Chapter 1004: Stella’s Birthday (1)
Stella’s birthday started like a mission and turned into a small festival. Reika had a clipboard, which meant the event was officially serious. Rose filled the penthouse with blue roses that looked like quiet. Rachel walked around with a tiny lantern set to "safe," purifying surfaces that didn’t know they needed it. Seraphina used a fingertip of ice to chill glasses from the inside because apparently water obeys her moods now. Cecilia inspected the table settings like an Empress doing a surprise audit and then declared them "acceptable," which is palace-speak for perfect.
I did what fathers do best: moved furniture, carried boxes, and tried not to cry when I looked at the photo wall we’d built—Stella from eleven to twelve to almost thirteen, taller in each frame, grin steady, eyes brighter.
"Master, confirm cake altitude," Reika said, deadpan, holding a level up to the bottom tier of a cake that could legally vote in three provinces.
"We aren’t landing a shuttle," I said.
"Correct," she replied. "The cake is more important."
Kali arrived first—brash grin, sharp heels, hair pinned up like she could fight a war between appetizers. Jin followed, immaculate as always, offering a gift bag and an apology for being three minutes early.
"I’m never upset by punctual presents," I said, taking the bag.
Elias appeared exactly on time, because of course he did, carrying a plain box that probably contained something with a manual and a waiver.
Hovercars hummed past the balcony, city lights starting their evening glow. My parents came in hand-in-hand: Douglas with that proud, quiet warmth that can hold a whole room together, and Alice with the kind of calm that shelves storms. Aria zipped through the door like a comet, Marcus at her side with the polite smile of a man who knows he’s joined a family where chaos wears tuxedos.
"Is the birthday girl ready?" Alice asked, eyes soft.
"Ready," Stella said, stepping out from the hall in a simple blue dress with a constellation of tiny silver dots at the hem. She looked thirteen and exactly like herself.
She stopped, took in the room, the people, the flowers, the dumb banner I’d fought for—"HAPPY 13, STELLA!" in math font—and her whole face turned into light.
"Daddy," she said, very quietly.
"Yeah," I said, very quietly.
Then five women swooped at once.
"Happy birthday," Rose said first, hugging her with enough care to squeeze the air out of my daughter without breaking a single petal.
"My Stella," Reika murmured, smoothing a flyaway hair like she was pressing a seal. "Congratulations."
"Thirteen," Rachel announced, beaming. "Prime number. Good omen."
Cecilia tried not to smile and failed. "As your Empress—" she caught herself, glanced at me, and amended, "—as your Mom, I authorize a day of maximum joy."
Seraphina didn’t say anything; she just kissed Stella’s forehead and handed her a small glass snowflake that chimed once and held the note in the air like a memory.
"Thank you, Moms," Stella said, perfectly serious and perfectly happy. If you’d told me a decade ago that sentence would become daily maintenance for my heart, I would’ve asked you to repeat it slower.
We did the first round of gifts before cake because Reika had a schedule and I have learned that resisting schedules in my own home is a great way to eat cold soup standing up.
Reika went first: a rolled canvas bundle tied in violet ribbon. Stella unrolled a set of hand-stitched tool wraps—slots for pliers, tweezers, microdrivers—each pocket labeled in tiny neat script. At the end, a slender steel ruler etched with "Property of Stella Nightingale — Return If Found — Reward: Cookies."
"I made extra pockets," Reika said. "For the tools you will invent."
Stella hugged her. "Mom Reika, this is perfect."
Rose’s turn: a small wooden box. Inside, labeled seed vials and a thin book. "Blue Rose Variant—Quiet Bloom," the cover read. "Tolerates wind, holds scent after sunset."
"I wrote the notes on how to keep them stubborn," Rose said. "They’ll smell like the first time you open a book."
Stella blinked very fast and put the box down very carefully.
Rachel offered a slender silver chain with a simple charm—a clear disc cut like a lens. "Family piece," she said lightly. "It doesn’t look like much. It isn’t supposed to. If miasma stares at you, it will stare back and get bored."
Cecilia handed over an envelope like she was delivering a verdict. "A research micro-grant under the Empire’s Young Innovators Fund," she said. "For your mana-visualizer device. It pays suppliers who don’t answer texts from twelve-year-olds."
Stella made a sound that was mostly air and gratitude. "Thank you, Mom Cecilia."
Seraphina’s present was that glass snowflake. "Touch the center when you want to keep a moment," she said. "It will hold ten that matter. No do-overs. Choose with care."
Aria, radiating little-sister energy as always, gave Stella a hoodie with a stitched constellation and a pocket big enough for three notebooks and a sandwich. Marcus, polite and prepared, added a microfabrication lab pass for a facility he apparently owned half of. "Supervised access," he said, "but we’ll bend the rules for birthdays."
Jin’s gift was a formal card and a key fob. "Western Royal Labs invites you for a summer residency," he said warmly. "Design your own project. We’ll keep the board out of the room."
Kali bumped Stella’s shoulder. "And I’ll make sure no one talks down to you. If they do, I’ll rearrange their expectations—and their budget."
Elias cleared his throat and set his box on the table. Inside was a plain rectangle of matte-black glass. "Ops-grade workbench tablet," he said. "Secure. Offline-capable. Comes with a ’do not tell your father what you’re doing’ switch. Don’t use that one."
"Elias," I said.
"Joke," he said, without blinking, which absolutely did not help.
My parents brought a photo—Magnus on the Seventh Peak, taken from far enough away that it felt more like seeing a moment than a man. Alice had framed it in simple wood.
"For your project," she told Stella. "And for the wall."
Stella hugged them both and tucked the frame against her chest like it was fragile and important. It was both.
In the kitchen, steam drifted from bamboo baskets and copper pots. Reika’s team executed like a military unit that took ’seconds’ as a personal insult. The city beyond the glass swung from late afternoon to evening. The blue roses along the balcony shifted their faces toward the changing light, pretending not to eavesdrop.
"Food in seven," Reika announced.
"Is there a briefing packet?" Kali asked, already stealing a skewer.
"There was," Reika said, "until you ate page three."
"Worth it," Kali replied.
Jin leaned in to me. "She looks happy."
"She is," I said. "Everyone showed up."
"That is why she’s happy," he said, and the simple weight of it landed where it should.
Cecilia drifted by with Rachel and Rose, discussing the micro-grant’s reporting requirements like they were designing a fairer world between bites. Seraphina checked the freezer and declared the sorbets ready. Aria taught Marcus the secret family handshake, which is just a normal handshake done upside down for no reason. My father demonstrated a pancake flip with a party plate as a prop. Alice adjusted three plates by half an inch and made the table look inexplicably better.
"Team," I called, clapping once. "Snacks now, cake later, chaos throughout."
Stella lifted her hands like a conductor and the room obliged, voices braiding and unbraiding, the air full of steam and small laughter.
We were halfway through dumplings when I caught Stella watching the photo wall. The frames showed tiny shifts in posture—sleepy, excited, stubborn, proud. You could see the exact moment she decided numbers were a language she wanted to speak fluently. You could also see the day she decided five women were moms, full stop.
She noticed me noticing and smiled. "It’s weird," she said.
"What is?"
"Seeing yourself grow like a graph."
"You’re trending well," I said.
She rolled her eyes, then grinned at me the way she did when a proof clicked.
Reika tapped her watch. "Intermission," she called. "Second wave of gifts after snacks. Save room. This is not a drill."
The room obeyed. It always does when someone with a clipboard and a kitchen voice speaks.
I took a breath and let the picture settle: my daughter ringed by people who would move continents for her; five women who call themselves Mom on purpose; my parents, steady as old trees; friends who outrank kings and still show up on time with gifts; steam and music and light.
Stella caught me staring and lifted a dumpling like a toast. "Best birthday," she mouthed.
She was right.