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Eternal Family

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Sprite could feel the little taps on her shoulder and didn't need to open her eyes to know who it was.

" Stop it" she said, still not opening her eyes.

"But it's your birthday, you need to wake up" Druig replied still tapping lightly on her shoulder

"It's early"

"I know but you have presents to open, come on I want to be the first to tell my baby sister happy birthday"

"I'm not a baby" she mumbled opening her eyes finally and turning around so she could see her brother who was looking at her with a small smile from his place

"We're not having this conversation right now" he told her with a serious expression, they had argued more than ever in the last few days, Sprite insisted that turning seven meant she wasn't a little girl anymore and Druig being the big brother he was had refused to accept her words. "Let me have this while I can."

"It's my birthday, you said I could have whatever I wanted on my birthday."

"Anything but that."

"A cat?"

" That either."

Sprite laughed and finally straightened up to let Druig take her in his arms and hug her tightly against his chest.

"Happy birthday little bell" he murmured, kissing her forehead "I hope you have an excellent birthday" she didn't respond and hugged tighter to him.

They stayed like that for a little while longer until he finally released her and told her they had to go downstairs for breakfast. Gil as usual had outdone himself, he had made waffles and brought a huge amount of toppings for Sprite to choose from.

"Happy birthday my little one" Thena didn't hesitate to take the little girl in her arms as soon as she entered the room "Seven years old, quite a big girl."

Sprite gave her a huge smile but Druig grunted. "I'm still in denial about that" he muttered.

Thena tried to hold back her laughter, she loved watching that little bickering that had developed over the past few days. Before either could say anything else and start, once again an argument, Ikaris appeared in the kitchen distracting them both before they could begin.

Once everyone had sat down and Thena drew the line at how much chocolate syrup was enough for a waffle, they set about eating, the others eventually appearing to wish Sprite a happy birthday before leaving for school. Sprite happily accepts all the hugs and birthday greetings and enjoying her usual call with Phastos before it's time to leave for school.

. . . . . . . .

Thena had spent a lot of time thinking about the ideal gift for Sprite, choosing a gift for Druig had been much easier and that was really something she hadn't expected. He was happy eating, especially sweets, she had come to the conclusion that out of all of them he was the one who ate the most sweets so Gil had prepared a huge amount of desserts that they knew he especially enjoyed and his favorite dishes, he was happy even though he tried to hide it. She had given him a record player and some records, she had discovered thanks to Sprite that he liked to listen to music but he didn't use to do it much before because he was always focused on what his father was doing. The player was undoubtedly Druig's favorite gift, and Thena was very happy to know that he used it almost daily and that it seemed to be one of his most prized possessions.

But a gift for Sprite was something extremely difficult, the girl didn't have a great interest in toys, she didn't have enough patience for legos and it was Ikaris who usually ended up putting them together, she played only with her Magna Tiles and her art supplies, she did have some other toys but they were rarely used and she wouldn't give her more of those stuffed animals that she liked so much, she knew well that some of the others had bought several for her.

It was just that thought that led her to think about what would be the perfect gift for Sprite, she loved stuffed animals and thanks to the others she had quite a large collection of Squishmallows that she played with regularly. The idea wasn't hard to bring to reality and as soon as she put the plan on the table with Gil and Druig they both approved of the idea. She had felt bad about not telling Ikaris, but he would tell Sersi and she was the worst at keeping secrets so no, Ikaris wouldn't be able to know until they finally headed out to get the gift.

The four of them had gone to pick Sprite up from school, Pepper had told her that although Ajak and the others were a very important part of Sprite's life it was important to do things just the five of them as a family, so Thena had talked to Ajak and the woman had agreed to Thena's plan, they would all meet later at the trampoline park to continue celebrating the girl.

The store in front of them was a place none of them had ever set foot in before, it was quite funny to see Druig and Ikaris' expressions upon seeing the place and Sprite's confused look as soon as they entered.

"What's that?" Sprite asked looking confused at one of the boxes containing several of the stuffed animals without stuffing.

"Dead stuffed animals?" Ikaris muttered looking around with a frown.

Gilgamesh immediately smacked him in the head when he saw the expression on Sprite's face.

"That's not true Sprite, they are stuffed animals that you can make yourself" he tried to soothe her by giving her a reassuring look.

"How are they made?" she asked not daring to let go of Druig's hand to get closer.

"You pick the toy you like best and one of the ladies will help you stuff it."

Sprite looked at her sister not very convinced, it seemed as if she was speaking in another language and she couldn't understand her. Thena, sensing her confusion and without the support of Druig, who despite having been aware of the plan had never been to such a place, took one of the empty furs and handed it to her. The girl took it carefully, eyeing it suspiciously until she dared to let go of her brother's hand so she could examine it.

"It's a bear" she said after finally finding the shape of the toy "Is this my present? Can I choose whichever one I want?"

"Whichever one you want" Thena confirmed with a smile.

Despite still not feeling entirely comfortable asking for things she wanted, Sprite was quite comfortable doing things once someone offered it to her directly.

They watched her examine each of the containers curiously, both Ikaris and Druig made a face the moment she took what appeared to be a rainbow octopus in her hands but they all sighed in relief the moment she returned it to its place. It was quite entertaining for everyone to watch Sprite try to decide on a stuffed animal, there were several cartoon characters she had never seen and although they seemed to catch her attention, especially the pokemon stuffed animals, Sprite ended up choosing a mint colored teddy bear. Druig was sure she would choose a red panda they had passed around or one of the many rainbow animals there but his little sister had surprised him by choosing something not as extravagant as he was sure she would.

The next station was part of the surprise for Sprite, one of the assistants was showing the girl the different sounds she could put inside her bear but it seemed that none of them managed to get her attention, Druig was secretly grateful that they didn't have a sound with the song 'We don't talk about Bruno' because if so he had no doubt that his sister would have chosen it and he would have gone crazy.

"You know Sprite, Druig and I have a little present for you" Thena knelt down in front of the girl and offered her a small player like the one the lady had shown her "Druig and I worked on this for several weeks, but it's up to you if you want to put it inside your bear."

Sprite looked curiously at the small device and took it in her hands so she could put it next to her ear and listen to it. Both Thena and Druig waited anxiously to find out her opinion regarding the gift. At first Sprite was frowning trying to figure out what it was she was listening to but it didn't take more than a few seconds until she finally managed to recognize the tune.

"It's mom's lullaby" she finally said.

"It is, and you know what the best part is? Druig is playing it on a piano" Thena told her with a smile earning both Ikaris and Sprite looked at Druig in surprise, who looked away from them.

"You don't know how to play the piano"

"Thena taught me."

The huge smile on Sprite's face was enough for them to understand that she was more than happy with her gift.

"Thank you" she said happily hugging each of them without losing her smile.

Ikaris playfully nudged Druig on the shoulder as the clerk distracted Sprite again to continue putting the bear together. Ever since Thena had come up with the idea of giving Sprite a Build a Bear teddy bear, she had started giving Druig little piano lessons with the intention of putting the song inside the bear. It was several late nights and early mornings of the two of them trying to be as discreet as possible so Sprite wouldn't notice and in the end the result had been worth it. Maybe Druig could only play the lullaby his mom used to sing but for the moment that was more than enough.

They continued to make the teddy bear with a more than happy Sprite, but even so Sprite found some of the stations to make little sense, it made no sense in her opinion to name a teddy bear and teddy bears didn't need clothes either, let alone shoes, but in the end Ikaris had been more than excellent at convincing her to do both. They left the store with the little mint-colored bear, now named Misha, in a tie dye outfit (Sprite had flatly refused to choose a pair of shoes as she insisted that a bear didn't need shoes).

Sprite's birthday went off without a hitch, they spent several hours on a place full of trampolines where Ajak was sure Kingo would end up with a broken arm but to everyone's delight he didn't, and then ended the day with dinner at Gil's restaurant. Sprite happily opened each of her gifts and thanked each of her family members for them. Each and every one of them gave Makkari a dirty look as soon as Sprite opened her gift and took the microphone out of the box, Druig could have sworn he heard Thena mumbling that the microphone would stay at Ajak's house or it was going to disappear. Phastos and Ben were present thanks to a video call and Sprite was more than thrilled with the star projector they had sent as a gift.

. . . . . . . .
Sprite slowly entered the room and makes his way into Druig's bed until he lies next to him under the covers.

"Can't sleep?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"I want to sleep with you" she mumbled settling better next to him, the new teddy bear cuddled in her arms "I liked my birthday"

"I'm glad to hear that" he murmured barely opening his eyes so he could see her "go to sleep".

They were silent for several minutes, Druig was sure she had fallen asleep and he was ready to go back to sleep when she stirred and opened her eyes again.

"Druig?" he simply arched an eyebrow to let her know he had heard her "are we really going to stay and live here?"

"I hope so, you know it's not something I get to decide, the judge has to decide."

"I want to stay here"

"Thena and Gil will do everything they can to make that happen, you don't have to worry, now go to sleep being seven is more tiring than being six"

Sprite laughed at his last words but finally settled back down next to him and closed her eyes to finally fall asleep after a few minutes.