Together

A Gift For His Girl

If I have any German speakers out there who get why I happen to find this title hilarious, can you please give me a pity laugh? (If you don't get it, google what the German word "Gift" is.) anywhooo, sorry, I'm dorky.... this one's really a filler but I hope you enjoy anyway. Comment/vote xxx
-ab

————————————-

March 11, 2026

Patrick

After I get off of work on the Wednesday before Harper's birthday, I head to the hospital instead of going home. Of course, Harper is already at the Piccadilly Theatre for her two shows today, so she won't know that I'm going to help her dad pick out a birthday present for her. We are going to pick something out online, and place the order, then I'm going to go pick it up at the store and wrap it up. He's going to give it to her after her matinee on Saturday.

Cooper wants to make it a very special present, as he knows that this is going to be the last birthday that he's here for, unless some sort of medical miracle occurs. It makes me sad to think that, as he is such a sweet man, but I know that we both have to be realistic. I'm glad that he was the one who brought it up in the first place, so that I didn't have to.

At the hospital, I walk down the long, tiled hallway, to Cooper's room in the cancer care unit. I have my laptop in my bag so that Cooper and I can find the perfect present for his daughter, my wife.

"Hi," I say to him, forcing a smile as I walk into his room. "How are you doing today?"

"As good as usual," Cooper shrugs. "How about you?"

"Fine," I reply. "Ready to find Harper a birthday present?"

"I suppose," he sighs. "I don't know what to get her. It has to be just perfect."

"Whatever you pick out, she will love and cherish it, because you picked it out for her," I assure him.

"Thanks," he tells me. "I was thinking that we could play it safe and go for a piece of jewellery..."

"That sounds good to me," I say. "I got her a pair of earrings, so you might want to stay away from that."

"She likes necklaces," he tells me. "And bracelets."

"Okay, let's look at those then," I reply. I give it a web search, and then, start to filter through the different stores in London that sell jewellery. There are only a few with which I would be able to place an order now, and go pick it up in half an hour. That's an important factor, becuase we really need to ensure that it is here by Saturday.

After looking at our different options for about half an hour, via the various websites, Cooper has a few different pieces picked out.

"Which one do you think that she would like best?" he asks me. "You know her just as well as I do."

"I'm not sure," I admit. "I think she would love any of them, really."

"Does she have anything like any of them?"

I look at the choices. "I'm pretty sure that I've seen her wearing a birthstone necklace like that before, but I'm not entirely positive."

"Alright. That's my least favourite out of them anyway, I think. I'll get rid of that option."

That leaves us with only three choices, all of which are quite unique. A gold bracelet with six little flowers on the chain, a silver necklace with a 'sailor's antique coin' on it, and a gold and silver daisy on the chain.

"You know what," I remark, "she has an edelweiss necklace that looks a little bit like the daisy one."

"I was wondering if she might," he remarks. "She's always loved edelweiss. I think she gets one of those necklaces every time that she's in Salzburg, and she's been a handful of times."

"Yeah, I've noticed that they tarnish up pretty easily."

"They're cheap, but she adores them," Cooper nods.

"I think I'm going to take her back to Salzburg when she's done with Anastasia. She keeps talking about wanting to go back."

"She would love that," he confirms. "She's a little traveler, that girl."

I nod, knowing that he's right.

"Well, I suppose that leaves us with two options. The ship or the flower bracelet."

"Hm," I say. "Do either of them have any sort of significance?"

"I don't really think so. They just both look like something she's like."

"Okay... what about this," I suggest. "We get both and I can give one to her now, and save one for Christmas?"

"That might be good," he tells me. "They're both a bit pricey, but I guess it's worth a splurge, considering the circumstance."

I give a sad smile. "Shall I order them both, then?"

"Yeah. Give her the necklace now, I guess, and the bracelet for Christmas."

"Problem solved," I smile, turning to my computer screen and placing the order. Thankfully, both jewellery pieces are from the same store, which is over by the Shard in the middle of London. "I'd best be on my way to pick those up now, I guess."

"Probably," he tells me. "Thank you so much, Patrick."

"Not a problem," I tell him. "I'll see you on Saturday for the show, then?"

"Yep," he replies.

"Awesome. Harper will probably come by before then, but I'm pretty busy with work and all-"

"Understood," Cooper tells me. "Bye, Patrick."

"Bye," I smile at him, gathering my things and walking out of his room.

As awful as it sounds, I always breathe a sigh of relief as soon as I walk out of a hospital into the fresh air. The atmosphere of anxiety and sadness, combined with all of the germs in a hospital, is just a lot for me to handle.

I take the tube over to the store and pick up my recently placed order, then stop at Taylor's to check on the cats before heading back to the flat. I stash away the pieces of jewellery, then watch some telly for a little bit, until Harper makes it back from her show.

"Hey love," she says to me. "How was your evening?"

"It was fine," I state ."Pretty uneventful."

Though it's a slight lie, I can't have her knowing that I was running about London organizing her birthday presents.

"That's good every now and then, hm?" she says. "Well, I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed. You coming?"

"Of course," I tell her, flicking off the telly and following her to our room, where we prepare ourselves for bed.

Every night when we cuddle in bed, I think about how much I love her, and tonight, I also can't help but hope that she has a really amazing birthday. She deserves it, so much.