, I already have your breakfast prepared."

Lemmy did a double take. "Wait. My breakfast?"

Ludwig nodded. Much to Lemmy's surprise, the oldest reached down and pulled a breakfast tray off of the chest at the foot of the bed. The second oldest couldn't even speak as Ludwig placed it on his lap.

"Happy birthday, Lemmy!"

Lemmy blinked. What? What in the world was going on? Was this a prank? That could be the case. But why would Ludwig prank Lemmy? Especially with a scenario that was so…odd?

"Ludwig…it's not my birthday, it's yours."

Ludwig's eyes glittered. "Have you forgotten who you are?"

The second oldest's jaw dropped a little. "Uh, no, of course not." He stumbled his way through the next few words. "But…I don't…why would…I don't understand!"

Ludwig laughed. "Since when do you need to understand something to enjoy it? Now, eat up, we have a very exciting day ahead of us!"

Lemmy looked down at his salsa and cheese omelet with a dropped jaw. Seriously, what was going on? This was on a whole new level of bizarre. Why would Ludwig give up his special day? Especially considering the events that transpired less than a week prior? If anything, Lemmy would have thought he wanted to use this day and the celebrations that came packaged with it to distract himself from the duplighost fight. Not to mention this was a little inconvenient considering Lemmy wanted to throw Ludwig a surprise party.

Actually, on second thought, it was a LOT inconvenient.

"Ludwig…"

"Less talking, more chewing." He looked down at the omelet. "Seriously, you're going to love it. I had a salsa and cheese omelet two days before the swap and…hoo man! I thought I knew what the word 'scrumptious' meant before but…" Ludwig shook his head. "Wait, I need to slow down. Don't want to ruin it by hyping it up too much." He giggled. "But seriously. Try it."

Lemmy sighed. "Okay." He took a bite, and when he swallowed, he gave his brother a wide eyed look. "Oh man, that is scrumptious."

"Told you." Ludwig turned toward the door. "I'll let you finish up. I have some very special and VERY exciting errands I need to run!"

"Ludwig, wait…"

It was too late. Ludwig was already gone. Lemmy shook his head. Ludwig would certainly see his siblings preparing for the surprise party.

"Well, I guess there go my plans." He sighed as he took another bite of the omelet.

…

Ludwig was surprised that he was admitting to this, but he felt as if the smile he wore was helping to lift his low hanging mood. He had heard of the concept of "fake it til you make it" before, but he had previously dismissed it as codswallop. It just sounded too…unbelievable. Fake, he supposed was the correct term to use. He supposed that was probably because he had never attempted to do it. Because…yeah, this smile was lifting him out of the dumps. Sure, the pain was still there. Very noticeably still there. But the smile was helping, kind of like a bandaid. Sure, a bandaid placed on an amputated arm, but still

He let out a sigh. Might as well take advantage of the good mood while it lasted. He had quite a few stops he needed to make. With a bit of oomph in his step, he made his way down to the kitchen.

"Hey Gretchen," he said to the koopa troopa chef. "I'm going need to ask you to do me a…" He blinked when he spotted Morton, leaning over the countertop. "Morton? What are you doing here?"

The second youngest gawked. "Umm…." He scratched the back of his head. Ludwig didn't know if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw sweat form along his brow. "I…could ask you the same thing."

Ludwig took came closer. "I need help." He took a few more steps forward. "Everyone here knows I can't bake to save my life, so I was wondering…" he raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you look like you're about to jump out of a plane; is everything alright?"

Morton swallowed a lump. "Oh, sure. Everything's…" He pushed something from behind to the side, right behind a cutting block. "Everything's fine!"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow, keeping his attention on the object Morton had cast out of his view. Right before he could ask about it was when the the kitchen door opened.

"Make way! Everyone's favorite Koopa King is coming through!" Sure enough, Bowser came into the kitchen. "Morton, how much progress have you made on the….GAAH!" Bowser jumped at least a foot into the air when he saw the oldest. "Ludwig!" He chuckled, very noticeable nervousness attached to the sounds. "You're…awake!"

"Yes, I'm awake." He looked between the two of them. "What's going on, guys?"

Morton bit his lip. "Nnnnn…nothing?"

"Yep!" Bowser exclaimed. "Nothing is exactly what I would call what we are doing right now!" He scratched his scalp. "In fact, I came into the kitchen to make sure that Morton was doing his best at doing nothing!"

Ludwig's eyebrow rose even higher. "Oh really?" He looked back at the cutting block which obscured Morton's mystery object from view. The batter coated edge of the object was just barely visible. "So, you have absolutely nothing you guys are doing at the moment?"

"Absolutely not!" Both Koopas exclaimed in unison.

Even though his skepticism was off the charts, Ludwig just sighed. "Well, I guess that makes this a little more convenient for me." He looked Morton straight in the eye. "I need a cake for Lemmy. Do you think you can whip one up?"

Morton blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say for Lemmy?"

"Yep," Ludwig said.

Bowser looked confused. "Why would you want a cake for Lemmy when it's your…"

"Because I want to do something special for him." Ludwig backed up so that he could look at both of them. "He needs a party more than anyone else. I think it could really lift his spirits."

Now it was Morton's turn to raise his eyebrow. "His spirits, huh?"

"Mmhm." He turned toward the door. "The party will be at six o'clock this evening. I want the cake by then."

With that and a series of confused blinks from his family members, Ludwig left. He had only taken five steps into the dining hall when he ran into Kamek.

"Ah," the magikoopa said. "I was looking for you."

"That's so funny; I was avoiding you." Ludwig sniffed. "Can you move? I'm kind of pressed for time."

Kamek shook his head a little bit. "I was hoping that I could show you some of the artifacts I have in my study."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Sorry Kamek, but I have a limit to how many old useless things I can look at in a day, and just talking to you has put me ten points over that limit." He tried squeezing past, but the magikoopa made for an excellent blockade. "Seriously…will you just…let me through?" Kamek grabbed Ludwig by the wrist, causing the oldest to give him a dry and irritated look. "Kamek, let me go."

Kamek smirked. "Why? What are you going to do to me if I don't?" His smirk grew nastier. "Shoot a fireball at me?"

Ludwig grit his teeth. "Too far below the belt, Kamek!" He glared at him. "Bowser's in the other room; do you want me to call him over?"

Kamek unleashed his hold on his wrist. Ludwig shook his head and made his way to the door. Right before he could exit was when Kamek teleported into the doorway.

Ludwig groaned. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Kamek looked at the oldest with a calm, stoic look. "Who are you looking for?"

Ludwig gave Kamek the stink eye for the better part of a minute before sighing in defeat. "I need to find my siblings. I need their help setting up a party for Lemmy."

Kamek did a double take. "I'm sorry, did you say for Lemmy?"

Ludwig nodded. "I consider it a token of appreciation."

"Really?" Kamek smiled. "Well, that is sweet, I'll admit. Some might even call it…loving."

"Yes. Loving." Ludwig's expression grew somber. "I think Lemmy deserves it."

Kamek smiled. "Well, that is certainly a step in the right direction." He moved out of the way. "Go find your siblings."

"Thank you." Ludwig made his way into the hallway. As he was leaving, he heard Kamek say something under his breathing.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Ludwig is loving towards Lemonade." He chuckled. "If only they knew what such a powerful bond was capable of. It just might help them overcome the impossible."

Ludwig slowed down. He was tempted to as Kamek what he meant by that, but ultimately decided against it and kept walking.