A/N: This chapter may seem a bit slow or uneventful. It's one of those "between the action" chapters. I believe the action of the story will really pick up after this chapter, so as always read and review!

Chapter 13: Happy Birthday!

"You never do anything with me anymore."

The young pink haired woman who sat next to Jack at the Goddess pond began to pout. A few days had passed since the Tomato Festival and the couple was over what had happened then. Jack had forgiven Popuri for choosing Kai over himself, and Popuri forgave Jack for being mean about it.

It would seem as though things were back to normal with them. Jack had continued working hard on the farm; he was saving up for an extension to his chicken coop. Popuri continued to meet him by the Goddess pond every day. Something was different though. Jack couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Summer is busy, you know that Po. I'll have more free time in the fall for us to do things together."

"But fall is boring!" She protested and crossed her arms. "I like summer. I like playing on the beach."

Jack sighed. He knew she was unhappy with their current situation but there wasn't much he could do at the moment. "Listen Po, I almost have enough money saved up to buy that chicken coop extension. Once I buy it I'll take you on at least one date before the end of the summer. We'll go to the beach and have a lot of fun. I promise."

"You better keep your promise." Popuri stood up. "I should get back home, Rick needs my help today."

"Can I walk you home?"

"Alright." She smiled a little and Jack took her hand. They walked to the Poultry farm in silence.

You are invited to a birthday celebration!

When: Summer 17th

Time: 10 a.m.- 6p.m.

Location: Inn

Jack placed the invitation in his rucksack. Ann had personally given it to him herself when he was at the inn a few days ago. It happened to be the morning of Summer 17th and Jack had just finished running around like a crazy person trying to finish up all his chores. He didn't want to be late.

He wasn't sure what type of present to get Ann. She wasn't too into jewelry or alcohol and he couldn't exactly buy her an animal. That left him with the market, which sold seeds, stuff to bake with, rucksacks, and baskets. All things he was pretty sure she didn't want to receive on her birthday.

That left him with only one option left, stuff from his farm. Ann loved to cook, so hopefully she'll like fresh vegetables and eggs. He had crated up all the eggs he got over a couple of days and saved some of the corn and onions. Now all he had to do was figure out a creative way of wrapping all this stuff.

So Jack found himself carefully walking his way over to the market, hands full of vegetables and the carton of eggs. As he got closer he noticed Karen was sitting outside on the bench with Rick. She jumped up once she saw Jack and quickly walked over to him.

"Here, let me help you with that Jack before you drop it all over the place. She took the egg carton out of his hands.

"Thanks Karen."

"Where are you going with all this stuff?"

"Your shop. I need to wrap this stuff up."

Karen laughed. "You are kidding right? You do realize you are holding vegetables. Oh and eggs."

"It's Ann's birthday."

"So you got her a bunch of vegetables?" Karen looked at Jack curiously. By this time Rick had gotten up to see what all the commotion was about.

"You have a better idea?" Karen shook her head. "Then don't make fun."

"I didn't even realize it was Ann's birthday already. I guess I lose track of the days in summer."

They headed towards the front doors of the market. If Karen doesn't know it's Ann's birthday, then who the heck did she invite to her party? Jack frowned to himself. He thought Ann and Karen were good friends.

Inside the market Karen set the egg carton on the table where the seeds were and picked up a basket from on of the side tables. "This may be kind of lame, but it's a lot better than wrapping up vegetables."

"What?"

"It's a vegetable basket." Karen took each vegetable out of Jack's arms one by one and set them into the basket in a decorated order. He carefully watched her in awe.

"That's really neat. Oh! How much do I owe you for the basket?"

"Just let Ann know it's from the market."

Rick, tired of being ignored, steps forward. "Karen, it's getting late. I really need to get back to work."

"Okay, Rick." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Why do I feel so jealous?

"Jack you made it!"

Ann was dressed in her usual overalls and yellow shirt. She didn't get dressed up for her birthday at all, which was good because Jack didn't have anything to get dressed up in himself.

"Happy birthday Ann!" Jack handed her the veggie basket and the eggs, which he had wrapped up.

"Thank you so much! I'll just set there here on the table. Go ahead and sit down."

Jack looked around the Inn. It wasn't very decorated, there were a few balloons here and there scattered around. Some of them even said "Happy Birthday" on them. That's when Jack realized that there were very few people there. There was Ann, of course, and her dad, and that mysterious fellow who Ann thought was cute.

"Who else is coming?" Jack asked as Ann came to sit down with them.

She paused for a moment. "Well… this is it. I just wanted a party with my closest friends, and my dad of course!"

Always so cheery, Jack thought to himself. He looked over at the other young man Ann had called her closest friend. He was about the same age as Jack, maybe a bit younger. His brown hair fell into his face and even though it was a joyous occasion, he looked very depressed.

Jack extended his hand to the young man. "My name is Jack."

"Cliff." He didn't return the gesture.

Jack quickly took his hand back, feeling a bit dejected. Ann looked back and forth at both the men and her eyes widened a bit. "Oh no! I didn't realize you guys didn't know each other. I'm a terrible hostess!"

"Ann, it's your party. You should sit down and relax." Jack pointed to one of the chairs in between the two men. She laughed a bit and sat down.

The entire afternoon was full of food and fun. Ann's dad told cute stories about various birthday parties Ann had as she grew up. He told tales of her burning her lip on the candles when she was three and crying through most of her party. Ann, completely embarrassed by her father, quickly opened her presents to get him to stop talking. She loved the present from Jack; she thought it was very thoughtful.

He didn't forget to tell her the basket was from the market.

At the end of the day Jack got up from the table to leave, completely stuffed from all the food that Doug had cooked. Ann stopped him before he could go and gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for coming to my birthday party. That present was just amazing! I can't wait to cook with those veggies." She was grinning.

"I'm glad you liked it. I'll see you around Ann."

"Tell me again why you dragged me here?"

"Po, it's right next door to your house."

Jack and Popuri were standing outside Barley's ranch. Jack was there with the intension of buying a cow. He had hoped that Popuri would be excited to see him expand his farming family, but she didn't show the excitement that he had hoped for.

"Why do you want a cow? I thought you were going to expand your chicken coop."

"The cow festival yesterday inspired me. I never realized that cows were such beautiful creatures. The festival made me realize that my farm is not complete without one." Even if she wasn't, Jack was excited about the idea of getting a cow for his farm. It would finally feel like a real farm now.

"This is a big thing for me Po, I just wanted you to be here."

He took her hand and led her inside Barley's house. It was where he did all his business.

"What can I do for you Jack?" the old man asked him with a smile. May was off in the corner of the main room playing with Hanna, her dog.

"I think I'm going to buy a cow. I want to see them first so I can pick one out."

"Come right this way." Barley led the couple to the outside pasture.

Jack let go of Popuri's hand and looked around. One of the cows in particular caught his eye and he moved towards her. She just looked absolutely perfect for his farm. Moving closer to the cow, she looked at Jack as if to say 'please give me a home'. He knew she was the one for him.

"Bessy."

Even though Barley was a bit hard of hearing, he still heard Jack name the cow. "I see you like that one. She'll all yours if you've got the gold for her."

Popuri huffed loudly and crossed her arms. Jack was too busy petting his new cow to take notice. "Po you should come over and pet her, she's real gentle."

"I don't want to."

Jack looked back at Popuri and Barley who were behind him. "Oh alright. I'll take her Barley."

"But Jack! She's going to be so much more work for you on the farm. You're already busy enough as it is," Popuri protested.

"Yeah but she'll be worth it. I'll have fresh milk every day. How would you like to have milk every day?"

"It would be nice."

"Good." Jack walked over and handed Barley the gold for the cow.

Jack was too busy to notice that Popuri was frowning and looking very impatient. He went back over to pet his new cow. Popuri turned around, and without saying anything left.

It would be the last time Jack saw her before that fateful day…