Author's Note:So, it's actually my birthday today and I came up with a head canon a few weeks ago that Jack's birthday was April 1st. Thus, I thought it would be fun to post a fic on my actual birthday. So enjoy!

Birthday Prank

Since the day Jack vowed to be a Guardian, little by little he was regaining his memories of his old life. Over the next year, he would suddenly regain bits and pieces randomly when he wasn't expecting.

He could be playing with Jamie when he suddenly remembered he used to catch frogs when he was five. He would be making it snow in Moscow and suddenly recall he had a great uncle who taught him how to fish. He would be in the middle of chasing the elves for trying to put shoes on him again when he remembered he would to play tag with his sister.

It was both bizarre and familiar at the same time. It felt like there was puzzle inside his head and he was slowly regaining the missing pieces to it. When the anniversary of him becoming the Guardian of Fun approached, Jack had thought he had all his vital memories intact, that is until it was late March.

He was hanging upside down a branch, thinking how spring and Easter were fast approaching when a memory struck him. It would soon be April Fools Day, which was April 1st.

April 1st...was his birthday.

Jack fell out of the tree from the shock and lay there in the melting snow slightly dazed.

"Right...it's my birthday," he muttered, quietly. He felt both happy and sad at once. Jack had never thought he had a birthday. He figured the closest thing he had to it was the day Manny had revived him from the lake, but Jack hadn't bothered to look up what exact date that day was.

It wasn't like he really had anyone to celebrate it, and he wasn't exactly keeping a track of dates and times in those days. It was different now though.

His brain shifted through the memories of past birthdays when he had celebrated with his family that were now long gone. Jack wiped his eyes of the tears, feeling a bit of guilt for ever forgetting them, but then slowly a smile spread.

Well, he wasn't alone anymore was he? Jack was a Guardian now, with friends and a family he could celebrate the day with.

The minute I tell North, he'll want to throw a huge party, Jack thought to himself as he rose to his feet. Tooth and Sandy would jump on board instantly as would Jamie and the other kids.

Excitement started to fill inside him. He could have a party, a real birthday party for the first time in 300 years.

We can have games, a cake! Maybe I could even talk to Bunny into making chocolate-

Suddenly, his planning screeched to a halt. April 1st. It was on a Sunday this year, more specifically this year it was Easter Sunday.

Jack dropped to the ground in thought. How could I forget that?

He almost wanted to kick himself. It was exactly one year since the Easter that had been ruined by Pitch. The Guardians, including Jack himself, had each vowed they would help Bunny with Easter this year.

The Pooka was still trying to recover from the damage caused by the massive disbelief that had been caused last Easter. Jack especially wanted to ensure it was a success since it was partly his fault so many kids started to not believe the Easter Bunny.

Jack ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't ask the Guardians to celebrate his birthday, at least not this year. They had discussed after Easter was over they would celebrate the first anniversary of Jack becoming a Guardian, but it wasn't quite the same.

Jack chewed his bottom lip. No way we could have a birthday party on Easter Sunday...but what about the day after? Easter Monday?

By then, Bunny would probably be wanting to sit back and relax. What better way of doing that then by having a party?

Although, this is Bunny, Jack's logical side argued. He'd probably rather relax by painting or reading a book or something.

"Well," Jack said to himself as he summoned the wind. "I won't know for sure unless I ask." The wind ruffled his hair as if he agreed with him as it lifted Jack into the air.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

Jack entered the Warren and found Bunny doing exactly what he expected him to be doing; painting eggs. The Guardian of Hope was sitting atop of a large boulder and barely seemed to detect Jack's presence as he finished a blue strip on an egg and set it down.

Jack started to step forward, but froze as Bunny said, "Watch where ya step, Frostbite."

The boy paused and glanced down in time to see a small bunch of painting eggs walk by his toes. Deciding flying was safer than walking, Jack took to the air and flew to join Bunny over on his boulder.

"Hey, Bunbun," Jack greeted. "How's the egg painting?"

Bunny sighed as he finished another egg. "Well, normally I say 'Good' if I was doin' my normal number of eggs, but this year I want ta double the number and I'm gettin' a bit behind on that goal."

"Double?" Jack asked. "Isn't that a bit extreme?" Considering how many eggs Jack had seen last year, doubling the amount could probably fill up a whole small country.

Bunny shook his head. "I'm not takin' any chances. I want there ta be as many eggs as possible for the ankle bitters ta find so there's no doubt about me this year."

Jack thought back to last year and winced slightly. I..can't blame him for that.

He picked up one of the unpainted eggs from the pile near Bunny.

"Mind if I help out?" he asked.

Bunny stopped painting and turned to look back at Jack. His expression was unreadable, and Jack was certain he was going to say no. However, Bunny smirked and handed Jack a paint brush and a couple jars of paint.

"Knock yerself out," Bunny said. "Just try ta keep it spring theme, alright?"

Jack smiled as he took the brush and began to paint some green stripes. "So...uh, since this is my first official Easter as a Guardian, mind if I ask you something?"

Bunny sighed. "Jack, I know Easter is on April Fools, but I don't want any prank eggs."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Prank eggs?"

Bunny glanced over. "I'm assumin' North told ya about how last time Easter was on April Fools he convinced me ta make some trick eggs ta hand out."

"Trick eggs?" Jack asked, curiously. "What did they do?" He couldn't really see Bunny wanting to prank the kids with how seriously he took his holiday.

Bunny tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, he didn't tell ya?"

Jack shrugged. "If he did, would I be asking?"

Bunny looked surprised and scratched his head. "Huh, I had just assumed he did by now." He returned to painting yellow dots on his egg. "They weren't cruel tricks or anythin'. All they did was suddenly burst open and have confetti appear for the kids."

Jack's eyes widened. "You had exploding eggs for the kids?"

"They didn't 'explode'," Bunny corrected, "but…did make a bit of a mess, although I tried ta make sure the confetti would disintegrate naturally after an hour."

Jack's jaw dropped. "Why did you never tell me this?!" he demanded.

A prank that was basically harmless and fun for the kids?! They sounded amazing and right up Jack's alley! It was a crime for him to not know about this!

"Because I knew you want me ta make some and I just don't have the prep time for it this year," Bunny commented. "If things go well this year, then MAYBE I might consider makin' some just for April Fools next year, alright?"

Jack gave a slight pout. "Fine," he grumbled and went back to painting.

He then remembered why he was there in the first place and cleared his throat. "Although, that's not what I was going to ask."

He painted a couple of polka dots on his next egg. "It's my first proper Easter with you guys without Pitch hanging around, so just kind of wondering...what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Bunny asked as he dipped his brush into the purple paint.

"Do we do anything special together on Easter Sunday after you do your egg run?" Jack asked. "Like we did on Christmas Day when North finished his run."

Bunny shrugs. "Not really. I tend ta just come home and sleep, and then next day I drop by North's place ta let them know how the job went."

"Oh," Jack said slowly as he lowered his brush. "So...no, Easter dinner or anything."

"North tends ta have a bit of a dinner, he'd never turn down the chance for a party," Bunny said, "but he's more into Christmas than Easter, and I just don't have the energy ta do anythin' else for it, especially this year."

He glanced over shoulder. "It's not like I got a team of yetis ta cook and clean for me like he does."

"Oh," Jack replied.

He couldn't say he was surprise. Jack had a feeling in his gut this was a possible outcome, but this of course meant there was no way he could ask being about celebrating his birthday without feeling selfish. Bunny deserved to have Easter the way he wanted, especially this year.

Bunny glanced over, and gave a sly grin. "Aw, don't worry, Mate. We won't forget ya."

Jack paused in his painting and looked up? Did Bunny know? How did the Pooka know about his birthday when Jack had only remembered it a few hours ago?

"You won't?" Jack asked.

"Course not," Bunny replied firmly. "We'll give ya a proper Guardian anniversary celebration a few days after. I just need a day or two ta recharge is all."

"Oh...right," Jack said. Course he meant the anniversary, and it was important for Jack to celebrate it too...but it wasn't the same as his birthday was it?

"Frostbite?" Bunny asked as he gently poked Jack's shoulder. "Ya look a bit lost in thought there."

Jack shook his head. "Oh, uh, sorry...just can't believe it's almost been a whole year of me being a Guardian already."

Bunny didn't look entirely convinced with that statement, but he gave a shrug. "Let's paint for a bit more, and then take a break. I can make us a pot of tea."

"Sure," Jack said as he went back to painting, and tried to ignore the small bit of disappointment he felt.

0808080808080808080808080808080

After Jack finished helping Bunny for the day, he went back to his pond to consider his options. His first thought was just to ask Jamie and his other believers to spend the day with him, but that wouldn't work.

Jack knew the kids were looking forward to having an Easter with actual eggs to find this year, not to mention they would be busy with their own families. He didn't want to take that away from them.

Which left Jack with only one option, he would just have to celebrate his birthday by himself.

"Well, no point in being sad and depressed about it," he commented to himself as he paced around the pond. "If no one can party with me, I'll just have to have my own little party."

Decorations? Some tiny snowmen and icicles hanging off the branches of the trees should do it. Thankfully, even though Easter was early, spring was only just starting to arrive. So, it was still cold enough to do that.

Games? He reached into the pocket for the card deck Jamie had given him last Christmas.

"Game of solitaire? Check!" Jack said. Besides, Jack was an expert at making up solo games, he spent 300 years perfecting the art.

Food? Hmm...that would be a problem. Jack scratched his cheek. Truth be told, it wasn't like he needed food to live, but he did get low energy if he went a long time without eating. Usually he could get by with whatever he could find locally, but since he became a Guardian, the others had insisted he eat whenever he visit their places, especially North.

He could ask North for food, and the Guardian of Wonder wouldn't mind, but North would be curious as to why Jack wouldn't want to eat at the Pole like he normally would. If that wouldn't raise suspicion, Jack asking for a cake or some kind of sweet for himself certainly would.

Get a cake from the local bakery? Naw, he didn't exactly have money to spend, even if the bakers could see him, and he wasn't going to steal...wait.

Jack snapped his fingers. "The elves," he said to himself. They snuck into Pole's kitchen all the time to steal food, he could ask them to steal at least some cookies for him. It wasn't the same as a cake, but hey he liked cookies and he really didn't need much.

Plus the elves owe me a favor, Jack thought, for making that miniature ski ramp for them.

Jack nodded to himself. Yup! It should work. He would throw himself a little party without anyone knowing, and then next year he would let the others know about it way in advance.

"It's a perfect plan," Jack said as he grinned and tossed a snowball up in the air. "And there's nothing that can go wrong with it."

0808080808080808080808080808080

A couple weeks later, a few days before Easter, North hummed to himself at his desk as he checked over the list of eggs.

"We have painted blue, red, and purple eggs," North muttered to himself and frowned. "But not enough pink, we need much more pink."

He had promised his friend he would help with the Easter egg preparation this year to ensure it was a complete success and the children would forget about last year's disaster. Bunny had told North the best way for him to help was to get some of his yetis to paint some eggs and assist in hiding them when the time came.

North would never admit it aloud, but after seeing the number of eggs he painted in the last few days, and knowing all of them had to be not just delivered, but hidden as well, he was starting to believe Easter might be a bit more work than Christmas...just a bit.

North rolled up his list and made his way to his office door. He would hand the list back to the yetis so they knew what to work on next. Nothing was going to ruin this year's Easter-

The door swung open, and North just managed to dodge getting whacked in the face. Phil gave a yelp of shock as he checked North over for injuries.

"Shostakovich! Bah! I am fine!" North exclaimed as he batted his hands away. "But how many times have I told you to knock?!"

Phil narrowed his eyes, as he grumbled and pointed to someone behind him. North frowned, and raised an eyebrow as Dingle and two other elves sulked inside.

All three of them looked uneasy as they rang their bells nervously, and North couldn't help but notice the small cloth bag Dingle carried.

"Alright, what they do now?" North asked as he folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the elves like he was scolding children. "Did they make mess in paint supplies again?"

Phil shook his head and quickly spoke in his yeti language as he pointed to the elves.

"Elves stealing cookies from kitchen?" North translated with a shrug. "So, what? Elves do that as often as I blink."

Phil sighed and muttered more in his yeti language. As North listened, his eyes widened curiously.

"They were stealing not for themselves, but for Jack?" North asked.

He looked to the elves everyone one of them confirmed with a nod, leaving North feeling more confused.

"But why?" he asked them. "Jack knows he does not need to steal food. He is more than welcome in kitchen."

The elves exchanged guilty looks until finally Dingle sighed and stepped up. He reached inside the small sack and brought out a small misshapen card. North took it and looked it over. It had several holes and cuts, the elves no doubt going crazy with the scissors again, and had far too much glitter.

However, the badly written words on the front written in red crayon was what caught his full attention.

"Happy Birthday, Jack?" North said aloud and looked to the elves. "You, made this for Jack?"

Dingle grinned and nodded, but then placed a finger over his lips to indicate it was a secret.

North stroked his beard. "I did not know Jack had birthday?" North exclaimed. "When is it?"

Dingle gestured to the card. North opened it and saw the words Do not open until April 1st.

"Ah, North said, with a slow nod. "Good effort, but you normally put that on presents, not inside of card." He looked the card over and frowned. "Still, why keep this secret? You throwing him surprise party?"

The elves shook their heads.

That makes no sense, North thought. Only reason elves would keep it secret if Jack told them-

A light bulb went off in his head and he glanced to elves. "Did Jack ask you to keep this secret?"

Dingle nodded.

"And so, you decided to make Jack card since you thought no one else would give him one, da?" North asked.

Again, Dingle and the other elves nodded.

"I see," North muttered as he tapped the card against his hand. He silently debated, and quickly came to a decision as he handed the card back to Dingle.

"Phil, let elves take as many cookies as they want for Jack," North instructed and then looked to Dingle. "You take them as Jack ask and do NOT let him realize I found out, da?"

Dingle and the elves grinned and happily nodded before they scurried out of the room. Phil gestured to the elves with a puzzled expression.

"I do not know why Jack want it secret, but for now I will respect it," North said with his hands on his hips. "In meantime, I am calling meeting with Tooth, Sandy and Bunny. Maybe one of the will have idea what is going on."

Phil gave a slow nod as he watched North leave the office. It was all very strange. Why would Jack keep his birthday a secret? Something was odd, he felt it in his belly, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080

A few hours later, the Guardians gathered at the pole with Bunny being the last to arrive.

"This better be good, mate," Bunny said with a grumble. "I don't exactly have a lot of spare time, right now."

"And where's Jack?" Tooth said as she glanced around. "I thought he would be here by now."

"I did not call Jack," North explained as he sat in his chair, "since meeting is about him."

Sandy tilted his head and created an image of an injured and limping Jack from his sand.

"Not hurt, he is fine," North started, "but earlier today elves were caught stealing cookies."

Bunny blinked and rolled his eyes. "Oh, no the elves stole cookies," he said dryly. "Stop the presses, I also heard the grass is green and the sky is blue! North, I don't have time for-"

"Nyet, listen!" North cut in. "They were stealing cookies for Jack and he ask them to keep it secret."

"For Jack?" Tooth asked. "Why would he do that?"

"I am guessing to substitute for cake," North said with a shrug.

"Hold it, now it's about cake?" Bunny said as he scratched his ears. "Gettin' awful confused here."

"For birthday cake," North explained. "April 1st is Jack's birthday and he wished it kept secret."

Tooth gasped as her wings flapped madly. "Jack's birthday?! North, are you certain?"

"That is what elves tell me," North said.

Sandy frowned and created a question mark out of his sand.

"I agree," Tooth said, concerned. "It doesn't make sense why Jack wouldn't tell us."

Bunny sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "Naw, it makes perfect sense, he was tryin' not ta be a burden."

"What do you mean?" North asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

Bunny rolled his eyes. "April 1st? North, it's Easter Sunday, at least this year."

"I thought April 1st, was April Fools," Tooth asked.

"It's both this year," Bunny explained, "and I'm bettin' Frostbite thought it was better ta focus on Easter and not worry about his birthday." It would certainly explain that chat we had a few weeks ago.

"I still don't understand why Jack would keep it a secret though," Tooth commented. "There's no reason we couldn't celebrate his birthday after Easter."

"He probably thought we could until I opened my big mouth and said we don't normally do much for Easter," Bunny explained. "Kid probably didn't want ta trouble us."

Sandy frowned as he shook his head and created a sand image of Jack, surrounded by presents and balloons.

"Agree," North said as he rose. "We should not let Jack believe this and celebrate his birthday properly. "

Tooth sighed in relief. "After leaving Jack alone for 300 years, it's the least we can do. Besides, with his Guardian anniversary coming up, there's no reason we couldn't combine the two." Her wings hovered excitedly. "Let's go tell him!"

A sly grin appeared over Bunny. "No, wait, don't tell him. Let Frostbite continue to believe we don't know about his birthday."

"What?!" North and Tooth exclaimed in unison as Sandy tossed up his hands in the air in dismay.

"Hear me out," Bunny said as he grinned, "because I just came up with the perfect plan ta much this double fun for Frostbite."

The Guardian blinked at each other, but all went silent as they listened to Bunny's suggestion. By the end of it, they were all grinning and in full agreement. They were going to make this a birthday for Jack to remember.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080

April 1st came far faster than Jack expected. He watched the children of Burgess gleefully dash around to find the eggs Bunny had left for him. Jack had hovered close by, just by the smallest chance Pitch had decided to be spiteful and ruin things, but was relieved nothing happened.

He gave a smile as he saw Jamie help Sophie search for eggs in the backyard. There was a temptation to fly in and join the fun, but Jamie's mom was sitting on the porch watching them. Be rather hard for Jack to chat with the kids with their mom around, so he left.

I'll catch up with them later, he thought. I got my own plans anyway.

He grinned to himself as he flew toward the pond and landed near a large oak tree. Jack grinned at the decorations he had created. Several icicles swayed in the branches of the trees and glistened in the sunlight. Near the base sat several tiny snowman with tiny cone hats Jack had rolled out of newspaper he found.

"Not exactly the best party hats," he said as he adjusted one that was close to falling off, "but they'll do."

He sat in the snow and pulled closer the bag of cookies the elves had given him.

"Alright," he said as he reached inside, "let's see what kind they-"

Jack trailed off as his fingers touched paper. Baffled, he pulled it out and saw the item was actually a card. The words "Happy Birthday, Jack," was written in crayon on the front. Upon opening it, he saw several names, and a few 'X's were written inside it.

Jack softly laughed to himself as he looked it over. "The elves gave me a birthday card," he said feeling touched. He had let them in on the secret since they didn't understand why he couldn't get the cookies himself, but he never dreamed they would bother to make him a card.

"This will be the centre piece," he declared to the snowman and set the card on a stump near him.

Silently, he stared at the card and wished the other Guardians and friends were actually here to join him. He then swiftly shook the sad thoughts aside and reached for his card deck.

"Let's see if I can beat my personal record of solitaire," he told the snowman as he set out his cards.

He felt something poke his leg causing to Jack pause and glanced to his side. A small blue egg with white snowflakes headbutted his leg and then stood straight.

"Um...hi," Jack greeted as he put his card deck back into his pocket. "Can I help you? Shouldn't you be hiding somewhere?"

The egg jumped, twirled, walked a few paces away before halting.

Jack chuckled as he climbed to his feet. "I'm guessing by those snowflakes on you, Bunny, made you for me."

The egg hopped happily like it was confirming.

Guess Bunny wanted to surprise me, Jack thought. Although...it is April Fool's too, I wonder if this egg is suppose to explode?

The egg didn't give Jack the chance to ponder further for it suddenly decided to run away from the pond.

"Hey! Come back here," Jack called and immediately chased after it. He thought of flying, but it was easier to watch where it was going if he stayed on the ground and there were too many trees in the way.

Besides, flying was too easy. Running after it was more fun.

Jack ducked under branches as he tried to keep his eye on the little egg dashing full speed ahead. They kept the game of running through the woods until the egg finally ran into a clear patch with no trees.

Jack pounced like a cat and got a face full of snow as he grabbed the egg.

"Gotcha!" Jack cheered as he picked up the egg and shook the half melted snow out of his hair. The egg's legs instantly vanished upon touch and Jack could see it was just a regular egg again.

"Well," Jack said as he examined it closely and he climbed to his feet. "It didn't explode, so it must not be a prank." He scratched his chin. "I wonder what Bunny's up to-"

A hole underneath him cut him off as Jack fell into it. He let out a surprise cry as he slid down the tunnel and somehow managed to keep his grip on both his staff and the egg. Eventually, the ride ended and Jack landed with a hard thud as he crashed to the ground.

Jack groaned as he let go of his staff to rub his bottom. "That was unexpected."

A pair of familiar large furry feet appeared in front of him. Jack raised his head to see Bunny scowling above him.

"Umm...Hey, Bunny," Jack said as sat up. "Sorry for dropping in, but it wasn't planned I swear."

Bunny took a deep breath as he folded his arms and shook his head disapprovingly. "Ya really thought ya could get away with it, didn't ya, Frostbite?"

"Huh?" Jack asked as he rose to his feet. "Get away with what?"

"Don't play dumb," Bunny growled as he poked Jack's chest with his finger. "I know exactly what ya tried ta do, and yer goin' to pay for it."

Jack narrowed his eyes and tried to keep his voice calm. He didn't know what ticked Bunny off, but he was NOT going to get into an argument on his birthday. "Okay, Bunny, I don't know what happened, or what you think I did, but let's just talk this out-"

"Oh, we're gonna talk, Mate," Bunny said as he grabbed Jack's wrist and reached inside his bracer with his free hand. "Right after I give ya this!"

Jack shut his eyes in shock, and felt something drop into his hands. When he felt nothing happened, he cracked opened an eye and saw...a present?

A small wrapped box with rainbow paper and topped off with a white bow sat in the palm of his hand.

Bunny smirked as he let go of Jack's hand and let the boy stare at it dumbfounded. Jack tucked the egg into his pocket as he examined the gift.

"I'm really confused," Jack replied and looked up to Bunny. "What are you so angry about?"

"For not tellin' us it's your birthday, ya dingo!" Bunny scolded.

"Us?!" Jack asked.

It was then, North, Tooth, Sandy, yeti, fairies and elves all sprang out of the bushes.

"Happy birthday, Jack!" Everyone cried out in unison.

Two of the elves fired confetti canons as Sandy released balloons made out of dream sand into the air. Each of the Guardians held a gift, and he noticed two yeti were carrying a three tier birthday cake that was almost the size of Tooth.

Jack's jaw dropped, and after a moment of taking in the surprise he arched an eyebrow. "How did you all find out?"

Sandy grinned as he used a sand arrow to point to the elves who gave sheepish little grins.

"I should have known," Jack muttered.

Bunny lightly punched his shoulder. "Ya, Dingo," Bunny said as he lightly whacked Jack's head. "Ya should have told me it was yer birthday."

Jack rubbed his shoulder. "I wanted to, but I thought getting Easter back on track was more important, especially after last year."

"I appreciate that, Mate," Bunny said as he ruffled Jack's hair, "but yer part of the family now. So, that makes ya just as important."

Jack straightened his hair out and gave a soft smile. "Thanks." He frowned and brought out the egg. "Question though, why the egg?"

"It's April's Fools, Jack," Tooth said as she drew closer. "When Bunny came up with the idea, it seemed perfect."

Jack laughed as he leaned against his staff. "Okay, yeah, I'll grant you that." He curiously looked at the gift. "So, do I open the present now or after that cake?"

"After cake," Bunny instructed, "and that's after the kids arrive."

"The kids?" Jack asked.

North laughed. "The children are coming to celebrate once they are done they're Easter egg hunts. Once we inform them of plan, they insisted they be here too."

So, the kids were in on this too, Jack thought, amused. That figures.

"While we wait for Phil to pick them up," Tooth said as she brought out a card deck. "How about a game a cards?"

"As long as it isn't poker," Bunny said as he pulled Jack over to have a seat next to him. "Sandy cheats."

Sandy pretended to look insulted and created a sand holo over his head.

"Yeah, yeah, play innocent." Bunny chided as Tooth handed out the cards. "How about ya pick, Frostbite? It's yer party?"

Jack beamed. An hour ago he was certain he would be spending his birthday all alone, but now he was spending it with his new family. He couldn't ask for a better present.

"How about go fish?" Jack asked.

"Sounds good," North said as he took a hand. "Later, I suggest we play pin the tail on the bunny?"

"It's donkey, North," Bunny said with a growl.

"Da, I know," North replied as he looked over his hand. "But I think pinning tail on bunny is funnier."

Jack laughed and stroked the blue egg in his pocket. He had a feeling it was going to be his favourite gift for a long time.