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Don knows somethings up— his squad has been acting shifty all day. But what he wasn't expecting was a ring of "Surprise!" as he entered his home.
"You know, one day you kids are going to give me a heart attack," he says as he glances around his living room. There are balloons and presents piled on his coffee table. They even put up a banner. How did they get in?
"Come on cap, you know you love us. Now hurry up, dinner's already on the table," Monique takes his jacket and leads him to his dining room. Something in Don's heart swells.
When the two of them enter the dining room, Brian is rifling through Don's drawers to find the silverware. Don decides to help him out, "Left of the sink."
"Thanks, cap," Brian says as he retrieves the correct amount of forks. Everyone else is taking their seats, leaving the head of the table empty for Don. Olivia clears her throat.
"I know we'd all like to eat, but before we begin, a toast. Happy birthday to our captain, Don Cragen," she smiles as she raises her glass. Everyone leans in to clink their cups together. After a chorus of "Happy birthday", everyone starts to eat. It's lasagna.
"So, who made dinner? It's good," Don questions.
"I did, but Cassidy helped some," John says, a small smile on his face. He elbows Brian lightly.
"I sure did!" he's grinning wide, proud of himself for helping out even a little bit. Don's proud of him. He's proud of all of his kids.
"Y'know John, I wasn't expecting you to be this good of a cook," Elliot remarks as he shovels another forkful of lasagna into his mouth.
"Is that a compliment?" he raises an eyebrow incredulously.
"John, stop fishing," Monique points her fork at him. Munch raises his hands in defense as the whole table laughs.
"So captain, which number is this?" Brian asks, grinning mischievously. Olivia rolls her eyes as Elliot snorts.
"I am not sharing that information," Don scowls at him but then smiles. The squad knows how to push his buttons just right. It's occasionally endearing.
"Everyone stop talking and finish your dinners so we can eat Olivia's cake," John says before returning to his plate.
"Liv, you bake?" Don's surprised. He thought he knew his kids hobbies.
"It's one of my hidden talents," she shrugs. The rest of dinner continues in relative silence, with the occasional jab from Monique or Elliot.
Brian brings everyone's plates to the sink as Olivia retrieves the cake. The icing is blue and there are several multicolor candles scattered around the top.
"Monique, can you hit the lights?" Olivia asks as she sets the cake on the table.
"You got it," she stands to turn off the ceiling lights as Liv lights the candles.
The squad then launches into "Happy Birthday", with additions on the end that Cragen didn't even know existed. It almost feels magical.
Olivia cuts Don the first and largest slice of cake. The cake is chocolate— his favorite. When he bites into it, he swears it's better than anything he's ever tasted.
"This is the best cake I've ever had in my life. I'm making you bake me something for all of my birthdays, Liv," Don says before taking another bite. Everyone else hums in agreement.
"I'm glad you guys like it so much. I shouldn't have kept my baking a secret for so long."
"Not a secret from me!" Olivia playfully slaps Elliot on the shoulder.
"You knew? And you didn't tell us?" John grasps his heart, feigning heartbreak. Monique scoffs.
"Best friends honor. I pinky promised," Elliot shrugs.
"Good on you. You never break a pinky promise," Monique says as she grabs another bite.
"It should be against the law to break a pinky promise," Brian adds. Soon, everyone is done with their cake and Liv is putting the remainder of it in the fridge.
"Okay, present time," Elliot says as he leads Don to the living room. He sits in the middle of the couch and Elliot takes a seat beside him. Monique sits on Don's other side. Olivia and Brian both take their own chairs, leaving John to sit on the arm of Brian's chair.
"Open that one first. It's from all of us," Liv points the gift right in front of him. When Don opens it, he almost cries.
"You kids didn't," he says, turning over the mug in his hands. It reads "World's Best Dad". Don loves his kids so much.
"Oh, but we did," Elliot grins and gives him a half hug. He takes the mug from Don and places it on the table. John motions to open up the next gift.
As Don unwraps it, John says, "That one's from Briscoe. He couldn't stay but he wanted to get you something."
It's a dark blue and green tie. It's nice, something Don would never buy for himself. He can't help but smile wider.
"It suits you," Olivia says. She's right. The colors are so deep they're almost black. They match his eyes.
Monique leans in closer when he goes to open the next one. Her gift is wonderful— she got him a Crock-Pot. Don lets out a small laugh.
"I've been meaning to get one of these," he says, examining it closely.
"Well, now you have one. Open John's now!" It takes him a minute to find it, but he does as Monique says.
"Socks and a bracelet," Don feels himself tearing up as he looks at the second object. On each bead is everyone's first name. "John, do you want me to cry on my birthday?"
"Not my fault if you do," a beat, "I'm glad you like 'em." The small smile on John's face is telling. Don wishes he were on the couch so he could hug him.
"Mine next!" Brian says it so excitedly, he can't help but oblige. It's a large plant, one Don doesn't recognize.
"Oh, it's a prayer plant. They're pretty low maintenance, you only have to water them every one or two weeks," he explains.
"It's nice," Don means it. He's not around much, so something he doesn't have to water often sounds good.
Next is Elliot's gift, which is a brown leather watch.
"Come here," is all Don can say before hugging Elliot again. He ruffles his hair a bit, then pulls back. Last is Olivia's.
"Oo, weighted blanket. Maybe it'll help me sleep at night. Thank you, Liv," he says as he wraps it around himself.
A comfortable silence falls over the room as Elliot stands up to clear away the trash. Don yawns, his eyes suddenly feeling very heavy.
"Well, I don't know about you kids, but I'm feeling pretty tired. I'll walk you to the door," he slowly folds the weighted blanket as his kids head towards the door. He's so grateful for each of them.
Don kisses every single one of his kids on the forehead — even John — as he bids them goodnight. When he gets to Elliot, he says, "Say hi to the kids for me."
Elliot just laughs and says, "I will, Dad."
That night, Don sleeps with the weighted blanket. In the morning he uses his mug and makes sure to water his plant. If his kids notice he's wearing the tie, socks, bracelet, and watch, none of them say anything.