Hi all,

May I kindly request that you read the previous chapter, and my AN? It will get you up to speed! Thank you very much.

If you have, thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

I apologize for any mistakes made.

Disclaimer: Mine? Oh nope. Okay.

The First Step

It was a quiet, lovely Sunday morning- oh who am I kidding. It's never quiet in this household.

"Are the balloons ready? Cake? Where's the cake? Has it arrived yet? It's an ice cream cake, it should be refrigerated. It's an ice cream cake right? Did I order the right cake? I ordered the wrong one didn't I. SORRY, PREGNANCY BRAIN. Oh I can't use that excuse anymore. Right. Sorry. Not pregnant anymore. I can-"

Dimitri covered my mouth. "Roza, I love you dearly but I swear, one more word out of you about this party and I will lock you in here alone until tomorrow," he warned.

I glanced at him, eyes wide. You can't really blame a mother for being all panic-y on her son's first birthday. Everything has to be perfect. It's Aiden's first birthday. FIRST. BIRTHDAY. I can't screw anything up on the first birthday he's ever had. THERE WILL BE PICTURES. WHICH MEANS THERE WILL BE EVIDENCE.

If I screw this up and he finds photographic evidence that I screwed up, he's going to sue me. I may need to hire a lawyer in the future. I WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED DURING THIS PARTY. I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY SCREW UPS. THE JUDGE AS SPOKEN. THE JURY HAS SPOKEN.

WE CAN DO IT SURVIVOR STYLE. THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN.

"Rose, stop thinking." Dimitri looked genuinely worried for me now. My hair's probably in a mess and it's not even time for the party yet. Heck, the birthday boy's not even awake yet!

"Roza, relax. I really will lock you alone in here."

"Will you be alone with me?" I joked. He laughed. It worked. I'm awesome.

"Don't give me that look." He warned.

"What look?" I said, innocently. I knew exactly what look he was referring to.

"That look. Those eyes and your pouty little mouth. It's dangerous, especially with the bed right behind us."

"Why not?" I pouted even more. I'm really really hoping it would work.

"That look was what got Aiden here in the first place." He reminded me.

I said nothing.

Plan: Continue look.

One minute passed.

Mission: Successful.

Dimitri rolled his eyes and laughed. He gave in to me anyway and proceeded to carry me, bridal style, back to the bed. I grinned when he plopped me down on our bed and-

"MAMA! PAPA!"

Where in the world does he get that LOUD voice? Oh that's right. Dimitri's side of the family. Oh whom am I kidding?

"WE'RE COMING AIDEN."

"OKAY."

Dimitri's face fell against the pillow behind me.

"So close." I whispered.

He laughed. "It's amusing how the two of you can have a conversation by shouting. And he's only a year old. I don't want to know what will happen when he's five. "

"Wait till puberty hits." I replied. "He'll get that squeaky tone while breaking his voice, he won't scream as much for a while."

Dimitri chuckled and jogged towards Aiden's room. After walking past the mirror, taking a double take and wondering, "What's Medusa doing here?" I took a brush to tame my hair, figuring Dimitri could handle Aiden for a while.

"MAMA." Aiden screamed as Dimitri carried him into the room.

"No need to shout, Aiden." His father shushed him.

"Okay." He whispered. "Cake."

"Later." Dimitri whispered back.

"Okay."

"Good boy." Dimitri whispered/complimented him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

I laughed at how those two can have a whispered conversation whereas Aiden and I can shout across the hall for one another.

~ADIAL~

Lissa and her family, which now includes cute little Lillian, Lily for short, were the first to arrive.

It wasn't a huge party. It was more like a gathering. With cake. Only a few people were invited, the one closest to us. Our old teachers back in the academy, including Stan who I was hesitant on inviting at first but then realized he did go through a lot with us throughout the years, old friends we've met in our crazy adventures, and of course, family.

Despite my initial panic attacks of the party being absolutely perfect, it turned out quite all right. Well, I wouldn't say it was perfect...

~ADIAL~

As usual, we placed Aiden and Lily together to play with the toys they had. Lily had some toys at our house, and Aiden has toys at hers. Why you ask? Because we spend so much time at each other's houses, bringing their toys over and forgetting to take them home. From "I'll collect them in the morning." it eventually became "Leave the toys there. I'm lazy."

Aiden was playing with his building blocks, the soft squishy kind, when Lily decided, "I'm bored of my toys. Oh look, building blocks. I'll play with them too."

Lily crawled over towards Aiden and took the building block from the bottom. Aiden was horrified. His tower of blocks came crashing down.

One thing about Aiden is that he never complains. Instead, he prefers to take matters into his own hands.

Despite being one, he still couldn't walk yet so he crawled angrily, if that's possible, towards Lily. I bet if he could walk, he would have stomped towards her.

"MINE!" He screamed and hit her on the head with the block.

I was horrified and thankful at the same time. Thankful that they were the soft blocks but horrified that my son made a little girl cry.

"LUKA AIDEN!"

"Mama! Mine!" He defended himself, pointing towards Lily with her tear-filled eyes.

"Shh...Don't cry." I cooed as I picked Lily up and hugged her in an attempt to stop her crying.

"Aiden! You have to share your toys!" I scolded him.

"Mamaaaaaaa." He whined.

"Don't you Mama me Luka Aiden Belikov." I looked at him angrily. I really didn't want to scold my son on his birthday but I am a mother and I need to teach him the right things.

I placed Lily beside Aiden once she'd calmed down and told him, "Now say you're sorry and give her a hug."

"Sorry." He whispered. I find it absolutely adorable that he tends to whisper when he knows he's being disciplined.

He hugged Lily but after he's done that, he took his little block, shoved one in her face and said "Lily."

I was happy that he was learning to share so easily...and then I knew. He proceeded to take the rest of the blocks, all remaining nine of them, away from Lily. "Mine." He whispered.

I face palmed myself.

~ADIAL~

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AIDEN"

"LALALA AHHH DENNNN"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

"BALALALA YOUUUUU"

Aiden was being absolutely adorable trying to sing his own birthday song. "CAKE CAKE CAKE!" He demanded.

We had the cake far enough from him so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt himself with the candle or ruin the cake, but close enough to blow the candle.

He huffed and he puffed but the candle was still lit. He was getting frustrated, banging his tiny fists on the table as he tried and tried again. I would have helped him but it was to funny to see him try.

"Okay, we'll blow on it together," I informed Dimitri who was on Aiden's other side. He nodded in response.

"One, two, three!" The three of us blew his one candle and I think for once, Christian could actually catch that wonderful, memorable moment on camera. I say that because in other instances, he was absolutely hopeless with the camera. I never understood why he needed to buy one. Oh that's right, his mind is like a goldfish. Forgets everything in three seconds.

"CHRISTIAN YOU BETTER SEND ME THAT PHOTO."

"WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO?"

"I WILL KNOCK YOUR DINGDONG BACK INTO YOUR BODY."

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"

"STOP IT." Lissa scolded us. "Rose, and you wonder why Aiden loves to scream."

Christian laughed at me, but the tables were turned when Lissa said "You too, Ozera. It's like having another child around."

"Ooooh, Child-zoned. Sorry bro, but someone ain't getting any magic tonight!"

"Shut up, Rose."

~ADIAL~

Guess what?

No really, I dare you to guess. Come on. Just take a wild guess.

Okay I'll tell you.

"I forgot to put the cake in the fridge." Christian mumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Cake's melted."

"Christian."

"Please don't kill me."

"Run."

"What?"

"Run Ozera."

"But Rose-"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! INSTEAD OF ICE CREAM CAKE, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO EAT WATER CAKE! EATING WATER, CHRISTIAN. ARE YOU STUPID OR AM I STUPID ENOUGH TO TRUST YOU!"

"I'M SORRY! I'M STUPID. YOU'RE NOT STUPID. I'M STUPID. YOU'RE STUPID."

"I'M STUPID?!"

"NO MA'AM! YOU'RE NOT STUPID MA'AM. I- I- I'M STUPID MA'AM. WELL- WELL- WE STUPID."

"WE?!"

"NO NO NO! I MEAN- I- I'M STUPID! ONLY ONE PERSON. ME. I'M STUPID! YOU'RE NOT STUPID! ONLY ME, MA'AM. HERE TAKE MY CHILD."

And that was how we ate water-ice cream cake with a spoon.

~ADIAL~

I placed Aiden's part of his water cake on the table; out of his non-walking reach while I walked towards the kitchen to grab a towel to wipe is chocolate covered mouth.

"MAMA. CAKE!"

"HOLD ON, AIDEN!"

"OKAY."

I shouldn't have trusted him.

As I walked back, I stopped in my tracks. My little boy stood up on his own and walked- WALKED! - Towards the table.

"DIMITRI COME HERE QUICK! DIMITRI! NOW!"

Dimitri ran towards my side in a second and saw our little boy taking his first few steps.

I was so proud and happy that I forgot the main reason why he walked in the first place.

"CAKE!"

He reached for the bowl on the table, and water cake spilled on to his head, covering him in chocolate. We can thus conclude that I am never going to order ice cream cake ever again.

Thank you for reading. Once again, please read the previous chapter's AN!

You have? Okay thanks!

The jokes in this chapter, the ones with Aiden and Lily, really did happen in real life. I babysit my little cousins at least once a week, every week and they do all these crazy stuff that make everyone laugh. And yes, my baby cousin did take his first step on his first birthday. And it was towards cake. He really does love cake. Kind of funny though, since my aunt bakes a lot of cakes. Traditional Asian ones. Anyone from Singapore or around here? She bakes pandan cakes, kuih lapis (layered cake in english, but not the kind you're probably thinking ;) ) and those kind of cakes. Really awesome.

Anyway, please do review. I would love to hear your thoughts on whether I should continue with this story or not. I've been planning this story and there are no major plots in the time being. Just good ole fun. It's basically...a day in a life.