Belladonna's birthday

A/N This is for the Baron Tier shorts

The forgotten birthday. That was what Belladonna would have preferred to call it. A birthday that never was. A day and night rolled into one that was cast aside like any other day. While the vampire loved celebration, she never did like it much when it was focused on her. I was never quite sure if it was the pageantry of it all, or if she simply found the entire thing tedious in a different way. But every time I had asked her when her birthday was, she gave a different answer. At first, it was no answer. Changing the subject all too quickly before moving on to something else. Then, it was random days. One year, she had said it was yesterday and to just try again next year, only to confess nearly nine full moons later that she had been lying. It was nearly impossible to get her birthday down.

So I went over her head and went to Reese.

It took the man a while. He was not one to like to help me at all but he had a way about him. And the way in which he adored Belladonna was unrivaled. So when I explained to him what I wanted to do, he made it his mission to find her birthday. And not only did he find me her birthday, but it was her actual birthday. Her human birthday.

That evening, as I walked with Belladonna through the converted cathedral, I watched as she doused candles and put away a few wayward books. She was speaking about some individual who had come to her that day, petitioning the right to steal the third floor of a building unit because he had been the vampires blood bag for longer than their contract said. We climbed the stairs, up to her office quarters, as she described in great detail how the man had somehow gotten roped into signing a blood contract for his own blood and was willing to break the contract with ever more blood. None of it really made any sense.

“I am so sick and tired of these frivolities,” she told me, coming to her office landing. “I dearly miss the days when vampires just ripped the throats out of anything warm. Now we are political and…”

She trailed off.

Inside her office, I had lit every candle I could find. The light in the room was flickering and beautiful, the closest I could get her to sun. There, in the middle of the room, a large table had been set, a decanter of blood in the middle, along with the deep, purple roses she had always admired.

“Happy birthday,” I told her.

She turned, looking at me over her shoulder, clearly a bit confused. I could see her counting something in her head and when it dawned on her what today really was, she glared. “How did you find out?”

“I will never trade my secrets.”

She rolled her eyes. “Reese. I knew he was fishing for something. I just didn’t think the two of you would team up.” With the snap of her heels, she walked further into the room, practically throwing herself into the velvet wing back chair. The hem of her skirt slid deliciously up her thigh and when I finally pulled my gaze towards her eyes, she was looking at me expectantly. “Well?” she asked. “I haven’t celebrated a birthday in a time but I do believe it requires presents.”

I walked towards her then, and while keeping eye contact, I fished a few boxes out from under the table. All of them were wrapped in black silk. “I would get you books but I think you may have all of them.”

“You can never have too many books.”

“Good, because these are books.”

A thin smile came over her as she found it slightly amusing. And, just like I knew she would, she couldn’t keep her hands off the beautifully wrapped tomes. Reaching out, she snatched one, unwrapping it, her fingers eager as they ripped off the paper. She froze, her red nails hovering above the title.

The Life and Perambulation of a Mouse

“Do you know it?” I asked. “It’s from the 18th century. The man at the book store said that is around the correct time period for where you would have hailed from.”

Belladonna’s smile grew slightly watery. “I read it,” she said. “When I was about eight. I haven’t thought of this book in years.” Looking up at me, she tipped her head to the side, the light of the candles catching her just right to make her skin look flush. She nearly looked human. “I hate my name day,” she said quietly. “But, this… this might actually be worth it.”

Scooting closer to her, I poured her a glass of blood, reaching out to take off her shoes for her and begin massaging her feet. She leaned back in her chair, flipping through the book, her fingers dancing lovingly over the pages. 

“It’s not a good book,” she laughed. “Not by today’s standards at least. But I loved it. You follow a mouse around to different houses as it ease drops in on various conversations. The mouse’s name was Nimble. I named the church mice at my fathers parish after him.”

I dug my thumb into the arch of her feet, watching as her toes flexed. “So you enjoyed this book.”

“Very much so. I have a thing for mice, actually.”

“Oh?”

“I think they’re adorable. Little, defenseless creatures. But they are quick. Savvy. And cause so much chaos. They might be one of my favorite ‘normal’ creatures.”

“Normal.”

“Normal from my world, that is.” Setting the book aside, she looked at me. “You did good, dear heart. I have shoved name days off for years because it seemed pretentious. A way for others to do something that made me beholden to them. No one has ever tried to celebrate my human day of birth, however. I’m impressed. And slightly vexed.”

I liked it when Bella was slightly vexed. It worked well in my favor when she was. “Whatever shall I do?” I teased.

“Keep rubbing my feet for one.” She grabbed at her wine, taking a sip and leaning her head back. “Also, I now expect this of you every year. Along with other books from my childhood. Think you can live up to the challenge.”

Running my hand up her thigh, I made sure to rub the knots out that I felt. Then, leaning down, I placed a kiss on her bent knee, looking at her through the thick of my lashes. “For you? Definitely.”