They had missed her birthday because of everything that had happened in Romania. Not that that was really all that important to Lee, but because of that, they had also missed Christmas and their first anniversary.

They were most definitely not going to miss Tarin's birthday, Lee just wasn't going to let that happen.

But the problem was figuring out what to do for his birthday. Lee didn't think that either of them would be up for going out somewhere that would be crowded. But Lee didn't want them to end up simply staying at home; how could she make the day special when they were simply doing what they did every day?

And that's when Lee got an idea, and so Lee got on the phone and invited Maya and Sebastian, as well as Shin, out to dinner. But she didn't tell Tarin. It was at least something good she could surprise him with for his birthday that wouldn't be too much.

So on Tarin's birthday, Lee had Tarin dress up, not telling him that they were meeting people, and herself put on a red and black dress, and took him to steakhouse for dinner.

Once they made their way to the restaurant, they were led to a table set for five. "Happy birthday," Lee said softly, giving Tarin a light kiss before sitting down at the table. She knew the questions were going to come, she just hoped that their company would arrive soon.

Maya didn't know Tarin. She had stuffed his bleeding body into a Taxi, been suspected of stealing by his wife, Maya had even handed a million dollar check over to Lee. They had fought side-by-side in the KP incident, been incarcerated together in Romania, Lee and Tarin both worked with Sebastian and, heck, Maya even heard they were in the American internment camps.

Having done all of that, she still hadn't ever actually, properly met Tarin. They should have known each other, but somehow didn't yet.

These were Sebastian's friends and co-workers. That was how Maya got invited. By proxy. The message from Lee via Sebastian was to dress nice. It was an occasion, after all. A birthday surprise.

Maya made sure Jude was fine staying with Pluto and that Pluto was fine babysitting. Going out was a production these days! Sebastian even brought out the car.

A nervous flick of the hand smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles in her blue dress and bolero. Blue like Sebastian's eyes. She'd bought the dress for work, but hopefully it would be okay for a birthday function with work friends. Also, hopefully she wouldn't spill anything on it.

"We're here!" Hand in hand was the most comfortable way to arrive in maya's opinion, but she had to let go long enough to shake with Tarin and Lee while they took their seats across from the other married couple. "I'm Maya, we met before sort of. Glad to see you're out of the Mansion Infirmary, Tarin." Maya was excited to see Shin again as well. Excepting their brief dead body haul in the camps, these last few months had been far too Shin-free.

Tarin hummed at his reflection in the mirror as he got ready to go out with Lee, feeling more content than he could remember feeling in a long time. They’d dealt with all the drama from Romania…well for the most part…and it seemed like all of that was in the past. They weren’t going to dwell anymore. They were going to move on with their lives…and even start new ones in a manner of speaking. It had taken a lot…being at death’s door and taking a step inside for Lee to decide that kids were something she wanted, but she’d decided …and they were…progressing. Tarin grinned at that. Progression was good but not what was on the order for the night. At least not this early. He and Lee were going out…for his birthday.

In another man, turning 34 years old with a wife so much younger might have been a sore point, or a point of pride…but to Tarin, it really was just another day. Before coming to New York, he’d spent so many birthdays on his own that celebrating them just didn’t come naturally. He and Lee were shooting for normalcy now, their own brand of normal, and that meant regularly celebrating
holidays. At least when one or both of them wasn’t indisposed or in a concentration camp.

His hair was finally messed to standards that Lee probably couldn’t even complain about and the pinstriped vest he’d pulled on over his black t-shirt matched the black pants he’d pulled out of the back of the closet. They were going to a nice place for dinner, after all. There was no way a jacket would be added to the ensemble, but Tarin figured he’d put out enough effort. At least until he saw Lee. It never ceased to amaze Tarin how Lee could make him feel underdressed even if she was wearing something as simple as sweat pants. Tonight, she definitely wasn’t wearing sweat pants, and despite the fact that Tarin suddenly decided that staying in on his birthday was a great idea, Lee had him out the door in a few minutes and to the restaurant in a few more.

The hostess guided them to a table, and Tarin nearly told the poor girl that she’d made some kind of mistake. There were several chairs here that were going to be unused, and this was definitely the kind of place where seating was too sought after to assume they were just filling seats. A thought struck Tarin and he shot Lee a slightly accusing glance after returning her kiss and sitting down, ”Your parents aren’t meeting us here, are they?” he asked, then almost immediately put the notion aside. Lee hadn’t going to any extreme lengths to make sure he looked as out of the ordinary as possible. The likelihood of her parents showing up was low. But then wha….

Realization dawned and Tarin grinned at Lee as Sebastian and his wife approached the table. Tarin had heard that he’d met Maya once, and they’d seen each other on several different occasions. Formal introductions had never occurred though, Tarin reached out and shook the lovely woman’s hand, rising slightly from his seat, to greet his friend as well, ”I can’t tell you how glad I am to be out of there too.” he said, ”For a while that place stayed busy just putting pieces of me back together. Hello Sebastian, how’s things?” he added, turning to his friend.

They all sat, and Tarin grabbed Lee’s hand squeezing slightly and grinning at her. What a neat surprise, and definitely one he hadn’t been expecting. Tarin thought for a moment and realized that he hadn’t had a real birthday party since he was sixteen years old. ”Thanks for coming.”

Lee had said nice. Nice was a very vague descriptor for what to wear. It wasn't indecision that racked Shin, per se... more, too many choices. He could wear the white tuxedo, he could wear the black tuxedo, he could wear a slick black suit with nice shoes and a tie... But the tuxes felt too formal, and the suit felt like something to wear for a wake. If it had been a wedding, he may have worn his red pants, shiny boots, white shirt, black vest, and light blue jacket. Maybe, he would have popped the collar out and looked real cool? Maybe, he'd just wear a silk shirt, and call himself Slick McGee? Shin sighed as he eyed all the different choices spread out before him on his bed.

"Too much good stuff."

Tarin probably wasn't expecting anything too fancy. Shin slapped his face, and let his hand roam up to comb his hair. He held the back of his neck, and swung his eyes to face the closet door. That's when he saw it, the outfit he'd wear that night. A nice red pleather jacket hung in his closet. Shin had forgotten when he'd gotten the collar-poofingly-great thing. He picked out a fashionable white shirt with little monster head designs, and a red and navy-striped tie. Shin also picked out a pair of dark blue jeans to go with the outfit, and a belt with a big buckle for the finishing touch. He looked in the mirror. He looked stylish. Indecision racked his mind no more.

And so, Shin arrived at the steakhouse, just in time to catch sight of Ghost and Sebastian's arrival. He popped over to the table without comment or preamble, and sat down. A nod to Sebastian, a nod to Lee. Shin swung a smile to Ghost. Then, he returned his focus to the birthday boy.

"Congratulations," He smiled vaguely.

((OOC: Vague set up for the blab? Blab now, or later?))

Sebastian didn't have too much difficulty choosing an outfit for Tarin's special occasion, mostly because he simply did not own very many outfits. It was a dressy affair, but not dressy enough for a tuxedo. It wasn't quite the type of event that one wore a kilt for, even if it was a dressy kilt, so that left one of two suits tan or charcoal grey. Both were somewhat old fashioned, even to Sebastian's outdated sense of style, but either would still work.

He donned the grey apparel and added a dark red bow tie, which he deftly tied without even needing to watch himself in a mirror. He'd have to teach Jude how to tie a tie one of these days... unless he already knew. It was definitely different starting with a child that was already half grown and still somewhat a stranger to him. He'd have to trust that everything would start feeling more normal soon, just like he had to trust that Pluto and Jude wouldn't burn down the clinic while he and Maya were out at dinner.

A short car ride later and they had arrived at the designated restaurant: a steakhouse. He only hoped that they had something vegetarian on the menu.

Tarin and Lee were already seated when they arrived, which spoiled the childlike jumping out from behind the table option, probably for the better. He still looked a little surprised to see the white haired couple arrive. Shortly thereafter, Shin, too had joined them.

“It's nice to see you when someone isn't mortally wounded,” he commented to the Asian with a lighthearted grin. To Tarin, he responded, “Things are going well. It is very good to have everyone home safe and sound. Things are almost feeling like they are back to normal.” Almost. A brand new ten year old in the family and lingering nightmares still made life feel a little surreal, but they were definitely starting to settle back down. Though, soon he'd be starting medical school classes, and the schedule would get all mixed up once again. C'est la vie.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” the unicorn shifter smiled warmly, “How young are you now?”

"No," Lee said with a slight smile and shake of her head. "It's your birthday, why would I ruin that by inviting my parents?" Though, truth be told, the last time she had had a surprise like this for Tarin, that's exactly what she had done, invited her parents so they and Tarin could meet.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Maya, Sebastian, and Shin to get there after they had arrived, so Tarin wasn't sitting there confused and worried for long. And, also luckily, Tarin didn't seem at all upset by this surprise. Though he didn't actually say anything, the grins her husband was shooting in her direction told her that he was actually rather happy about the mini surprise party.

Not much, not much at all, was being directed toward her in any shape of form. A smile, a nod, a handshake. The most important were the grins and the slight hand squeezes coming from Tarin. But it was his birthday, she'd set up this night for him, so Lee contented herself with sitting back for the moment, listening to the conversation and glancing over the menu. If they were still busy talking when the waiter came around, she'd see about ordering them some appetizers.

How young was Tarin? Maya took a survey of the table. She was easily the youngest person there, though Lee was the kind of beautiful that made age hard to determine. Some people were like that. Ageless. She tried not to sneak a peak at Sebastian for his strange way of putting things. Instead she stiffened her spine, straightened her shoulders and determined to do Sebastian proud... as an adult.

"お久しぶり, しんーさん ." She'd missed Shin and it really had been a long time. They just didn't get to hang out as much as they used to what with Jude and everything at the with the Clinic. Life was happening in too many different directions these days. Sebastian and Shin both there it was tempting to continue in Japanese. In order to avoid being rude, she swapped back.

"I haven't seen you since Romania." If she weren't already sitting she would have passed out a hug to Shin. Instead, she decorously flapped open her menu. Meat. Meat. More meat. Poor Sebastian. Maya had been emulating his vegetarian lifestyle. Partly for support and partly because she wanted to know what it was like. That was easy with camp gruel, but now steak was pretty much the only thing on the menu.

"I think they might have baked potatoes." She turned the menu over to look at the a la carte section. "Seasonal vegetables... hmm... and rolls."

The initial welcomes and hellos were passed around, and then the last member of their party entered the restaurant. ”Shin!” Tarin said, nodding back to the younger man as he took his seat at the table. He looked better…much better than he had in the camps, when he’d been blind and constantly getting shocked by the collar because of his power manifestation. Tarin shook off the thoughts…now was not the time for flashbacks, now was the time to celebrate that they were all there to even have this party.

Shin congratulated him, and Tarin choked out a little laugh around his water glass, ”Congratulations on what exactly? he said, good humor flooding his features, ”Am I really that old? Do I need congratulations on making it another year?”

Sebastian went on to ask Tarin exactly how young he was and Tarin nearly gave the Unicorn-man hell about what could have been construed as a rude comment. The fact was, though, that to Sebastian, Tarin probably was young. Really young. He blushed a little, century old unicorns aside…he was the oldest one there.

”Thirty-four.” he said, glancing at Lee, ”Going on fifteen.”

The waitress showed up, rescuing Tarin from talking about the subject anymore. ”Beer.” he said, ”We need beer.”

>>”Congratulations on what exactly?"

Shin held up a finger. One minute. He'd just taken a drink of his water glass, and as such, couldn't immediately respond. His response was important, however, and really had to come in at the exact appropriate time. That time, it seemed, was after everyone had said something to him, and the conversation fell back onto Shin.

He took a breath, and smiled widely. "No, not on the birthday. Birthdays come every year. I'm talking about the baby, of course. And yes." He turned casually to Sebastian, continuing the conversation. "I'm rather glad none of us are mortally wounded right now."

Right now being the key operators, here?

Shin smiled at Ghost. "It's been a while, indeed." His menu flopped open. Shin trailed his eyes down the page. Maybe a nice steak...?

Sebastian followed his wife's lead and opened his own menu to survey the options. There were not very many things that weren't meat. Even the salads had chicken or bacon on them. It wasn't that Sebastian was opposed to the killing of animals for food or anything like that; he physically couldn't digest meat.

He was about to ask the waitress that Tarin had flagged down whether there were any options for ordering salads without some of the ingredients, but before he could speak to her Shin clarified his earlier congratulations.

Sebastian's eyebrows raised in surprise. Usually didn't the couple announce that sort of thing? Ah well.

Forgetting about the waitress that was already departing to fetch beverages, Sebastian turned to Tarin and Lee with a grin on his face, “That is indeed a reason to celebrate. Please allow me to offer my congratulations as well!”

Hearing Maya speak to Sebastian, Lee frowned slightly. He was a vegetarian? Despite the time they had spent together in Columbia, despite the month they had spent together in Romania, Lee hadn't even noticed; she'd had a few other, much more important things on her mind.

"Sorry, I didn't realize," Lee said to Maya and Sebastian. "I'm sure we can figure something out."

Then Lee heard Tarin telling his age, and she laughed. "Nah, you're going on sixteen now, hon." But the beer he ordered sounded very good.

Before she was able to say anything else, though, Shin spoke up again and clarified what he had been congratulating about. It was a good thing that they hadn't gotten their beers yet, because if Lee had of had anything in her mouth, she probably would have spit it out in surprise.

"What?" Lee squeaked out. "Uh, yeah...I mean no, not yet. We're talking about it, but not yet..."

Maya opened her mouth to mention something about the beer, but the waitress was gone lickity split. The moment passed. Lips pressed together until her jaw was left wagging again by Shin's news fro Lee. Baby? Laserbeam eyes focused on Lee and her flat belly.

Oh. Not yet.

Her mouth shut again. She was starting to feel a little like a fish bow when lips parted for words.

"Congratulations for the future then. If you ever need a babysitter... Shin would be happy to volunteer."A flash of pink tongue and a wrinkle of the nose told Shin she was just kidding. "But really, if you do ever need anything..." She would always try to help. Rain or shine. Even if she was the youngest one.

"I think we'll send Jude to the Mansion after the summer. He's got some tutoring to catch him up in the meantime." It was tempting to send him to public school, but that would have killed Sam. But... was it wrong to want to send him to school with kids more like himself?

Ghost went back to her menu. Oooh. Fried mushrooms on a salad? That didn't sound horrible.

Annnnd Sebastian was a vegetarian. They’d invited a horse to a steakhouse. Tarin nearly slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Horses were really different from cows, and the man didn’t look offended. They were simply going to have to find an alternative meal. Tarin already knew what he was getting, so he simply scanned the menu looking for things to help his friend. At least until Shin pointed out the real reason for his congratulations.

All thoughts of his age vanished from Tarin’s mind and wide eyes framed by raised eyebrows turned to look at his wife. They’d spoken about the baby thing, and Lee had suggested that maybe the time was right for them to start trying. She hadn’t mentioned that she’d mentioned it to anyone else, though. Suddenly, a bright grin flashed across Tarin’s features, and a chuckled rumbled up from deep in his chest. Lee was really struggling with a response to that one, and as more people congratulated them, she got more uncomfortable. After a moment, he chimed into help.

”Right, thanks for the congratulations, but we’ve just decided that it’s something that’s definitely in the cards for us. We’re not in a huge hurry though. It’s a considerable life change…and Shin can baby sit whenever he wants.” Tarin grinned.

The waitress returned with the ordered drinks, and Tarin took a long happy draw off the beer that had been placed in front of him. He needed that to think about the second part, ”And yeah…it would probably kill the atmosphere of a cheery birthday dinner if any of us were dying.” he reached across under the table and squeezed Lee’s fingers, and cast a conspiratorial grin at Sebastian.

Maya mentioned sending someone to the mansion after the summer, and Tarin turned his attention to her after another small sip of his drink, ”Who is Jude? A new potential student?”

That squeak... That squeak told him that maybe, he'd misunderstood something. Hadn't she mentioned babies to him in their last conversation? Hmm. Shin put the lip of his glass to his mouth, and let out a muffled apology.

"Maybe I misheard." His cheeks tinged a little reddish-brown. "Definitely, congratulations though. I'm--"

He paused. Tarin seemed less embarrassed than Lee. "A very good babysitter," He finished, looking to Ghost. He set the glass down after a tempered sip, slight smirk slipping onto his face. "Ask any Kokoro."

If Tarin and Lee ever announced a baby in the present-tense, rather than future-tense, Shin would be all for helping out any way that he could. He trusted Tarin. The man had helped him in the camps. It was the least he could do. "What's this about a Jude?" Shin followed up Tarin's question. "I haven't heard anything about him." He worked in the mansion. If it was a new student, he should know. He could help the kid get settled in.

Sebastian waved off Lee's apology, “Don't worry, I'm more of a grazer, so I don't need really big meals. Something simple will be just fine.” He gave her a reassuring smile. Eating at a steakhouse where nine tenths of the food included meat was not so bad. Not when he'd lived lifetimes in cultures that traditionally ate meat for every meal. He had found ways to manage as he'd manage tonight.

The smile he'd been wearing to congratulate the medium and his wife wavered only for a moment when he found out that the baby was still in the hypothetical stage. Net yet, but eventually. He could certainly respect the decision to wait until they were ready, even if he and Ghost... hadn't really.

Speaking of which, Sebastian spoke up to answer Tarin's inquiry, “Jude is Ghost's and my son. We adopted him.” That was about the third time the immortal had used the word 'son' in association with the ten year old French boy. It was a little strange feeling, because he had never adopted a boy Jude's age before, but it was exciting, too. He loved children, and raising a child with Ghost's help was going to be a rewarding challenge.

“He only just arrived in the country, so we're still all getting settled in.” Sebastian smiled at Ghost from over his menu. He was proud of her. So far, she seemed to be doing well with the whole being a mother thing, even though the age gap between Jude and herself was not anywhere near the norm for a parent and child in this culture.

The unicorn man's eyes flicked over to the side; the waitress had finally returned. He flagged her down again and pointed out his selection on the menu: the mushroom salad, without the customary chicken.