Archive of Our Own ^beta

Kathryn stood at the window, looking out at the starry night.

Chakotay knew what she was thinking. He had seen this coming. This day, this anniversary, had been particularly awkward for her in the first few years as she faced the changes to her body and role as a mother. After a certain point, however, the day became more about the children, drawing the majority of her focus. Up until this year, this day had simply been “the triplets’ birthday.”

This year was different, however; it was the first year none of the triplets were home. There was no one to focus on but herself and her worry for their safety.

Chakotay walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle, feeling a bit of relief as she leaned back into his chest, her tail wrapping around his leg. Her fingers, which were always a bit chilly and endearingly sticky, found their way to rest over his. 

He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “You’re still as beautiful as the day we met, Kathryn. Perhaps, even more so.”

He felt one of her barbels brush his chin as she smiled. “How do you do that?”

“Read your mind, you mean?”

She turned to give him a mock stink-eye as he grinned.

“Practice.”

With a deep breath, she turned around in his arms to face him fully, resting her hands on his chest. “The house is so quiet.”

He smiled sadly. “I know. I miss them too.”

“What do you think they’re doing right now?” She asked, a note of wistfulness in her voice.

He tilted his head, and led her over to the couch, which was bathed in moonlight. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but I do know they’re smart and capable, just like their mother.” He kissed her forehead as she leaned back into his embrace, tucking her legs up on the couch. “They’ll be fine.”

—

Amelia laughed as one of her classmates, Clarisse, raised her glass in the air.

“A toast! To our dear friend, Amelia!” Clarisse turned to her with a wide smile and cheeks that were a few shades more than rosy. “One day, everyone here will likely be working under your captaincy, but, for tonight, we drink as equals!” Everyone laughed and clinked their glasses, before downing their drinks.

Amelia ignored the twinge in her gut - the one that she felt when she was worried about expectations and pressure - and focused instead on the taste of the schnapps that one of her other friends, Dauchi, had brought back from her home on Andoria. It was pepperminty and strong, as most Andorian liquors were.

They all slammed their glasses down and giggled at the strength of the shots. Amelia opened her mouth to thank everyone for coming, but closed it as she realized everyone at the table was already breaking off into their own conversations.

She bit her lip. It wasn’t the first time she had spent her birthday away from her siblings, but it was the first time she knew they were all out in the world, away from home and Mama and Papa and little Liam. Ed was off doing whatever the heck he was up to these days with his chicken and the galaxy at his fingertips, Peppa was probably running around with that weird little test pilot friend of hers, and she was, well…

An arm slid around her from the right. “Well, Melie, what’s your birthday wish?”

Amelia turned to Clarisse with a look of confusion. The other girl smirked. “We didn’t get you a cake with candles to blow out, so I figured the shots were close enough.”

Amelia smiled. “Oh. Well, in that case, wouldn’t still be bad luck to share?”

Clarisse’s perfectly shaped eyebrows raised up enough to hide behind her strawberry-blonde bangs. “Fair enough.” She contemplated for a moment. “Okay, so what do you want to accomplish this next year? Not a human tradition to set resolutions on a birthday, but I’m sure that’s a tradition on…” she drifted off for a moment, squinting into the middle distance, “somewhere.”

One of Amelia’s webbed fingers found a lock of her hair to twirl. “Oh, I don’t know… get all As?"

Clarisse’s head snapped back in a hearty laugh. “Girl! You do that automatically! You gotta pick something new, to push yourself.”

Amelia’s gut twinged again. Getting all As was pushing herself. Grades didn’t come easily to her; she worked hard to stay at the top.

But, she wasn’t really sure she wanted anyone to know that.

“Okay,” she flipped the piece of hair that she had been twirling over her shoulder. “I’d like to win the Mayweather Cup."

“Ooooo!” Clarisse leaned back a bit, looking impressed. “Ballsey. There’s a lot of people in that race."

The Mayweather Cup was the award given out for the annual Starfleet Academy Pilot Race. It wasn’t a particularly dangerous race, and it didn’t get a lot of coverage outside of the academy, but there were always a high number of participants, which made winning extremely unlikely for anyone less than a prodigy.

Amelia didn’t know if she really was a prodigy, but she had placed in the top 50 last year, which had gotten her friends and family pretty excited to watch her this year. Placing high would prevent their disappointment. Winning would disqualify her from having to race in the SACPR ever again, and would leave her with a pretty trophy for Mama and Papa’s fireplace mantle.

“Well,” Clarisse poured herself and Amelia another round of schnapps and raised hers in Amelia’s direction. “Best of luck to you.”

Amelia picked up her glass and tapped it against Clarisse’s. “Luck has nothing to do with it.” She said lightly, even as she gritted her teeth and downed the glass whole.

Happy Birthday to me.

—

Ed sighed contentedly, running his hand over Goldie’s soft feathers, tucking his other hand behind his head. He leaned back in his hammock, watching the stars drift by outside his shuttle’s window. It was his first birthday out on his own, no longer encumbered by the restraints of Starfleet, of expectations, and of the academy.

“Happy Birthday to me, eh, Goldie?”

The chicken ruffled her feathers, emitting soft clucks as her eyes drifted closed.

“Aw, you’re not gonna celebrate with me?”

She peeked one eye open and looked up at him as if to say “ Taking a nap is the best celebration. ”

“Okay, okay. Fair enough.” He smiled, looking back up at the stars.

It had been a good day. Ed had found a group of Trill traders who had given him a handful of ancient texts from their culture as well as several Trill subcultures to study for an extremely low price. He had gotten such a ridiculously good deal, that he could only chalk it up to birthday luck. 

“Honestly, it’s gonna be a good birth week, Goldie. I’ll bake us a cake later tonight, and we can spend the week eating it and digging into those texts. Wha’dya say?”

Goldie said nothing. She was asleep. 

“Party pooper.” He patted her back again with a smile. His face slowly fell though as he looked back out at the stars; at all the nothingness between them.

He reached beside his hammock and held up the dish of crickets her had been snacking on, as if in a toast. “Happy Birthday, you two. Wherever you are. May your birthdays be as fruitful as mine.”

—

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” 

The shout rang out through the cafeteria and Peppa immediately slammed her head down on the table.

“No no no no no please no-”

Her moans were cut off by tight arms being flung around her neck and squeezing tight. 

“Happy Birthday!” Jace repeated, gleefully, even as everyone around them gave them a look. “I got you cake!”

Peppa pulled Jace’s arm down enough to allow her to breathe and her eyes settled on the piece of chocolate cake that had appeared in front of her.

“Cake? Okay, just for that, I forgive you for embarrassing me in front of everybody.” Peppa reached out and snagged her fork, slicing off a piece. 

Jace finally let go as Peppa lifted the fork to her mouth. “I made it myself from your Grandma Gretchen’s recipe!” She grinned and leaned in (somehow, though she was already completely in Peppa’s personal space) conspiratorially. “I have the rest back at my dorm for us to eat tonight.”

Peppa’s brow furrowed. “You… got my grandma’s recipe?”

“Yeah, nice lady. She was very willing.”

“You called my grandma?!”

Jace gave her an innocent look. “Well, first I called your dad to ask what kind of cake was your favorite. And he told me it was your grandma’s chocolate cake so then I called-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Peppa slapped a hand over Jace’s rambling mouth. “How did you even bake this? You don’t have an oven.”

Jace pulled Peppa’s hand away and gave her a look. “I can’t give all my secrets away.”

Peppa squinted at her a moment. “Okay fine. Thanks for the cake. It’s good.”

Jace smiled, and then her eyebrows shot up. “Oh! I almost forgot.”

She pulled a candle out and put it on top of the cake. “I hear this is a human tradition.” She lit the candle with a single, contraband match and sat back proudly. “You’re supposed to make a wish.”

Peppa took a long moment to stare at the tiny flame as wax dripped down towards the frosting. Deciding what to wish for was always something Peppa struggled with on her birthday. Sometimes, she only pretended to have a wish since saying them out loud was such a taboo and no one would be the wiser, but, this year, she felt like she could use all the wishes and luck she could get. 

After a few moments of contemplation, she settled on one. It was simple, and it was less about herself than the other people she usually shared this day with, but it sat right in the seat of her heart. Peppa looked around and, seeing that no one was watching them anymore, blew the candle out. 

Her friend looked at Peppa searchingly, her black Betazoid eyes gleaming with mirth. “I know what you wished for.”

“For you to stop reading my mind?”

Jace chuckled. “No, you wished for-”

Peppa shushed her. “Not out loud, dumbass.”

“Fine.” Jace grabbed Peppa’s fork and stole a bite of cake. “For the record, though, it was a good wish.”

Peppa met her friend’s eyes and felt herself warm at the understanding within them. She picked up her glass of water and held it out to Jace. With a knowing smile, Jace picked her own glass up and toasted back.