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Nine months had passed since the incident and as usual, it just became another topic they didn’t talk about. Lilly had overall become quieter and appeared in the pool to control their body less and less.

There were also some other issues. Jen and George arrived home that day to find Anna on the floor, shaking. Which put them in full panic mode and made them keep a more watchful eye on Anna. They were scared something bad might happen again, the doctors said she was fine, but they didn’t want to come home and find Anna dead cause they couldn’t get her help in time.

They might've been a bit over-worried. Especially in the three’s minds, but there was nothing they could do, besides to stay healthy and not cause any more distress.

Now, however, it was the second month of the new summer. This meant a few things. Mainly the year was nearly over and Anna was about to be one year older.

They weren’t told this explicitly by Anna’s parents–they only knew that they were five. But their resident body expert Red, made an educated guess on how long the body had been alive for.

[That’s a weird talent.] (White)

[Look I may not have gotten a proper education, but I’ve spent enough time examining my own and other people’s bodies to have a decent understanding of them.] (Red)

They still found time for training, but it was harder than they would’ve liked. Especially since two of them wanted to practise their healing abilities which required getting injured, which was basically impossible to do in their current situation.

Red was getting a little itchy, with not being able to test out her abilities on something worthwhile, but she understood that being a normal kid had some restrictions.

[That was a good training session.] Red stretched on the bed.

“Anna dinner time!”

“Coming!” Anna yelled back, and she slowly walked out of her room.

Suddenly, the only sound was her own footsteps, then once she opened the door to the kitchen.

“Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday!”

Anna’s eyes widened.

[What….] (White)

[Huh…] (Red)

[...] (Lilly)

Jen and George were standing behind the table waving with a poorly made paper sign saying ‘Happy Birthday Annas’. The paper was slightly torn at the sides which made the ‘H’ and ‘a’ hard to read, but the message was clearly put across.

“Come over!” Jen gestured.

And Anna unconsciously walked towards them and sat in the one chair laid out for her, on the opposite side of the table. Three large plates of meat and veggies were placed to the side.

Jen brought a chair over for herself and placed a second one on the right side of Anna.

George got up and pulled out from the kitchen cabinet a cloth item.

“We couldn’t get you much.” Said Jen.

George put the item in front of Anna and walked behind her to sit down.

“What do I do…?” Anna sat there still.

Jen smiled, “Go on, open it.”

Anna unfolded the cloth, which was itself a brown jumper, and hidden within the fold was a small wooden pendant with a string.

“I made the jumper, you probably won’t be using it much until next year though.” Jen scratched her head and gave a small embarrassed chuckle.

George coughed, “I made the pendant… it’s nothing special… but I hope you like…”

It didn’t have any details engraved. It was a simple wooden circle with a small hole for a string to pass through.

“Thank you…” Anna replied.

[Huh…. What do we do…] (Red)

[I’m not… sure…] (White)

White and Red were a little uncomfortable for different but slightly similar reasons.

Lilly briefly spoke trying to not show much emotion, [On a birthday, hugging one’s parents is a common sign of thanks.]

[Yeah…] (White)

Anna picked up the pendant and put it around her neck, then she turned to Jen and gave her a hug.

A small tear dropped from Jen’s eye, “Thanks, dear.”

As Anna was about to let go to hug George, he had come over instead to join them in for a group hug.

“Let me.” He embraced his wife and daughter warmly.

Jen said, “Thank you for being born Anna.”

George added, “We love you so very much.”

“...I…” Tears began to drip from Anna’s eyes. She didn’t finish her sentence and instead tightened her own hug on her parents.

[...] (Lilly)

“Err…..” Jen groaned on the table. It was a lovely birthday, and it had made her year watching Anna’s eyes light up but she realised she had a chance and she missed it.

George asked, “Didn’t you say you would give it two years?” Plopping a pillow in front of her. It was past twelve at night and they should’ve been asleep, but they ended up staying up talking about their favourite Anna moments of the year… and now they were too scared to wake Anna up by walking into their own room.

“I did… but….. IT'S TOO LONG!” Her scream was muffled by the pillow she yelled into. “I possibly have three lovely kids to spoil, but I stayed quiet…”

“So do you want to wait until next year?”

“NO…. but argh… what do I do…” Jen turned her head out of the pillow.

“The classic sin of waiting too long.”

Jen praised, “When did you get so philosophical?”

“After I married a wife who loved to read stories and describe their plots to others.”

“Aww, what a kind young man you are.”

“I’m not that young.”

“Well, you’re still as handsome as the day I met you.”

“So I look like a kid?”

They both quietly laughed for a moment.

Then George asked, “Do you have any plans about the situation, cause I for sure don’t.”

Jen cringed, “I… was hoping they would come forward… I mean… we’ve read three books now that had that somewhere in its plot.”

“Out of how many books?”

“...At least a hundred?”

George congratulated Jen, “Well at least she has inherited your love of books.”

Jen sighed and groaned, “...Thanks…”