Cosima looked at her calendar and her Daytimer.  Something about the coming week struck her.  She was sure that there was something happening on one of those seven days, but she couldn’t think of what it was.  There was nothing particular written there apart from her usual times in the lab.  Yet she knew it was supposed to be obvious and that it was important.  She only had a few moments to ponder, however, for she did not want to arrive late at the lab.  Not remembering what it was, she shrugged, grabbed her things, and left to go to work.

Delphine was already at the lab when Cosima arrived.  She was much more of an early riser than Cosima.  Perhaps she was a bit too eager sometimes, but Cosima found it cute most of the time.

“Hey Delphine,” Cosima called as she entered, putting her bag down before putting on her lab coat over her dress.

“Good morning, Cosima,” Delphine replied with a gentle smile before turning back to her work.

They continued examining their samples all day, taking a few breaks for snacks and chatting with Scott.  Around four o’clock, Delphine glanced at her watch and immediately started to pack up.

“I have to go now, Cosima,” she said.  “See you tomorrow!”

The French girl turned to go, but Cosima stopped her before she could make it out the door.

“Wait,” Cosima said.  “Where are you going?”

Delphine turned around and lowered her voice to a whisper.

“It’s a secret,” she murmured, giving Cosima a quick kiss before leaving.

“Weird,” Cosima said to herself after the door closed.  She stood there for a moment before shrugging and then continuing with her work.

The next day passed in the same way, with Delphine leaving early and refusing to say where she was going.  The usual excuse that “it’s a secret” was all that she would say.

This was fine by Cosima since she knew that Delphine had already done all her work.  That is, everything was fine until she started to notice that things were missing.  A roll of tape and a pair of scissors were both missing from her desk.  If Delphine were there, Cosima would have asked her where it was, but instead she had to mount a search in the lab on her own.  She searched for several minutes, and they weren’t anywhere.

The next day Delphine left even earlier.

“See you later, Cosima,” Delphine said, this time too quickly for Cosima to say anything before the door closed.

It so happened that Cosima had to work a little late that day, and she was yawning as she entered her apartment that night.  She immediately noticed when she walked in that the lights were already on.

“That’s funny,” she mumbled to herself.  She was sure that she would not have left them on all day.  She put her bag down and turned to enter the living room.  Before she got all the way around the corner, she was greeted by an overwhelming cry.

“Happy Birthday, Cosima!”

The living room was draped in colourful streamers, and confetti was flying everywhere from the group that had jumped out to meet her.

There, in her living room, stood all of the people who had been helping her and putting up with her in the past months; Delphine, Sarah, Felix, and even Alison.

Cosima could not contain her happiness and a wide smile spread across her face.

“You remembered!” she exclaimed.  “Even I didn’t remember, but you guys did!”

Delphine smiled back, as did the others, but to Cosima her smile seemed brightest.

“Thank you…” Cosima said quietly, before heading over to the table where food had been set out.  “Let’s eat!”

Later on in the evening, the guests lit the candles on the cake and had Cosima blow them out.  She had a bit of trouble and took a moment to cough, but it didn’t last long.  With renewed strength, she blew them all out, making wish.

I wish that Delphine and I stay together forever.

The party lasted late into the night, with each of the guests in turn falling asleep in their chairs until only Delphine and Cosima were still awake.

“Thank you for the party,” Cosima said softly so as not to wake up the others.  Delphine replied with a soft kiss.  Looking back on it later, Cosima thought that this night was just about perfect.