It was the start of another day at Tidmouth Sheds. Before the engines went to work, their crew made sure that all of their parts and mechanisms were in perfect working order. However, this particular morning, Mr. Roberts was finding it difficult to care for his engine. Percy was being quite fidgety and couldn't sit still for more than a couple minutes. Once Roberts finished oiling Percy's wheels, he was now done with the routine maintenance. "There we are, my boy! All ready for the day!"

Percy's boiler bubbled with excitement. "All ready for Audrey's birthday you mean!"

"That's right!" Roberts placed his hand on Percy's buffer with a smile.

"Hmm?" Thomas looked over from his berth. "Did I hear you right? Is it Audrey's birthday today?"

"It sure is, Thomas!" Percy grinned. "We're going to have a party at Wellsworth Park this afternoon."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Thomas's driver Bob Atkinson said from his engine's cab. "I'm sure little Audrey will love the present I got her!"

"Not as much as mine!" Edward's driver Charlie Sand remarked playfully. Bob threw his cleaning rag at him.

Mr. Roberts laughed at their banter. "Alright, that's enough now. I appreciate your thoughtfulness." He looked back over to Percy and saw him looking down at the rails with his own thoughtful expression. "What's the matter, Percy?"

"I want to give Audrey a gift," Percy replied.

Roberts smiled warmly at him. "That's very kind of you, but you don't need to get her anything. Audrey will be plenty happy just from seeing you at the party."

"But I don't want her to be 'plenty' happy," Percy pouted, "I want her to be extra happy! It's her first ever birthday after all."

"Wait a minute," came another voice. Henry decided to join the conversation. "I thought you didn't know when Audrey was born. So how do you know today is her birthday?"

Roberts nodded. "You're right, Henry. We don't know when exactly she was born. But today is the day I adopted her last year, so we're making that her birthday, even if she is a couple months older than one year." He smiled when the engines voiced their understanding.

The day went on as usual. The engines were given their jobs to do, but Percy had his mind on other things. As he spent his morning shunting trucks in the yard, he barely paid any attention to what he was doing. The next thing he knew, he was drawn out of his thoughts by a loud bash as a line of trucks collided into a set of buffers too hard for their liking.

"Hey, watch it!" They yelled. "You're being too rough!"

Percy didn't care for their complaining. He just huffed at them. "I have more important things to be worrying about than silly old trucks."

"Oh really?" asked one truck whose tone sounded more offended than curious. "What could a bumpy-buffer caterpillar like you have to worry about?"

"None of your business!" Percy said back, pushing the trucks around again. Despite his driver's words, Percy just had to think of something to give his baby sister for her birthday. Engines never really gave gifts, but he understood the idea of giving something special to someone you cared for. However, engines could not go shopping like people. If say Percy wanted to give Thomas a gift, it would usually be something like a truck filled with the best coal he could find or perhaps letting him take a special delivery in his place. But Audrey wasn't an engine. She didn't like the same things engines did. Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know what Audrey liked! Percy was saddened by this realization. "I want to get Audrey something really special, but I don't even know what kinds of things she likes!" He said to his driver.

Mr. Roberts gave the interior wall a little pat. "She's still only a baby. It will take a bit longer until we learn what sorts of things she likes and doesn't like. But I do know one thing: Audrey likes things that make lots of noise… unfortunately for me."

"Noisy things…" Percy said to himself. "Alright then! I'll keep that in mind!"

After he was done shunting, Percy had to deliver some livestock to Farmer McColl's. As he rolled up to the special trucks, he heard an absolute racket coming from inside.

"Chickens!" Percy smiled. "They just don't want to keep quiet, don't they?" He giggled to himself, but then stopped as an idea popped into his funnel. "That's it! Chickens are very noisy! I should get Audrey a chicken as a present!"

Mr. Roberts and even his fireman Jonathan began to laugh. "Goodness, no, Percy!" Roberts smiled. "I haven't a place at my home for a chicken! Besides, Audrey is still too young to have pets."

"Oh…" Percy said quietly. Coupling up to his train, he set off for the farm. He was deep in thought once again. "What else does Audrey like?"

"Let's see…" Mr. Roberts stroked his chin. "Ah! Music! Audrey loves all sorts of music."

"Of course!" Percy gasped excitedly. "We sing all the time whenever Audrey's with me! I wonder if I can find anything…"

When Percy stopped at Farmer McColl's, Mr. Roberts got out to greet him. He was delighted to see that the farmer had fresh milk and eggs with him. "Good day, McColl! Thank you so much for these. I'm sure they'll be perfect for Audrey's birthday cake!"

"My pleasure, sir!" McColl grinned. "You'll be at Wellsworth Park, right? I'll be sure to stop by to say hello!"

"We'd be pleased to have you!" Mr. Roberts smiled.

"And thank you for bringing my chickens on time, Percy!" McColl said proudly to him. "You really are a useful engine!"

"Hmm?" Percy's eyes snapped to attention. "Oh, um, yes! Of course! Thank you, sir!"

Mr. Roberts chuckled and shook his head. "Percy's been trying to think of a gift for Audrey," he explained to the farmer quietly.

Farmer McColl smiled sweetly. "A gift? Well, I don't see why he'd need to do that. He's already the best thing that girl could ask for!"

Percy blushed and looked away with a shy grin. Roberts chortled again and nodded. "That's what I've been trying to tell him! I swear, that engine can be more stubborn than an oil stain on my overalls some days."

"Don't worry, Percy!" McColl said as Roberts climbed back on. "You're bound to think of something."

"I'll try!" Percy replied, giving two peeps of his whistle before leaving for his next job. As he traveled down the mainline, he heard a faint sound. It started growing closer, and Percy began recognizing just what it was.

"I hear a band playing!" He smiled, looking around. The music grew closer and closer until Percy saw James chuff by. As expected, the red engine had a very proud look on his face.

"Hello there, Percy," James said. "Isn't my train the most splendid-sounding special you've ever heard?"

"It sure is, James! Where are you taking them?"

"There's to be a concert in Vicarstown later today. The Fat Controller must've known that I was the perfect engine for the job!"

But Percy wasn't focusing on James's boasting. "That's it! Audrey can have her very own instrument to play! Maybe she can play the trumpet, or the drums, or that giant guitar you play with a stick!"

"You mean a cello?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Yes, that!" Percy grinned. "James, do you think one of your band players has an extra instrument I could give to Audrey as a gift?"

James rolled his eyes. "No, Percy! Babies can't play instruments! At least not beautifully like these adults can." He gave the little engine a smirk. "Besides, I believe Audrey will grow up to be more of a vocalist."

"A vocalist?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "You mean… a singer? Why do you think that?"

"She's got strong pipes! Her crying can be heard all over Sodor!" James laughed as he puffed away.

Percy grumped and pouted. After his next goods train, it would be time to get ready for Audrey's party, and he still had no idea what to get her! Mr. Roberts could sense his engine was troubled and decided to help. "I have an idea, Percy. Why don't you carry Audrey's cake to the party? That way it can be your gift!"

While it wasn't exactly what Percy wanted to do (it was his driver who would be making the cake after all), he gave a little smile anyway. "Thank you, sir. That's a good idea."

Happy that Percy was happy, Mr. Roberts rode with him as they made their goods train deliveries. Once they finished, Percy brought his driver home so that he could finish the final preparations for the party. There was one thing Percy loved about Mr. Roberts' house being right by the tracks: it made it easier to see one of his favorite people.

Mr. Roberts opened the door and was greeted to the sight of an elderly woman holding his daughter. Audrey lit up at the sight of her father and reached out for him as far as she could. "Dada! Dada!"

Mr. Roberts laughed and lifted Audrey up, covering her face with kisses. "There's my birthday girl!" He then turned to the woman who was adoring the father-daughter moment. "Dowager Hatt, ma'am. Thank you so much for looking after my daughter today. If there's anything I can do to repay you-"

"Pah! Nonsense!" The older woman batted her hand dismissively. "When Bertram mentioned you wanted to throw a party for little Avery, I knew you'd need some assistance. You just don't know when to stop working, do you? At least that's what I've heard. Anyways, I've missed looking after little ones! Aubrey is such a little angel… well, she may have the grip of an orangutan, but she's a dear nonetheless!"

Mr. Roberts gave an awkward chuckle. "Yes, well… I appreciate your generosity, ma'am. You've definitely been a big help today."

"Oh, you haven't seen the last of me, dear! I'll be with Bertram at the party later, so make sure to save some cake!"

Mr. Roberts laughed. "Not to worry! I'll make sure there's plenty-" His words suddenly got caught in his throat, and a bit of color drained from his face. "W-Wait… did you say… Sir Topham Hatt is going to be at the party?"

Dowager Hatt covered her mouth. "Oh dear! I wasn't supposed to say that! It was supposed to be a surprise. Do be a dear and act surprised when he-" However, before she could even finish, Mr. Roberts was rushing outside with Audrey.

"Bussy!" Audrey squealed in excitement upon seeing Percy, but the engine wasn't even able to utter a greeting before Mr. Roberts literally hopped aboard. "Sir Topham Hatt is going to be at the party! We've got to get you washed, Percy, then I need to come back and-"

There was a crack and a splash! In his eagerness to get going, Mr. Roberts had forgotten all about the milk and eggs in Percy's cab and knocked them right over, spilling the milk and breaking the eggs all over his footplate. Percy made a face as he felt the mess spread. "A wash-down it is, sir…"

Mr. Roberts let out a long sigh while Jonathan began cleaning up. "And I'll need to stop by the bakery and buy a cake. I won't have time to get more ingredients and freshen up for Sir Topham Hatt's arrival."

"You didn't tell me the Fat Controller was going to be there!" Percy said as they headed down the line.

"I didn't know!" Mr. Roberts exclaimed. "Apparently it was supposed to be a surprise. I wish it still was, then I wouldn't be so worried about it!"

"Who knew birthday parties could be so stressful…" Percy muttered to himself.

When they arrived at the nearest wash station, Mr. Roberts set Audrey on the ground near Percy's front. "Please keep an eye on Audrey, Percy." He said.

Percy's eyes widened. He had never been tasked with looking after Audrey before. "Y-Yes, sir!"

He stared down at the tiny person sitting in front of him. Audrey stared back up at the massive machine. She babbled something to him.

Percy chuckled. "Yes, it's my bathtime… Audrey, what do you want for your birthday?"

Audrey gave him a confused look and gurgled more gibberish.

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'? You get presents on your birthday. Well… I guess it's your first birthday, so you wouldn't know that. I'm trying to figure out what to get for you. So what would you like?"

Both Mr. Roberts and Jonathan raised their eyebrows at each other. Roberts was quite amused. "Are you having a conversation, Percy? Sorry, I don't mean to eavesdrop." He smiled, earning a chuckle from Jonathan.

"No, I'm talking to the voice in my smoke box!" Percy cheekily replied.

Roberts playfully flung some bubbles onto Percy's nose. Audrey babbled with a smile, and Percy laughed. "Audrey says you missed a spot!"

"Did she now?" Roberts smirked, wiping Percy's nose clean. "Well, Jonathan said that you have a spot of soot here," He wiped some ash from Percy's firebox and dabbed it onto his cheeks and nose, "here, aaaand here!"

"Hey, no fair!" Percy laughed.

Mr. Roberts picked up Audrey and gave her a sponge, stepping in front of Percy's face. "Would you like to help, Audrey?"

A big smile grew on her face. Trying to mimic what she'd seen her father do, she squished the soapy sponge against Percy's mouth. Audrey started to laugh when he began to sputter, trying to spit out the foul-tasting suds. "Audrey!" He whined.

Mr. Roberts just laughed along with his daughter and held her hand to help guide her scrubbing motions. "There we go!"

That's when Jonathan came over and showed Roberts his pocket watch. Roberts's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Oh bloody-" He cut himself off before he said something too vulgar for his daughter's ears. "Alright, you look spiffied up, Percy. Let's head to the bakery, then we'll race to the park."

Not a second was wasted. Percy rushed to the bakery to pick up the cake (although he held back a bit for Audrey's safety), then it was off to Wellsworth Park. Roberts was relieved to see that no one had decided to come too early. "Jonathan, could you give me a hand with the decorations?"

The fireman nodded and assisted Roberts in blowing up balloons. Audrey, however, was not interested in helping. She was occupied with wriggling in her father's arms. Roberts sighed. "What are you being so fussy about?"

"Gab!" Audrey blurted.

"She wants to feel the grass," Percy said.

Roberts looked quizzically at his engine before noticing Audrey's eyes cast down at the ground. He gently put Audrey down in the soft grass, and the grumpy whines the baby made quickly quieted. Her attention was now focused on feeling the greenery in her hands. "Well I never! How'd you figure that out, Percy?"

"She told me."

Roberts simply smirked. "Ah yes. You two like talking behind my back, don't you?" Believing it to be a simple stroke of luck that Audrey had calmed down, Roberts charged Percy with keeping an eye on her once more while he and Jonathan got the decor finished. Percy happily obliged and kept his eye on the little one playing in the grass. Percy wanted to play with her like he'd seen his driver do before, but he couldn't handle toys or pick her up like he could. Playing with her would at least somewhat make up for the lack of a present he thought. He let out a little weesh of steam.

This got Audrey's attention. She pushed herself off the ground and onto her wobbly little feet, toddling over to the wooden fence that separated the park and the rails and looked up at Percy.

Percy's smile grew when he saw Audrey walking over to him. He gave her a cheerful peep peep! of his whistle. Audrey grinned at the loud noise. She breathed in and blew out a raspberry at him.

"That's not a whistle, silly!" Percy laughed.

Audrey huffed and babbled loudly at him while guests started to arrive. Mr. Roberts thanked each of them, and some even volunteered to help with the decorations. Then Thomas rolled up next to Percy and whistled a greeting. "Hello, Percy! My crew is here for the party!"

"That's wonderful, Thomas!" Percy beamed, whistling back.

"Toma!" Audrey exclaimed, happy to see Percy's friend. She blew a raspberry again, much to the other engines' amusement.

"Did you manage to find a present for Audrey yet?" Thomas asked.

Percy let out a sad sigh. "No… I thought about it all day, but none of the ideas I had were any good."

"Oh well," Thomas smiled, "I'm sure Audrey doesn't mind."

"But I do!" Percy pouted.

Several children who had come with their parents came to play with Audrey and say hello to Thomas and Percy. Edward and James arrived with their crew, and Audrey crawled away from the other children to look at them. "Jay Jay! Eddie!"

"Would you look at that?" James smiled with pride. "It seems Audrey has an eye for my brilliant red paintwork! Such fine taste at such a young age! If only she could get my name right…"

Audrey started babbling at him. Percy instantly looked amused and started laughing until he thought his boiler would burst.

"What? What's so funny?" James asked, his face scrunching up.

"A-Audrey said that your red paint makes you look more like a fire truck than a steam engine!" Percy chortled. Thomas and Edward couldn't help but join in.

"A fire truck?!" James spat. "Audrey didn't say that! You just made it up!"

"No I didn't!" Percy grinned as Audrey said something else to him. "Oho! And Audrey also says that green paint beats red any day!"

"Okay, now I know you're making that up!!" James puffed.

A little blue car parked nearby. Mr. Roberts noticed and immediately picked up Audrey, straightening out her birthday dress and adjusting his own driver's uniform. "Oh for heaven's sake! I completely forgot to change out of my work clothes! Oh well… better these clothes than no clothes." He joked to Audrey. He carried her over to greet Sir Topham Hatt along with his mother and his wife Lady Hatt. He suddenly remembered what the dowager had told him. "O-Oh! Sir Topham Hatt, sir! What a surprise to see you here! And Lady Hatt and Dowager Hatt as well! My warmest welcomes!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Roberts." Topham smiled, shaking the man's hand and looking at his daughter. "And is this Audrey? Goodness, she's certainly grown since the last time I've seen her! What a charming young lady you have."

Roberts beamed with pride. "Thank you kindly, sir. She keeps me on my feet, but I wouldn't trade her for the world."

"I can see you care for her very much. Which is why I'd like to ask you something." Topham dismissed his wife and mother to give him and Roberts some privacy.

Roberts suddenly felt a bit sweaty. "I-Is everything alright, sir?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you, Roberts," Topham replied with a soft look in his eyes. He looked over to Percy who was conversing with the other engines. "Is it true what I've heard about you taking Audrey aboard Percy during work?"

Roberts swore his heart stopped beating for a second. He tried to keep himself composed, but his arms wouldn't stop shaking. "I-I… well, you see, sir, I couldn't… I couldn't find anyone to look after Audrey."

"Several times it seems," Topham tucked his hands in his pockets and stared down Roberts with a more serious expression. "Jacob, when operating an engine, it's imperative to have your attention focused on it at all times. Trying to care for a baby and operate heavy machinery at the same time is a major safety hazard."

"Y-You're right, sir…" He stared at the fragile little person in his arms and pulled her closer. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"I would have preferred it if you just called in for the day off," Sir Topham said. "I'm a father myself. I understand how difficult it can be."

Roberts shook his head, eyes downcast. "It won't happen again, sir. I'll make sure of it."

"I hope so, Roberts," Topham nodded. "You're a very lucky man. I'm sure you're aware of Percy's… unfortunate safety record."

"He's better than he used to be."

"Nonetheless," Sir Topham continued, "he's a, shall I say, 'accident-prone' engine. However, over the past year, Percy has not had a single major accident. I must say, it's rather miraculous."

"If I may speak, sir?" Roberts asked, and Topham nodded. "Whenever I came anywhere near Percy with Audrey, I noticed

a change with him. He'd get very still, grow quiet, and move slowly as if carrying a load of fine china."

"Would he now? That's a bit surprising, seeing how… 'bouncy' he's become recently."

The two looked over at the group of four engines talking to each other. While Thomas, Edward, and James remained completely still as any normal steam engine would, Percy's frame would move expressively along with his words, jiggling when he laughed, and even turning left and right a bit when he looked around. It was a bizarre sight indeed, but it was something Percy's friends have grown accustomed to.

Mr. Roberts gave a little smile. "Yes indeed. He's been much more careful recently though. It's really quite charming really. He's a lot like a big brother to Audrey."

"A big brother?" Topham rubbed his chin, looking between Audrey and Percy. He started to chuckle. "You know how ridiculous this would all sound to my father, wouldn't you?"

Mr. Roberts forced a chuckle despite his nervousness. "You're quite right, sir. I as well as all the engines are thankful that you're able to view them as more than just machines. Though I wouldn't put too much blame on your father, rest his soul. He was the first controller in the world tasked with handling living engines!"

Sir Topham Hatt nodded again. "He did a fine job on the management side of things. I only hope I can continue to bond with my engines and get to know them personally. I care for everyone that works on this railway, Jacob, even you. That's why I don't want you doing something that could potentially risk your current employment."

A lump grew in Roberts's throat. "Y-Yes, sir. I understand."

"Good. Now that we know Percy won't be having any more little passengers in his cab, let's get on with the celebration! I must say, that cake over there looks positively delectable!"

Mr. Roberts let himself relax a bit and smiled. "Yes, though I wish I could say I made it. I was going to bring a homemade cake, but there was a little bump in the plan…"

Everyone gathered around the picnic table where they all started to sing "Happy Birthday" to Audrey while a single candle was lit on top of the cake. Mr. Roberts carefully held her up to it. "Blow it out, birthday girl!"

Audrey looked confused, mumbling a little bit. She heard Percy call out to her, "Like this, Audrey! You have to blow it like this!" Percy puffed out his cheeks and blew out his mouth, his whistle going off a bit unintentionally. Audrey giggled at the noise and tried to copy him, puffing out her cheeks. Percy did it again, his whistle once more peeping as he did. Audrey closed her eyes and blew, but her lips kept sealed tightly shut.

Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!

The loud sound startled many of the guests, especially Mr. Roberts whose ears were now ringing. He looked toward the engines to chastise them for such a racket, but he stopped. The whistle that was still rattling in his head didn't match the sound he knew the engines could make. In fact, he had never heard this particular whistle sound from any engine on Sodor before.

Audrey's face lit up with excitement. She knew exactly where that whistle came from. She puffed out her cheeks again.

Peep peep peeeeeeeep!!

Now everyone was taken aback. They seemed to know what was happening, but they simply couldn't believe it.

"Cinders and ashes!" cried Thomas.

"Fizzling fireboxes!" exclaimed Edward.

"Bust my buffer!" shouted James.

Percy didn't say any sort of locomotive exclamation. He was silent for a moment, his eyes sparkling with awe at his little sister. Mr. Roberts was checking inside Audrey's mouth for a toy whistle or noisemaker of any sort, but Percy knew he wouldn't find anything. While everyone else remained speechless, Percy filled the air with excited peeps of his own! "She can whistle! She can actually whistle just like me! A loud one too!" He gasped with joy. "I taught her that! That was my gift! I gave her a steam engine whistle!"

"B-But… Percy…" Edward started.

"People don't just whistle like that!" finished James.

"Audrey can though!" Percy giggled with glee. "With a big brother like me, I can teach her to do anything!"

"Let's just hope she doesn't make as much of a racket as you do!" Thomas teased. Percy just smirked and rolled his eyes.

Mr. Roberts held Audrey in front of him. "How are you doing that?!"

Audrey just laughed and wiggled in a playful little dance, peeping her newfound whistle over and over and over again. It seemed Thomas's hopes were already being dashed.

"Well, umm…" Sir Topham Hatt cleared his throat. Mr. Roberts's nerves started acting up all over again. What was his boss going to say this time?

"…Shall we cut the cake?"

After a brief period of silence, everyone around the table began to laugh. Even Mr. Roberts, still quite stunned by the turn of events, managed a smile of his own. The cake was cut and served, and presents were unwrapped afterwards. Among the gifts was a corn popper from Charlie Sand and some toy wooden steam engines from Bob Atkinson. The two still argued whose gift was better.

Mr. Roberts tried to keep Audrey still so he could wipe off all the cake that she had gotten on herself. "It's in your hair! How did that even happen?"

Percy giggled, and Audrey turned to face him. Percy grinned and whistled happily at her. And for the first time ever, Audrey was able to whistle back. Despite all the toys she got for her first birthday, Audrey's favorite gift didn't come in a box or a bag. It came from her favorite brother in the whole world.

Author's Note: Fun Fact - Percy being able to understand Audrey's babbling was inspired by Sunny Baudelaire from A Series of Unfortunate Events!