Entering the house quietly, John kept his face downturned towards the ground. He let his backpack slide off of his shoulder and onto the floor. Heaving a sigh, John made his way up the stairs. He didn't wish to see or interact with anybody right now. Honestly, he was mad as all heck at everyone. The eleven year old entered his bedroom upstairs and though he longed to slam the door, he knew his grandma would break out her wooden spoon if he woke up his toddler brother from his afternoon nap.

Instead he sank onto his bed, another sigh. He'd woken up this morning, hoping his dad would be back home from his business trip in San Diego in time for his birthday, but his dad called before John left for school with Scott and Virgil to say that his flight had been delayed and he'd miss John's eleventh birthday and party. That just made Johnny's day start off bad. Then he went to school and because his grandma had to babysit Alan and take him in to the doctor for his booster shots, she'd completely forgotten to bring the cupcakes in so he could celebrate with his class. Then the bullies on the playground picked on him during recess. To top it all off he was picked last for kick ball in his PE class, because he had no coordination. Yeah his day was terrible and he wasn't looking forward to it getting any better. In fact he was expecting it to get worse.

Preparing to lie down and muffle his tears in his pillows, he was stopped short when he heard crying coming from down the hall. Heaving a sigh, John got up to go see what got Alan's goat before he began screaming at the top of his lungs. Lord knows that when Alan began his high pitched screams, it took forever and a day to get Alan calmed down enough to be a whimpering mess as opposed to a screaming banshee.

Dragging his feet down the hall, John slowly entered the nursery and saw his brother. The two and a half year old was holding the bars on his crib and had tears running down his face as he cried. John briefly stuck his pinky in his ear to try to banish the ringing which was a result of Alan's crying before he approached the crib.

"What's the matter Sprout? The world being unfair to you?" John asked as he lowered the bars on Alan's crib to pick up the tiny tot. "Alright, alright…knock it off."

Alan began sniveling at John's order to stop crying, just like he always did; which told John that Alan wasn't crying for any reason…he was crying just to cry and get attention.

"Well, you got the attention you wanted." John said as he carried his baby brother over to the changing table. His mom wasn't very tall so Jeff; their dad had a changing table specially ordered so that their mom could stand at a comfortable height to change her baby instead of on her tip toes. You guessed it, their mom was not only tiny but petite. She stood at five foot even and their dad was five foot eleven inches. Thinking of his mom made John want to burst into tears, it'd been almost a year since his and his brother's mom died. She'd been in a skiing accident and after missing a jump and falling into the snow, was left brain dead after she'd hit her head. The helmet hadn't helped any, but she'd still been wearing it.

Quickly checking Alan's diaper, John determined Alan wouldn't need a new diaper. He was nice a dry. Lifting the tot up off the shorter than average changing table, John carried Alan on his hip to go give him to his grandmother. She'd be able to give Alan the attention he needed while John went off to go cry and be miserable on his own.

Making his way down the stairs, John entered the kitchen where he was expecting his grandmother to be. She was always in the kitchen at this time because she was making dinner for the family. Stopping short, John looked around. His grandmother wasn't there. He didn't even see signs that his grandmother planned to make dinner.

"Grandma?" John asked as he stepped around the corner to see if she was in the living room. Not seeing anyone, John prepared to leave the kitchen when something on the table caught his eye. Heading over to the table, John read the note that was written.

'Johnny,

I had to run into town to pick up some stuff for dinner. Please help yourself to a snack that I left in the refrigerator for you. Happy birthday darling and I'm sorry that I forgot to bring your cupcakes to class. I already talked to your teacher and she said I could bring them in tomorrow so you could have a party with your class. I'll be back in about an hour and then we'll have supper and open presents for your birthday.

I love you and keep an eye on your brother.

Grandma

Swallowing thickly at the thought that someone remembered his birthday, John went over to the refrigerator and pulled it open. There sitting on the top shelf was a single cupcake. Reaching in and pulling it out John read the wording and wanted to burst into tears once more. The cupcake read: Happy Birthday & turn around in small letters. Turning around slowly, John felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. There standing in the doorway leading from the garage was none other than his father. The same father who said he'd miss John's birthday because a delay in his flight.

"Dad!" John cried as he jogged across the kitchen, cupcake in one hand and Alan in the other, resting on his hip.

Jeff crouched down, arms open to catch his two blondes in his arms. Once John reached his dad, the eleven year old hugged the older man as tears pricked his eyes.

"Happy birthday son." Jeff whispered as he pulled away to smile at his second eldest son. He gently plucked the cupcake from John's nimble fingers and set it on the counter before he pulled Alan from John's grasp. He hugged John tightly with the other arm.

"What are you doing here? I thought your flight was delayed?" John asked as he tried not to cry like a big baby. He was eleven years old. He shouldn't be crying.

"I caught a standby flight. It was coming directly here so I made sure I was on that flight. I haven't missed any of your or your brother's birthdays yet and I wasn't going to start now." Jeff said as he hugged John tightly again. "What do you say to digging into your cupcake? Your grandma will kill me if she finds out that you got an extra something for a snack."

"You mean this isn't it?" John asked as he directed his look at the cupcake on the counter.

"No." Jeff coughed. "It was a ham sandwich your grandmother left on a plate in the fridge. I ate it and then discovered the note so I ran out and got this cupcake for you before I realized you were coming down the stairs. Then I hid in the garage to surprise you."

John looked his baby brother who was eagerly chewing on his own fist, then his father before he looked at the single cupcake. "Let's share!"

"But I got it for you." Jeff said as he wondered why John was insisting on sharing his cupcake.

"It isn't fair to keep it for myself. You and Alan are here with me so we should all share. Then I'm not the only one spoiling my appetite." John replied thoughtfully before his brilliant grin lit up his whole face.

"Okay, but you get the first bite." Jeff said as he took the wrapping off the cupcake. John and Jeff took a few bites before Jeff held a tiny morsel out for Alan and the toddler ate the decadent chocolate treat and smiled at he ate the sweet treat. Jeff, John and Alan finished off the chocolate cupcake and Jeff was quick to get rid of the evidence as he quickly wiped Alan and John's faces off with a paper towel. It was in the nick of time too. Grandma pulled into the driveway and Jeff looked out the window to see three of his other boys spill out of her van to help with the groceries. "I'm going to go help your grandma with the groceries. Why don't you take Alan into the living room? Birthday boys don't have to bring in the groceries."

"Okay." John said with a smile. This was the best birthday ever in his opinion.