Private Finished A Little Birthday Cake Anyone?

She had found it when she was cleaning up the guest room. it had been there on the floor. The elf's ID had fallen partly out of its pouch, and so Celeste had put it back, but not before casually glancing at the date on the ID before she put it back. The birthdate had read August 8th.

And so, Celeste had decided to make the young man a cake for his birthday. She figured it would be a nice surprise for him after all he had been through lately. She had gone out and bought all the ingredients to make a nice chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. Nothing too fancy, just a simple but delicious homemade cake. She had even piped "Happy Birthday" on the cake in green frosting. She then put the cake aside to surprise her house guest when he finally came home that afternoon.

After, Celeste had also called up her niece and asked her to come over later on to meet her new house guest and catch up on everything that was happening in her life. It had been ages since they had talked and she worried about Zoraida. They last time she seemed distracted and somewhat stressed.

@Rockman

Celeste ran to open the door when she heard the knocking. She knew it must be Ain. He had gone to gather his belongings a short while ago and she knew he'd be back in a few hours - time enough to make the cake and put together a gift.

After Sterling had stopped by the house ,a few days after she had found Ain injured on her deck, to ask Celeste to sign some papers that required her signature. She had found out then that Sterling actually knew the elf, that he probably lived in the woods, and that is name was Ain Augusta. Finding all this out had surprised Celeste, who had promptly asked the elf to come to stay with her and Shale at her house. Heaven knows the house was big enough. Her original plans for the property had been to turn it into a place young kids, adults might hang out - sort of a place for people who needed somewhere to go and be with friends or find support.

But now, all that was on hold since she had taken in Shale, she needed her son to have a place where he felt safe and was his, and so she had lots of extra room and could easily spare a room for Ain.

"Ain, you're back..." she said happy to see him, "I have a surprise for you!" she told him as she lead him to the kitchen. "Close your eyes," she said as she placed the cake in front of him. She had not put any candles on it, she had not thought to since that seemed to be a custom only found on certain parts of the world.

@Rockman

"Okay, you can open them..." she said after putting the cake and the present in front of him. Celeste had sent out Shale to pick him up some new clothes since the ones he had one where now ruined and the ones he had were too small.

"Happy Birthday!" she said with a smile.

@Rockman

Celeste just smiled at Ain when she saw how touched he was by her gesture, "A little birdie told me it was your birthday...." she said with a laugh, as she then took a knife out of a kitchen drawer to cut the cake into pieces for them.

"The clothes should be your size," she said as she got out some plates. "Shale actually picked them out. He knows more about guy things than me..." she admitted with a shrug. "If you were girl, well, then it'd have been different..." she joked as she cut the cake into 8 slices and then put one slice on a plate for Ain and another for her..

"Enjoy!" she said with a smile as she passed him some cake, getting up to grab some glasses and the milk. She had totally forgotten about the milk and that some people liked milk with their cake.

@Rockman

Zora arrived with Broen in tow a little after the hour she was told to arrive. It had been a long complicated and tiring day. She had had to deal with, among deadlines and the new distillery financing, her personal assistant, Marie, being an informant this morning, by removing her as discretely as possible from the position by telling that she needed her to man the phones in reception.

She also hadn't had much sleep last night either, Broen had made dead sure of that, she thought wryly as she opened the front door and let herself and her bodyguard into the house. "Hey?" she called as she removed her jacket and put down her handbag. "Anyone home?" she asked.

<<<<

Pouring Ain a glass of milk, Celeste had also put another slice of cake on his plate when she heard a voice coming from the front of the house. "It's my niece," Celeste said flashing Ain a smile as she took off to the front door to greet her niece.

Seeing Zora, Celeste quickly embraced her niece warmly and then pulled back to look at her, to take her in, and as she did, Celeste realised Zora looked somewhat different, more relaxed, tired perhaps, but her skin, there was something behind that... realising what it was, she arched an eyebrow at her niece, her eyes twinkling.

"Querida, estás radiante... you are glowing," she said smiling, giving her a knowing and appreciative look. "You look, how shall we say, well fed, yes...?" she winked.

Then Celeste's gaze strayed to the well-dressed man beside her niece, she had heard Zoraida had a bodyguard. But she had expected, maybe older, more rugged... not young and handsome with a somewhat defiant look about him. Interesting.

Looking at Zora questioningly, Celeste couldn't help herself, "And who's the young man, querida?" she asked with a coy look at her niece.

"This is Broen, my security detail, personal bodyguard," Zora said deliberately ignoring Celeste's looks and innuendos.

Turning to Broen, Celeste let her gaze fall on him, looking him up and down, and then at her niece, sizing them both up. Then she smiled impishly - she could always tell when two people were sleeping together.

"I'm guessing he's doing more than just guarding your body, my dear," she chuckled knowingly as she grabbed her niece's arm before she could retort.

"Come with me, my love, you have to meet my new house guest," Celeste said as she guided Zoraida into the kitchen. "Today is his birthday.." she explained ignoring her niece and any objection she had.

"Ain?!" she said with a smile, "This is my niece, Zoraida." she said as she introduced them.

@Rockman