Follows "The Aftermath." I got a little carried away by the back story (or rather the whole story), so I hope you don't mind! Enjoy! xo

Cameron was at home, waiting for Kirsten after work. Usually he gave her a ride to his place, after all she was practically living at his place now. Not that they made it official or anything. She had said she needed to do something and that Camille would give her a ride when she was done. He had already changed into sweatpants and a tshirt, took out his contacts to replace them with glasses (he couldn't argue with Kirsten, not after she admitted that he looked very handsome in them), and started dinner.

His twenty-seventh birthday was tomorrow, March 23. He still hadn't told her. Birthdays were typically a time of celebration. However, his birthdays brought back memories of tension and constant fussing over his health. The way his parents glanced at each other when they thought he wasn't looking, seeing the fear in their eyes, unsure if he would live to see his next birthday. Every birthday was the same after his heart surgery. His eleventh birthday was the worst. His parents had been cautious before, but nothing like this. He had wanted to play laser tag with his best friend, but his parents said it was too dangerous (he had been cleared to resume normal activities three months prior, which was six months after his surgery). They insisted on him staying home for a laid back birthday. His best friend was still invited of course. What they failed to mention was that the day before his birthday, his parents invited his entire family to the house. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins were all at his birthday party. Most of them he hadn't even met, or he hadn't remembered that he met. It wasn't fun, to say the least. Spending the day getting your cheeks pinched and hearing embarrassing stories about that time he ran around his grandparents' house naked, or the time he cried because his cousin pushed him and he skinned his knee. He didn't like being the center of attention.

The rest of his birthdays were about the same. At fourteen he told them he just wanted a movie night with the guys. They agreed, and on Friday night he got the birthday he wanted. But they still invited the whole family the day after his birthday. At sixteen, all he wanted was to get his learner's permit. He told them he didn't want a big celebration. Not only did he not get his learner's permit, but he still got the big family get together. Driving was "too dangerous"- what if something happened while he was driving alone? He had to wait until his seventeenth birthday before his father finally gave in and took him to the DMV. His eighteenth birthday was the last time he had celebrated, again at the persistence of his parents.

When left to his own devices, his birthday was just another day. It was particularly difficult to keep his secret from his new found friends and girlfriend. Especially one night when they were all at Kirsten's house, drinking a few too many beers after the deadly virus outbreak case. Camille was pouting because Kirsten had a huge party for her birthday, even though she didn't want it. She hadn't been outed yet as a member of the stitch program, so she missed out on hers last year. May 9, as she made a habit of telling them on multiple occasions. She had already planned her own party this year, and they were all a little terrified of what she had planned. She asked Linus when his birthday was- December 15. She planned a party at her place, and invited everyone from the lab. Then she asked Cameron when his birthday was, and he avoided answering the question, simply stating that he didn't celebrate it. Luckily, the short attention span that accompanies drinking, combined with a particularly horny Linus ended the party short when the pair went to her bedroom. Kirsten had given him a curious look, but thankfully didn't mention it.

He felt guilty, keeping this from Kirsten. He decided he would tell her tomorrow. Almost as if on cue, he heard keys in the door. She had helped herself to his spare key when she was taking care of him after he "died." About three weeks after he was cleared to go back to work, she tried to give it back. He told her that he wanted her to keep it. For their one month anniversary, he had gotten her a silver K key chain for the key. He originally wanted to get a cat woman key chain, but couldn't find one he liked.

She walked up behind him, kissing him on the cheek as he finished up dinner.

He didn't look away, concentrating on getting the measurements just right to finish the mashed potatoes. "Dinner will be ready in a minute, Sweetie," he told her.

"Okay, I'm just going to go change." She rushed off to his bedroom, thankful that his focus was on dinner so that he didn't notice the silver gift bag she had hidden behind her back.

She quickly changed into her usual pajamas- a pair of Cameron's boxers and one of his shirts. She tried to determine where to best hide his birthday gift, so he wouldn't find it until she gave it to him tomorrow. She thought about hiding it in her drawer (his gift to her on their two month anniversary), but he might see it in the morning when they got ready for work. She thought about his closet, but he might see it when he changed clothes. Her best bet was to hide it in the depths of his closet, behind his small selection of winter apparel and coat. She shifted the boots a bit, to hide it from plain sight. For good measure, she moved his long coat to the corner of the closet to conceal it.

Kirsten went back out to the kitchen to join her boyfriend for dinner. He was setting the table. "What's on the menu tonight?," she asked.

"Roasted chicken and veggies, with mashed potatoes." He brought the plates out to the table, and Kirsten immediately knew which one was hers. She had a pile of mashed potatoes that was twice the size of his.

"Have I ever told you what a great boyfriend you are?," she grinned at him.

"Come to think of it, I don't think you've ever mentioned it," he teased back.

"Do you want a glass of red wine?" She was already in his pantry, pulling out two glasses.

"Yeah, that would be great." He didn't think anything of it. It wasn't that unusual for them, to occasionally have a glass of wine with dinner. "So, where did you run off to after work?," he said raising an eyebrow out of curiosity when he caught her gaze.

She brought the glasses to the table and sat down. "Oh you know, just errands. Camille was already going out, so she offered to take me with." She took a giant bite of mashed potatoes. Potatoes were her favorite food group. "Cam, these are great," as she smiled while eating.

"I should really teach you to cook one of these days." He grinned back at her.

"Why? You do it so well." She took another bite, ignoring the rest of her plate for the moment. "Besides, I know how to cook." She only really knew how to make scrambled eggs, and a small handful of other things.

"Really Princess? I don't think following instructions on a box of macaroni and cheese qualifies as cooking," he teased.

"Then don't expect me to make you any the next time we're at my place." She gave him a look that was equally playful and 'I'm not kidding, I'm not making you any food at my place,' which he thought was adorable.

"And when would that be?" He leaned in so close, that when she turned towards him he was a few inches from her face.

"Hmm," she carefully thought about her answer. "The next time Camille invites us over? Or the next time I need clothes. Whichever comes first."

He kissed her, his hand lingering on her cheek. "Uh huh." He sat back and started eating his dinner. "Don't forget about the veggies," pointing a finger at her plate.

She rolled her eyes, and ate a piece of broccoli.

...

While Kirsten was taking a shower, Cameron was looking into vacations for them on his tablet. He had already spoke with Maggie, that he wanted to take a week or two off with Kirsten (after all, they did have plenty of vacation time that they haven't used yet). Now he just needed to figure out where to go. He might enlist Camille's help, since Kirsten had never mentioned if she was a beach goer, or hiking in the mountains kind of girl. He had it narrowed down to three options- Hawaii if she liked the beach and swimming, the Grand Canyon if she wanted the beautiful desert, or renting a cabin in northern California mountains if she wanted hiking trails, biking, and kayaking on a nearby lake.

He heard the shower turn off, and he closed out the internet search and put his tablet away. She wanted to watch Jurassic World on blu ray, which she recently bought for him for their seventh month anniversary; they just hadn't had a chance to watch it yet. He already had it at the main menu, ready to play. He thought it was a little unusual for a work night, since it was already 9:40pm and the movie was two hours long. On an ordinary night, they watched an episode of Doctor Who before bed.

She walked out of his bathroom, still towel drying her hair. She threw it in his hamper, and curled up with him on the bed. Sometimes he wondered how he got so lucky with Kirsten. "Hey there Stud, you going to press play or what?" Then again, somethings never change.

He laughed, and kissed her forehead before reaching for the remote.

...

The credits were rolling on the movie, and Cameron stopped it to remove the disc.

"So what did you think?," she asked.

"I really liked it," he replied, resuming his spot back on the bed. "I feel bad for those two kids though. I guess it was their own fault for off roading," he shrugged.

"I still can't believe you haven't seen the original trilogy. 'Mr. I've seen every sci-fi, action, superhero, and fantasy movie and TV show ever made.' Besides, the first Jurassic Park is the best one."

"Well maybe someday you'll get me to watch it," he smirked.

"At least you liked it. Camille's only response was 'Shut up! I can't believe Chris Pratt didn't take his shirt off,'" giving her best Camille imitation.

"That does sound like Camille." He turned off the light on his nightstand and pulled her in closer, kissing her on the forehead. "Goodnight, Love."

"Goodnight, Cam," as she snuggled in closer.

Except he wasn't remotely tired. The guilt of not telling Kirsten was keeping him awake. He looked at the alarm on the nightstand behind her, it was 11:50pm. He would give it a few minutes, and if Kirsten was still awake he would tell her.

He only made it until 11:53pm. Kirsten was still curled up on his side, and her breathing wasn't shallow enough for her to be asleep. "Kirsten?"

"Hmm?," she answered, lightly tracing her fingers up his scar. Yup, she was definitely still awake.

"Can I tell you something?" Getting to the point wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"Of course." She was still tracing up and down his scar.

"It's... uh... it's my birthday tomorrow." His voice was barely audible.

Her fingers stopped moving, and she looked up at him. The moonlight shined through his blinds, giving her a bit of visibility. "Oh?," she replied carefully, trying to study his face.

He proceeded to tell her the whole story about how his parents treated him as a child, making a big deal about his birthday while secretly wondering if he would live to see the next. She continued to gaze at him throughout his entire speech. She waited until she was certain that he had finished before speaking. "I'm so sorry Cameron," was the only thing she could think of.

"That's alright, it's not your fault. That's just why I don't really celebrate," he shrugged.

"How about," she started off carefully. "We go out to your favorite Mexican restaurant after work tomorrow. Just us, Camille, and Linus. It will be just like any other day, I promise." What she didn't tell him is that she already made reservations for four, and that Camille and Linus knew. But she had also told them to not make a big deal about it, remembering his response after her birthday last year.

"I think I'd be okay with that." He gave her one of his famous Cameron smiles, grinning wide. She knew that he was really okay with that plan. "I love you Kirsten," kissing her forehead again.

"I love you too Cameron." She went back to tracing his scar for a moment. "Night," she whispered, feeling her eyelids getting heavy.

Just as they were almost asleep, her phone chirped once. He looked at the clock, exactly 12:00am.

She internally cursed, knowing that her phone was alerting her that it was Cameron's birthday. She had set an event on her calendar, and forgot to remove the alarm function. She briefly stiffened at that knowledge, hoping it would go unnoticed by Cameron. "Probably just Camille," she said, ignoring her phone.

He thought about it for a second, knowing it was possible that Camille had texted her this late. But something wasn't quite right, the way Kirsten tensed beside him. It took him a minute to realize that it was the same ringtone that went off on her phone on the thirteenth of every month for their anniversary. Her usual ringtone for a text was three tones, while her calendar was a single tone. She didn't know that anniversaries were a big deal to him, so after she inadvertently forgot their one month anniversary on September 13, she had set an alarm every month to remember. When he noticed that an alarm went off on October 13 for their two month anniversary, he thought it was very sweet, and he only loved her more for it.

"Kirsten, did you know it was my birthday?," he asked out of curiosity, keeping an even tone to his voice.

"Maybe," she muttered, avoiding eye contact.

With a computer hacking genius for a girlfriend, should he really be surprised that she found out? Probably not, although that didn't keep him from asking. "Did you hack into my computer to find out when my birthday was?" His tone had a bit more of an accusation. Even if she did, he knew he couldn't be mad at her. She would have only done it because she loved him.

"That's ridiculous," she retorted, still avoiding eye contact.

"Then how did you find out? I never told Linus," he said, lightly lifting her chin to meet his gaze.

"I looked at your drivers license." A small smirk was growing on her face, and that definitely didn't go unnoticed.

His grin faltered. That was worse than her hypothetically hacking into his computer to find out. He hated, absolutely hated, his drivers license photo. They made him wear his glasses, which was bad enough, and he was mid blink when they took the photo. They wouldn't let him retake it.

Kirsten saw the worried expression on his face, his smile completely vanished. "What?," she asked softly.

"I hate that picture," he said with a sigh.

"Oh, is that all?" She left a trail of kisses on his collarbone.

"Is that all? Kirsten, it's awful," he protested.

She kissed up his neck. "Well, I think the picture is cute."

He quietly moaned, as she nibbled on his earlobe.

"Would it make you feel better," she said, resuming her kisses on his neck and shifting her leg over him, straddling him. "If I gave you your birthday present now?" She gently held his face in her hands.

His eyes searched hers, but he was unable to read her. He hugged her closer. "Yeah," as he pressed his lips to hers and closed his eyes. She kissed him back, and in a flash she ended it. The warmth from her body was gone. Confused, Cameron looked around to see where she went. He had taken off his glasses already, but he saw a blurred blonde figure crouched down at his closet. "You know Princess, that's not quite what I thought you meant when you said you were giving me a birthday present." He laughed, picking up his glasses from the nightstand.

She found what she was looking for, placing it behind her back as she turned around. She walked up to him, and handed him the bag. "Here." He sat up to inspect the bag, and she jumped across the bed, sitting cross legged. She nervously bit her lip, hoping that Cameron would like what she got.

"You didn't have to get me anything," he said while gazing lovingly at her. His curiosity got the best of him and he peered into the overflowing bag, noticing a pink box on top. It was from their favorite bakery. He opened it, seeing two chocolate cupcakes with whipped vanilla frosting, his favorite. "Thank you." He turned to her and kissed her cheek.

"I got you more than just cupcakes." She pointed back at the bag.

"They're both for me, right?," giving her a devilish smile. They both knew he would share them. And even if he wouldn't, she would just buy more.

She playfully shoved his shoulder and sighed.

He placed the small box on his bed, looking at the remaining items surrounded by white tissue paper. She got him his favorite bottle of red wine, the most recent season of Doctor Who, and the box set of the Jurassic Park trilogy. "Kirsten, I- thank you." He set the bag down, pulling her in for a searing kiss. She responded back passionately, breaking apart after a minute.

"There's still one more gift in there," she whispered against his lips.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and searched the bag. He found one more item that was wrapped in gray wrapping paper with silver polka dots. He carefully unwrapped it, finding a framed photo of the two of them asleep, cuddling on her couch. The photo was in a silver frame, with a small heart in the lower left hand corner. If he recalled correctly, it was last summer before they had started dating. "Let me guess, Camille took this?" She nodded. "I love everything, thank you." He set the frame on the nightstand, right next to another framed photo of them at Christmas time. He placed the remaining items back in the bag and set it on the floor, except for the cupcakes. "Breakfast?," he questioned, before setting it on the now almost overflowing nightstand.

"That sound great," she replied. She leaned over him and removed his glasses, lightly tossing them aside. She straddled him again. "Now, about that original birthday gift." She grinned mischievously, pressing her body along his.

He smiled up at her, before pulling her in for a kiss. His hands went to her hips and lifted the shirt as his hands went up her back, tugging it over her head. She ran her fingers through his hair, laughing into their kiss as he flipped them over so he was on top. In between kisses, he whispered "Best... birthday... ever."

...

They walked into his apartment, hand in hand. Cameron really had a great time at dinner. It wasn't awkward at all... well not after Camille tackled him in a hug and yelled "Happy birthday!," which gathered looks from the surrounding tables.

They went straight for his bedroom to change out of their clothes. They had shared quite a few pitchers of margaritas at the table, and they were both exhausted.

Kirsten had already changed into her pajamas. She saw her gift bag, sitting on the floor from last night. She picked up both movies and set them next to his TV. "So, you up for a Jurassic Park marathon this weekend?," she asked. She should go put the bottle of wine in the fridge, but that required much more effort than she wanted to muster. She would get it in the morning. But now, all she wanted to do was sit on his bed. So she did.

"Yeah, I'd really like that." He had changed into his usual pajamas- just sweatpants, and sat next to her on the bed. He lifted her chin with his index finger, shifting her gaze to him. "Kirsten, this really was the best birthday. Thank you."

"You're welcome. That's what girlfriends do, right?" She smiled at him, and started shifting to lay down.

"Actually, speaking of what girlfriends, or couples do..." She stopped and propped herself up on her elbows. He didn't know what gave him the courage to ask, if it was the tequila or how amazing Kirsten has been throughout all of this. "There's one more thing that would make this birthday perfect."

She automatically assumed Cameron wanted sex. She saw his darkened eyes, clouded with lust. "Cameron, I'm tired. And we already did that last night." She was exhausted, and she thought he was too. Confusion was plain across his face, the way his eyebrows scrunched together. "Can we please raincheck that for tomorrow morning," she said softer.

"What? No, not that... But, if you're offering the raincheck, then I'll take you up-"

"Cameron, what?" Not only was she tired, now she was annoyed.

"You know what I really want for my birthday?" He brushed his hand against hers, wanting the contact.

"What's that?" Her expression softened, and she laced her fingers in his.

"I want to take my amazing, sweet, caring girlfriend on a romantic vacation." He pulled their joined hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles one by one.

"Cameron... I... uh," she stuttered.

He was confused for a moment, and then understood. She didn't think they were there yet in their relationship. Maybe he really should have asked Camille for her input first, before royally screwing up the best seven months and ten days of his life. "No, I get it. It's fine." He released her hand, running his fingers through his hair nervously.

"Get what?" She was honestly confused. She didn't even get to explain herself. How could he know? He could have guessed though, because she didn't have any friends or family to speak of, not until the Stitchers program. She needed to hear him say it though. "Cameron, what do you get?"

He sighed, not wanting to say those words aloud. If he said them, and she agreed... it might break his heart a little bit. He thought they were doing good... great in fact, and he thought they were on the same page. The next logical step in a relationship is a vacation or moving in together, and they were unofficially doing the latter. He saw her cross her arms in front of her chest. She wasn't letting this go. "Kirsten, it's fine if you don't want to go on a vacation together. You don't think we're there yet. It's really fine."

"I didn't say that." He jumped to conclusions far too often. No matter how much it infuriated her, he was still her pain in the ass, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"You were going to," he insisted.

"No I wasn't." She stared him down. He only held her gaze for a second, before looking away. Did he really not know how she felt about him? She admitted to loving him soon after he "died," she spent every waking second with him, and every second dreaming about him and their life together. She knew logically that she spent the last seven months loving him (maybe earlier than that, if she was really being honest), and she felt that she could love him forever. That's just how she was. She looked at him, noticing the dejected and sad look in his eyes. Maybe he really didn't know. "Cameron, would you stop doing that... jumping to conclusions," she said gently. "I love you, far more than I ever thought I would be capable of." His head perked up slightly. "What I was going to say, is that I've never been on a vacation," she breathed out.

His head whipped up at her admission. "Never? As in... never ever?"

She shook her head.

"Not even with Liam?" It pained him to say that. Surely she must have gone on a vacation at some point in her life. With Ed, or maybe even Liam.

"Nope. Ed kind of had his hands full with an emotionally void child," she shrugged. "Liam spent all of his time away, and I haven't really had any friends before you guys."

He caressed her cheek, and she leaned into his touch. "Well, would you do me the honor of letting me take you on your first vacation?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He was so ecstatic that he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. She pulled back after a minute, running her hand through his hair. "So where are we going on this vacation?," she asked.

"I haven't decided yet." Now seemed as good of a time as any to get her input. "Our options are the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, or the mountains in northern California. What do you think?"

"I think," she paused to kiss him, "that I need more information before I can objectively choose one of those locations. Show me tomorrow?" She kissed his cheek. She felt him nod under her lips. "And when are we going on this vacation?"

"For our eighth month anniversary?," he offered.

She pushed herself away to look at him. "Cameron, that's in like three weeks. Did you ask Maggie?"

"For your information, I did ask Maggie. We do have a few weeks of vacation time that we haven't touched yet, so we can go." He pulled her closer again so their foreheads were touching. "I'll show you the three places I picked out, and you can choose where we go. We'll check with Maggie and have it booked tomorrow after work." He kissed along her cheek. "You know, if you like all three options, we could go on all of them. We could go on our second trip for our one year anniversary."

She was touched that he wanted to plan not only one, but three, vacations with her. She wasn't used to anyone planning a future with her, wanting her input. "I like the way you think, Doctor Goodkin. And since I get to pick the first vacation, why don't you pick the second."

He smiled at her. "Deal." He pressed his lips to hers for a gentle kiss.

She pulled away slightly, her lips just centimeters away from his. "Sleepy," she whispered.

He laughed as she shifted out of his lap to pull the covers over them and laid down. "Goodnight Princess," he muttered into her hair.

"Night Sweetie," as she hugged herself to him and closed her eyes. "So... can I convince you to celebrate your birthday next year?"

He did have a great time, just the four of them. "If it's exactly like this birthday, then yes." He didn't think he could live through another big celebration on his account.

"It won't be exactly like this one." Her tone lacked any emotion, and that always terrified Cameron a bit. He didn't like it, when he couldn't read her.

"Why not?" His heart leaped in his chest, suddenly worried why next year would be different. Maybe she didn't want to plan that far ahead. Or worse, that she didn't plan on being with him in a year from now.

"Because you can't hide your birthday from me next year," she replied as if that were the most obvious reason. "And we won't have to sneak behind your back to plan your party."

He chuckled. "Just no huge parties, is all I ask."

"Mmhmm," she whispered. "Night." She was fast asleep within seconds, lightly snoring into his chest.

"Night Kirsten," he whispered.

A/N: I plan on writing another story that will follow this one, where they go on vacation. But I'm going to try to write more for "Time to Think" first.