Chapter 31

Sorry about taking so long with this. I was going to post this last weekend but didn't get time. I've also had a fair bit of homework – I have a History project in for Friday and I haven't yet been bothered to look at what it's about.

Everyone had flown back, apart from the family that lived in Hawaii. Keatan, who had flown to the mainland, travelled with the rest of them until Los Angeles as they had to change there. They had landed just before midnight on Friday, leaving on late Thursday evening.

Today was Joey's birthday. Everybody was awake and preparing for the day, minus Joey. Sam and Tom had left Ajit, who was getting together little presents and Joey at their flat.

As they were leaving, Tom told Ajit: "make sure he takes his tablets later."

"Anything I can help with?" Sam asked as she made her way into the kitchen of the farm house.

The kitchen work surfaces were modern, black marble. Upward were the original wooden beams. The floor was layered with black slate tiles. In the middle of the area there was a three by five meter island, and on either side there was a meter gap and then the one meter depth cupboards. All the cupboards were made from thick wood, making them seemingly heavy.

Clare stood at the grand, navy blue oven, placing something on the top. Rachel, Leah, and Georgie were next to her, while Mike and Harvey were putting biscuits, sandwiches, and various other foods onto plates.

"Could you sort out some of this stuff?" She said, indicating to all the food lying about on plates on the island. "I've got to go collect Taylor from her friend's house."

"Sure," Sam replied going forward.

Clare left quickly, grabbing her purse, keys and phone from the side as she walked out the front door.

"What shall I do?" Sam questioned.

"Oh, can you make some cookies. Leah and Georgie will help. The stuff is on the work surface there." Rachel answered, also departing the room after.

Around three hours later everything was ready. Ajit had texted about Joey being awake, so they would be over in twenty. All the persons in the house made their way outside - as they were saving the food for later.

Georgie, Leah and Clare continued on to the stables - they were going to go riding while some of the others took Joey out for the day. Taylor, Rachel and Mike, who weren't going either, went to the kennel. In a few minutes, there was barking and yapping echoing throughout the yard. Four dogs charged around the corner.

The black and white Border Collie rounded the corner first, going straight for Tom, jumping up with his front paws on Tom's shoulders, until David called him to sit. Another Border Collie - this one brindle and white - took the same command as its sister. A black Labrador, which had only just become one, jumped around aimlessly. The last dog stayed by Rachel's side; it was her dog - a white and dark grey Siberian Husky - and she had trained it endlessly for benefit of herself and the other dogs.

"Don't Jasper!" Taylor shouted at the brindle Border Collie, who had just scampered into the house.

Skye, the other Border Collie, and Banshee, Rachel's dog, sat obediently. The Labrador, Glenn, continued to confuse itself.

"We're going around the fields for a long walk. We'll be about two or three hours I reckon, so if you need to get hold of us, we have our phones on us." Rachel said, brushing her astray brown hair out of her face.

David nodded and the three – and dogs – turned to walk back in the direction they came from.

Another half hour later the main gate to the property opened; the metal scrapping across the ground as Joey pushed it clear. Kayla had arrived a little while before as she was spending the day with her little brother too.

"Buon compleanno, figlio." David announced as Joey walked up the drive; Ajit drove up behind, turning and reversing into a space.

"Because talking in English would be barbaric," Joey added.

"Well, you're joining school next week, so it might be an idea to start learning again. Besides you should speak in the languages you can to get better at English." David continued.

"That's logical," Joey stated sarcastically. "Je vais parler comme ça si vous vous taisez."

"Would you two stop with the language arguing?" Tom shouted.

"Juste parce que vous ne pouvez pas." Ajit joined as he came to stand with the group. After seeing Tom's face, he said: "I'll hold tongue, too, shall I?" Tom just nodded.

"What we doing today?" Joey asked.

"Well we thought we'd try out some mountain runs. If we go a few minutes north from here, we'll hit some great mountain to bike down. Aj and I tried it out about a month back." Harvey answered.

"That sounds righteous, but one problem: I don't have a bike." Joey said beaming.

"Ah, we already have that sorted." David spoke before he walked back into the house.

A minute or two later, he emerged with a bike. The black frame with green horizontal stripes across the top, down and seat tubes. A white saddle sat on the seat post and white rims kept shape of the 26 inch tyres. Black handle bars and grips with metallic silver brake levers finished the bike.

"A carbon fibre mountain bike fitted with 3x8 gears, 26 inch wheels, and specialized suspension." David explained. "Hope it pleases more than the last one."

"Wow, thanks dad. And, yeah, it does." Joey stepped forward and took his gift, testing out the brakes and pushing then bouncing on the suspension.

"Should we get going?" Sam quizzed. Several nods later, they all set off on their bikes.

Later, when they returned, a party had been step up. Muddy and wet, the group walked into the house, and were greeted by around two hundred people – crammed in the kitchen, and spilling outside to the backyard.

Once cleaned and dried, the party began. Presents were thrown out and appreciated.

"Here you go bro," Ajit said as he reached over to give Joey a wrapped long box.

As Joey unwrapped the present, his face began to light up like Times Square on New Year's Eve. Under the paper was a vintage Union Jack skateboard, completed with black trucks and white wheels.

The more the gift giving went on, the less space there would be in the apartment. Even though a fair bit was money, it was inevitable that Joey would soon buy something to fill more space – despite David saying it should go into the bank.

Rachel gave her step-brother an orange skater helmet, and then her brother gave Joey a blue and silver full face helmet. At last, it came the time Tom and Sam handed over there present. Tom went out the room for a short while, and returned with a black and tan German Shepard puppy.

"We just thought it'd be nice to have a dog, and with Sam and I at work so much, it seemed a great benefit to you." Tom told his brother.

"What are you going to name him?" Sam anticipated.

Joey thought for a few seconds then came up with something. "I think I'll name him Duke. Thanks guys."

"Oh, there are a few more cards here." Clare handed Joey a few cards.

Joey sifted through and opened all the cards – full of birthday messages and wishes, and some: money. The last card put a smile on Joey's face.

"What is it?" Tom asked. Joey twisted the card, catching the twenty-pound note that fell out, so his brother could see, and Tom looked surprised as he finished reading.

The card read:

Happy Birthday lil' bro,

I'm sorry for all the shit I've put you through, but I hope you'll forgive me to some extent – I know you can't forget.

Anyway, try hard at school – 'cause we all know you're smarter, better looking and overall greater than me. Good luck with another year to add to the clock, and it'd be good to see you soon.

Love you always mate,

Jack.

Hope you liked it, and please tell me any thoughts in a review :)