Date: Tue, 18 Jan 1994 21:51:18 -0700 From: Margaret Newman Subject: birthday story! This is a little something that Laurie and I collaborated on. In honor of Sharon Scott's birthday. Which she may chose not to have ever again! Margaret margaret@cs.arizona.edu ******************************************************************************** Happy Birthday! By Cousin Laurie Slopek and Cousin Margaret Newman Tuesday, Jan. 18th, 1994 China Spring, TX It was dark outside, and cold. The house was locked up safely, the new heater running smoothly as Sharon sat at her computer in the spare bedroom. Daisy, her not too bright dog, slept fitfully under the chair. Misha, her Pekingese, was stretched in the doorway of the room snoring. The cursor on MacSting blinked at Sharon expectantly. Her fingers hesitated as she yawned. She was losing her train of thought on her story. It had been such a *long* day cataloging books on disgusting little frogs. The sound of the stereo shutting off jerked her back from her musings. Looking at the screen of MacSting, Sharon saw that she had printed a whole page of G's. G for good night? No. G for Ger? Yes! She had drifted off, daydreaming about Ger again. Her eyes, burning and tired, glanced at the clock. 2:45am? Good heavens! She had to get up for work in a couple of hours. Reluctantly, she shut down MacSting. She had to carefully move her chair so Daisy wouldn't freak out. Stepping over Misha was not so easy, for a shin high dog, he sure could spread out. Her bed was waiting for her after she changed into her nightgown. Moving the pets aside, Sharon crawled into bed. Her thoughts drifted. It was her birthday tomorrow -which was actually today. Darn, another birthday. She wondered how Nicholas managed. 800 years or so -do you ever get used to it? She smiled, thinking of the actor that played the vampire of her favorite show............ Faint images swirled around in her head as she slowly let her mind succumb to a pleasure filled dream of Ger. Serenely, she saw herself standing next to him by the bar at the Raven. Groups of leather clad regulars mingled around them. His eyes were blue, more blue than any sky she had ever seen. Sharon felt the smooth, cool flesh of his hand as he stroked the side of her face; her head tilted towards it, following his sensuous caress. She wrapped her arms around him, embracing his body. His leather coat soft and pliable beneath her hands. Tenderly, they kissed. "I have never seen you look so beautiful." "And you, so handsome!" She smiled. "I feel like celebrating." "I almost forgot," Ger pulled a small package out from under his coat, "Don't worry, it's from me. And as an added gift," Ger's voice became softer, "I promise you, Cousin Laurie and Cousin Margaret will not be up to their old tricks today. Happy Birthday!" Her eyes lit up at the sight of the tiny package all wrapped in gold. Small crystal tears traced lightly down her cheeks as she ripped the paper away from the box and open it. A pair of dark red garnet earrings in the shape of tear drops lay inside the box. "Oh god, they're beautiful. They are so beautiful!" "I thought you would like them. Happy Birthday." Sharon blinked against the tears, her heart so full of happiness. "I just don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you!" Her smile was mischievous, her Texas accent warm and seductive. His eyes, brilliant blue and sparkling, looked down at her as he cocked an eyebrow. Slowly, she began to unzip his leather jacket. Ger smiled at her while his eyes followed her movements. When she reached the bottom, the sides of his jacket fell away from the front of his shirt. It was then that she screamed, matching the shrill of her alarm clock note for note. Sharon bolted upright in her bed. No dream or nightmare had ever ended so horribly. That shirt, the shirt that Ger had on-- it was covered, covered from top to bottom with little frogs! Shakily, she pressed a hand to her forehead. Good lord, what a terrible terrible dream! * Much later that day, Sharon glanced up from her computer at Baylor to see her friend Sheila bringing a brown box in her direction. She sighed, thinking it could only be a new shipment of something that needed cataloging. Probably something about those horrid rain forest toads. Sharon shuddered, that dream from this morning still sent shivers up her spine. "Hey, Sharon, look what just arrived." Sheila turned the box around in her hands. It wasn't the regular size for a book. In fact, it was rather small. "Who do you know in Canada? One of your freaky Forever Night friends, probably." "K-night, Sheila, k-night." Sharon took the box from her friend, and looked at it. It really was from Canada. Toronto, in fact. She frowned, her heart hammering in her chest. What had Margaret and Laurie done to her now? "Lookit, the return address says 'N. Knight'. Maybe that fan club you joined sent you a present." Sheila laughed, and made kissy sounds. "Ooohhh, Ger!" "Hush up, you!" Sharon snapped playfully at Sheila. She took a exacto knife from her desk drawer, and carefully cut open the box. She opened the lid gently, not knowing exactly what to expect. Tissue paper and eco-peanuts protected something. "Hurry up. You open presents too slow!" Sheila was now standing by her side, hands clasped to keep from helping Sharon. In a daze, Sharon lifted a small, gold wrapped box from out of the tissue. She felt herself go cold all over. Gently, tremblingly, she peeled away the gold paper to reveal a small, black velvet jeweler's box. She lifted the lid, and inside lay a pair of garnet tear drop earrings. She stared at them in wonder. "Oh, my!" Sheila whispered reverently. "Oh, my merciful heavens!" Sharon stared at the earrings in stunned silence. Sheila saw the card in the larger box, and pulled it out. Getting no response from Sharon, she opened the card and read it aloud. "Happy Birthday, with love- Nick PS: Sorry about the frog shirt. They said you'd laugh." Sharon set the velvet box on her desk so that she could remove the garnet earrings. Her hands shakey, the earrings were difficult to remove. The earrings were too firmly nestled, and she assumed she would have to undo them. Finally, she pulled the setting out of the box. "Oh!" Sheila exclaimed. Sharon froze. Underneath the setting, the lining was white. In red, written on the lining, were the words- "Here is my contribution. Happy Birthday, LaCroix" Two tiny, delicate vampire frogs earrings stared up at Sharon. Their blood red eyes gleaming brightly. They were made of gold and their fangs were chips of mother-of-pearl. It was, Sheila reflected later at Urgent Care, the most interesting birthday her friend Sharon had had to date. Hopefully, there would be others....