It was finally time to celebrate Zoë's first birthday, and how! Professor Professor had been anticipating this very day for months. In fact, he'd anticipated this special day since before he and Doctor Doctor had even brought her home from hospital. While Doctor Doctor hadn't been that zealous about her daughter's first birthday and how to best celebrate it, nevertheless she was eager to celebrate it. After all, Zoë could only be a year old once.

Doctor Doctor held out the swab. "Open up, Kent." She studied the sample. A collaboration between her and Professor Professor had provided a quick electronic test with a truly amazing scope of possible diseases and maladies. "Good news, you tested negative for COVID again."

"Neat-o," Kent just said in response. "Thanks, Doctor Doctor."

"Of course."

Doctor Doctor just watched as Kent took his seat on the couch next to Min-jun. She then narrowed her eyes as Wob Wonkoz bent over the crib. Wait, could alcoholism be transmitted through the skin? No, that was hereditary. Wait, could he be carrying dangerous chemicals on his body, left over from being around his mantelpiece and leaning against it all day? She made a mental note to make gloves mandatory for everyone who visited, especially the supernatural folks like fae…

"Now, just sterilize your hands here," she continued. "The tingling means it's working."

"We came for the cake and ice cream," Victor said dryly. "And maybe some pizza."

"All the more reason to go wash your hands, Victor. Just consider yourself lucky I'm the one doing it. If Professor Professor was doing this, he would've saved your DNA to make clones of you and your entire family, and then we'd probably have maximum clonage on our hands."

Professor Professor just scoffed. "Oh please, you make it sound so crass and like I haven't been doing it forever."

Victor couldn't help but shudder at this. "Don't remind me..."

Liam's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, does that mean you've actually got a whole army of me?"

"If they existed, they would've sought you out by now, so I doubt it," Doctor Doctor replied.

Professor Professor shook his head. "Nein, too noisy; I could never get those to behave. Alright, now who wants some pizza? We've got flammkuchen. Also, help yourself to some cake and ice cream. It's a bird's milk smash cake."

Everyone proceeded to do so. Meanwhile, Doctor Doctor lifted Zoë up out of her crib and carried her all the way over to her high chair. At this point, Zoë was big enough that Doctor Doctor could easily notice how heavy she was, so she sometimes struggled with holding her in her arms for a while.

"I can't believe you're already a whole year old, Zoë," Professor Professor said. "You're already saying things that my mother would've washed my mouth out for." He then proceeded to snicker at this.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Wob Wonkoz said. "Like father, like daughter, I suppose."

"For sure. Anyway, how are you liking the party?"

"Pretty good. Part of me wishes you could get booze at these things, but I know that would be a terrible idea."

"Isn't it always?"

Wob Wonkoz looked at his coworker with his usual smile, then at Lucy Woo. She appeared to be looking at him as though he'd made some sort of remark that turned out to be offensive. Wob Wonkoz said nothing for a moment, then decided to help himself to more flammkuchen. Meanwhile, Zoë grabbed a handful of cake and shoved it in her mouth. She smeared the icing across her face. Doctor Doctor bent and tried to wipe her face, but Zoë turned away.

"No!" Zoë yelled.

"She's getting good at this," Doctor Doctor said. "A little too good at that word."

"She's just hungry, that's all," Professor Professor said. "I don't blame her. I get cranky when I'm hungry, too."

Lucy looked at him blankly, but didn't say anything.

"Do you want to hear about that trip Lucy and I took to Indonesia?" Wob asked Professor Professor and his wife.

"No," Doctor Doctor replied.

"I want to hear about your trip," Professor Professor also replied

Wob Wonkoz looked over from them to the other guests, most of whom were watching with rapt attention as he took a bite of flammkuchen. Finally, he gave another piece to Lucy Woo and began his story in earnest. By the time he was finished, some of the guests had already headed off for home, Min-jun and Kent included. Wob Wonkoz looked over to the clock on the wall and noticed that it said "7:15 PM." Was it really that late already? Time seemed to really fly at these things.

"Well, I guess I should really get going," Wob Wonkoz said. "Thanks for having me and Lucy come to Zoë's birthday, you two. I actually had fun."

"Oh, ja, it was a blast," Professor Professor replied. "I'm glad you could all come."

"And thanks for the cake," Millie added. "Liam and I ate most of it."

"No problem," Wob Wonkoz replied. "It was my pleasure to help you celebrate Zoë's birthday in any way I could." He looked at his wristwatch and then back at Professor Professor and Doctor Doctor. "Well, I better be going now. I'm sure Deidre will have a full-on meltdown if I come home late."

"Goodbye, Wob Wonkoz," Professor Professor said. "Thank you for stopping by."

Wob Wonkoz didn't even seem to acknowledge that he had heard him. He simply turned on his heels and walked off towards home.

"Thank God, I thought he'd never leave," Doctor Doctor whispered under her breath once she was certain Wob Wonkoz was actually gone.

"Well, that certainly was a fun party, huh?" Professor Professor asked.

"You can say that again. I'm already starting to miss those moments when Zoë was helpless and unable to fend for herself. Granted, she still is, but I don't know if I'm ready for her to start walking and running all over the place."

"You're not the only one. I'm really starting to miss those moments too."

Zoë smiled at her mom while she was being lifted out of her high chair and cleaned up. Doctor Doctor faintly smiled back. She had a feeling she knew what was coming next, but she also felt like she could at least enjoy being in the now as it were.