Killian grabbed her hands, hers on top of his palms, determined. "Well then, we better get started if we're to get this party done in time. How about you get the food in the cupboards and I'll get the things tidied up?

"Mm hm!" she replied, quickly heading toward the bag of produce.

What was a golden afternoon became a comfy night in a tower, lit up by candles and a brazen fireplace. The things in the sea chest were orderly, certain things left out for ease of access, produce put in its proper place in the cupboards, and a feast of pan fried fish, asparagus, and potatoes were laid out on a table with a father and daughter sitting opposite one another. Alice was happily eating, hints of flour and batter caked on her dress despite having worn an apron while baking. Killian was slowly eating, taking in the sight and event that was transpiring as chaotic fun that had come on a day from a question only a child would ask. The smell of a cake cooling on the kitchen island after baking in the oven only confirmed that this was real.

Holding a fork with a stabbed boiled asparagus on it, Killian mused, "I would have made the cake by myself if I had known you'd get batter all over you."

Alice poked at her potatoes, responding, "It will come off. Besides, it's not right to make a birthday cake on your birthday, Papa. It's too sad."

He sighed. "I know. I was just kidding."

"So have you figured what to wish for yet?" she asked, smiling from ear to ear, her food nearly done.

Hook said with a swallow, "You can't trick me into saying it."

"Awww, thought I got you."

As he ate, she went to go grab the cake, flopping it out of the tin and onto a plate. With the candle box, extra plates, forks, and a butterknife already on the table ahead of time, everything was ready. Bringing it over, taking her time and the smell of the cocoa wafting, Alice set it in front of her eager papa.

"It looks delicious, Alice."

She grabbed a candle from the candle tin, placing it into the center of the cake, and he lit it up with a second candle, taking the flame from the table's center candle piece.

"Make a wish!" she exclaimed.

He closed his eyes and a moment passed before he blew it out. The smell of smoke puffing out from the charred wick filling the air. He heard a rustle from behind him and a sound of footsteps clamoring on the floorboards in time. As he opened his eyes, there stood Alice next to him, now holding an object covered in a patterned cloth in her hands, arms outstretched.

"Happy birthday, Papa! I didn't have time to make you a present but I hope you'll like this."

Killian lifted the checkered handkerchief and his brows furrowed in confusion. With a nervous chuckle, he asked, "The telescope?"

He owned the brass telescope and it was very helpful when he was trying to spot land at sea. Here in the tower though, it served as an old relic that Alice liked to play around with and he showed her the stars with.

"No," she said with a huff. "Well yes, but not that. Come here!" She tugged at his hook, urging him to follow her, and he got out of his chair. He looked back at the cake, wondering what could be of more importance than eating the chocolatey dessert in front of them, before following suit.

"Look!" She pointed up at the night sky outside the window as she passed the telescope to him. He put the telescope up to his eye as she asked, "Do you see it? The stars that form Orion and his belt, to the left of the moon?"

"Aye?" he asked, squinting one eye to see better with the other through the lens.

He mainly saw the base of the constellation. It looked like an hourglass but instead of intersecting at a center point, there were three major bright stars that formed a line for the torso of Orion's body, connecting the two mirrored trapezoids made of more stars. Killian was going to ask if he saw what she wanted him to, but all those were things she didn't know and he didn't want to ruin the mood, asking her about those would have made her feel more isolated from the world.

He racked his brain for what he remembered from his hazy memories from his royal navy training days or more recently, a constellation book, well loved and the pages easy to finger through due to his daughter's intense interest in the constant forces that moved across the sky despite the tower being stationary, worryingly more than he thought a kid should since he had brought it back as a winter present. Seeing as how the stars to the right of the base seemed to make an arrow, it all clicked into place.

Killian asked, hoping he could satisfy her request, "Orion, the one with the bow, right?"

He folded the telescope and put it into the pocket of his satchel hanging on the nearby coat rack as Alice clapped, merrily chiming, "Correct! He's an archer." She sighed lovingly, resting her chin on her hands as she rested her elbows on the window sill, "Now, everytime we see Orion the Archer in the sky at this angle, we'll celebrate your birthday."

"Mm, sounds lovely. Thank you for this eternal gift," he sounded in agreement as he tapped Alice's elbow with his hook, "But aren't you forgetting something?"

"Wha-," she mumbled before pushing herself away from the window's ledge, hitting herself on the head a few times, finally exclaiming, "Bloody hell! The cake! What if it's gone cold?"

Killian immediately got on his knees, grimacing for a brief moment as the bruises on his shins flared up in pain, "Hey, Al. Look at me." He pried her hands from her head gently with his hand and hook as her ocean eyes, dancing with tears, bore into his, "It's gonna be okay if the cake's cold. It's not your fault."

As she rubbed her eyes, he reassured her, "It will still be delicious, I bet! After all, you made it with love."

Sniffling, finding herself smiling again, she asked, "Really?"

He led her over to the table, just a few feet away from where they were, one of her hands wrapped around his hook as his hand grabbed the butterknife, replying, "Only one way to tell. Whenever you're ready." One quick nod at the cake and the girl had gotten the gist, the kind that one would have when they're about to do some feat of fun without consequences. No sooner had Alice taken the blown out candle off the chocolate cake, her papa called out a war declaration.

"Prepare to be sliced!"

Killian, with the precision of a skilled fighter trying to daintily cut a cake in a timely manner, all while adding sounds of bravado, went to work. By the end of it, some cake crumbs were on the ground but the medium sized cake was sliced into eight equal rectangular pieces. Alice, lively and in good spirits, sorted out the two clean plates in front of them and using a fork, put a slice on each of the plates.

When they sat down, Alice stared at her slice, a tender smile on her face. Confused, he asked, tearing off a chunk of the dessert with his fork, "What are you waiting for, love? The mighty cake has been vanquished."

She looked back up at him, replying, "Oh, nothing. Just, I'm glad we're not giants," finishing with a first bite of the cake in her mouth.

Killian's eyebrow raised in questioning, "What has convinced you?"

"This delicious cake!" she bubbled, her eyes lighting up. Whether it was joy, her sweet tooth getting its fill, or both, he didn't know.

"Really?" He chewed slower as if inquiring about the nature of the cake. The cake, although now room temperature, tasted wonderful with a light cocoa taste and great deal of sweetness. "It's great, but this can't be the only reason."

"Maybe not." Alice paused, lost in thought as she finished the rest of her slice. "Maybe I'm really happy that we're human so that we can grow up and celebrate birthdays together like this."

Scratching behind his ear a bit with his hook, he didn't know how to respond as he was touched. With some quick thinking and a scan of the table, he opted out his fork for a cup of tea as he held it up. Killian announced, "To being human."

Alice, grabbing her cup of tea, one pinky held out for fun, replied, "To being human."

They clinked their teacups. The night ended as Killian eventually, after cleaning up the dishes, tucked Alice into bed with Mr. Rabbit, her falling asleep as he read her a bit more from the heavy Giants in the Clouds.