SF Chapter 157: Birthdays
A few days later, Dani was at his sister's house. He and his nephew stood in front of the door to Alex and Haley's bedroom.
"Go on, just sneak a peek," Dani urged.
Luke nodded, slowly opened the door, and took a quick look inside.
"They're sleeping normally," he whispered to his uncle.
Dani handed him a few things. "Great. Let's do this."
The two of them quietly stepped inside.
Dani and Luke brought a horn close to Haley's ear and squeezed it.
"Ahhh!" she screamed, jolting awake and startling Alex awake as well.
"DANI!" Haley shouted. "I'm gonna kill you!"
But Dani and Luke were already standing in front of Alex's bed, singing.
♫♪Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday... ♫♪
"Happy birthday, Alex!" Dani exclaimed, as he and Luke each set off a confetti popper.
"Come on, Alex, it's your birthday. Where's your smile?" he asked.
Alex, now covered in confetti, made a murderous face. "Oh, there will be a smile - when I kill both of you!"
Dani grabbed his nephew. "Run, Luke, run!"
They ran out, with Alex chasing after them.
Haley wanted to kill them both too, but she was too lazy to get up, so she ended up lying back down on the bed again.
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Dani and Luke came running into the kitchen.
"What did you two do?" Claire, who was preparing breakfast, looked at them suspiciously. "And why did I hear a scream and a horn?"
"Come over here, Dani!" Alex shouted as she stormed in.
Claire stepped closer and kissed her daughter's head. "Happy birthday, Alex."
"Mom, they woke us up and started blasting confetti everywhere," she complained.
Dani had set off a few more as she chased them.
"Dani," Claire hissed.
As the mastermind, he obviously took all the blame, the girls conveniently forgetting that Luke had been part of it too.
"It's for a good cause," Dani said, stepping closer to his niece. "Come on, Alex, you're fourteen now - be more mature!"
"I don't want to hear that from you," she scoffed, slapping his hand away as he pinched her cheek.
He ignored her. "It's your special day! We need to make the most of it!"
"And I woke you up early because I have a surprise for you!" Dani added eagerly.
Alex crossed her arms. "What surprise?" She tried to sound nonchalant, but it was clear she was curious - after all, her uncle could be incredible sometimes.
"We're going to meet one of my favorite authors!" he announced excitedly.
"Wait a minute," Alex said, stopping as she took a better look at what he was wearing. "Don't TELL ME-" she widened her eyes.
But she was interrupted by a hug. "Happy birthday, daughter," Phil exclaimed.
"Oh, are you going as a Hufflepuff, Phil?" Dani asked, noticing his outfit.
"Yeah, best house!" he nodded.
"Are we going to meet J.K. Rowling?" Alex yelled in disbelief.
"Yes!" Dani struck a pose. "I've got a meeting with her! How cool is that?"
Then he joked, "But you need to brush your teeth. Your breath stinks, Alex," he said, wrinkling his nose.
"I'm really going to kill you!" Alex snapped.
"Luke!" Dani called.
And the two of them shouted, "Confetti Expelliarmus!" as they attacked Alex with more confetti poppers (these ones were wand-shaped).
They all started running again.
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After a few minutes, Haley came into the kitchen as well.
She jumped onto her uncle's back, who had been forced to sweep up the confetti mess he and Luke had made.
"Sis, I'm being attacked by a big rat," he exclaimed. His niece bit his neck in return.
"Haley," Claire said, just giving her a look.
"They came into my room and woke me up with a horn right in my ear," she whined.
"Fine," Claire sighed, seeing her daughter's point of view. "But kill him quickly - we're leaving soon."
"To where?" Haley asked, still glued to her uncle's back.
"We have a private meeting with J.K. Rowling," he revealed.
"Who?" the girl asked, tilting her head.
Alex, who had come back to the kitchen after going to the bathroom and getting dressed, snorted, "Oh, for God's sake, please don't tell me Haley's coming too."
"I'll save my comeback since it's your birthday, dork," Haley shouted back.
"Sweetheart, J.K. is the author who wrote Harry Potter," Phil explained to her.
"Wow," Haley mumbled. She knew how popular Harry Potter was, but hadn't really thought much about meeting the author.
"Wait a minute," she said. "Isn't she, like, your competition, Dani?"
Dani let out a few snorts. "Competition? Are you kidding me?"
"She's one of my favorite authors - my inspiration. And..." he paused, "there's no competition at all. One book of hers sells more than everything I've ever sold."
"I'm like Salieri while she's Mozart. Or... Perugino and Michelangelo. Trollope... and Dickens."
"Or I'm like Robert Southey and she's Lord Byron." He finished.
"I... don't get any of those," Haley tilted her head.
Claire said nothing, but she didn't know half of the names her brother had mentioned.
Alex was a little better than her mother, but she was muttering "Trollope", "Southey" and "Perugino," trying to remember something about them.
Phil, on the other hand, was already playing with Luke using the remaining wand-shaped confetti poppers.
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Alex adjusted the uniform she was wearing. "Are we really going to meet her dressed like this?"
Dani had convinced his niece to wear a Harry Potter costume as well.
"Of course!" he said. "If it were me, it'd make me happy to see someone wearing a Percy or Annabeth costume!"
"Yeah, but that's you. J.K. seems like a normal person," Alex jabbed.
"Heyy!"
"Okay, we should all take a picture together," Phil said eagerly.
[Dani and Alex commentary]
"Alex is wearing a Ravenclaw costume, which was expected," Dani revealed. "As for me, I went with Slytherin. Ambitious and cunning."
"More like rich and pompous," Alex nudged.
Dani just ruffled her hair.
"Phil's Hufflepuff. If we sort the rest-" he proposed.
Alex thought for a moment. "Mom would be Slytherin too. Luke's Hufflepuff. And Haley's... a squib."
[Commentary ends]
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