Being a commander is relatively easy.

Being a parent? That is hard.

Especially when you have over a dozen kids, with separate birthdays, separate interests, and, rather obviously, separate genders. Planning for each individual one was, well, not easy, and that was an understatement. I wish I was still back home. Then, at least, I could ask my parents for advice on how to do this.

...I really wasn't ever goin to see them again before I died, was I?

...Alright, no moping around, I have a birthday to plan. I can reserve feeling sorry for myself to other times, but this is not one of them!

Back to the task at hand - planning Bianka's birthday. Well, I'd already arranged for a cake (strawberry flavored - that was her favorite flavor), as well as most of the other amenities, but so one thing still eluded me - a good gift for her. It couldn't be too grandiose, because while something that would normally cost a fortune would likely be trivial for me to create, well, I'm not sure it would have the same value as if it was one that was actually purchased. I guess it had to do with the investment of time - I felt that making something grandiose for Bianka wouldn't make a good gift because it would take me a trivial amount of time to do so, which was about as much time as I would spend searching for a birthday card for, well, anyone.

So, something smaller would have to do. What would that be?

Well, I'd seen her drawing pictures of some of the locales I'd conquered. Maybe I could examine them for inspiration?

I pulled up all known instances where she had been recorded drawing a picture of the scenery by my drones. Then, I decided to see what they had in common.

The first instance recorded was of her making an artwork of a grove of Arborous Arboretums - giant trees that put redwoods to shame. Perhaps she liked nature?

The next instance was of her watching a herd of camel-esque creatures march across a desert, heading toward an oasis, while vulture analogues circled over something in the distance, likely a carcass. Another point to nature.

The third instance was...her making a depiction of one of my factories? Well, that was unexpected. Perhaps she also liked machinery and the city?

The fourth instance of her drawing appeared to be directed at...one of my orbital fabbers? Okay, now I had no idea what to work with.

Everything else after that was, well, without any reason. I saw her trying to draw a night sky, the skeleton of some dead monster, and even the skyline of a city. No theme behind it all, just a series of pictures that I couldn't even look at with any accuracy. What did they even look like - I'm getting an alert?

...Bianka just left something outside my room. Maybe this is my chance to figure out what she would like the most.

To my surprise, the items she left outside my door were just a few pieces of paper, and one painting canvas. Maybe these would tell me what she would like. After all, that would take up a sort of constant among her art, as whatever theme was depicted most often. Happy with myself, I turned over one of the pictures to look at it and...oh...wow.

I...I...well, I was dumbstruck. Not by what the picture depicted, but by how it was made. It was good. Really really good. I mean, it wasn't a masterpiece, but it was still spectacular. Looking at the rest of the pictures, plus the painting, I was met with similar feelings of awe. These paintings were, quite simply, amazing.

Who knew I had adopted an artist?

...I thought I knew what I was going to get her for her birthday.

First off, though, check alerts to be sure that nothing else was happening that could ruin the day..

...

...

...Yep, everything is fine, and nothing inexpected is happening. Not even in regards to the new aliens with organic technology - apparently, they were just using reverse engineered arnornarmor, which was rather fleshy. Why the pictures seemed a little fuzzy was currently eluding me, but everything seemed alright.

Good. I can make my adoptive daighter's present in peace.

Now, let me see what I need: wood, synthetic fibers, paint, graphite, and nails.

Yeah, I could do this.

XXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Bianka and Rory will be the only ones among Flame's kids whose birthdays I will go into detail about, because I think that will get boring really fast, even if it is heartwarming.

Also, next chapter will be an interlude dealing with Bianka's birthday. It will be up tomorrow.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!