Spider-Man and The Esper

27. Birthday Surprise

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Laura! Happy birthday to you!"

"Now, make a wish and blow out the candles, sweetie," a nice young woman with brown hair and a wide smile said to her now five year old daughter as the chorus of happy song finished.

"I wish for a stuffed toy of one of my favorite heroes, and for us to be a happy family!" she said enthusiastically in her little voice, while grinning excitedly, before she took an overly large breath, and blew out the five flickering birthday candles, leaving trails of puffy smoke to blow away in the breeze.

"Yayyy!" the group of people surrounding her cheered as she did so.

"Good job!" her mum encouraged. "Now, why don't you open up your presents while I cut the cake?" she suggested. The girl nodded and eagerly jumped down off her chair and ran over to the small pile of colorfully wrapped presents sitting on a thin blanket on the floor of the balcony.

It didn't take long for her happy screech to reach the ears of her guests, as a few minutes and a lot of ripped wrapping paper later, she uncovered the stuffed Spider-Man toy her mum had bought her.

"Eeeeeeeee!" she exclaimed as she cuddled the toy tight, its red eyes staring up at her. "Thank you mummy!" she yelled as she ran to her mum with the toy in hand and gave her a big hug around the waist as she was handing out slices of decorated chocolate cake.

"No problem sweetie. Just be careful near the railing!" she said, as Laura ran off to sit next to the edge of the balcony with a number of her new toys, the Spider-Man one obviously being the favorite as she kept it tucked safely under her arm.

"Here darling, an extra large slice for the birthday girl!" a man being her father said, as he came over a minute later to hand her a plate with a big helping of cake on it, along with a cup of juice.

"Thanks daddy," she said, as she reached out to take it. But in doing so she forgot about the toy tucked under her arm, and it slipped out, falling through the small gap in the railing.

"Noooooooooooo!" she screamed in despair as she saw her favorite toy go plummeting towards the earth, unable to reach it in time.

It never hit the ground though, as out of nowhere there was a rush of wind, a blur of blue light and another of gray and black as the second figure swooped over and flipped dramatically in mid air, snatching the toy mid-descent and disappearing round the corner.

The silence was pin-drop worthy on the deck for but a second, before the figure flew back around and landed crouched on the railing, holding the lost stuffed toy in its hand.

The family was shocked to find a large living, breathing, gray and black version of the toy, exact in likeness, sitting right in front of Laura, red eyes looking right into her face.

The second figure crouched on the railing trying very hard to to fall over, 'How the hell does balance himself so well, he makes it look like child's play.'

"Drop something?" he spoke, placing the replica of himself in her hands.

Laura took the toy absentmindedly, her eyes never leaving the being in front of her, before she all but threw herself at him, crashing herself into Spider-man's form in a strangling bear hug.

"Spider-man!" she yelled, in absolute joy, squeezing him tighter just like she'd been doing to the toy but moments before.

Spider-man made an 'oomf' noise in surprise, balancing himself on the railing when the extra weight rammed into him, before carefully winding his arms around the girl in response, lowering his chin over her head. He was glad that he was out of the hospital, being bed ridden for two days was exhausting but luckily Fubuki and the others were visiting him. But he still took things easy.