Chapter Text
Ethan's heart began to race as he both steadied the plate in his hand, and bumped the bedroom door open with his hip. He'd only been informed of the 'wake someone up on their birthday' tradition by his European comrades--but then, she'd never had a birthday per se, so she wouldn't have any idea what was happening. Or that this was a new tradition for him as well.
His unsteady and quiet 'Happy Birthday' song was soon taken over by Donna and Moreau, who burst in the door behind him, singing something he'd never heard--likely, a birthday song--in Romanian. Ethan struggled to keep from scowling as he entered the dark bedroom with only candlelight (the candles they'd stuck on Eva's gigantic cinnamon roll) to lead the way. Like a fairy, Eva suddenly appeared, singing a different song than either Ethan or Donna and Moreau, and traipsing past the group to open the girl's curtains.
A dark head popped up, and he saw her rub sleepily at her eyes. The scowl on Eveline's face brightened, however, when she saw the group, and it brightened even more when Karl, holding Rose, kicked the door in yet again. He, of course, was singing the loudest, and of course, it was a different song. German. His twin appeared like a shadow behind him and they clapped their arms around each other, singing doubly loud and drowning everyone else out. Rose added some screams to this disastrous cacophony, and Ethan gave up completely.
He sat down in front of Eveline's bed, still holding the plate with the gigantic treat on it. She stared with some confusion at him, at the still-yowling other guests, and as the multiple songs trailed off (except the Heisenberg twins, who were still going strong) Ethan leaned in to whisper, "You're supposed to make a wish and blow the candles out."
She looked dubiously at the group, and then paused, her eyes widening. They were so like Mia's; Ethan leaned forward and smoothed her long dark hair.
"I don't know what to wish for."
"A BOAT!" Moreau called.
"A GUITAR," Karl offered.
"MONKEY!" Rose tossed in.
"It's nice to have a family," Evie whispered, and then squinted at the candles. She seemed to think of something, nodded, and inhaled, but then paused again, her breath whooshing out abruptly.
"How did you know how many candles to put on? I wasn't even born. I was made in a lab."
"Evie, honey, there's wax dripping down in your roll, and nothing is real in this world-everything is made up and time is an illusion we've created, so..."
She nodded, gave the big inhale a second try, and blew out all of the candles. In truth, Ethan had simply counted years since Dulvey. It was his best attempt at measuring time anymore. Eveline had been pulled from the Mutamycete's Realm of Consciousness and placed here on this date one year ago, so it only seemed appropriate to celebrate. He wasn't even surprised when the Duke had shown up last week with some oddly specific gifts tailored to the girl.
The loud carousing of the rest of the group had settled behind them, and Eva and Donna moved forward to sit on the bed, offering their 'niece' a hug. Evie's face brightened when Ethan handed over the gargantuan breakfast sweet.
"It was supposed to be a peaceful wakeup," Ethan explained, watching her dig into the thing without even using the fork he'd put on the plate. He raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment. "You didn't seem too upset by all the uh...."
"The jolly singing," Jochen said, crossing his arms.
"No, I already knew you were gonna do it," Evie said with a mouthful of bun. Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Did Rosemary tattle on us?"
"No," Evie swallowed, and reached for the glass of milk that Eva provided. "Papa didn't want me to be scared. Because in the labs people would always come in without saying why. So he told me to not worry." She gulped milk. Then, "He didn't say you'd all sing so bad though."
Ethan's wry expression melted into a tender gaze, and he pivoted on the bed to stare back at Karl, who leaned against the doorway with his usual unreadable stare. The engineer tilted his chin when Ethan met his eyes, as if in a challenge. Answering Evie, Heisenberg agreed, "Yeah, didn't know they were that awful."
As Jochen laughed and Eva began a mock protest, complete with throwing Eveline's pillow at Karl, Ethan's simpering gaze remained. He'd meant for the new birthday tradition to mean something for Eveline, but it only reinforced his own love for the family.