Happy Endings challenge, by thesmallhobbit
Sam Tyler stomped out of CID at five o’clock on Friday afternoon. It was his birthday the next day and he had thought that, although he’d kept quiet about it, Gene Hunt would at least have said “happy birthday” to him. Annie had given him a card and a present, but the Guv had totally ignored him. So, when Chris had asked him if he were coming to the Railway Arms he’d said he’d got better things to do and gone home and drunk the remains of a bottle of wine whilst watching the television.
He woke late the following morning, made himself a mug of coffee and opened his solitary card, which he placed on the kitchen table. He then opened his present from Annie. He hadn’t been sure what to expect, but was still surprised to discover she had given him a brightly coloured alarm clock. He’d been late for work a few times lately, blaming his clock when Gene shouted at him and Annie had clearly assumed that it had needed replacing. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was because he had forgotten to wind it up.
Sam went back to bed, nursing his coffee mug. There seemed little point in getting dressed; no-one would be coming to celebrate his birthday with him. He knew he could have suggested to Annie that they go out for a drink, but he’d been hoping that Gene would have made a similar suggestion, which he would much rather accept. And now he would be totally alone for his birthday.
He thought about his five year old self and tried to remember how he would be feeling. It had been the first birthday that his dad hadn’t come home and he’d spent most of the day telling his mum that he was sure he would come, until his mum had told him to “give it a rest” so sharply that he’d burst into tears. He’d had a little party with a few friends and there’d been jelly and ice cream and chocolate cake and after they’d gone home his mum had put him to bed and read one of the stories from the new book she’d given him. And then Auntie Heather had arrived and given him her present, which was a plastic bucket and spade. At first he’d been a bit disappointed, but she’d told him that they were for him to take with them as they were going to Blackpool the next weekend. So he was quite happy when his mum had tucked him up and he lay in bed with one arm cuddling his teddy and the other holding the bucket and spade with Ivanhoe curled up at the bottom of the bed as a birthday treat.
Sam sniffed. Everything had been so easy when he was five. Even his tears had been wiped away by the magic of his mum’s apron. And it was always sunny when Auntie Heather took him to Blackpool. But now he could hear it was raining and there was no-one around to see him cry, let alone wipe his tears away.
He heard someone knocking on his door and went to answer it, rubbing his sleeve across his eyes. He opened the door slightly to see who it was and was instantly pushed out of the way as the Guv came in.
Gene took one look at the younger man. “Tears on your birthday, Sammy-boy? We can’t have that. I had been going to suggest we get out of the city and go to Blackpool for the day, but now that it’s raining you might want to do something else.”
Sam smiled through his tears. “I’d like nothing better than to spend my birthday in Blackpool with you.”