Family Forever

"Cosmo, the banner's a little crooked, hold it up a little higher."

"Like this?"

"Not that high!"

Poof arrived home from Spellamentary school, going almost unnoticed by his parents, whom were busy decorating Timmy's bedroom. Balloons, streamers, assorted colorful odds and ends…

"Oh, Poof, sweetie!" His mother took notice of him now, a big smile on her face as she finished hanging the banner she had been trying to hang across the wall when he had come home.

An enormous banner that went from one corner of the wall to the other, spelling out in big colorful bubble letters "Happy Birthday Timmy."

Today was Timmy's 15th birthday…another year older…

"Hey Poof, wanna help us decorate for your big brother's big day? You can test taste one of the party cookies I made!" His father, with a huge grin, presented a platter of cookies in the shape of pink hats.

"…." He stared at the cookies, feeling his bottom lip start to tremble but he did not know if it was with anger or with sadness, maybe it was both.

"After you try a cookie, you can help me gift wrap Timmy's presents; he'll be home from school soon, so we better hurry, ok Poof?" His mother's smile shrunk as he failed to reply. "Poof…?"

"No!" He exclaimed in a burst of sudden frustration, knocking the tray of birthday cookies out of his surprised father's hands. "I don't want to celebrate Timmy's birthday!"

"What? Why!?" His father stared at him, flabbergasted. It made him angry that he'd look so confused as to the reason. He knew his father wasn't smart, but even he ought to know why!

"Poof, what's gotten into you?" His mother frowned, narrowing her eyes at him as she broke into a lecture. "A birthday is a very special occasion, and Timmy is a very special member of our family. You shouldn't say you don't want to celebrate the birthday of someone who loves you so much."

"You love Timmy too, don't you? Why would you not want to celebrate?" Cosmo was still looking confused as he started picking the cookies off of the floor and dusting them off.

"Yes, I love Timmy! That's why I don't want to celebrate him getting older." He couldn't hold back his tears anymore and let them trail down his cheeks. "…Why would you want to celebrate something that's going to—to—-take Timmy away!"

His words broke down into tears, and his parents anger and confusion gave way to sympathy and understanding. His mother sighed and sat down next to him, rubbing his back consolingly.

"We're sorry Poof…Cosmo and I have just become so used to saying goodbye over the thousands of years we've been godparents that we forgot how much the first couple of times really hurt…"

"Yeah, and Timmy's been with you your entire life…." His dad lowered his head sadly. "It's going to be so hard on you….when that day comes…"

"So…you guys…" He sniffled, feeling a sense of hurt and even betrayal by their words. "D-don't care…because your…used to it? It won't make you sad? Y-you...don't care that...we'll need to say goodbye...f...forever someday...?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying!" His mother shook her head looking distressed. "It hurts every time we need to leave a godchild we've been with for a long time but….with Timmy, it's going to be a very big hurt. The biggest hurt we've ever experienced. There will never be another godchild like Timmy…he's more then just another godchild to us...he's a real part of the family..." His mother's eyes began to water but she took a deep breath, steeling herself. "He's just as much our son to your father and I as you are...we love him so much."

"Yeah…it's going to leave a big hole in our hearts when we say goodbye." His dad got teary-eyed.

"Then why do you look so happy to—to celebrate Timmy getting older if it means we're that much closer to saying….goodbye?" He asked, not understanding. If they loved Timmy as much as they said then why were they smiling so happy while putting up those birthday decorations?

"You see Poof…." His mother put an arm around him, holding him close. "Unlike a fairy, a human's life…it's very short. They age and die so quickly."

"Uhh, Wanda, I'm not sure that's going to help—"

"Quite, Cosmo, I'm going somewhere with this," His mother snapped at his father before returning to her nurturing tone. "Every year that they age may bring them closer to their ends, but that's why these days need to be celebrated because they are limited and special. A birthday is an occasion for them, their friends and family to look back at that year of a person's life and cherish their memories."

"Yeah, a birthday is a time to celebrate a year of good, fun memories together! Like that time Timmy tried to get rid of his acne by wishing his 'face was clear' and I, like, removed his entire face?"

"Uh, Cosmo, I think that counts as a horrifying memory."

"Well, it was funny to me!" His father laughed and despite how sad he was he couldn't help but manage the smallest crack of a smile as he recalled his brother running around the room, crashing into various objects as he had a panic attack over losing his eyes, nose and mouth.

"Point is sweetie…" His mother sighed wistfully, looking around herself at all the birthday decorations. "If we neglected celebrating his birthday just because we are sad at the idea of losing him when he's older, we wouldn't be appreciating the time we did have with him."

"I understand…but…" He sniffled. "I'm…going to miss him so much…."

"Hey now Poof we still have time left with him, we're not going away just yet." His dad patted him on the head. "We still have lots of time to make lots and lots of fun memories together!"

"But someday….we'll…have go away…."

"Someday, but not today." His mother gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, if we worry about someday, we won't have fun today!"

"But….someday….Timmy will forget all about us…" He sniffled; having to leave his big brother forever was bad enough but knowing he wouldn't even remember them after? It would be like everything they ever shared would be like…it never happened. "Doesn't…that bother you…?"

"It does hurt, sweetie." His mother admitted, her eyes turning moist. "To know that Timmy won't remember us, even though we love each other like family, it really does hurt…"

"Yeah, it's a real bummer…." His father agreed, looking downcast.

"But even if we can't be remembered by face or name…it's not like we disappear from their hearts entirely." His mother perked up a little and gave him a brave smile. "…Humans live for such a short time, that's why we fairy godparents do our best to make their childhoods happy and full of hope…so that they will carry that warmth inside of them into their adult years-so that their short lives can be good ones."

"That's right! Even if he can't remember our names, whenever he looks back on his childhood, we'll be that warm fuzzy feeling, right here!" His father beamed and placed his hands over his heart.

"Those feelings will stay him, shaping who he is, and giving him hope and happiness when things get hard, so you see, Poof, we'll always be a part of him."

"…But what about us? We live forever….will we….eventually forget about Timmy?" He looked at his parents feeling sad. Would Timmy eventually fade from their memory, becoming just one of many godchildren?

In response to this, his parents exchanged confident smiles and shook their heads.

"No, that's impossible! Not even in a Zillion years!" His father declared.

"R-really?" He asked, not sure where they were getting their confidence from.

"Yes, really, and we have a very good reason as to why that is." His mother shared his father's certainty.

"What is it?" He asked, curiously, and his father dramatically pointed at him.

"The reason is you, Poof!"

"M-me?" He repeated, confused.

"That's right!" His mother gave him an affectionate kiss on the head. "Poof…your the child of Cosmo and I, but you are also a wish that Timmy made—that makes us family forever, no matter what, and not even a kazillion years will erase the bond we have together."

His tears finally began to dry, and he managed to smile. "So…even when we do need to say goodbye…Timmy will still be part of our family…?"

"Forever and always." His mother and father gave him a tight hug.

There was a noise downstairs of the front door opening, and Timmy's voice calling out 'I'm home—!"

"Uh no! We're not done setting up!" His father looked around the half-done bedroom panicked while his mother quickly began issuing instructions as they rapidly tried to finish completing the party decorations, snacks and presents before Timmy made it to his bed room. He was given the important job of spying downstairs and telling them when Timmy was on his way up.

He snuck to the stairwell and turned into one of the railings so that he could watch over everything in the room below.

"Oh, you're home!" Mrs Turner's voice welcomed her son home. His poor brother looked like he had a terrible day at school; if the bruises and dirty clothes were any indication. He must've gotten beaten up by Francis again.

"Finally, we have a big night planned!" Mr. Turner sounded just as bubbly as his wife.

"R-really?" Timmy sounded surprised and hopeful, his face breaking out into a tentative smile.

"And by 'we' we mean 'us'!" Timmy's father continued. The smile from Timmy's face vanished instantly, but he did not look all that surprised either. "It's your mother's and I's anniversary, so we're going out for a nice big dinner at a really fancy restaurant!"

"But don't worry, we're not leaving you out of the celebrations. We got you a present—!"

"…Uh….a mop…?" Timmy sounded crestfallen as Mrs Turner handed him the aforementioned object. Timmy rose a confused eye brow at the mop that was shoved into his hand.

"It's to go with the nice new list of chores we got you!" Mr. Turner added, pressing a mile long piece of paper into Timmy's other hand.

"Don't you have anything for us, you know, to celebrate our anniversary?" Timmy's mother questioned expectantly; both Turner adult's eyes gleaming in anticipation for a present.

"It's not your anniversary today…" Timmy sighed, sounding and mixture of sad, annoyed and resigned.

"It's not?" Both his oblivious parents chimed together in puzzlement.

"But I could have sworn that today was a celebration of some kind?" mused.

"Oh, I know!" Mr. Turner suddenly declared, slamming a fist into his palm. "It's national California strawberry day!"

"Oh wow, I love strawberries! Let's go out and pick some!"

"Oh, and eat them too! Later son!"

"Bye, we love you!"

Timmy watched as his parents cheerfully made their way out the door, his shoulders drooping. "….What do I expect? They forget every year…"

He poofed out of sight as Timmy raised his eyes towards the stairway.

"….But that's ok….'cause I know that those three probably have something really wild planned—they always do."

'Humans live for such a short time, that's why we fairy godparents do our best to make their childhoods happy and full of hope…so that they will carry that warmth inside of them into their adult years.'

He recalled his mother's words and nodded to himself as he quickly made his way back to Timmy's room to warn his parents that Timmy was on his way up.

He understood what she meant now.

Someday Timmy would be made to forget about them, like all godchildren once they grew up, but that did not mean that the love Timmy received from them would be forgotten.

Thanks to them, when an adult Timmy recalled his birthdays, he'd recall the happy, warm feelings of celebrating it with family, and not the sad feelings of being left alone and forgotten about. Even if the source of that happy feeling couldn't be recalled…it would be there inside of him…

Their love would always be a part of Timmy, and the love Timmy had for them, their bond as a family would endure forever and ever—he himself—the child of Cosmo and Wanda and born from Timmy's wish, would link all four of them as family forever.

"He's here! He's here!" His father was bouncing with excitement and his mother poofed party hats on their heads as the door began to open; and when Timmy stepped inside, to be greeted with a chorus of "surprise!" his brother smiled at them, not the least bit surprised but a smile that was very, very happy.

He flew up to his brother and gave him a big hug. "Happy Birthday Timmy!"

The End.

Authors Note: Since it's March 21st today (Timmy's Birthday) I thought to do a short little one shot in order to celebrate it : )