Work Text:
April 2, 2020
It had been three weeks since he’d got home. You knew The Mandalorian had a wrap up for season 2 on March 10. He was home a few days after and had been home since.
The day he arrived, he came at your door right away to pick up his dogs. You were watching them for the second time now. The dogs were so happy to see him, especially Edgar.
That day went by without hearing anything from him.
“He’s probably sleeping, must be tired,” you thought.
You woke up early the next morning to wash your car before the sun was out. And because of your short legs you needed a stool to wash the top of the car. You jumped and almost fell off the stool when you heard a raspy voice from behind you.
“Do you need help?” he was right behind you ready to grab you if you fell. You suddenly turned around and accidentally sprayed the water on him.
“Oh my effing gosh, Pedro! You’re gonna be the death of me!”, you exclaimed.
“Hmm…. I kinda like that idea for some reason,” he winked.
“Rouxy! I can’t rely on you at all. Why didn’t you warn me someone was here??” you talked to the dog who was wagging her tail next to Pedro’s leg. She looked so happy to see him.
“Because you like me hmm Rouxy? It’s why you didn’t bark at me, right?” he smiled at the dog bending down to pick her up.
“You little traitor!” you stared at the little dog. She just yawned back at you.
“I can help you wash the car if you want. I’m taller than you. I can help you wash the top and the windshield or wherever you can’t reach,” he chuckled.
“Fine!” you threw a sponge at him.
30 minutes later you got the car wash done but you both were soaking wet with water. It was his idea to start the water war with you saying it was his revenge to get him wet in the first place.
“It’s freaking cold today, Pedro! Not a good day to get wet out in the open!! AT ALL!!” you shouted and laughed.
“Yeah? Good, cause you deserved it!” he shouted back and laughed.
“I’m gonna go take a warm shower now,” you got ready to go back inside. Then you remembered and turned around to him, “Oh Pedro, did you come see me for something?”
“Oh I can wait until after your shower. I’m gonna go clean up myself too and I’ll be right back. Is that ok with you?”
“Sure! C’mon Rouxy!” you turned around and walked inside with your little dog.
You went in a shower and put on new clothes and as you walked down the stairs, you thought you saw a man sitting on the couch in the living room.
“Oh gosh Pedro! You’re really gonna be the death of me!!” you shouted and threw the small towel in your hand at him.
Pedro laughed, “You took a long shower huh? I’ve been here for like ten minutes already. Sorry, I didn’t knock. Figured you would still be in the shower so I just came in.”
Of course he could come in. He knew the code to unlock your doors. You gave him it the first night he came to hang out with you. He came visit you quite often since but he usually rang the bell at the front door.
Pedro’s eyes were on the news on the TV, “It’s getting bad. I’m just here to ask if you have any plan about it,” he was talking about the pandemic that had been spreading globally and it was about to hit hard in America.
“Not really. I’ve stopped taking dog appointments this week and been home all this time,” you turned to look at the screen.
“Good. So I know you have a low chance of getting it so far. I’m not so sure about myself cause I just got back from LA. But I didn’t really go anywhere except from the set and home. If you think I should stay away from you then I understand,” Pedro said petting Rouxy who had been sitting on his lap.
“It’s ok, Pedro. I’ve spent some time with you this morning. If you have it then I would probably get it by now,” you shrugged.
“If you’re ok with it then,” he paused. “So, I will probably get stuck here at home until further notice. I got everything wrapped up and all the other jobs have been postponed too. Hope you don’t mind seeing me so often cause you’ll be the only one that I can hang out with around here. And I hate being alone so you’d better be prepared for it!” he winked at you and continued,
“I’m gonna need to go out and buy food and supplies that will last for a while. I would like to go now when it’s not so bad yet rather than later when there’ll probably be more cases around here. You wanna come?” he turned around to face you and asked.
“Yeah, I need to buy some food too,” you replied.
“Ok, let’s go! I’ll drive!” he said and walked over to the door to get his car at his house and you followed him.
That was three weeks ago. Today was his birthday. And you were now busy in your kitchen preparing something for Pedro.
Two weeks ago, the California governor issued a Stay at Home order for two weeks. Schools had already been closed. You knew his birthday was coming up, so you planned on making him a surprise. A week before his birthday, the Stay at Home order was extended to the end of April. Which means you would be stuck at home for a while longer. You both had been home all this time.
He’d been visiting and watching movies with you like usual. But there were also some days that you hadn’t seen him at all. You were pretty sure he was home. He was pretty serious about the situation. He even yelled at his brother in the comment of his instagram post that looked like he went outside to film some trees and sky right outside his window to get back inside!
He didn't know that you knew it was his birthday. He didn’t say anything about it to you either. You hadn’t heard from him yet today. You were hoping he wouldn’t just show up in your house anytime now because you were baking him some birthday cake. You knew he loved blueberry scones but you didn’t want to make them. You weren’t sure they would be good enough for him because he already had someone who made the best blueberry scones for him. You didn’t want to disappoint him if they didn’t come out as good or they might not come out good at all.
You spent the whole morning making the cake. Once you were done, you wrote a wish on the DIY birthday card you made for him. You didn’t want to go out and buy one in this situation.
You wanna surprise him thinking it could help cheer him up. He seemed bored to be stuck at home. He seemed a little upset too lately. You would be too if your birthday was coming up but you were stuck here and didn’t get to see your loved ones.
You went to his house later that afternoon with the cake. You rang the doorbell and no one answered. You only heard the dogs barking from inside. You decided to unlock the door. You’d been pet sitting his dogs, so you had access to his house. He wasn’t there.
You guessed, maybe he went to the store to get some treats for himself. Or maybe he went out with friends or family or something. He probably couldn’t take it and risked going out to celebrate his birthday with someone, friends maybe cause you know his family didn’t live anywhere close by. Or maybe with his girlfriend. He might have one, who knows? He’d never talked about it in the media or with you so you didn’t know for sure if he was single or not.
Anyway, you decided to leave the cake on the dining table with the card.
“Where’s your daddy, Edgar? Is he leaving you here all day? Have you eaten? Wanna go potty?” you walked to the back door to let them out. You waited for them to come back inside and gave them some treats and then went back to your house.
You hadn’t heard from him all day. You didn’t want to text him to say happy birthday. You didn’t want it to feel awkward because you weren’t sure how he would feel about it. You kinda understood why he didn’t say anything to you about it at all. You wouldn’t either because you wouldn’t think it’s that big of a deal to let him know if it was your birthday. It’s something personal and you just knew him a few months ago, you wouldn’t think it’s that important and he wouldn’t care about your birthday. Maybe he had thought the same thing.
Later that night he texted you saying he just got home. He saw the cake and thanked you and apologized he wasn’t there.
A few minutes later you heard your doorbell ring. He was there with your cake in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
“Oh hey Pedro!” you were a little surprised to see him there.
“Hey! May I come in?” he asked for a permission.
“Of course!” you stepped back to let him in.
“Sorry I wasn’t home earlier today and thank you so much for the cake. Did you make it?” he walked over to the couch and put the cake and wine down on the coffee table.
“Yeah, it’s nothing special, just some cake mix I already had. Figured to make it for you. I went to your house this afternoon thinking I would surprise you but you weren’t there. I was about to go check on Edgar and Cee when you knocked,” you sat down on the couch as you spoke.
“I didn’t know you knew it was my birthday. I didn’t say anything to you about it because I didn’t think it was important. I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. I wouldn’t say anything if it was mine either,” you honestly didn’t want him to feel bad about it.
“You wouldn’t? How come?” he raised his eyebrow staring at you.
“The same reason as yours,” you gave him a quick answer.
“No… Promise me you will tell me when it’s your turn. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he grabbed both of your hands and brought them to his chest looking at you with puppy eyes.
“It’s fine, really, Pedro. I didn’t mind it at all. I just thought the cake would help cheer you up. I felt bad for you to have a birthday during this time. Didn’t know you decided to go out.”
“Sorry, I didn’t tell you I wasn’t going to be home. I was just upset. I just had to go out. I got in my car and drove somewhere. I ended up driving to LA. Stopped by a friend’s. Of course I practiced social distancing. She posted on her instagram earlier. You didn’t see it?”
“Sorry no,” right you didn’t see it. You stopped following him on social media and reading about him anywhere because you didn't wanna feel like you were stalking him, yeah him, your new neighbor.
“I stopped by a few places and my house to pick up some stuff. By the time I left LA, it started to get dark. Good though there was no traffic.”
“Well… Happy Birthday Pedro!” you finally got to say it to him.
“Thank you Jane! Wanna have some cake? But first you need to sing happy birthday to me! I’ve brought candles!” he stuck his hand in his pocket and got the candles out.
“Only four candles?” you frown at him.
“Four is more than enough. Do you want 45 candles on the cake?”
You laughed, “alright, four then!”
You then celebrated together. You ate the cake and drank the wine and watched TV on the couch later. He went home to bring his dogs over at some point and then again you fell asleep on the couch late at night.
You vaguely remember feeling him place you on the couch and cover you with the blanket like he had always done when he was here. You heard him whisper “Thank you Jane. I’ve always been upset every birthday. I was too this year but you helped make it one of the best birthdays I’ve had. Thank you…,”
You weren’t sure if it was real or just a dream but you felt a kiss on your forehead which caused you to smile. You had no idea you whispered “Happy Birthday Pedro.”
Pedro sat back next to you, staring at you for a minute. You were so adorable, he thought, before he lied down on the couch next to you and got himself under the same blanket just like every time you slept on the couch together here. Three dogs were sleeping next to him.
“Goodnight Jane… See you in the morning…” Pedro whispered before he fell asleep.