Chapter Nine: Birthday
That morning, he calls Elizabeth and wishes her a happy birthday. She accepts it graciously and confirms their dinner plans, which consist of his apartment, a home-cooked meal, and candlelight.
That evening, she arrives at his place to flavorful smells and the sight of Carlton in an apron.
Which, of course, makes her laugh and tease him just a little.
"Auditioning for a Mr. Mom role?" she asks as she comes through the door and gets a good look at him.
He scowls at her. "It's for your meal, may I remind you."
She smirks. "First off, it's our meal. Secondly, don't get hostile. It's my birthday."
He softens slightly. "Yeah, it is. Has it been good so far?"
"It's been great," she says, setting her purse on the counter. "All my family called to wish me a happy birthday. Oh, and my friends at work took me out for a nice lunch."
"Well, I hope you're ready for steak." he says, piling the meat onto a plate along with a siding of rice and vegetables.
"Steak?" she questions in surprise.
He turns and hands her the plate. "Yeah. You said it was your favorite..."
She smiles, sets the plate down on the dining table, and then returns to Carlton. She rubs a hand over his back and kisses his cheek. "It is."
"Good," he says mildly, piling his own food onto another plate.
He sets his plate down, then grabs a lighter from off the kitchen counter and proceeds to light the two candles placed on the center of the dining table.
After that, he switches off a couple of the lights, leaving the apartment to be lit by the two dancing flames and that last bit of fading sunlight peeking in through the blinds. Elizabeth sighs contently. "This looks great..."
"It better, for all the thought and effort I put into it," he smirks.
She laughs. "Well, I can assure you, it's appreciated."
He settles himself at the table and can't help but give her a genuine smile. "Happy Birthday, Liz."
She smiles back at him. "I would lean over and kiss you, but I'm ninety percent sure that I'd knock over those candles and light your place on fire."
"Damn things..."
After that, they dig into their food. She tells him about her day, and asks about his. He tells her with a smirk about the suspect who finally cracked after an hour of intense interrogation. When they both finish the meal, Elizabeth compliments the food. "That steak was perfect..." she says, smiling widely.
"Are you ready for cake?" he asks, even though they just finished dinner.
"You'd think I wouldn't be, considering how much I just ate," she muses. "But my sweet tooth doesn't want to hold off any longer..."
He nods in agreement, then retrieves the cake from his freezer. "It's an ice cream cake, I hope that's okay."
"Absolutely."
He cuts the cake and serves it. She looks down at it with a smirk on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asks, slightly concerned.
The smirk widens. "How am I supposed to eat birthday cake without having someone sing me the happy birthday song?"
He shakes his head at her, fighting a smile. "That's not happening."
"Why?"
"It'd be different if there were other people around to sing it with me. But I'm not singing it by myself. I'll feel like an idiot."
Elizabeth smiles coyly and crosses her arms. "I can't eat this cake without the birthday song."
"But I paid good money for it..."
"I know."
He feigns a glare at her and humphs out a sigh. "You know, sometimes, I hate you." he says, even though he already knows he'll do it. Because he did not waste money on that cake.
"You love me," she replies simply, and he can't even deny it.
Carlton shakes his head, but resigns himself to the worst and begins the song. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you." His singing is hurried and low, and Elizabeth can see the small blush creeping into his cheeks. "Happy Birthday Elizabeth, happy birthday to you."
"You forgot dear," she challenges him.
"You don't get 'dear' when you make me sing."
She laughs at that. "Aw well. The speedy version actually made that more entertaining for me, just so you know."
Carlton just rolls his eyes. "Now I guess you'll make a wish, too?" he asks sarcastically, but she just smiles.
"Good idea," she replies, and blows out one of the candles set on the table.
They each eat the cake in quiet enjoyment, for the most part. When they've both finished a piece, Carlton gets up and turns the lights back on. Elizabeth stands as well and begins to gather up the dirty dishes. As she does this, he walks over to the writing desk in the corner of his living room.
"Hey," he starts, casually calling over to her. "What would you say if I told you I got you a present, even though you told me not to?" he asks as he opens his desk drawer.
She deposits some silverware into the sink, then turns to to look at him. "Well, first I'd probably say you were a stubborn jerk for not listening to me," she begins.
He pauses as his hand grabs hold of her present.
"And then I'd probably say something along the lines of thank you and I love you..."
He exhales with slight relief, then pulls the wrapped present out of the drawer and holds it up for her to see. He jerks his head in the direction of his living room couch. "Come on, I want you to open this sucker."
Elizabeth raises an eyebrow. "Is that your way of trying to make opening a present sound, I don't know, tough or something?"
Carlton shrugs and sits on his couch. Elizabeth joins him and turns to face him, folding her legs under herself in order to feel more comfortable.
"Careful when you hold it, I already took it out of the box. I, uh, wanted to set it up."
Carlton can see her curiosity peak, just from the look in her eyes.
He hands the package over to her. It's about the size of a mini-notebook and hard-edged. She handles it carefully and slowly tears into the silver wrapping paper. Once it falls away, she pulls out the item and looks down at it.
For just a few seconds, she's speechless.
Then she smiles and looks at him. "Carlton..."
"You like it, right?" he asks, trying not to sound too anxious. "I've got the receipt if – "
"I love it," she interrupts. "I've been wanting one ever since I bought the new camera...I'm just surprised that you thought of it."
Carlton feigns a scowl, though he'd rather smile. "I do have good ideas sometimes," he says defensively.
"Yes, you do." she agrees. "Thank you for this. It's great."
"Turn it on and check it out."
Elizabeth traces the edge of the silver frame, then turns it over. She finds the small switch and turns it on, then flips it back over so that they can both see the small screen, which now displays a crystal-clear picture of Carlton and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth recognizes the picture as one that was taken on her couch at home. Carlton's arm was wrapped around her shoulders as she did her best to take the picture with one out-stretched arm. The photograph was one of many she had taken when she first bought her new digital camera, back when she was still testing out all the functions and seeing what worked best.
She had asked...well, forced...Carlton to be in many of them, both with and without her. At first, he had resisted becoming her main photography subject, but eventually he had realized it was a losing battle and let her snap as many pictures as she wanted.
As they watch the screen, the picture changes to one of them at the beach. Elizabeth remembers that one, too. She had kindly asked a stranger if he would snap a picture of the two of them together. He had probably thought that Carlton and Elizabeth were tourists...
As the pictures keep changing, Elizabeth realizes that Carlton had uploaded most of the photos of them together into the device, as well as some of her family pictures that she'd kept on her computer.
She tears her eyes away from the small screen to look over at him. He had been watching her reaction anxiously. She smiles sincerely at him. "It's perfect, Carlton...and I think I'll keep it for my work desk..."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Carlton admits. "So you really like it, right? I mean, really?"
In answer, she sets the the digital frame down on the coffee table, roughly pulls him closer by the collar of his shirt, and proceeds to overwhelm him with the force of her kiss.
A/N: First of all, I loved the speculation in your reviews of what the gift could have been. Several of you guessed at an e-reader, like the Kindle, which would have been awesome - had I thought of it. In fact, had I thought of it, it might have been my first choice. That being said, I think digital picture frames are pretty cool too (I personally want one). The reviews totally made my day, so thanks to everyone keeping up with this story. More to come soon, this time going back to almost oneshot-like chapters. :)