Notes: I changed the title, and the direction I was planning on going with it. I was talking with my husband last night and was inspired to take this in a whole new direction. Hopefully it will turn out well. :D
General disclaimers apply, the characters don't belong to me, the story is just for fun, no money is being made.
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"They say it's your birthday, happy birthday to you!" - The Beatles, Birthday
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Scarlett returned to her quarters, grumpy. She approached the small fridge and was tempted to remove the ice cream from the freezer to drown her birthday in Ben and Jerry's Phish Phood, but decided instead to be good and grabbed some nonfat yogurt and a handful of granola to throw in for texture. She flopped down on the couch, flipping the TV on as she crunched on her breakfast. She watched CNN and the latest news from the Middle East and the conflict in Israel. The phone rang a few minutes later and she leaned over to grab it. "Hello?"
"Happy birthday Shana!" Her father's voice, with its gentle lilt, came across the miles and entered her ear, bringing a smile to her face.
"Thanks Da. How are you?"
"I'm fine, but you don't sound all that happy, considering it's your birthday! When you were little, this was your favorite day of the whole year."
She groaned a little, "That's the problem, it's my birthday! I'm getting old, I'm not eight anymore! And where am I? Career military, no boyfriend, no children, risking my life every day for things I can't talk about and far away from my family." There was a slight petulant whine to her tone. It was hard when she was speaking to her father to not revert back to childish habits.
"Shana, it's not that bad. We both know you love your job. Do you really regret where you are?" Her father's tone was gentle.
"Sometimes. Sometimes I think about Mom and I wonder what she would think about me and what I've done with my life. She was younger than me and in some ways had so much more."
"In some ways, yes." Patrick's voice held the pain he kept for the loss of his wife, even decades later. "You are a different woman than your mother was, and yet in some ways so similar. I am proud of you, that should count for something."
"It does Daddy, I'm sorry to bring it up." She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Don't be. We usually don't talk about her much because I know you don't want to upset me." His voice caught for a moment. "So, I want you to feel free to learn about her, as your birthday gift."
"What do you mean, Da?"
"I spoke to your friends in the military. We arranged for your gift together. My gift from just me is this:" Her father paused for a moment, gathering his strength, "Cathleen Regan, 6 Queen Avenue, Belfast. Joseph O'Hara, 653 Livingston, Drogheda, Co. Dublin"
"What are those?" She scrambled for a pen and wrote the information down quickly.
"Your grandmother's and uncle's current addresses, respectively. I told them you were coming."
She stayed silent for a moment. She had access to this information via the military of course, but out of respect for her father, she had never really pursued it. She suddenly digested the last sentence he spoke, "That I was coming?"
"I'll let your friends tell you the rest. Happy birthday, I love you very much. Please be careful." His voice held a lot of worry, he still wasn't sure that this was the right thing to do. She could find out as little or as much as she wanted, he just hoped none of the information hurt her.
"I will Da. I love you too. Give my love to the boys too." She was perplexed at his worry; it just didn't fit with the situation. They hung up after a final goodbye, and she got up to face her friends again so she could find out the rest of her gift.
She exited her suite, seeing a grinning Jaye when she was not 10 feet down the hall. "There you are, birthday girl! Where have you been hiding?" She grabbed Scarlett's arm and dragged her through the hall back towards the mess.
"I was talking to my dad." She couldn't help but smile at Jaye's exuberance.
"Wonderful! Then this is the perfect time!" Jaye pushed the doors of the mess open to show all their close friends in there, holding a sign that said 'Over the Hill'. "Surprise!!"
"Oh God, not more of this!" She rolled her eyes. Scarlett was quickly enveloped into a mass of people, giving her hugs, with the occasional flash going off. She smiled in spite of herself; it was nice at least to have all her friends around.
When the greetings had finished, she was sat down in chair and Duke cleared his throat. "I guess as the superior officer, it falls to me to make the speech." A smattering of applause at that, "Scarlett, we've all been friends for a long time, and when your dad gave us the opportunity to give you something spectacular for your birthday, we all jumped at the chance." A little more applause sounded, "So, from everyone, we have this," He handed her a thick manila envelope.
She grinned madly as she ripped through it, her eyes widening as she saw itineraries and plane tickets. "Oh my God! You guys shouldn't have! This is too much!" She tried to hand the envelope back to Duke, shaking her head at the gift.
"That's not a way to graciously accept a heartfelt gift." Duke admonished her. "The gift from Hawk and I is the time off to enjoy it. No work for 3 weeks. You are officially on leave, as of," he looked at his watch, "now!"
Scarlett's eyes widened but before she could protest, her friends surrounded her with other small gifts: a sweater, a new purse, a stationary set, a new gerber and a few other items that she was just overwhelmed to receive. "You guys really shouldn't have. This is way too much. I feel terrible about accepting it all."
Cover Girl came over and put her arm around Scarlett, smiling. "Don't you dare. You deserve a vacation and we are just happy we could help give it to you. None of us could believe that you had never been to Ireland besides short stops with work and had never met your Grandmother."
She shrugged, "My Da always spoke fondly of Ireland, but he was very sensitive about it. There were only certain time periods he was comfortable discussing. I didn't want to push him." She looked around at her friends and grinned, "Thank you all. I'm very lucky to have you. Group hug!" They all laughed as they squished her into the center of a group hug.
"Now, go pack! Your plane leaves at 1800 tonight!" Jaye pushed her playfully and Scarlett gathered her gifts and hurried back to her room to pack.
General disclaimers apply, the characters don't belong to me, the story is just for fun, no money is being made.
===================================================================
"They say it's your birthday, happy birthday to you!" - The Beatles, Birthday
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Scarlett returned to her quarters, grumpy. She approached the small fridge and was tempted to remove the ice cream from the freezer to drown her birthday in Ben and Jerry's Phish Phood, but decided instead to be good and grabbed some nonfat yogurt and a handful of granola to throw in for texture. She flopped down on the couch, flipping the TV on as she crunched on her breakfast. She watched CNN and the latest news from the Middle East and the conflict in Israel. The phone rang a few minutes later and she leaned over to grab it. "Hello?"
"Happy birthday Shana!" Her father's voice, with its gentle lilt, came across the miles and entered her ear, bringing a smile to her face.
"Thanks Da. How are you?"
"I'm fine, but you don't sound all that happy, considering it's your birthday! When you were little, this was your favorite day of the whole year."
She groaned a little, "That's the problem, it's my birthday! I'm getting old, I'm not eight anymore! And where am I? Career military, no boyfriend, no children, risking my life every day for things I can't talk about and far away from my family." There was a slight petulant whine to her tone. It was hard when she was speaking to her father to not revert back to childish habits.
"Shana, it's not that bad. We both know you love your job. Do you really regret where you are?" Her father's tone was gentle.
"Sometimes. Sometimes I think about Mom and I wonder what she would think about me and what I've done with my life. She was younger than me and in some ways had so much more."
"In some ways, yes." Patrick's voice held the pain he kept for the loss of his wife, even decades later. "You are a different woman than your mother was, and yet in some ways so similar. I am proud of you, that should count for something."
"It does Daddy, I'm sorry to bring it up." She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Don't be. We usually don't talk about her much because I know you don't want to upset me." His voice caught for a moment. "So, I want you to feel free to learn about her, as your birthday gift."
"What do you mean, Da?"
"I spoke to your friends in the military. We arranged for your gift together. My gift from just me is this:" Her father paused for a moment, gathering his strength, "Cathleen Regan, 6 Queen Avenue, Belfast. Joseph O'Hara, 653 Livingston, Drogheda, Co. Dublin"
"What are those?" She scrambled for a pen and wrote the information down quickly.
"Your grandmother's and uncle's current addresses, respectively. I told them you were coming."
She stayed silent for a moment. She had access to this information via the military of course, but out of respect for her father, she had never really pursued it. She suddenly digested the last sentence he spoke, "That I was coming?"
"I'll let your friends tell you the rest. Happy birthday, I love you very much. Please be careful." His voice held a lot of worry, he still wasn't sure that this was the right thing to do. She could find out as little or as much as she wanted, he just hoped none of the information hurt her.
"I will Da. I love you too. Give my love to the boys too." She was perplexed at his worry; it just didn't fit with the situation. They hung up after a final goodbye, and she got up to face her friends again so she could find out the rest of her gift.
She exited her suite, seeing a grinning Jaye when she was not 10 feet down the hall. "There you are, birthday girl! Where have you been hiding?" She grabbed Scarlett's arm and dragged her through the hall back towards the mess.
"I was talking to my dad." She couldn't help but smile at Jaye's exuberance.
"Wonderful! Then this is the perfect time!" Jaye pushed the doors of the mess open to show all their close friends in there, holding a sign that said 'Over the Hill'. "Surprise!!"
"Oh God, not more of this!" She rolled her eyes. Scarlett was quickly enveloped into a mass of people, giving her hugs, with the occasional flash going off. She smiled in spite of herself; it was nice at least to have all her friends around.
When the greetings had finished, she was sat down in chair and Duke cleared his throat. "I guess as the superior officer, it falls to me to make the speech." A smattering of applause at that, "Scarlett, we've all been friends for a long time, and when your dad gave us the opportunity to give you something spectacular for your birthday, we all jumped at the chance." A little more applause sounded, "So, from everyone, we have this," He handed her a thick manila envelope.
She grinned madly as she ripped through it, her eyes widening as she saw itineraries and plane tickets. "Oh my God! You guys shouldn't have! This is too much!" She tried to hand the envelope back to Duke, shaking her head at the gift.
"That's not a way to graciously accept a heartfelt gift." Duke admonished her. "The gift from Hawk and I is the time off to enjoy it. No work for 3 weeks. You are officially on leave, as of," he looked at his watch, "now!"
Scarlett's eyes widened but before she could protest, her friends surrounded her with other small gifts: a sweater, a new purse, a stationary set, a new gerber and a few other items that she was just overwhelmed to receive. "You guys really shouldn't have. This is way too much. I feel terrible about accepting it all."
Cover Girl came over and put her arm around Scarlett, smiling. "Don't you dare. You deserve a vacation and we are just happy we could help give it to you. None of us could believe that you had never been to Ireland besides short stops with work and had never met your Grandmother."
She shrugged, "My Da always spoke fondly of Ireland, but he was very sensitive about it. There were only certain time periods he was comfortable discussing. I didn't want to push him." She looked around at her friends and grinned, "Thank you all. I'm very lucky to have you. Group hug!" They all laughed as they squished her into the center of a group hug.
"Now, go pack! Your plane leaves at 1800 tonight!" Jaye pushed her playfully and Scarlett gathered her gifts and hurried back to her room to pack.