Happy birthday Danny! What sorts of presents will he get from all his friends? find out and see!

Chapter 39: A Happy Birthday

Groggy Danny opened his eyes. He heard the interminable monotone noise coming from his alarm clock. He pressed down on the button to turn it off. That meant it was time for school. Danny departed down the stairs slowly.

Danny's parents and his sister were sitting around the table waiting for him. "Happy birthday Danny." Danielle smiled, trying to brighten him up.

"We made blueberry pancakes for you, son!" Said Maddie cheerfully.

"Happy seventeenth birthday!" Jack engulfed Danny in a big bear hug.

Danny smiled at the breakfast that was in front of him. It was his favorite kind and he didn't usually get the time to enjoy these things very often because of all the responsibility he had in his life. He was ever so grateful for this time to just enjoy himself.

"Happy birthday to you…" Danny's family sang to him as they brought out a cake too. "Happy birthday dear Danny, happy birthday to you!"

Danny couldn't stop smiling. He felt really special. He blew out the candles. He only had that split second to think of a wish, but he really didn't know what to wish for. "I wish to have a fantastic birthday." The moment he said that in his mind, he realized what a lousy wish it was. Oh well, he shrugged.

Danny took the first slice of cake. It was marble—his favorite. Danielle took the second piece and she and Danny sat close together. She leaned in to whisper something in Danny's ear when Jack said, "Danny, Jazz wants to wish you a happy birthday!" Jack handed over his cell phone to Danny. Danielle could hear Jazz singing the birthday song loudly and off-key.

Danny smiled. "Thanks big sis."

After the breakfast, Danny was ready to "walk to school" (as he told his parents, because he flew) when Maddie insisted that Danny be driven to school because it was his birthday, Danielle looked worried. There were many reasons for him to fly to school and one was time: a luxury for which they had not accounted today. And with Maddie driving, Danny'd be late for school undoubtedly.

He was, of course, no less than ten minutes late when he hurried into his first period class. Mr. Lancer noticed the teen trying to sneak in anonymously. "Well, look who decided to show up…" Mr. Lancer snorted. Immediately, the blood rushed to Danny's head and he felt faint. He had been late to school every time his parents found an excuse to drive him. He was worried now that Lancer knew he would not forgive him. Lancer approached Danny's desk slowly and every teen in the room looked back and forth between the two. "…The birthday boy!"

Lancer said happily. Instantaneously the class cheered for Danny and they began to sing to him. "Whew!" He sighed.

From the other side of the classroom approached Tucker and Sam with a pair of presents that they set on Danny's desk. Cecelia added one too, and then so did Valerie. "This is from Garth." Sam added another present on the pile. Lastly, Mr. Lancer had a small homework pass for Danny, which made him happy to see.

Danny couldn't stop smiling.

"Open them now!" The class urged.

Danny looked at the teacher for approval.

"Go right ahead. I've always had a soft spot for birthdays." Mr. Lancer smiled confidently.

Danny picked up the first present. It was Tucker's. He didn't even have to guess because he knew exactly what it was even as he was tearing off the paper. "A new video game. Thanks man."

"You're welcome, dude."

The next present Danny saw was Sam's. He opened the black package. It was a scarf, hat, and a pair of gloves. "How thoughtful." Danny said gratefully.

"You're welcome." She said.

The next present was Cecelia's. Her gift to him was a shirt—all blue, and it had a photo of NASA on it which was Danny's dream place to work. "Oh my, thank you I love it."

Cecelia nodded, knowing he would, and then she kissed him on the firehead.

Next gift was the one from Garth. The item was a pair of black biker gloves with the image of an orange dragon on the palms. So Garth. Not very Danny. But it was the thought that counts.

Even Dash wished Danny a happy birthday.

Cecelia stood in front of Danny's desk. "Here." She handed him the small package. "I wanted you to open this last." She smiled.

There was a reason she'd wanted her gift to be the last to be opened. It was a black box. Danny opened it. Inside was an airline ticket to Washington D.C. Danny didn't know what to make of it. "What's this for?" He looked up at her.

"My father's been transferred there and he invited me and a few of my friends to travel there for free."

Danny had no words to say. He was so confused. He didn't understand how Mortimer Hazel could've agreed to this.

"So you, me, Tucker, Danielle, Sam and Garth are all going."

"Cool!"

The rest of Danny's friends smiled at him. They knew Cecelia hadn't said the best part yet.

"And could you ever guess what…else is in Washington D.C.?" She laughed.

Danny shook his head.

"NASA."

"NASA. NASA? NASA? I'm going to NASA?" Danny stood up and shouted, "I'M GOIN' TO NASA!" Victoriously he raised his arms up in the air. And then he remembered he was still in class and he sat back down awkwardly. "I'm going to NASA." He whispered to each of his friends and they were each amused in their own way at his overreaction. He was talking about it all day and everybody thought it was quite funny.

Danny, Cecelia, Sam, and Tucker all walked to Danny's house together. Danny unlocked the front door and there were Danielle and Garth. "How did you like my present?" Garth asked.

"They're cool." Danny turned to his sister. "What did you want to say to me earlier?"

"She wanted to warn you about what we planned for you and she probably wanted to give you the present she got for you." Tucker answered for Danielle.

Danielle nodded. "You're present's sitting right there on the dining room table."

Danny, followed by the rest of his friends, entered the dining room. On the table was a small red box with a ribbon on it. Danny opened it. It was a small pair of keys. Car keys? No. These keys were green. Glowing green.

"Follow me." Danielle led her brother to the garage and flipped the light switch. Abroad stood a magnificent green-black-and-white motorcycle. "That's awesome!" Danny said. He gave Danielle the hardest-squeezing hug ever. "Wait. How did you afford it?"

"I didn't; it was a gift itself. Apparently, Lyon felt bad about putting Garth in jail for no good reason, so Lyon had this addressed to all six of us."

"We unanimously decided to give it to you." Garth said.

"Since you do so much for us." Cecelia added. "And you could use it the most." She hugged him.

"We want you to have a fantastic birthday." Tucker said.

"Do you like it?" Danielle asked with a smile.

"Like it? I love it! It's the best present ever—well, besides going to Washington D.C." Danny turned to his friends. "I love you guys!" He gave them each a hug. "You all are the best friends I could ever ask for and I don't know what I'd do without you."

"By the way, Garth started the process of getting us a lair in the ghost zone." Danielle tried to tell him when he was all happy so he wouldn't overreact. But that didn't work as well as Danny hoped.

Danny turned around and faced her. "Wait, he did WHAT?"

Danielle and Garth nodded.

Danny took a few seconds to think about this. "So it'll be our own private residence? For team meetings and stuff?" Danny was about to burst. This day just couldn't get any better!

"Yes." Garth said.

"Belonging to all six of us?"

"No. Only to ghosts. That's you, me, and Danielle. But there's no rule that says the rest of you guys can't come visit whenever you want." Garth looked at each of them. They all nodded in agreement. "If that's all, then I'd like to excuse myself to my work shift. It starts at four." Garth left.

"Oh! I almost forgot. I gotta jet too." Tucker said. He went home.

That left Danny and the girls.

Sam felt awkward. "I suppose I'll be going home now."

Cecelia took Danny's arm and pulled him aside. She took a small package out of her backpack. "What's this?" He asked as he was unwrapping it.

"You didn't think I'd forget to give you a real present, did you?" She smiled at the boy. "This is just a special gift…because you're special to me."

It was a black hoodie with the Danny Phantom emblem on it in neon green thread. "Whoa, you sewed this?" He asked in disbelief.

"No—I'm horrible at sewing!" She giggled awkwardly, "I had it custom made just for you." She said kindly.

Danny kissed her lightly.