It is Lambo's birthday.
Lambo is very excited.
Lambo gets up early.
He wants to surprise everyone.
He runs downstairs.
Everyone is already there.
Lambo is very surprised.
He is also very happy.
Everyone is smiling.
Even Gokudera.
Well, not everyone.
Hibari is scowling.
Everyone gives him a present.
He eats cake.
And more cake.
And more.
Lambo throws up on Gokudera.
Gokudera yells and starts lighting up dynamite.
WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EATING CAKE NOW? he screams.
Lambo cries and hides behind Yamamoto while Tsuna tries to calm Gokudera down.
Lambo is scared, but Gokudera apologizes after Tsuna begs him to stop.
Afterward, Lambo opens his presents.
He has thirteen.
One from each guardian, and from Reborn and Dino and Bianchi and Haru and Kyoko and Maman and Fuuta.
One, two, three, four, five, six, he says.
You can count all the way up to thirteen now, right Lambo? Tsuna smiles.
Gokudera grunts and stares at Lambo.
He is the one who taught Lambo how to count all the way up to the big number thirteen.
Lambo gulps and concentrates.
One, he says, pointing to each present.
Two, three, four.
Five, six.
Seven, eight, nine.
Nine is how old Lambo is today.
Wow, Lambo! Yamamoto laughs.
You made it all the way to nine!
Way to go!
Lambo is very proud.
Gokudera is smiling.
So is Tsuna.
Fuuta plays the kazoo.
Ryohei whoops and yells, EXTREME!
Lambo's ears hurt.
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve...
Lambo stops.
He ran out of presents to count.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...
Oh, whoops, Tsuna says.
Here is my present.
Sorry.
Lambo grins and counts again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...
Thirteen.
Lambo is happy.
Yamamoto showers Lambo with candy, and Reborn whaps him nine times with his fedora.
Lambo cries.
You'll get more presents at dinner, Tsuna promises.
Lambo eats candy and smiles.
Lambo thinks this is the best day ever.
Lambo is happy.
Today is Lambo's birthday.
He is now eleven.
Lambo sighs.
"Wow," he says, looking out his window. It's sunny and the birds are singing. "I'm old. Too old. It's scary."
Lambo smiles and hops out of bed.
"It's my birthday!" he yells. He runs down the stairs.
Everyone is up earlier than him again. He isn't so surprised this time.
"Aw," he says, disappointed. "I thought I might've gotten up earlier than you guys this time."
"Nah," Yamamoto yawns. "We'll always get up earlier than you."
"But it's five in the morning!" Lambo exclaims.
"Too bad," Gokudera snarls. His hair sticks out in every direction. He throws a red box at Lambo and scores a hit on his face.
One.
Hibari yawns and tightens his yukata. He tosses a box wrapped in purple paper at Lambo.
Two.
Tsuna smiles and yawns too. He hands an orange box to Lambo.
Three.
Haru and Kyoko are both in their bath robes. They look really tired. But, they still smile and give Lambo their presents. One is silver and the other one is gold.
Four, five.
Ryohei yells, "SLEEPY TO THE EXTREME!" and punches the air. He hands Lambo a present wrapped with yellow paper with red boxing gloves all over it. Lambo thinks he knows what might be inside.
Six.
Bianchi hands him something in a box, which is wrapped with shiny brown paper. Purple fumes are coming out of the cracks and Gokudera chokes. Lambo smiles nervously and puts it aside.
Seven.
Reborn whaps him around the head eleven times. He hands Lambo a yellow, round box. Lambo cries.
Eight.
Yamamoto yawns and grins sleepily at Lambo. He carefully places his present in Lambo's hands, remembering what happened last time when he tried tossing it.
Nine.
Nana gives Lambo a present, kissing him on the forehead.
Ten.
Fuuta beams and says he'll make a ranking of him later.
Eleven.
Dino is not here this time. But Tsuna hands him a box wrapped with dinosaur wrapping paper that came in the mail.
Twelve.
Mukuro is in the Vendicare. He sent his present with Chrome.
Thirteen. Fourteen.
Lambo chooses to wait until dinner to eat cake. He knows he'll get more presents, too. And this time, he can count all of them.
Tomorrow, he'll be thirteen.
Tick tock.
One minute before midnight.
One minute before he'd be thirteen.
Lambo turns around in his bed and flips over his pillow. His pillow is wet.
Lambo wishes he were eleven again.
Tick tock.
Thirty seconds.
He flips his pillow around again.
Happy birthday Lambo!
Don't cry too much! Keep Kyoko and Haru safe! I-Pin, too. Drink lots of milk and grow up tall! I'm sorry I couldn't be there with all of you... but please, enjoy yourself, okay?
Lots of love,
Tsuna
Ding!
It's midnight.
His light is on.
The house is silent.
There is no sun.
There are no birds.
Tick tock.
He's been thirteen for a minute now.
He's curled up on his bed, with a pillow over his head. He won't stop crying and he can't.
Tick tock.
An hour now.
One o'clock.
Lambo turns around again. His blankets have fallen to the floor, because he has tossed and turned all night. He gets up and moves towards the light switch and flips it off.
It's dark now.
Tick tock.
His first two hours of his thirteenth year have been spent crying.
Lambo manages to cry himself to sleep.
Tick tock.
The next four hours of his thirteenth year have been spent sleeping.
Lambo wakes up. He turns over and stares at the clock for a while, not wanting to do anything else.
It's six o'clock.
He sighs and looks out the window.
There is no sun.
There are no birds.
There's a lot of smog, though.
Lambo guesses it's time to wake up.
Lambo sits up in his bed and shakes himself. He gets up, dresses, and heads out the door.
The house is silent.
Lambo walks down the stairs and into the kitchen of the Vongola mansion. He opens the pantry door and takes a bag of chips.
His first meal of his teenager years is a bag of chips.
Happy birthday to me, he thinks gloomily, stuffing chips into his mouth. He shuffles over to the refridgerator and takes out a bottle of milk. He drinks straight from it. He opens a bag of bread and makes himself a tomato, cheese, and lettuce sandwich. He is about to bite into it, when he decides to put bacon into it.
He is frying the bacon when someone else shuffles into the kitchen.
"Oh, Lambo?" the person says, rubbing his eyes. "You up already?"
"Yes," Lambo replies, flicking his messy hair. "Do you want some bacon?"
"O-Okay," Yamamoto yawns. "Will you fry me an egg, too?"
"Sure," Lambo says, shrugging. He adds more bacon into the frying pan and cracks an egg. His sandwich is waiting.
Gokudera comes into the kitchen. His eyes are red. He grabs a cup, pours himself some water from the faucet, and heads back to the stairs.
"Do you want anything, Gokudera?" Lambo asks, his eyes fixed on the sizzling bacon.
"...No." Gokudera continues to shuffle out of the kitchen.
"Oh, come on, Gokudera," Yamamoto laughs, "Take some toast or something."
Gokudera says nothing and leaves.
Yamamoto sighs.
Lambo flips the bacon and puts Yamamoto's egg on a plate. He also takes his sandwich and puts some bacon into it and then hands the whole thing to Yamamoto at the dining table.
"Thanks, Lambo! You're the best," Yamamoto laughs.
Lambo smiles and turns away.
Mukuro and Chrome come down, too. Other than Hibari who couldn't really be counted, these were the only people in the house currently.
"Kufufufu, what's this? Is the birthday boy making breakfast when he should be the one being served, hmm?" Mukuro chuckles.
Yamamoto gasps and chokes on his egg. Chrome pats him on the back and hands him a cup of milk.
Lambo says nothing. He's trying hard not to cry.
"Oh, Lambo, I'm so sorry!" Yamamoto apologizes as soon as the piece of egg stuck in his windpipe is gone. "I forgot! I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay," Lambo mutters.
"Kufufu... my apologies... I forgot, too," muses Mukuro.
"I'm sorry, Lambo," says Chrome.
"It's okay," Lambo says. His voice breaks. "I think it's a good enough present that most of us are here."
Yamamoto stares at him sadly. Lambo's eyes burn and he heats up the frying pan again. He starts frying a few more pieces of bacon for Mukuro and Chrome, but Chrome walks over and takes the spatula from him. She smiles and taps Lambo on the head thirteen times with it.
"Since Reborn isn't here to do it," she says.
Lambo starts to cry.
Something starts whistling 'happy birthday' a bit out of tune. Lambo looks around and sees Hibird. Hibari stands in the doorway and says, "Hmph," before walking away.
Mukuro drags Lambo to the table to sit with Yamamoto and Chrome finishes the bacon. Yamamoto disappears upstairs and comes back down, holding a bag. He's also dragging Gokudera with him, who's punching himself in the face for forgetting about the family member's birthday. Gokudera pours Lambo a cup of milk and collapses on a chair. Chrome serves Lambo a sandwich with tomato, lettuce, cheese, and bacon in it.
He watches as the four guardians tried to make a cake for him. In the end, Hibari, who was tired of smelling burning milk and eggs, took over the kitchen and cracked eggs on people's skulls and made a simple cake for Lambo. He stayed until they lit thirteen candles on the cake and sang happy birthday to Lambo and then left, with Hibird riding on his shoulder.
Today, Lambo is thirteen.
It was the first time in many years that he had woken up before the rest of the people on his birthday.
There were no tangible presents.
But there was a cake.
In the end, Lambo still had fun. Even though Tsuna and Reborn weren't there, or Ryohei, Gianni, Bianchi, Fuuta, Maman, or Dino, it was still okay.
Later, Lambo would go visit Tsuna's coffin and tell him something.
He would tell him that, even though his only present from Yamamoto, Gokudera, Chrome, Mukuro, and Hibari was a cake, he still enjoyed it. And that Hibari made very good cakes.
And that he had received another present, too.
Something that had been with him since the age of five.
His family.
Edit: August 7, 2011
Throw stones. I deserve it.
I tried to think about Lambo's head. What was going on in it. So, it turned out really simple XD Oh, and Lambo's birthday was a few days ago, not today.
Anyways, thanks to all reviewers!
Wish me luck on this week's exams!