Tanya was sad. Well, sadder than usual. Bitter words about her companions shot through her mind as resentment bubbled up from within.
"Everyone remembered Tina and George's birthday. They even remembered Dwight's. So why...?"
She closed her eyes as she remembered the words her companions had told her when she tried to remind them...
"It's Applesauce Pie day, isn't it?" Arianne had said when asked about the day.
"It's the first day of summer break!" Dwight chirped, showing lack of any critical understanding.
"It's the day I get my hair done." George had said smugly, paired with his shit-eating grin.
"It's the day I drive our flaming peacock around." Hector said dryly as he glared at George.
"It's the day I take Mari to the doctor." Gabe had said as he loaded said woman into his car.
"It's the day I call my mom." Maria had said before being loaded into the car.
Each one of them seemingly forgot that today was Tanya's birthday. A fact that made her weep even harder.
"I-I'll show them! I'll show them how I d-don't need them to celebrate!"
She grabbed her purse from her closet and was just about to storm out until she heard something out back.
"What the hell?"
Cautiously, she picked up an umbrella that was near her door and carefully moved towards the back door. Noticing that it was open, Tanya slowly pushed the door open and creeped out. But upon getting onto the porch, she was blinded by a bright light.
"Ah!"
"SURPISE!"
When her vision returned, she saw that her companions were standing in front of her, presents in each of their hands. Behind them, she could see a small party had been prepared.
"Did you think we honestly forgot Tanya?" Dwight asked as he stepped forward.
"You mean a lot to us,'so of course we wouldn't." Arianne added.
"Oh...oh my god."
Tears began to pour from Tanya's eyes. But unlike earlier, these were of pure joy. "H-How could I have ever doubted you all?"
"Yeah, how could you?" George teased, "I mean, those kids went out of their way to plan everything."
"They certainly do love you." Maria added.
Unable to contain herself, Tanya ran up and hugged the two teens she had been taking care of.
"Mmmmf!"
"Mgh!"
The two struggled as they were suffocated by their surrogate mother's chest. When she gave them room to breathe, Dwight asked,
"Does this mean you liked our surprise."
Tanya couldn't help but smile.
"I love it."