Meet the Howlters

Surprise

YEAR: 2025

[Phil's POV]

Dan's 34th birthday is in a few days but he doesn't seem too excited. He has been down for the past couple of weeks and I'm not sure why.

"Hey Dan," I whispered as I went into the living room.
"Yeah?" he moped as he played with Winston.
"You've been upset for the last couple weeks. Are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" he snapped.
"I just want to make sure you're okay," I pouted.
"I'm fine!"
"You don't have to yell,"
"I'm sorry," he frowned.
"You know I don't like you when you're like this,"
"And what am I like!"
"Dan," I sighed, "just go to bed you're obviously in a bad mood,"
"I'm fine,"
"Go to bed," I kissed him on the forehead, "I got the kids, it's no big deal,"
"I'm fine for the last time!"
"Are you upset about turning 34?" I teased.
"Are you upset about turning 40?"
"Dan I'm gonna be 39..."
"Whatever... I'm not upset,"
"Just go to bed," I whispered as I kissed his cheek.
"Fine," he kissed Winston's forehead, "night Winnie,"
"Night bear,"
"Night bear!" Delilah yelled.
"Goodnight sweetheart," Dan waved to her and went to bed. As soon we heard the door close I rushed the kids into the kitchen.
"Okay," I whispered, "we're gonna make bear a birthday cake,"
"What kind of cake?" Delilah asked as her eyes peered over the counter top.
"Vanilla,"
"Okay!"
"Shhh, lower your voice Dil,"
"Sorry," she laughed.
"Okay, here are the ingredients," I mumbled as I pulled a few things out of the cupboard. "And here's the recipe," I said as I uploaded the recipe onto my Mac.
"Daddy what's this?" Delilah asked.
"That's a whisk honey, put it down,"
"Okay!"

I pulled in 2 chairs from the dining room, the blue and the orange chair. Delilah climbed onto blue and Winston climbed onto orange. We began measuring all the ingredients and I let them pout it into the mixing bowls.

"Can I stir?" Winston asked.
"No I wanna stir it!" Delilah protested.
"How about you both stir it," I compromised.
"Fine," they sighed.

They both placed two hands on the wooden spoon and began stirring the batter. As they stirred flour and surgar began spilling out onto the counter.

"Can I crack the egg dad?" Winston asked.
"No! I wanna do it!"
"I think I should crack it, just so no shells get in it,"
"Okay," they pouted as they peered over the counter as I cracked it. "Do you guys wanna mix it some more?"
"Yes!" They cheered.
"Shhh,"
"Sorry," they laughed.

[Dan's POV]

As I tried to sleep I kept hearing yelling from the kitchen. In my tired and confused state I got up and decided to check it out. I dragged myself out of bed and slowly walked into the kitchen. When I walked in I saw Phil baking with the kids. When he saw me standing in the doorway he stopped baking and gave me a small smile. There was flour all over his face and jeans; same went for the kids.

"What are you doing?" I laughed.
"It was suppose to be a surprise," he whispered.
"Happy Birthday bear," the kids said.
"You're making me a cake?" I smiled as I teared up.
"Yeah..." he rubbed his head.
"Thank you," I said as I hugged him.
"I love you bear," Phil whispered.
"We love you too!" The kids cheered as they joined the hug.
"Now go back to bed!" Delilah ordered. "You can't see it until tomorrow!"
"Alright, alright," I smiled. Before I left I gave Phil a quick kiss and a hug. "Love you too Lion," I whispered. "Night guys, don't go to bed too late,"
"Okay now get out!"

The next morning I woke up before Phil, but I was too lazy to get out of bed so I snuggled up against him. He wrapped his pale arm around me and gave me a soft squeeze.

"Happy birthday," he whispered, still half asleep.

I tried drifting off to sleep again but I was unsuccessful. As I lay there, I heard a small creak come from the doorway, I knew it was one of the kids. A few seconds later I felt someone crawl onto the bed. The little articulate spawn crawled up to me and handed me a card.

"Happy Birthday," Delilah whispered as she began to make her way off the bed.
"Come back here," I chuckled as I pulled her into a hug. "Thank you," I kissed her cheek and gave her a tight hug.
"Dan what are you doing?" Phil mumbled as hr woke up. "Morning Dil," he smiled.
"Morning daddy,"
"What are you doing in our bed?"
"Giving bear a birthday card,"
"Can I see it?" he asked as I handed him the card. "This is so nice!" Phil smiled.
"Thank you," she proudly smiled.
"Is your brother up yet?"
"I'm not sure," she said as she snuggled up with us.
"Happy birthday bear!" Winston yelled as he hopped onto the bed.
"Thanks," I chuckled.
"Are you having a party?" Delilah asked.
"Maybe we'll have Louise and Darcy come over,"
"What about uncle Tyler?" Delilah pouted.
"I don't know, he might be back in America. He only comes to London a few times a year,"
"Oh yeah..."
As we sat there, snuggling with the kids, I heard my phone beep.

Hey Dan, happy birthday! If you're not doing anything feel free to stop by xoxo
-Louise

Thanks Louise! I'll be sure to make my way down at some point!
-Dan

"Who's that?"
"Louise," I mumbled.
"Who?"
"Louise!" I enunciated.
"Don't yell!" Delilah yelled as she nudged my shoulder.
"Sorry," I hugged her once more. "We should get up," I said as I swung my legs out of bed.
"What are we doing for breakfast?" Phil asked as he got up as well.
"I don't know. What do you guys want?"
"Pancakes!" They cheered.
"Okay," we laughed. "Let's go," I said while picking up Winston, while Phil picked up Delilah.

We had a nice breakfast that Phil made for me. Around 1 o'clock we headed over to Louise's house. We knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

"I'll get my mum," Darcy sighed. "MUM!" she called.
"What?" she replied as she headed towards the door. "Oh hi!" she cheered as she hugged me. "Happy birthday Dan!"
"Thank you,"
"Please come in," she showed us into the living room. "So how has your day been so far?" she smiled.
"Good, Phil and the kids made me a cake, the kids made me a card, Phil made me pancakes...so yeah, its been a good day,"
"That's good to hear," she smiled. "So when do the little ones start school?" she asked as we all sat down.
"Next year,"
"I'm not ready for them to grow up!" Phil cried.
"Calm down," I placed my hand on his shoulder
"I will not calm down! My babies are growing up," he pouted.
"We're here!" We heard a familiar flamboyant voice called from the corridor.
"Tyler, you made it!" Louise said as she hugged the gay American.
"Troye will be in, in a minute with Stef,"
"We're here now," Troye mumled as he walked in with the toddler.
"You've gotten so big!" Louise said to Stefanie.
"I know!" she cheered as she hugged Louise. "Happy birthday Dan!" she hugged me too.
"Thank you sweetheart,"
"So are you boys all settled into your house?"
"You guys bought a house?" Phil and I asked.
"Yeah," Tyler chuckled. "I'm gonna live my dream...do you remember what it is Phil?"
"Oh I know this!" My adorable husband smiled as he thought to himself. "You wanted to be a...stay at home dad?"
"Yeah! What else? There's one more thing," Tyler teased.
"I don't know, I forget,"
"Head of the PTA," Troye helped out.
"Oh that's right!"
"Are you guys gonna buy a house? There a few for sale up the street," Louise said.
"We're not sure, we like our cozy flat," Phil shrugged.
"What about when they get older? They're gonna need bigger rooms?"
"She has a point Phil,"
"Now's not the time to be talking about this...it's your birthday for god sake! Let's do something fun!"
"I think this is fun...sitting around and talking with you guys and the kids...this is honestly the most fun I've ever had."