In The Rough

Chapter 6: Birthday Joys

John chuckles and gently lifts Branch out of his hair, sitting up and laying the boy back down in the nest. He cuddles under a blanket as John Dory stands up and stretches. His blue caterpillar plushie is held tightly in his little paws and his tail twitches in his sleep, making John squeal internally. He's so cute! My baby!

Being extra quiet, John sets up a few fairy lights around their shelter and a few colorful streamers as decoration. He doesn't have any balloons but he has a cupcake he'd made before they left and a wrapped gift. John sets them both on a short mushroom like a table.

He kneels down beside Branch and gently shakes him, waking him up slowly. "Hey buddy. Good morning," John whispers as Branch yawns and sits up, rubbing his eyes with his fists. "Happy birthday, Branch."

Branch perks up and gasps seeing the lights and streamers. He jumps up and hugs John, bouncing excitedly. "Thank you, Dory!"

John hugs him back. "You're so welcome buddy," he says, kissing his forehead. "Gonna let me have those back today?"

Branch giggles and shakes his head. "Nuh uh. I wanna keep 'em!"

John ruffles his hair. "Well, okay. I guess I'll just keep these to myself then," he says, grabbing the present and cupcake.

Branch gasps. "No! Wait," he rushes, pulling off the goggles and almost tripping on the blankets. John pretends to go to take a bite and Branch tackles him, hanging onto his arm. "Please, Dory!" He gives John puppy eyes again and the older troll instantly melts.

"Calm down, B," he says, setting Branch down and holding out the cupcake. "Fluffleberry for the birthday boy."

"Yay!" Branch takes it and hugs John's leg. "Thank you, JD!" His tail is wagging excitedly behind him as John hops around with Branch still clinging to him.

"You're welcome, you little monkey, now lemme go," John laughs, picking Branch up by the back of his shirt, the boy kicking his feet as he holds onto his treat. John then deposits him in the nest and joins him, watching contentedly as Branch munches on his cupcake. He offers little pieces to John here and there, which he happily takes.

After Branch finishes, he makes grabby hands at the blue wrapped gift next to John. John rolls his eyes and hands it to him, snickering as the kid tears into it. Opening the box, he gasps.

He pulls out a pair of goggles, closer to his size and white instead of green. The lenses are the same pink color as John's which makes Branch run a finger over them in wonder. He immediately puts them on his head, grinning as they fit almost perfectly. John helps him adjust them the slightest bit and then he tackles John in another hug. "Thank you, Dory. I love them," he says, snuggling into JD's shoulder.

John hugs him back. "You're welcome buddy. I'm glad you like them, I figured since you like mine so much you'd like to have your own. And they're big enough for you to grow into them later." He pulls back and smiles. "Not to mention, I know you're really looking forward to the bunker and everything so I bet you'll need a good set of goggles to help with that."

Branch smiles widely. "Totally! I can use them when I build stuff too. And I can look like you! Awesome!" John blinks back tears as Branch's colors flair as he says that. He pulls the boy into a hug, squeezing him as Branch giggles and hugs him back.

John pulls back after a minute, fixing Branch's new goggles on his head with a chuckle. "Do you wanna do anything special today? It's your day, B, you get to pick what we do."

Branch thinks for a second and then blushes. "Do you think we could go see Mister Peppy and Poppy? I wanna play with her," he says quietly.

John snickers at him. "I don't see why not. Let's go see if they're busy." John stands up and picks Branch up by his armpits, swinging him around and making him laugh before holding him on his hip. "To the village!" John says, marching out of their shelter as Branch giggles.