| TITLE: Happy Birthday, An-Paj! By Jemmiah ***** Birthdays tended to come and go in the An clan household, unless they belonged to the children. In a way An-Paj thought that was both right and proper: let the children have their happy memories, after all who could say what awaited them in the future. Long and prosperous lives, he hoped�but you could never tell. Not even a jedi could say for certain. Thus it was with dignified acceptance that An-Paj regarded his own birthday as insignificant when compared to that of his family. If everyone was healthy and safe and happy, what more could he ask for? Something bothered him though. It wasn't that he felt unappreciated, merely slightly�it was so difficult to put into words! Perhaps he felt somewhat resigned that the years kept passing by in a regular and routine fashion, with little or no change at all since the birth of the last member of the An dynasty. He wasn't after praise; he wasn't looking for monumental presents to mark the occasion. In truth An-Paj didn't know what he wanted. As his padawan had said, what did you get the healer that had everything? Something different! An-Paj begged silently. I want something different to happen today! Something to make me remember a birthday just like my children do. I mean, of course I enjoy my work and I like helping sick people to get well again�after all it's what I do best. It's what the force intended for me from by birth. Just for once though I'd like an unusual gift. Something from the heart. He'd had a lot of gifts: and that was the problem. The advantage of being married six times over was that you would get more gifts, if you were to think of it in purely mercenary terms - which he didn't as a rule. The unfortunate part of it was that he had been given this morning six pairs of standard temple underwear, six temple pairs of socks and six pairs of hand knitted antennae warmers which he was now wearing one on top of the other, thanks to an innocuous comment by Simeon that it was frequently so cold in the infirmary that it was a wonder that the extraneous body parts of a human being didn't drop off! Whilst An-Paj doubted that was quite what his padawan was referring to his wives had taken such alarm from the comments that this morning he had been fighting them off as they argued over which pair he should wear to work. It had certainly been a gift from the heart all right but one he might just have to strangle Simeon for with the unravelling thread from number three's present. He hadn't wanted to hurt their feelings, so he had said thank you. His smiling wives had then thrown six pairs of thick woollen and itchy gloves on the table to match. Not exactly practical for the finer tasks involved in healing and surgery. That hadn't been the worst of it. He'd gotten six bottles of scent (hideously choking and VERY strong) which he was now wearing, and he had all but knocked out the newly knighted Gethin Territ with the various mixed odours. An-Paj had looked closely at the labels on the bottles. 'Lust for life' and 'Vigour for men' along with the less subtle 'Grrrrrrrrr!' What had his wives been thinking of??? He didn't really want to think of what that gift meant for the evening� Just when he thought it was all over, his wives had produced six miniature toolkits. The self-interest had been easy to spot in THAT gift. Collectively they had been nagging - no, dropping unsubtle hints - for him to make a start on the various things that needed done around the place they lived. Well, they had a point because the jobs certainly needed to be done but as a professional healer and a senior one to boot he supposed he was used to doing things the way he liked and at a time when he considered to be exactly right. It was just that he hadn't felt sufficiently motivated to admit as yet when the right time was to do the repairs� He sat down at the workspace in his private room, enjoying his break. If he didn't do as he was asked -especially now they had bought those tools - he might not hear the end of it. If he didn't wear the gloves and the antennae warmers he also might have cause to regret it, the same with the socks. If he didn't wear the scent they might think he was after another woman. There was a faint rapping sound of knuckles against the door surface and then the gap widened to allow the diminutive figure of Jemmiah Gleshan into the room. "Come in�" An-Paj observed in amusement. "Oh, sorry. You already are!" "Hi, Master Slidey!" grinned Jemmy right back at him. An-Paj frowned at the ten-year-old girl. "I don't want to hear of you or any of your idiot friends turning my corridors into a skating rink again, is that clear?" An-Paj grimaced at the memory. "The number of broken bones I had to treat!" "We weren't skating." Jemmy corrected him. "No?" "We were playing bowling. Jay had this great idea that we could roll bolo balls down the corridor and try and knock over as many people with sticks and walking frames as possible! Ten points a strike!" beamed Jemmy. She caught the unamused look on his face. "Joke." She shrugged. "Ha ha." An-Paj replied. "You've been warned. Now, what are you doing here? Most people fight to stay out of this place." Jemmiah stared unabashed at his antennae, all covered in layers of thick wool. "What's that awful stink?" she screwed up her face. "Is that you?" "Was there something you wanted?" An-Paj folded his arms with all the patience he could muster. "Huh? Oh, yeah." Jemmy nodded violently and began to delve around in her pockets. "I got you a present, seeing as how it's your birthday and all." An-Paj's eyebrows arched upwards in astonishment. "Why, there was no need�" he began awkwardly, not knowing what to say. " Really, I didn't expect anything today." "If you can't enjoy yourself on your birthday then when can you?" Jemmy smiled and held out a tiny wrapped box with a ribbon on it. "Take it, please. I thought you could probably use it. Just to say thanks for helping me get better when I first came here." "Does Qui-Gon know about this?" The healer asked, feeling strangely moved. Jemmiah shook her head. "No, sir." "I don't know what to say." Admitted the healer with a smile. "That was most thoughtful of you." His fingers stayed to the ribbon and he began to pull at the ends, but Jemmiah reached her hand out to stop him. "I'd keep it for later." She grinned infectiously at him, smoothing away the annoying strands of hair from her eyes. "I think you'll appreciate it better." "Really?" An-Paj blinked, not sure what to make of that piece of information. Jemmy backtracked to the door and gave him a small wave. "Happy birthday, Master Slidey!" she laughed before turning and fleeing before the healer could treat her to another one of his 'looks'. An-Paj weighted the box in his hand for a moment, considering. Why not keep it until later? It would be something to look forward to after he'd finished at the infirmary� ********* He sat there, on the couch, blissfully staring into space. It had certainly been a present from the heart! All around him there was the bustle of busy females trying to get his attention, trying to ask his opinion, wanting to know when he was going to use the new multi-tool kit they'd all bought him whilst An-Paj grinned obliviously to all that was going on. A birthday was a time to reflect on what had been achieved in the space of the year that had passed and the one that was about to start, and the best way of doing that was in perfect peace and quiet, alone with his thoughts. Out the corner of his eye he thought he saw number six and number two gesticulating at the various colours of thread that had made up the antennae warmers, whilst number one was worriedly shooting looks in his direction. Probably wondering why I'm just sitting here grinning at thin air. An-Paj smiled hugely, aware of even more concerned looks in the background. He fingered the little package the Corellian had given him before tossing the wrapper into the bin. It was a small and inexpensive gift but it was one that had certainly made the most impact this year. After all, earplugs were certainly original! |