𝘼𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙢 𝙀𝙩 𝘼𝙙 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙢 // P. Ballard

Ch 9

   A/N: I hate a/n's but c'est la vie. Anyways, Peter has no canon birthday so I'm just making one up 😛

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   It's been nine years since I've been brought to the lab, meaning I am now the big one-eight. It just so happens to be my birthday today. Peter's birthday had already passed, his was in December of last year. And now that I'm an actual adult, I am no longer a Junior Orderly. I am an official Orderly. Along with it, I've been given more media to explore and utilize.

   Dr Brenner had awoken me with my birthday present. My celebratory gifts were a grand total of 10 classic literature novels and 10 records of the most popular musical albums outside of the lab now, (and a record player for them.) Well, 9 popular musical albums. One of them was a collection classical music that he said 'encouraged mental stimulation and growth.'

I'd started reading a random one from the selection and so far it hasn't been all that bad. It's called The Pride And The Prejudiced by Jane Austen.

   All such aside, things had been going rather well around the lab. 005 and 006 had been progressing in their abilities more and quit teasing me about Peter so much. Suspicious, definitely. But maybe they've just started maturing. Or they've found a new muse to tease. Hopefully not, that could go sideways.

   But, then again, so were all of our current kids. 002 was exceptionally strong. He was kind of menacing at times, but he was good at heart. He just wanted to be the best version of himself.

   And don't even get me started on Peter. After that night, we did it again the next. And then again the next after that. Every single night we would be back at it (aside from days I'd had my period, of course.)

   We kept experimenting and keeping things... fresh I guess one could say. Zesty. If there was a different position, we'd done it. If there was a new technique, we'd tried it. We left no stone unturned.

   And it was amazing.

   Sure we'd almost been caught a couple of times, but other than those few near misses; nobody suspected a thing. We had kept our little relationship perfectly secret.

   And we'd keep up this little secrecy bit up for months.

Anyways, back to today. Birthday time.

As I rubbed the grogginess from my eyes awaiting the children to finish entering the rainbow room, murmuring caught my attention elsewhere. Over in the right corner, Peter was crouched down with all of the currently arrived kids. He was explaining something to them. A game plan, maybe?

After a few more words of explanation, his eyes flicked up to mine. He smiled warmly as all of the kids turned to face me.

"Happy birthday to you," they all began to sing in unison. I couldn't help but feel a smile creep across my face. "Happy birthday to you!"

"Happy birthday dear Y/N," they continued as Peter and the other orderly on guard joined in. "Happy birthday to you!" They all clapped and cheered after finishing the little thing. I thanked them all, smile still blaringly evident across my face.

"Y/N! Y/N," 004 chimed. "Did you know that you get a cake today!" She exclaimed. I laughed. How did she even know what a cake is?

"Yes, yes I did know that! How about, if you all try your best to do better today in the lesson than you have before, I'll give you all a piece. What do you say?" I suggested. They all jumped and cheered at that. I smiled. How cute.

Before I could say anything else, I felt a presence creeping up behind me. Peter, of course. His hands, instead of snaking around my waist as they typically would, settled on my shoulders to avoid suspension.