Hello again, you're probably sick of me introducing each little story but I don't want you to get confused :) This one's set somewhere in between series' 1 and 2… enjoy…

Mitchell turned over in his bed, pulling the covers over his head as he listened to his friends whispering outside the bedroom door. George sounded annoyed and his voice was growing higher and higher as he spoke,

"I don't know Annie! How did you even find out?"

Annie's voice replied in an exasperated tone, "I remember him saying one day that it was the same day as Queen Victoria's and I looked it up and it's today".

Mitchell groaned beneath the covers and silently regretted telling Annie about his birthday, he knew she'd force him to eat cake and open presents and remember just how old he was.

Outside, in the hall, Annie continued, "So how many candles should I buy?"

Mitchell heard George sigh loudly and then speak in a defeated voice, "I don't think we can afford a big enough cake to fit all the candles on, plus – fire hazard".

"Oh, right, maybe I'll have a candle for each decade?"

Mitchell forced himself out of bed and sat on the edge of it until he heard George go off to work. He stood up and pulled on an old pair of jeans and a yellow t shirt. His mouth tasted of sleep and so he shuffled along to the bathroom and brushed his teeth before trudging downstairs to face his "big day".

As he walked into the kitchen Annie spun around, hiding something behind her back, and plastered a huge grin on her face, "Morning!"

Mitchell couldn't help but smile back, "Mornin'".

Annie opened the drawer behind her without turning around and shoved whatever had been in her hands into the drawer. She then clapped her hands once and gestured for Mitchell to sit down at the table, "So. Tea?"

Mitchell sat and gave her a thumbs-up on the tea. Annie clicked on the kettle and then turned rapidly to face the vampire,

"I could make you something special, like pancakes?"

Mitchell raised his eyebrows and smiled at the ghost, "Special?" He'd decided to play dumb.

Annie put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes, "Yes, special, for your birthday!" Mitchell forced a smile, showing his teeth, and Annie continued, "So, pancakes?"

As she set about making the batter for the pancakes Mitchell stood up and walked over to Annie to get his cup of tea. She'd left the tea bag in and so he opened the cutlery drawer to retrieve a spoon. Annie spun, flicking pancake mix up the wall and across Mitchell's cheek, and tried to grab his arm and stop him looking in the drawer. But it was too late.

He slowly reached into the drawer and pulled out a small item wrapped in pink tissue paper. Annie tried to snatch it out of his hands but he held it away from her reach and carefully tore open the flimsy paper. Mitchell's breath caught as he stared at the item in his hand and his eyes brimmed with tears.

Annie rocked on her heels and put the mixing bowl on the counter. She bit her lip and asked, "Do you like it? You weren't supposed to see it 'til later"

Mitchell traced his thumb along the star shape at the bottom of the object and then up the blue ribbon at the top. He cleared his throat and spoke quietly, in awe, "It's a medal of honour".

Annie beamed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Is it okay? I can send it back if-"

Mitchell turned to her quickly, a single tear trickled down his cheek, "I don't deserve this".

Annie squeezed his arm, "Of course you do! I guessed that nobody knew what you did for your men in the war and, if they did they'd probably have given you one of these", she smiled up at him.

Mitchell caressed the medal once more with his thumb and placed it gently on the kitchen counter. He turned to Annie and picked her up, swinging her around in a circle before he set her back down on her feet and kissed her firmly on the cheek.

"I love it", he blinked away his tears and a huge smile spread across his face, "Thank you".

Annie smiled back and started to giggle. Mitchell frowned quizzically and cocked his head to one side, "What?"

Annie reached up and rubbed away the pancake mix from Mitchell's cheek with her thumb. He smiled and caught her hand in his. He kissed her knuckles gently and leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Annie blushed and pressed her lips together before asking,

"Just how old are you?"

Thanks for reading!

I hope you're enjoying my short stories!

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