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Ray Kowalski collapsed on his couch, thankful beyond words that his day was over at last. He didn’t bother to turn on any lights, or check his machine, or even take off his boots or jacket. The adrenaline was wearing off, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next twelve hours straight.
An unsuccessful negotiation with a suicidal nut wasn’t his idea of a swell day in any case, but doing it on his birthday made him wonder why he stayed with this crummy job.
Thank god no one at the station knew it was his birthday, either. He knew that they’d have made a big deal about it. Frannie always did, anyway, and she was the one in charge of organizing precinct events. He just wanted to let his forty-second birthday pass with no celebration.
What was there to celebrate anyway? The fact that he was divorced and hating the single life? Or that he’s been stuck in the same job he’d had for twelve years? Or that his best friend and the only man he’d ever loved was off chasing poachers and litterers in the great white north?
He sighed deeply and allowed his body to sink deeper into the cushions as his mind drifted. Fraser would have remembered his birthday. Would have insisted that they get out and do something to mark the occasion, no matter how tired Ray was. Ray missed that. Missed him.
He was nearly asleep when a sharp knock at his door startled him. He groaned and tried to ignore it, but the knock came again. He got unsteadily to his feet, crashing into the coffee table with his shin. He swore loudly and stumbled toward the door, ready to read the riot act to the asshole that woke him up.
Ray opened the door and froze in the middle of a curse: Fraser was standing there, smiling slyly and holding a small rectangular cake with a single burning candle. Ray blinked a few times, and rubbed his eyes, but Fraser didn’t go anywhere. He was real, and standing there outside his door.
Ray reached up and placed his hand on Fraser’s neck, and pulled him in for a kiss. Fraser kissed him chastely and pulled away. Ray nodded and stepped back to allow Fraser to enter, and shut the door behind him. Fraser placed the cake on the bar and turned back to Ray. He looked at him critically in the dim light of the flickering candle, but said nothing. He gestured towards the cake, so Ray leaned over and blew out the flame. He smiled and stepped close, toe to toe, and took Fraser into his arms.
Fraser wrapped his arms around Ray’s waist and smiled back. They kissed, for real this time. Ray forgot all about his weariness and decided that it might be nice to celebrate his special day after all. They celebrated all over the darkened apartment, in fact, and finally found themselves twined together with the sheets on Ray’s bed.
As their heartbeats returned to normal, and the air cooled their sweat-soaked skin, Fraser craned his neck so that he could nibble on Ray’s ear. “What did you wish for?”
“It already came true, Fraser,” Ray whispered and grasped him tightly.
“Happy birthday, Ray.”
THE END
