"Hey. Get up." You hear someone whisper, shaking you by the shoulder. You groan and open your eyes, revealing Loki, your boyfriend. "Morning love," He says softly, stroking your hair. "Morning." You reply. "You know what today is, right my love?" Loki asks. You smile and nod. You actually had no idea what today was. Guess he was right for calling you a workaholic. He raises his eyebrows as if expecting an answer.

"Well it's your birthday of course," You say calmly, hoping that you were correct. He smiles. "Glad you didn't forget." He says ruffling your hair. "I'm going to buy us some Starbucks. The usual for you?" He says. "Yeah," You respond. "Okay, I'll be right back." He kisses your forehead and heads out the door. Once you see him drive away, you go full on panic attack. How could you forget his birthday?! Hell, you'd been dating for over 3 years and you still forgot his birthday. You place around your bedroom nervously trying to think of something to get him.

What would he like? Clothes, he has enough. Watches, only wears a couple a month. Cologne, you got him that for his last birthday. Why was it so hard to shop for men?! A new phone? No, he has the newest one. You continue to pace and think for the next 15 minutes until you hear the door unlocking. You quickly turn on the TV and sit down on the couch, pretending you were doing so for the past 15 minutes or so.

Loki steps inside, holding two drinks, one of which he hands to you. "What are you watching?" He asks, glancing at the TV. "Nature show." You say simply. You really just turned it on and went with whatever was on at the time. "Interesting right?" You say, sipping your drink. "Very," Loki says, studying the animals on the screen carefully.

"You like animals?" You ask hoping to get an idea of a gift. "I like some. Not all of them. Like dogs and cats. They're interesting creatures to watch, untamed dogs are wolves. Untamed cats are lions. It's quite amazing how such powerful and intelligent creatures have been tamed by the human species and became these harmless, friendly house pets." He shrugs.

"So, if you could have one, which one would you get?" You ask. "A cat, of course. Preferably a black one. I just relate to them more." He says. You nod.

~

After Loki leaves for work a little bit later, you head to the nearest pet store. You find no black cats and head to a different one. After several failed attempts, you head to the shelter. That was the one place you knew you were going to get close to getting a black cat. You step inside and head to the cat section and look inside all the cages. Then you see it.

"You're perfect," You whisper to the small cat, who looks at you with curious green eyes. You flag down an employee and adopt the cat. You buy all the necessary items and get it vaccinated before taking it home. You keep it in the carrier and give it a couple treats so it wouldn't make too much noise. You carefully place an open bottomed box on top of the carrier and stand back to admire your work. "Good job me." You smile, high fiving yourself.

At that moment, you hear the door unlocking and you hide around the corner. When you bought the supplies for the cat, you may have also gone shopping for a cake and new dress. You quickly flipped the tag on the box which read: "For my love," and went back to your hiding spot. Loki walks in and you carefully watch him as he notices the box. "What in-" He reads the tag and smiles. "Natalie!" You step out from your hiding spot. "Happy birthday babe!" You walk over and hug him tightly.

"You really didn't have to love," He says, hugging you back. "Oh, I wanted to. Now open it." You smile. He lifts the box up and crouches down to see the cat. "Natalie! Did you..?" You nod, seeing how happy he was. "You're amazing, you know that?" He kisses you deeply. "I know. Loki, meet Lani. You take the cat out and hold her gently before handing her to Loki.

"The only gift I need is you."

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~♡ Miki