It had been a few months since the midterm exams. Even though Anya had barely passed through the exams, her performance was still under the bridge both in studies and being best buddies with Damian Desmond.

So Loid decided to change her study session in such a way that she could understand with the help of real life and anime examples.

It was around 7pm, Yor would probably be back from her work but today she was running late which made Loid worry about his fake wife's whereabouts.

"Pa, I want to buy a gift?"

Loid raised his head from notebook and looked at Anya wondering why she wanted a gift.

"Why? To whom do you want to give a gift?" 

Anya stopped writing and looked at her papa, "For Ma, coming Wednesday is Ma's birthday" She said with a smile.

Loid felt gutted for actually forgetting Yor's birthday. He didn't know why he felt guilty whenever things concerned her.

'How can I forget it? I'm such a bad husband.'

Anya looked worried when she read her papa's mind. If she spoke anything to console him, he would know her astute nature is due to telepathic ability.

"Pa, when will we buy a gift for Ma? What should we buy?" Anya asked again to make her papa focus on the actual stuff instead of feeling loathed about forgetting things.

"Who told you about Yor's birthday?" Loid stood up and Anya saw this as a chance to skip her studies and closed her books.

"Uncle Yuri wished her and said he would be here again on wednesday." Anya stated what she heard that day.

Loid looked at Anya and smiled, "So what do you want to get for Yor?"

But he had his thought revolving around what to gift her if Yuri was coming then he should be conscious in deciding his gift.

It should be intimate from outsider's point of view but at the same time, it shouldn't make her uncomfortable by crossing the limited boundary between them.

#

"Happy Birthday, Yor"

"Happy Birthday, Senpai"

Yor's coworkers wished her as soon as she entered the office which brought a bright smile on her face.

"Thank you everyone. It means a lot. Thank you" Yor genuinely thanked her coworkers and went back to work.

Camilla who despised Yor for a long time has changed her views ever since she saw Yor trying hard to improve her culinary skills, even though, it's still in disastrous except for her southern stew.

During the lunch break, Camilla and others gave two days tickets for a newly launched beach resort which was exclusively for couples.

Yor was taken aback when she saw the tickets. She had heard about this resort and wanted to go there but feared what Loid might think.

Moreover, Yor didn't want to impose her desires on Loid and make him feel uncomfortable with her changing feelings for him.

She knew this marriage didn't mean anything except for their mutual reasons. 

But she couldn't help falling for Loid's personality, he was caring, dedicative, loving person whom every woman desires to have as their husband.

"No!! I can't accept this gift. Please Camilla, take it back. This looks expensive." Yor returned the tickets to her.

Others tried to convince Yor but it was in vain until Camilla interrupted, "Yor, consider this as your wedding gift. We didn't know about your marriage and couldn't congratulate you then. So let's this be your wedding as well as your birthday gift."

Hearing Camilla's words Yor was slightly convinced before finally accepting her gift and began wondering how would Loid react to this. 

"So what did your husband gift you? Anything special tonight?" One of her coworkers began to tease her which took sometime for Yor to understand. 

Yor simply nodded in agreement to avoid unnecessary comments and doubts about her marriage.

But the truth was, Loid and Anya didn't remember her birthday and not that she was expecting them. 

She couldn't move that thought away as without her knowing she slowly began to accept them as her family and thought even they might see her as their family but she was wrong in her assumption.

It was around 3 pm when Yor's boss had sent her to ran an errand to nearby supermarket to get office supplies which she reluctantly agreed though her shift ends in an hour.

But it took two hours to get back to the office as the supermarket was crowded due to an sudden discount offer for stock clearance.

As Yor slowly made her way towards her house after a busy tiring day, all she wished was to take a nice hot shower and have a hearty dinner with her family before ending her day.

Once she reached home, "I'm back" As Yor opened the door, she was met with darkness.

Suddenly the party poppers were burst and lights were on, 

"Happy Birthday Yor"

"Happy Birthday Ma"

"Worf …..worf" 

Yor's scarlet orbs widened once she saw Loid, Anya, Yuri and Loid's friend Frankie and not forget their pet dog Bond wishing her birthday and minimally decorated their living room for the occasion.

Yor closed the door behind, "Oh god!! Thank you. I didn't expect this surprise party." She smiled and eyes began to sting.

Anya ran upto her Ma and hugged her legs. Yor bent down and lifted Anya in her arms before kissing her forehead, "Thank you Anya".

As Yor made way towards Loid who smiled and genuinely wished her which made grew red and thanked him along with a soft smile which adorned her lips.

Loid had a tiny blush on his cheeks and smiled at his wife. Seeing their shy smiles Yuri fake coughed to interrup their shenanigans, "Aren't you both married for a year? And again both of you are blushing like teenagers."

Both Loid and Yor began to sweat and denied Yuri accusations while Frankie laughed, "Don't worry about them, Mr.Briar. Sometimes they forget that they are married and think themselves still lovers."

"Shut up, Frankie" Loid shouted while Yor glared at him which made the curly haired man to bow down in fear as he had taste of her handy work.

"And who are you? I didn't see you last time here." Yuri ignored Frankie's comment and asked about his whereabouts.

"I'm Loid's friend. I run a stationary shop near the railway station." Frankie introduced himself to the SSS officer while Yuri still had an unsettling eye on him.

"Okay Yor, go get freshened up. Someone's waiting for you to cut the cake." Loid said and pointed at Anya who was drooling over the cake. Yor chuckled and passed Anya to her dad before going back to the room luckily Loid has set up the love-love set.

After ten minutes, Yor came out wearing a blue short dress which was kept on the bed and with a bit of makeup.

Once she entered the room, Loid stood still admiring her beauty for once and mentally praised himself for getting her a perfect dress which hugged her curves lusciously.

'She looks beautiful.' Loid's thoughts were read by Anya who had a soft smile on her face and looked at her Ma who kept on blushing.

Yuri looked cautiously at them and wondered what's the deal with them but chose not to intervene and upset his sister.

After cutting the cake and feeding Anya the first bite, Loid fed her some before whispering to her, 'Yor, Yuri is watching so go along with the flow'.

'Okay Loid' Yor nodded and felt sting in her heart. 'So this party is also an act.'

Then, after receiving gifts from her brother, Anya and Loid's friend they had dinner prepared by Loid which consists mainly of Yor's favourite dishes.

#

After tugging Anya to her bed, Yuri and Frankie left after getting themselves drunk courtesy to the liquor and wine brought by Loid's friend.

Once she sat on the couch, Yor looked at Anya's gift which consisted of a pink coral printed head band and a handmade greeting card along with a picture of Forger family.

"Ma...Happy Birthday… I love you and always want to be with you.
Love Anya and Bond."

Yor had a soft smile and took a mental note to shower her daughter with love the next morning with hugs and kisses.

Then, it was Yuri's gift which had an expensive leather handbag with some cosmetics and finally, it was Frankie's gift and he had gifted a bottle of premium red wine.

Loid saw how Yor looked happy while seeing each gift and thought this was a perfect time to give away his gift. He arranged some hot cocoa for both of them and made way to the couch.

Once he handed her the cup, he sat next to her with a sizable gap between them. After taking a sip, Yor spoke, 

"Loid, thank you for organising this small birthday party for me. I didn't expect you would remember this as it's a trivial matter for you. But I'm grateful and I'm really happy. Thank you for making me feel this happy."

Loid was left spellbound and finally began to speak,

 "Yor, your birthday is anything but trivial. As your husband it's my duty to make you feel special on your important day. I know we got married in an usual way but that doesn't mean I'm not your husband. 
      So don't think like things pertaining you are bothersome for me. Anything concerning you and Anya are important for me. I will make sure you both get your desires fulfilled."

Now it was Yor's turn to be speechless. She didn't know what to make out of his words but chose to believe it as something beyond just their sham marriage.

Yor for once followed her instincts and before Loid could sense her moves, she hugged him and had her head on his left shoulder.

"Thank you Loid. I'm really glad to be your wife and Anya's mother. I'm trying to improve myself not just for the sake of others' perspective of an ideal wife but for you both as well because I love being with you and Anya.
        And this the first time I have celebrated my birthday ever since my parents death and it means a lot to me. Thank you for everything you have done until now Loid."

Loid had a genuine smile plastered on his face even though he knew he shouldn't be getting close with Yor but chose to push those thoughts away as the person in his arms gave him the feeling of warm and comfort which he never felt before with anyone.

Loid hugged her back. As they stayed like that for a few minutes before breaking the embrace. Both of them blushed but never felt embarrassed.

"Yor, this is for you." Loid took out a tiny box from his pocket and presented to Yor.

"This is my gift for your birthday." Loid said.

"But I thought this dress was your gift." Yor pointed out her outfit.

"Then let this be another gift. Go ahead, open it." Loid told her.

Yor carefully opened the wrapper to find a ring box. As she opened the box, it held a diamond ring. Loid took the ring from her hand and asked for her left palm.

"We just documented our marriage officially. Never had this ceremony and also you didn't have a ring in your finger. But don't think I'm doing this for the sake of our cohabitation, it may partly be the reason.
     But I got this for you as this ring reminds me how beautiful and genuine lady you are Yor. So do you like it?" Loid asked her with a smiling face.

Yor smiled back and showed her left palm as Loid slowly put the ring in her ring finger, "I love it, Loid. This is best birthday I have ever had in my life."

"Don't worry, every year we will make your birthday more special, Mrs.Forger." Loid teased her earnings himself with her blushing face which made her look beautiful.