Shadow had acted as though he were being led to a funeral. They didn't have to walk far either, hailing a cab to get them to the manor since he wasn't able to run yet. It was another long, silent stretch of time between them. Sara couldn't help but feel the misery radiating off of him, and it was driving her nuts that nothing she could do seemed to fix things.

At last she couldn't take it, and a solitary tear ran down her cheek. That seemed to draw his attention. "...Sara?" Her ears perked up instantly, and she looked over at him eagerly. He was rather taken aback at the sudden mood shift. "...Are you okay?"

"Yeah…. You?" Her brown eyes filled with concern, it seemed to temporarily pierce the veil of indifference set in Shadow's eyes.

"Nnn..." He looked down to his lap, then put his hand on hers in a reassuring way. "I'll be okay."

"Is it something I can help with? Have I done anything you're mad about?" She took hold of his hand and squeezed lightly.

"Sara...you don't have to worry about my problems." He draped his free arm around her and rested himself against her

"...But I want to." She didn't lean back against him for fear of reinjuring him. "We're together now so...it's important to share...fears as well as hopes. You really worry me sometimes…."

Shadow kissed her ear that he was leaned into. "I promise...I'll be fine."

Shadow about had a heart attack when everyone jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" He may as well have. Everything about him went stiff and undoubtedly the sudden jolt to a bolt upright position had caused him some deal of pain. His mouth hung open for a moment, at a complete loss as of what to do next. A Party? His eyes were as wide as a deer caught in headlights, completely unmoving for the longest few moments of his life.

"Happy birthday!" Sonic said in his most cheerful tone.

"B-birthday?" the darkened hedgehog said in complete and utter shock.

"Yeah! It was Sara's idea, since she didn't know what day you were born." Sonic grinned. "June 14th good enough for you?" Something about the lifeless expression that hit Shadow's face completely wiped the smirk off of Sonic's.

How can they even think of celebrating? He felt truly alien standing in the Thorndykes' home, surrounded by almost everyone he knew, maybe even a bit angry. Why are they here? What the hell is there to celebrate?

"Shadow?" Sara said in a very timid voice. His ear went back in her direction, though he made no other movement.

"Oi! Shadow! Intimidated by our celebrating spirit?" High Octane grinned. No effect...shit.

If Shadow could have run, he would have. His heart threatened to burst in his chest, which ached with more than physical pain. But he couldn't break down, not in front of them...all of them... All of their eyes were on him, some smiling, some indifferent. Rouge gave him a sultry smile, Sam—Octane was also smiling as wide as he could. Chris' face had turned to confusion, and several of the guests then looked to each other as the dark hedgehog looked around him. Only Espio hadn't made eye contact with him, perhaps grasping the situation better than the rest. It was only the look that Sara was giving him that gave him any inkling to stay. He took a deep breath, though that was a lost cause, and exhaled deeply. "...A party? You guys are lousy fakers..." he finally said. "Heh, who would want to throw a party for me anyhow?"

The atmosphere relaxed notably, and Sara's expression softened a bit. Her hands slipped around Shadow from behind and she nuzzled his cheek lightly.

"Thank you..." She heard him sigh a bit. "Please...try to be happy..."

Maria's words were echoed in her voice. Maria…. His Maria. The one who died on the Ark.

"You want to know why I'm..." He paused and took a look at the room full of people. Vector had wasted no time making a fool of himself and started up the music while Rouge was engaging poor Knuckles in a conversation. "...You chose a lousy day for a party." He sighed and just left it at that. At least the warm embrace she'd given him gave some comfort.

"Tell me about it when you're ready..." She nuzzled him again.

After her warm embrace left Shadow, it was "Grandpa" Chuck who approached him. The light blue hedgehog smiled at him in a welcoming way. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to you, Shadow..."

"Yeah, kicking someone out of their home does that," Shadow replied. He felt a bit like he was on autopilot, but if he wasn't he probably would have spent the rest of his time there glued to the floor like a statue.

One thing that a birthday afforded you was the ability to not get yelled at for inappropriate retorts. "I was wrong about you... You make a good match for my daughter, and I can see how much she loves you. I just thought you should know that."

Of all the gifts he could have received, that probably was the most important of them. "Thanks."

Somehow Sara managed to nudge Shadow into the expected dialogues with old friends and acquaintances. Knuckles managed to put his foot in his mouth by asking if his daughter was named after the girl who died on the Ark. Yeah, that went over well. Rouge did the honors for Shadow by kicking him in the side of the head. Espio was kind enough to forego pleasantries and offer him a ninja-worthy escape if the party got to be too much for him; it was appreciated.

Eventually it was time to open gifts. Vector had brought a CD of Mina Mongoose's latest album. Mina, one of the few Knothole gang to be there, blushed at that. Mina had bought him a T-shirt that said "I shop at Hot Topic!" on one side and "Emos need luv 2" on the other. Charmy offered up a jar of honey with a small cook book attached...not that Shadow ever did the cooking, but he said Sara had mentioned it as an ingredient for some yummy pancakes.

Cream could only offer a flower necklace that she'd made from the garden, but it was somewhat appreciated by Shadow...in a very limited way. The smell of it was too strong, and soon Sara had broken it down into two bracelets instead. Rouge had gotten him a ring inlaid with three stones, amethyst, emerald, and sapphire. Her explanation was it represented each of their birthstones...Sara's was Sapphire for September, June was Emerald, and February was Amethyst. Well, she was a jewel expert after all. For those who didn't know what to get him, the expected gloves and shoes came.

The most personal gift Shadow received was a scrap book Sara had been compiling. It had pictures of them and Maria that he didn't even know existed. She'd cut out little shapes and pasted strips of fabric around the edges of the pictures; it really must have taken a long time. He wondered how he'd missed seeing it come together. Her favorite picture of Maria, though, was an ultrasound, it was the first visual proof they had that a life was blooming within her swelling features. A sentimental smile crossed Shadow's face briefly, even though he had sworn he wouldn't smile today from the moment he'd woken up.

After the miscellaneous gifts and gift cards were out of the way, the more heavily anticipated gifts were shown off. Not everyone had come with a gift, though... Uncle Chuck, Grandpa, rather, was one of the individuals who had nothing to offer. His acceptance of Shadow had been more than enough.

"Sorry I couldn't wrap my gift..." Tails said, pulling out a shining black and red bike from behind the sofa.

He looked it over and noticed it wasn't a normal bike... "Thanks."

"It's an Extreme Gear bike!" Tails beamed. "I made it myself...it's all customized just for you! I figure, now that you can get out a bit, you might want to have a way of getting around...you know, that's fast?"

Shadow nodded. That would be practical...and also fun, not that he'd admit it. And he wouldn't need a taxi home; that was even better.

"Huh...I can't believe you guys did this for me." He managed to keep any wonder or amazement out of his tone, though he was having a harder time staying unhappy than he thought he would.

"Last but not least, my gift!" Sonic pulled out a box wrapped in red.

Shadow was instinctually glaring, already wary of the big smile on Sonic's face. He looked left, then right before opening it, not quite wanting to be watched. Finally the lid was pulled away and his jaw dropped momentarily.

"What the hell?!" he said as loud as he could before coughing. A number of "What?"s and "What is it?"s were asked in unison. Shadow hid his face with one hand, the other trying to hide the damn thing.

"Hmm?" Sara took a peek in the box and turned bright red.

"I know, I know, it's more for Sara, but you'll be able to enjoy it I'm sure." Sonic grinned.

"H-how could you!?" Sara was the one more aghast than Shadow. She was completely mortified with embarrassment at the gift.

"Amy helped me pick it out," the blue blur said with a great amount of pride.

"It was all his idea, Shadow! Remember, I got you those really cool shoes and the gift card instead... Heh heh..." Amy replied, giving her partner a good thwack upside the head.

Sara blushed profusely and shut the lid back on the box. "What was it?" Chris asked plainly; he hadn't seen it, as most of the guests hadn't.

"A sexy nightie..." Sonic smirked.

Ella's "Oh my!" summed it up for everyone. Vector had the audacity to ask to see it...for which Espio gladly beat the shit out of him.

When all the excitement had died down and cake had been served, Shadow led Sara off to a secluded room. "I'm sorry I've been so down lately..." he started. He still got out of breath easily. "I...well...if you do it again, just not this day."

"...Why? What is it?" Sara asked in a gentle voice as she took a seat next to him.

"Well..." Shadow had brought the scrapbook with him and had it tucked under one arm. He lay it on his lap and looked at the set of pictures. "This isn't my birthday...it's my death day."

The way he said that made Sara's quills raise. He was speaking very softly too, so she had to strain to hear him. "Death...day?"

Shadow nodded, "The day GUN came on the Ark...the day Maria died..." He idly played with a stray piece of paper peeking out from the book.

"Oh Shadow...I...I had no idea..." Sara looked more embarrassed at that than the nightie Sonic had provided them with.

"I know..." He sighed a bit. "The more I thought about Maria's death, the worse I felt...I don't see it as much as I used to, but...you know...it's kind of a hard day to forget…."

"I'm sorry..."

Shadow shook his head. "I didn't want to be here...you know. But..." He looked at the book and then back at Sara. Maybe it was because he was wounded still, but his eyes looked more reflective than usual, or maybe it was just the day. "Maria wanted me to be happy...I promised myself I'd try to, for her sake, move on…. It's been hard for me."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sara leaned up against him a bit.

"Pride," he replied simply. "I guess I feel I should be able to handle anything alone...I keep forgetting I'm not anymore... Thanks."