Happy Birthday to Me!

The cold weather had kicked in and cold rain came right behind it. When Nick and Heath came in from working, Nick would have headed straight for the whiskey, but instead he went to the kitchen, fetched a cup of coffee, then came back to the living room and added whiskey to it. He gave a satisfied "Ah" with his first sip and then shook like a dog getting out from under a wet coat.

"Take the coat off, Nick, and come to the fire," Victoria said. "You'll feel much better."

Heath had already shunned his hat and winter coat and was sipping on straight whiskey. He was not as sensitive to the cold as Nick was, for reasons he didn't know but was grateful for. Victoria and Audra were seated on the settee, sipping sherry. Jarrod was nowhere to be seen.

Nick looked around. "Where's Jarrod?" he asked as he set his drink on the mantle and eased his coat off.

"Working late in town," Victoria said. "I don't expect him anytime soon."

"Doggone it," Nick said as he carried his hat and coat to the hall to hang them up. "He's never around when I need him and he's always around when I don't need him." The last got muffled because he was in the hall.

His family heard it anyway. "Nick's in a fine mood," Audra said.

"The weather was nasty to start and just got worse as the day went on," Heath said and took Jarrod's "thinking chair" by the fire, since he wasn't expected home.

Nick came back and went straight for his drink and the fireplace. "He knows I need those deeds drawn up by tomorrow afternoon."

"That's probably why he's working late," Victoria said. "He's likely to stay in town if the weather is as bad as you make it out to be."

Nick grumbled, but the fire was beginning to warm him and he was starting to feel better. "If he stays over, I'm going to town the first thing in the morning, Heath."

"Fine by me," Heath said.

"As long as he's not around, I wanted to talk to you all about something," Victoria said.

"What?" Nick asked.

"He has a birthday coming up," Victoria said. "He'll be 35, and 34 hasn't been his best year."

"Oh, yeah," Nick grumbled. It was the year Jarrod had been caught in an explosion and blinded for several weeks, shot in the back in a holdup, then went to Washington when he recovered and married, then lost his wife to a murderer, then went off the rails and struggled to recover from that, and then Julia Saxon turned up. It wasn't a good year at all for his older brother.

"He doesn't seem to be too keen on celebrating at all," Victoria said, "but I don't want to let it pass without doing something. I was looking for ideas."

"I expect we ought to keep it low key," Heath said.

"Maybe just the family," Audra said. "Thirty-five seems to be a touchy time for men even without everything Jarrod went through this year."

Nick said, "Hmm," as if he were thinking out loud.

Suddenly, the front door opened and Jarrod came in, shaking his hat and then shedding his coat and rainstick as fast as he could. "Jarrod, I thought you were staying in town!" Victoria said.

"I was," Jarrod said as he took his hat, coat, rainslick and gunbelt to the hall. When he came into the living room, he said, "I couldn't stand it another minute with that icy rain pelting the window behind me. Hey, that looks good," he said when he saw Nick was drinking coffee.

"Put some whiskey in it, it's even better," Nick said.

"Now you're talking," Jarrod said and headed back into the kitchen.

As soon as he left, Audra said, "Well, I guess that ends that conversation."

"Has anybody asked Jarrod what he wants to do for his birthday?" Heath asked.

"No," Victoria said. "Frankly, I'm too nervous about it."

"You want me to talk to him?" Nick asked. "You know how blunt I can be."

"Too blunt," Heath said. "If he's in the wrong mood, he's likely to tear your head off."

"I'd hate for him to think we haven't given it any thought, though," Victoria said. "Thirty-five is a milestone of sorts. I remember when your father hit that age – " She smiled at the memory. "He decided he could officially be cantankerous whenever he want to be."

Audra, at least, laughed. "Heath, the funny thing is he was never very cantankerous at all."

"At least not with you," Nick said. "He took it out on me and Jarrod. You, he spoiled."

"Well, Audra was probably a lot – oh, wait, nevermind," Heath said.

"Nevermind what?" Audra asked.

"I was going to say you were probably a lot more sweet and reserved than Nick and Jarrod were, but then I remembered our first meeting," Heath said, and he gave her a grin.

"Well, maybe somebody ought to talk to Jarrod," Audra said, deciding she'd better get back on the subject and not argue with Heath. He had her pegged. "If we don't ask him and we end up doing something that makes him feel worse, we'll all be sorry."

Jarrod was already back with coffee. "Who's going to be sorry about what?" he asked and headed for the refreshment table.

His family members all looked at each other.

It was easy for Jarrod to figure out they were talking about him. "If you don't ask me what?" he asked.

Everyone looked at Nick, Mr. Blunt. Nick fumbled a little but then said, "We were taking note of the fact that you're turning 35 in a couple weeks and we don't know how you want to celebrate it."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I already have plans," Jarrod said as if it were just another Saturday night on the calendar.

Now everyone looked at each other in surprise, both that he had plans and that his attitude didn't seem remotely touchy. "What plans?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod added whiskey to his coffee – he'd never waste good scotch on coffee – and turned back toward his family. "It's a surprise," he said.

"What?!" Audra said.

"Just what I said, it's a surprise," Jarrod said. "You'll find out when it happens, but you need not worry yourselves with it at all. I have it all planned out. I don't want any gifts, I don't want a big fuss. Just don't make any plans at all because I've already made them."

"Why won't you tell us about them?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod actually got a twinkle in his eye when he smiled at her. "Because I'm the birthday boy. Telling you my plans will have to wait until later or they won't be a surprise."

Victoria smiled. "Now that's not fair."

"Of course, it is," Jarrod said. "It's my birthday. I get what I want."

Nick and Heath looked at each other and had to shrug. He was right about that.

"All right, but if I need a new dress for it, you'd better give me plenty of warning," Audra said.

Jarrod leaned over and kissed her. "You won't need any new clothing at all."

"Do you intend to be here or are you taking off for San Francisco?" Nick asked.

"I'll be here," Jarrod said. "We'll all be here."

"Will we need to take the day off?" Heath asked.

"No," Jarrod said. "Nothing will happen until dinnertime, that much I'll tell you. As for the rest of it, just be patient. All will be revealed in good time."

Now his impish grin was getting infectious. They all decided they were just happy to see those blue eyes dancing. "All right," Victoria said. "No gifts, no fuss. Jarrod gets what he wants for his birthday, and he gets to tell us about it in his own good time."

Jarrod raised his cup. "Happy birthday to me."

XXXXXXX

On the afternoon of his birthday, Jarrod came home early and sneaked into the house without anyone noticing. He headed straight for the kitchen, where Silas was hard at work. Jarrod smelled the cake right away. "Oh, Silas, that smells wonderful."

"Thank you, Mr. Jarrod," Silas said. "I've got all the food you asked for cut up and ready to cook. It won't take but an hour and a half or so for that."

"Let me see the cake," Jarrod said.

Silas opened up one of the lower cabinets and carefully took out a two-layer round cake, inscribed as Jarrod had asked it to be. Jarrod looked over his shoulder at it.

"That's perfect, Silas," Jarrod said. "No one has seen it, have they?"

"No, sir," Silas said and put it back in the cabinet. "I've been guarding it ever since I made it. You're really gonna surprise everybody."

"I hope so," Jarrod said.

"Well, I hope you'll let me wish you a very happy birthday, Mr. Jarrod," Silas said, "and I'm glad you trusted me enough to let me in on the secret."

"They all hate my secrets, Silas," Jarrod said and headed for the coffee pot on the stove. "This one they're going to love."

"We are?" Victoria said as she came into the kitchen.

"You are," Jarrod said and kissed her on the forehead.

"So what's it going to be? You promised you'd tell us."

"At dinner, Lovely Lady," Jarrod said and downed his coffee pretty fast. "You'll have to be patient a little longer. Silas, do you think you can bring us some tea into the living room?"

"Certainly, Mr. Jarrod," Silas said. "How many cups?"

"Two?" Jarrod asked his mother.

"It's just me and you," Victoria said.

"Two," Jarrod said to Silas.

He then ushered his mother into the living room, his arm around her, saying, "I don't think you'll be disappointed when you see my birthday surprise."

"I'm already a little disappointed that you're not letting us surprise you," Victoria said. "Thirty-five is somewhat of a milestone year for a man."

"Yes, I remember you saying Father resolved to become more cantankerous when he turned 35, but that's not on my gift list," Jarrod said.

Victoria let him sit her down on the settee and sat beside her. "But you haven't told us what is."

"All will become clear in a few hours," Jarrod said, the blue eyes still twinkling.

Victoria grinned looking at him, remembering now the day he was born at the Miles place, remembering the four years she had only him to fuss over and mother. They were precious times, just the two of them more often than not. She wondered if he remembered any of it. "Jarrod, what's your earliest memory?" she asked.

Jarrod had to think about it. "I think it was the first time you let me have a piece of sugar candy. I couldn't have been more than three years old. You had always resisted making sugar candy because you thought it wasn't good for me, but then one day you made it and you let me have some."

Victoria laughed. "I was a little bit too protective with you when you were small. Those pneumonia bouts frightened me, but mostly I was just nervous because here you were, a human being that I was responsible for, and I had no idea if I was doing it right or not."

Jarrod smiled and kissed her. "I know I've had my ups and downs over the years, especially this past one, but I think I turned out all right overall. You must have done something right."

"I know I did," Victoria said. "Except your tendency to keep secrets, like the one you're keeping right now."

"Mother, you sent me to law school, and you know that made me a professional secret keeper."

"Yes, but to keep your own birthday plans secret from your family? At least I can tell Silas made a cake, but he won't let me see it."

"Of course not," Jarrod said. "That's part of the secret."

Victoria took his hand. "I hope you know, that despite the rough times you've had, I am so very proud of you."

Jarrod kissed her again. "I know."

XXXXXXX

Jarrod teased everyone all the way through the time they spent together before dinner. He especially tormented them with the wonderful scents coming from the kitchen, saying, "Silas is preparing something I've enjoyed in San Francisco at Delmonico's. We've never had it before, and you will love it."

"Do I smell wine in this dish?" Victoria asked.

"You do," Jarrod said.

In a few minutes, Silas came in, announcing that dinner was served. Jarrod made a fuss over escorting his mother and sister into the dining room, and when they entered, he insisted they stop and see the table, and smell the food. Red wine all around, and an onion soup waiting in each bowl.

Jarrod seated his mother and sister, saying, "A light soup to start the meal, and then Silas will bring in the main course." He sat down in his accustomed place, but before his mother could begin the blessing, he held up his hand and said, "Allow me. Father, we thank you for the food we are about to enjoy, and we thank you most of all for each other. I thank you particularly for the love and support my family has shown me over the past year – a trying one at best, but one I will always remember as particularly special. I thank you for everyone in this house. Amen."

They ate the soup together, and when Silas cleared the bowls away and brought the main course, oohs and aahs went all around.

"Beef bourginon over rice, with a few extra herbs," Jarrod announced as Silas served it to everyone. "A la Silas."

Silas smiled as Jarrod winked at him.

Victoria took a taste – and melted. "Oh, my, this is wonderful!"

And it was, as Jarrod knew it would be. Even Nick treated it as if it were something special and not just a beef stew with a French name. When they were finished, Silas cleared the plates, and when he brought the desert in, Jarrod got up from his chair.

It was the cake he had showed Jarrod. No candles, no fuss. All it said was, "My love to everyone, Jarrod."

"This was supposed to be your birthday cake, Jarrod," Heath said.

"It is my birthday cake," Jarrod said as Silas set a stack of desert plates in front of him. "Silas, can you bring those other things in?"

Silas nodded and went back to the kitchen.

"What other things?" Audra asked as Jarrod began to cut the cake.

"My birthday presents," Jarrod said.

They all looked at each other. Nick said, "Jarrod, you said you didn't want us to get you anything this year."

Silas brought four small packages in and set them on the table. As he started to leave, Jarrod quickly said, "Not just yet, Silas," and hurried to his seat at the end of the table. He pulled out the chair and smiled at the houseman. "Sit with us, Silas," he said. "You're part of what I'm celebrating, too."

"But, Mr. Jarrod – " Silas said, flummoxed.

"Uh-uh!" Jarrod said. "I'm the birthday boy! I get what I want!"

Silas sat down as directed, and in a moment Jarrod put a serving of cake in front of him. Then, one by one, Jarrod gave each of his family members a piece of cake and one of the packages Silas had brought in – and then he reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a small package that he set down in front of Silas. The houseman nearly fell out of his chair. "Oh, Mr. Jarrod – " he started again.

Jarrod sat down in the vacant chair beside Audra. Everyone had cake now, but before anything else could happen, Jarrod said, "I just wanted this birthday to be special, because I know you've all been fretting about it. I'm now 35, and 34 wasn't the best year I ever had. I've needed you all more than usual, more than I can say, and you've been there for me, all of you." He looked at Silas as he finished the sentence. "More than anything, I wanted to commemorate this birthday by showing you all how much you mean to me. Happy birthday to me!"

They each ate their cake, and one by one they opened packages of fine aftershave for each of the men and French perfume for Victoria and Audra. Jarrod sat back in his chair, smiling, relaxed, even a bit teary. Everyone in the room looked completely surprised and pleased. This was it. This was what he wanted for his birthday this year – every person in this house knowing how much they meant to him, and how much he appreciated their love.

When they were finished, Silas started to get up to clear the table, but Jarrod jumped up first. "No! I'm clearing the table tonight, Silas! And I'm also going to do the dishes!"

"Mr. Jarrod!" Silas protested now.

"Give it up, Silas," Heath told him. "When Pappy gets his stubborn up, there's no bucking it."

"But I can't – "

"Of course, you can," Jarrod said and collected the dirty plates. "Just remember. I'm the birthday boy! I get what I want!"

And he winked and carried the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

"I wonder how many he's going to break," Nick muttered, and then he grinned.

"It doesn't matter," Victoria said, smiling. "He's the birthday boy. He gets what he wants - even if it's an entirely new set of dishes."

The End