”Thank me when I’ve been successful.”

Lee laughed. That was a valid point when dealing with her younger sister.

Lee had asked if there was anything that Tarin would have rather had happen or do on his birthday, and while his answer, his confirmation again that it had already been just about a perfect day, did make Lee smile it definitely did not give her any ideas on what she could do to make up for not planning anything for his birthday.

Leaning in, Lee gave Tarin another kiss, this one lingering longer than the previous one had. ”So what I'm hearing is that next year I don't plan anything again and we just go for a run and watch baseball right here?”

This kiss was longer, and Tarin tightened his arms around Lee a bit more. All things considered, this was shaping up to be a real nice night too.

As for next year, Tarin listened to the things that Lee listed off and nodded enthusiastically.

”That’s basically all of my favorite things.” he said with a smile. ”Any chance you can get a winning record in there too?” Tarin added, since he was supposed to be asking for things.

It wasn’t exactly awkward to be talking about things for his birthday, but Tarin was just completely unsure what he would ask for beyond spending time with Lee, even though that was pretty much what he wanted to do all the time.

”What can I say, I guess I’m pretty easy to please.” he said.

”What about you though? If you don’t want a party or anything like that, what do you want?”

Though that did sound like a great day to have with Tarin, as the last one had been, it was too ordinary for a birthday. They already ran most days, and when there weren’t other plans over the weekend, they tended to sit and watch baseball right here anyway.

No, she was going to have to do something more for his birthday next year. Lee just wasn’t sure what yet.

”A winning record?” Lee asked, the teasing evident in both her smile and voice. ”Now that may be asking for too much, Tarin. It’s always possible that it might happen, but I doubt even my ability to make something like that come about.”

But then Tarin went and turned the question around from what she didn’t want to happen into what did she wanted for her birthday. Because there wasn’t anything that Lee needed, there really wasn’t even anything that she wanted that she didn’t already have or could do.

As Lee sat looking at Tarin in thought, her head tilted to the side slightly as her lip slowly moved between her teeth. Tarin was going to want a real answer, and though simply staying at home with him all day, not seeing another person, sounded amazing, they were likely already going to be spending more time inside than they currently did.

And that didn’t exactly make for a very special, different from everyday, day.

But not seeing other people…A smile grew on Lee’s face and her lip slid free. ”Quiet,” she whispered as she looked at Tarin. ”And stars.”

It seemed that they had found the one thing that Lee was potentially incapable of.

”Well, I guess I’ll just have to hope then.” he said.

Lee was, to her credit, much more thoughtful than Tarin had been when he turned the question back on her. He could tell because she was biting her lip while she thought and she only did that when she was really thinking about something, or when she wanted to make sure he was incapable of thinking about anything.

It kind of made Tarin feel bad that he’d phoned it in so much when she’d asked him what he wanted. Maybe he’d have to figure something else out.

When Lee finally answered, it was a very very simple answer, but something that was deceptively difficult to procure in New York City. In December, even more so. Still…

”Quiet and stars.” Tarin repeated, nodding thoughtfully. ”That would make it hard for Rachel to throw a party.” he said, ideas already circulating idly. Maybe this whole birthday thing wasn’t so bad after all.

Lee nodded when Tarin repeated her requests of quiet and stars. The request, especially as she had stated it, sounded simple.

But not only was this a difficult thing to come up with being in New York City, the level of quiet that Lee would really like was not exactly feasible for her on her own.

Which is exactly why it would be so nice.

”I guess we still have all evening ahead of us, don’t we?” Lee asked as she leaned her forehead against Tarin’s. ”Should we find something on TV, continue this, or did you have another idea?”

Tarin was honestly glad that he knew what Lee wanted this far in advance. It was going to take some planning, he’d also need to find a few things out to make sure that he made the right choices. Yes, planning time was definitely a boon in this situation.

Lee pointed out that they had a whole evening in front of them, and Tarin grinned as she leaned her forehead against his.

”If you think for a second that I’d rather watch TV than this, you don’t know me at all.” Tarin said, taking his turn to lean in for a kiss. ”Thanks for caring about my birthday..” he said, ”Though I can’t decide whether or not I’m offended you thought I was that much older.”

”I think I know you at least a bit,” Lee said as she smiled and returned Tarin’s kiss. ”But I thought that I should at least lay out some options instead of just assuming.”

But then Tarin was talking about how he wasn’t sure whether he should be offended that she’d thought he was that much older and Lee pulled back slightly looking sheepish. ”Honestly, I don’t think I’ve actually thought about how old you are, or aren’t, until today. And it’s not like I thought you were that much older, I just…”

Lee frowned, her eyes dropping for a moment before looking back at Tarin. ”I assumed without thinking that you would have been born on the same day even if everything else after might have been different. I’m sorry.”

”Pretty safe to assume on this one…” Tarin said with a smile, not that he minded options, but it was difficult for Tarin to think of something he’d choose over exactly what he was doing.

Lee was explaining herself now and Tarin chuckled and shook his head, ”It was just teasing.” he said when she’d finished, but was thoughtful for a moment, ”What date?” he asked, ”My brother James was out of high school when I was in middle school.”

Tarin didn’t know much about genetics, or how any of it worked, but maybe things had gotten mixed up in a different way? It really didn’t matter, definitely not when they were sitting like this.

”Regardless…you don’t need to be sorry. Like I said earlier, of all the things to assume, this was probably the most harmless.”

Tarin may have said he was teasing, but Lee also knew how frustrated he had gotten when people, particularly Robert, had assumed things about him, about what he was like because they had known her ex-husband.

But apparently Tarin's brother James was quite a bit older than him, having already been out of high school when he was in middle school. And Tarin was actually asking for the date.

”March 14th ‘77,” Lee replied. Not that Lee thought it really mattered much; if the dates of birth for each of them was that far off…

James Brooks couldn't have the same date of birth as Kevin’s father. Even if Tarin had said that Kevin resembled James

Not that it would matter. The Rift was closed, she'd never met the man. And even if somehow she did in the future it wouldn't matter since she'd already fa- had very strong feelings for Tarin.

”Well, maybe I don't need to be sorry, but I do feel bad that I did that. Won't happen again,” she said, leaning in to give Tarin a kiss as she finished speaking.

Tarin hadn’t really thought that James would have the same birthday as the Tarin on this side of the rift…and he didn’t. It had been an interesting fleeting thought though.

It didn’t matter though, Tarin didn’t even know what had become of either of his brothers and it wasn’t like he was going to find out any time soon.

Lee insisted that she wouldn’t make the same mistake again and Tarin kind of felt bad that he’d made her feel bad when he’d just been trying to mess around. Still, she didn’t seem too upset when she kissed him, and Tarin decided that the best decision at this point was to just let it go. Besides, there were far better things to devote time and energy to than something as trivial as Lee assuming when his birthday was.

After all, that mistake had led to their previous conversation and if Tarin knew one thing, it was the fact that Lee was going to have a great birthday when December rolled around.