Birthday Surprises (Will)

[Natalie Blake]

Spending time with Will was officially one of Natalie's favourite ways to spend time in general. No matter what they were doing, be it commencing in a battle of wit or simply lounging around together, being with him just made whatever she did feel that much more meaningful. And so it wasn't surprising that the two of them were spending the evening enjoying an old movie.

Will had gone to get some more popcorn (most of the first bowl had been used as ammo to fire at one another), and Natalie was sprawled out on the couch waiting for him to return. At a sudden ringing sound she jumped, her eyes falling to the source of the sound instantly. It was from Will's jacket--his phone, clearly. Shrugging a little she fished through his pockets until she found it and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she greeted casually.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line before a woman spoke. "Er… who is this? I'm looking for Will. Is he there?"

One of Natalie's eyebrows quirked curiously, but she answered the woman’s questions without bringing up her own. "My name is Natalie, I'm a… friend of Will's. He's just in the other room. Would you like me to go and fetch him...?"

"You're Will's friend, are you?" the woman asked, her voice suddenly thoughtful. "No, no, don't go and get him. This might actually work out better. My name is Fiona, I'm married to Will's best friend Joe. As I'm sure you know, Will's birthday in a few days, and we were hoping to pop in for a visit. My eldest daughter, Charlie, has the same birthday as him, and I'm sure it would make his day to see her."

He never told me his birthday was coming up! she thought a little peevishly. Well, there was no way she wasn't going to help Fiona to surprise him now that she knew. Quickly making sure that Will wasn't coming back, Natalie grinned deviously. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm sure it would mean the world to him to have you all come and visit."

"So you'll help me set this up, then?" Fi said hopefully.

"Definitely," Natalie confirmed. "So, what do you need me to do?"

[William Blake]

The following day...

Will was finding two things weird, one, that he was on board the Venia and he wasn't working, two, that it was practically empty. Ben and Katy were both lurking around somewhere, as were Ally and Luke, but he nor Natalie had much of them over the past couple of days since they'd all got back to the ship. Their holiday had been interrupted, but he was determined not to do any work until he had to. This was their time off, damn it, and if he got to spend that time with Natalie, then all the better.

That morning Natalie had told him that they needed more popcorn, and seeing as they were actually stationed on Earth at the moment, he went off ship to get some. She said she had something to do on board, and he didn't question her. Getting out for a walk in the fresh air would be good, even if it was just to run to the nearest market for snacks. No doubt she was planning another movie night. He was enjoying those as he got to sprawl across the sofa with Natalie leaning against him.

The trip ended up taking over an hour as he took a long route through the city, and it took at least ten minutes to get in and out of the space port itself. Once on board, he headed back to the common room, hoping to find Natalie. He walked in to completely darkness. "What on earth?" he muttered, confused. Groping around for the light switch, he pressed the button and the room illuminated to show Natalie in the center of the room with Joe, Fi, Charlie and Janey who all yelled, "SURPRISE!"

The girls both ran and dived for him, him picking one up in each arm as he looked around with complete surprise. "What are you lot doing here?" Why did he have a feeling Natalie was something to do with this?

"We haven't seen you in ages," Joe explained, "and we figured we'd surprise you with an early Birthday party, you and Charlie. Fi and your friend Natalie planned it all."

"How did I know you would have a hand in this?" Will smirked at Natalie, shaking his head a little.

"We helped too!" Jane chirped up, a grin on her face. "We blew up the balloons."

Will had barely noticed the decorations or the food in his surprise, but he could see them now. "Great job!" Will told her, "and an early Happy Birthday to you, partner," he said to Charlie as she hugged him.

He really hadn't been expecting this at all.

[Natalie Blake]

It had taken a fair amount of planning and preparation, and then Natalie had had to hide the popcorn and send Will out to buy some more while the other arrived and they set up. Charlie and Janey were adorable, blowing up balloons for all they were worth. They obviously cared a lot about Will, and she knew from the joy in his voice whenever they came up that he cared about them as well.

She'd managed to arrange it with the space port to let her know when Will was coming back, so that had a couple minutes warning to finish off what they were doing and then turning off the lights to wait for Will's arrival. When the light switched on, there was a cheering of "SURPRISE!" and then Charlie and Janey practically attacked Will, making Natalie laugh.

The aura of happiness in the room was almost palpable, and it was clear that this was the best thing Will could have hoped for on his birthday. Grinning broadly, Natalie took a small step back to allow him and his old friends to spend a little time together. It wasn't like she didn't want to be with them but she didn't want to impose on their moment, either.

Joe explained to Will that Fiona and Natalie had arranged most of this, and at the small smirk Will threw at her Natalie chuckled a little. "You're welcome," she joked before going to take the extra popcorn into the kitchen and put it away. When she came back out, the five of them had moved over to a little sitting alcove so that Will could open his gifts, and she perched herself on the armrest next to him to watch.

[William Blake]

Will and Charlie had never actually had a Birthday Party together despite the fact that they were born on the same day. The only time Will had been there for her actual Birthday had been the day she was born. That seemed like such a long time ago now, almost seven years. And yet, both the girls were growing up so quickly. He'd missed them, everyone could see that. They were his soft spot.

"Oh, I'm getting presents am I?" he said as he was led over to the sofa by the girls. He saw Natalie disappear into the kitchen out of the corner of his eye, he would thank her properly later. Charlie was sensative about him and other women, or at least, she had been in the past. She didn't know that he knew she had a crush on him, and he indulged her, because she was six, and they knew it was only fun. She'd grow out of it.

Once he'd stood his hand drawn card on the table, and opened his presents - two more of his old records from his apartment which Joe had picked up, a teddy bear (that one was going to be hard to explain to other people), and a book on the inner workings of 18th Century steam engines - they began to tuck in to the food.

"Do tell," Will said, eating a mini quiche, "how exactly did you get in touch with Natalie in order to plan this, hmm?" He looked at both the women expectantly.

[Natalie Blake]

When Will unwrapped the teddy bear, Natalie smiled a little bit. Fiona had told her while they'd been preparing the food that the girls had insisted on getting it for him, and in all honesty Natalie found it rather adorable. The girls were little sweethearts. Once Will had opened all of his presents, they dove into the food.

When Will asked about how they'd managed to set this up, Fiona gladly explained. "Yesterday, I tried to call you to see if you were free today so that we could see you. Your friend Natalie here picked up instead, and we ended up deciding to surprise you with a visit,"

"Guilty," Natalie smirked, raising one hand a little. "You'd gone to get more popcorn, and that was when your phone went off. And then it was just some simple plotting and planning." She wouldn't have even known when his birthday was if it hadn't been for Fiona, but she couldn't really be mad at him for not telling her. After all, she hadn't told him hers either.

After a moment of silence Natalie got up and traipsed over to a cupboard. "I almost forgot," she laughed, pulling a rectangular package wrapped in purple. "This is for you, Charlie. It's from your uncle Will." She shot a glance at him to let him know to stay quiet, even though he wasn't the one who'd gotten it. "He was going to mail it to you, but since you're here I went and fetched it."

While they'd been cooking, Fi had mentioned in passing that Charlie loved to read, and so Natalie had gone through a box of her old things and found a book full of all the old fairy-tales--something quite hard to come by nowadays. She'd loved the book, and so she'd taken pristine care of it. Hopefully Charlie would love it, too, and it would suffice for a birthday present. If not, well, Will could always go and get her something else instead and actually mail it off.

"So, who's up for cake?" Natalie asked then, smiling.

[William Blake]

"Should have known," Will said with a shake of the head, "I could have sworn I heard my phone ring. You're both crafty, that's what you are." He was grateful though. He hadn't had any sort of celebrations for his birthday in a couple of years or so, and getting to spend it with the people that meant the most to him was brilliant. Yes, Natalie was already one of the people in that category. The past few days he'd been the happiest he'd ever been, and it was because of her.

Will watched as Natalie walked over to the cupboard and pulled a present out for Charlie. He hadn't bought that, he would have remembered. He was going to get something while he was at the resort but he'd forgotten when they'd had to leave in a hurry. He kept stum though, the look on Natalie's face telling him to zip it and pretend like he had actually bought it.

Charlie asked if she could open her present first and Will nodded, interested to see what it was that Natalie had fished out to give her. Charlie gasped loudly when she saw what it was, immediately flicking through the pages, staring at the beautiful illustrations with wide eyes. "It's amazing!" she said, grinning at Will, "thank you!" Charlie hugged him tightly and he hugged her back, smiling at Natalie.

A chorus of "me! me!" went up around the table, and they played out the grand facade of lighting the candles, singing Happy Birthday to both Will and Charlie, before they both blew out the candles, having a competition to see who could blow out the most.

Once they were done with the food, Will started collecting the empty plates and nodded for Natalie to come into the kitchen with him. When they were out of sight and hearing range, Will put the plates down and turned to Natalie. "I don't know where you got that book but it is perfect," he told her with a smile, then he said the most genuine, "thank you," that he had ever uttered in his life and pulled her into a hug, kissing her on the head. She was amazing.

[Natalie Blake]

"You'd think you would have known that by now, Will," Fiona laughed at Will's comment. "We women have craftiness down to an art," Natalie agreed, smiling in amusement. Her amusement faded a little into apprehension as Charlie asked if she could open her present. She needn't have worried, though, because as soon as Charlie saw what it was she gasped and then hugged Will tightly in thanks.

And that right there is what made all of this worthwhile, Natalie thought as Will hugged the little girl back. The two of them were happy, and that had been the whole point of this. She was glad it had worked. The broke out the cake then, and Will and Charlie competed in blowing out all 30-odd of the candles. No doubt because Fiona had done a majority of the work, the cake was amazing.

Despite Fi and Natalie's protests, Will collected the plates and carried them out to the kitchen, nodding for Natalie to follow. Almost as soon as they were alone Will put down the plates and turned to her, thanking her fervently and pulling her into a hug. She laughed lightly when he kissed her head and eased out of his arms so she could speak to him.

"The book is something from my childhood, actually," she admitted, a little sheepish about not having bought Charlie something new. "It just seemed like the right time to pass it on. And she seems to like it, which is what counts."

After peeking out to make sure that Charlie wasn't looking--she had a feeling the birthday-girl might not approve too much--Natalie leaned up and pressed her lips against his quickly before smiling at him, her brown eyes sparkling. "Happy birthday, Will."

[William Blake]

"Something from your childhood?" Will repeated. The book looked brand new, she must have kept excellent care of it for it to be in that sort of condition. And she'd just given it to a little girl she'd known less than an hour. Charlie could sweet talk anyone, she'd learned from the best, but still. "You are amazing," he told her. He wouldn't have asked her to give up something like that, but she had willingly given it to Charlie, and he knew Charlie it would treasure it.

Will did the same when Natalie checked to see if Charlie was nearby before she pressed her lips quickly against hers. "Thank you," he said, kissing her again. "You can expect similar treatment on your birthday now," Will said, pulling away, "and if you don't tell me when you birthday is, I'm sure I can find out." Seeing as she had been sneaky about this, he certainly wasn't afraid to be sneaky in return.

"Come on," he said, nodding towards the door, "they'll be wondering where we got to." Before they left the safety of the kitchen, he added, "I surprised Fi hasn't started quizzing you about what's going on between us yet." Unless she had, and Natalie was keeping quiet. Joe and his family were some of his only real friends that still kept in contact, and they would definitely be nosy about something like that. He could tell they'd been wanting him to get a proper girlfriend for years.

[Natalie Blake]

Natalie smirked a little and rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, Will. As hard as it is to believe, even I was a child once." Not that he'd exactly brought that into question, but the slight awe in his voice made her feel awkward, like she was being congratulated for something she hadn't done. All the same, she was glad that Will approved.

"Hmm, you're welcome," she murmured, smiling as he kissed her again. "Similar treatment, huh?" Momentarily her thoughts flickered to her parents, who hadn't contacted her in almost two weeks now--which was an unusually long amount of time for them. She shook her head a little and pushed the thought aside as Will released her. "My birthday is April 7th," she informed him, grinning, "You're still safe. You've got a good seven months to plan."

Nodding, Natalie followed Will over to the door, stopping when he turned back to her and spoke. She bit her lip a little and tried not to snort. "Well, I think Fiona was trying to ask my about how close you and I were at one point, but then Charlie and Janey came in to ask if they'd blown up enough balloons, and she didn't bring it up again afterwards."

And she was pretty sure she wouldn't get the chance, unless the girls fell asleep. Which, actually, they might. Damn. Still, they'd deal with the poking and prying then, and not worry about it now. "Well, like you said, they're going to be wondering what's taking us," she pointed out, gesturing for him to lead the way back out to where Joe, Fi and the girls were waiting.

[William Blake]

Will snorted with laughter, "what makes you believe you ever grew up?" he asked with a raised brow, getting her back for catching him off guard with that comment. She had a habit of doing that, it was refreshing. Usually people just took it, some went off in a huff, they couldn't dish it back. But Natalie could.

"Of course," he said with a smile, "you're talking to the person who helped install more than half the computer systems on this ship, I could find out all sorts of information that I needed to know about you if I wanted to," he smirked. He wouldn't abuse the system like that too much, but he'd be able to get in contact with her parents, certainly. "April 7th," he committed that to memory.

Will laughed, "much to her chagrin I suspect," he said, amused. They would no doubt try again later, the girls had eaten a lot, and had probably used up a fair amount of energy in their excitement. No doubt they'd be sprawled out all over him and their parents soon enough, exhausted. It was just whether Joe and Fi decided to take them straight home when they fell asleep, or chose to stay and chat.

"Indeed," he said with a nod, heading back out to the others to find that Janey was already out like a light, her thumb in her mouth, Will's new teddy in her arms. "She's such a light weight," Charlie said with a grin, looking round at Will. "It was all that cake," he smirked, taking his seat on the sofa again as Charlie piled into his lap, "wore her out."

[Natalie Blake]

Natalie stuck her tongue out at Will, only putting sway to his words. "Well then, I suppose you have three little girls that adore you, don't you?" she joked, smirking. It was playful jesting like this that had interested her in Will in the first place--well, that and his eyes. Damn she loved those eyes.

"Well I suppose that's true," she laughed, then added in a relaxed voice, "Or, of course, you could just ask me. I think I could be persuaded to tell you whatever it is you really want to know." And it was relatively true. She trusted Will, and so if he asked her anything, she'd probably tell him. Probably. At his next comment she snorted a little. "Yeah, I don't think she was banking on the girls walking in."

The two of them then left the kitchen and went back out to rejoin Joe and his family. Janey was out cold, hugging the teddy and sucking on her thumb. It made Natalie smile a little to hear the affection in Charlie's voice when she spoke about her sister, and she sat down next to Will as the little girl crawled into his lap.

"I'm pretty sure the trip out here had a part in it too," Fi kindly, stroking her youngest daughter's hair lovingly. Natalie grinned a little before looking down Charlie. "And what about you, kiddo? Are you tried?" She sort of doubted it--the girl looked wired for sound--but for all she knew maybe it was just a sugar buzz from the cake that had yet to wear out.

[William Blake]

"I suppose I do," Will grinned, choosing not to use a retort this time. That was a good reply, and he decided to let it lie, in the knowledge that - even though she was being jokey - she said she'd adored him. There had to be some truth behind it, otherwise she wouldn't have said it.

He chuckled, that was true. "Mmm, my powers of persuasion could definitely work, I guess we'll have to see later, won't we?" He would definitely make a point over the next few months leading up to her birthday to find out as much as he could so that he could plan a brilliant party. Right now, he had no doubts they would last that long.

Charlie shook her head, "nope, not one bit." Unfortunately for her, a yawn then escaped her mouth and everyone smiled at her endearingly. "Okay, maybe yes," she said, resting her head against Will's chest. It wasn't long before she dropped off as well, her breathing becoming steady and rhythmic.

Will looked over at Joe and Fi who were both practically chomping at the bit to start asking questions, he could see it in their faces. "And so the interrogation may begin."

"How did you know?" Joe smirked. "Don't forget, I know you well my friend, very well." "Well, we were just curious," Fi admitted, "no one answers your phone other than you, and certainly not a woman, so we figured Natalie must be something special," she smiled across at Natalie.

Will glanced up at Natalie. They hadn't exactly defined what they were to each other yet. "Yes," he said, taking a breath, "she is special to me."

[Natalie Blake]

Will's responsive grin to her words almost made Natalie want to laugh, and she only resisted by biting her lower lip. She'd meant what she said, and she had no intentions of taking it back. All the same, it seemed to give Will a certain sense of gratification, and that amused her slightly. "You sound almost surprised," she teased, throwing him another smirk, "Surely you're used to women fawning over you?"

At his next comment she just smiled slyly and turned away, giggling a little and instantly hating herself for it. God, what was she, seven? Maybe Will was right when he said that she hadn't grown up. She quickly tried to cover it up as a cough, hoping he wouldn't catch the slight pinkish tinge to her cheeks now that she'd rightfully embarrassed herself.

Natalie arched an eyebrow dubiously when Charlie claimed not to be tired, then smiled with the others when she yawned. The little girl then settled in comfortably on Will's lap and nodded off to join her sister in dreamland. Natalie watched Charlie's peaceful face for a moment, noting that she had her mother's nose and jaw. As she glanced up to look at Joe to see what his daughter might have inherited from him, she realized that both he and Fiona looked fit to burst with curiosity.

Will told them that they could ask, in his own way, and Fiona was the one who really phrased the question, giving Natalie a smile. She returned it without preamble, not afraid to admit that she cared for Will, but wondering at the same what exactly their relationship status was at. Attraction, most definitely, and they were comfortable around one another, but love?

They'd discussed love during that one chat they'd had down in engineering in the early hours of the morning, and both sides had agreed that they didn't jump in to things. She stood by that. While she cared for him, she wasn't sure if it was too soon to be called love or not. Clearly Will thought along the same lines, because he admitted that she was special to him. A small smile played across her lips.

"Well I wouldn't go through the trouble of helping set something like this up for just anyone, I can tell you that," Natalie announced, letting the smile take full form and throwing it at Will. "He's pretty special to me, too."

[William Blake]

Will wouldn't call it fawning exactly, but he certainly attracted them. He smirked back. It didn't really matter now, Natalie was the only woman that he was interested in. And he certainly made that clear in talking to Joe and Fi now. Both of them looked at each other, as if asking each other whether this was really happening, that Will had found just one person that he seemed to be... dare they think it? Falling in love with?

Will was definitely glad to hear those words come out of Natalie's mouth. He'd already had inklings of course, you didn't spend this much time with someone who you didn't like considerably, but having it confirmed out loud was nice, really nice. He chuckled at what Natale said, "well then, I'm honoured," he said, grinning at her.

Joe and Fi proceeded to question them about all the cliched stuff like how they had met, and they explained about Shore Leave, and the boat, and so on and so forth. It was clear to see how much Fi was enjoying the story, who knew Will could be so romantic, huh? Obviously, he was sweet with the kids, so they saw that much, but him in an actual relationship? It was odd, a good odd of course, Natalie seemed good for him.

Eventually though, they had to get the girls home. Jane, who slept like a rock, was still completely out of it. Will decided to let her keep the teddy seeing as she was gripping it so tightly. It also saved him the trouble of explaining where he'd got a teddy from - as masculine as it was. Charlie stirred when Will moved though. "Aww, we're leaving?" Will promised to visit more often when they were back on Earth - he missed the girls a lot - and Charlie hugged him tightly, almost like she didn't want to let go. Then, when she let go of Will, she went over and hugged Natalie too. "Thank you for the party."

[Natalie Blake]

Joe and Fiona seemed to be having fun, throwing questions at Will and Natalie and soaking in every word of their answers, grinning broadly all the while. They really and truly seemed to be glad that the two of them had found one another, and that made Natalie smile a little in return. She could see herself getting to really quite like the both of them--and the girls, of course, but she'd already developed a soft spot for them.

After a couple of hours, it was far passed time for them to getting the girls home and into bed. Will didn't seem to mind that Janey wouldn't release the teddy from her vice-like grip, and Natalie couldn't really blame him, though it amused her all the same. After giving Will one last, tight hug Charlie let go of him and--much to Natalie's astonishment--turned to hug her.

"You're welcome, sweetie," she laughed kindly, hugging the little girl back before handing her off to her parents. Together she and Will bid his friends farewell, and as she watched them go Natalie made a mental-note to filch their numbers from Will's phone later. Pushing the thought aside and turning to the man beside her, she smiled as she said yet again, "Happy birthday, Will."