This tale is written in honour of David's & Tony's Birthdays. Hope you like it.

This story is written for the private entertainment of fans. No infringement of any copyrights held by Due South c/o Alliance is intended. This story is not published for profit, and the author does not give permission for this story to be reproduced for profit. The author makes no claims on the characters or their portrayal by the creation of this story.

Rated G

Birthdays
(by Catalina Dudka - Copyright January 1997)

Ray made his grand entrance. Pausing just inside the Precinct lobby, he looked around expectantly and ... nothing happened. Uniformed officers, hand-cuffed individuals, and ordinary citizens milled about, and no one paid him any mind. OK, so they really wouldn't have done anything down here anyway. Ray adjusted his jacket and proceeded further into the building.

Peering round the corner into the squad room, he gauged the lay of the land. Straightening his jacket again (one must look his best just in case anybody had a camera ready), Ray made another graceful entrance and found ... nothing out of the ordinary. No streamers, no confetti, not even a solitary balloon tied to his stapler. Lt. Welsh was in his office as per usual, while Jack & Luis were conversing at Jack's desk.

Elaine approached with a warm smile.

Here we go, Ray thought preparing himself to receive her well wishes. Leave it to Elaine to remember.

"Hi Ray," she greeted as she walked past him and down the hall.

"Hi...." Ray muttered disappointed. What?!? Didn't anybody celebrate birthdays anymore?!? Dejected Ray moved towards his own desk. Geez, you'd think that after working this long with you, some people would at least wish you a Happy Birthday.

Ray shuffled the papers on his desk. Once in a while he would throw a glance about, but everyone continued to ignore him. After a while he got caught up in the routine of his paperwork, and though he'd got his hopes up a couple more times during the shift (scaring the hell out of an unsuspecting custodian in the utilities closet once), they all turned out to be false alarms.

At shift end everyone went their separate ways and Ray drove to the Consulate to offer Fraser a ride home.

"Ya ready to blow this popscicle stand, Frasier?" Ray asked walking into the Mountie's office with the most perfunctory of knocks.

"Almost," said Mountie answered while he filed away a handful of folders. "Have a seat. I'll be done soon."

Ray folded his lanky frame into the spare chair and stared absently out the window.

Putting away the last file, Fraser turned and caught his friend's melancholy look. "Is something the matter Ray?" he inquired concerned.

"What? Naaah ... It's nothing."

"Are you certain Ray. Maybe I can help?"

Ray looked at the Mountie and just as he opened his mouth to answer, the phone on the desk buzzed.

"Excuse me, Ray. Constable Fraser ... Yes Inspector ... I'll be right there. I'm sorry Ray. I won't be long," Fraser hurried to answer his superior's summons.

"Naaah. It doesn't matter. I'll just wait here, OK?" Ray spoke to an empty room. Not even the wolf was around. Say, where was the beast anyway?? Ray distinctly remembered dropping off both Mountie and wolf this morning. Before he could wonder for long, Fraser returned.

"Ray, would you mind? I could use your help."

"Yeah, sure. Not like I had anything better to do."

Ray followed his friend down the hall towards the Inspector's office. Pushing the door open, Fraser stepped aside allowing Ray to preceded him.

"Hey, Benny. Where's Dief?"

"SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a startled jump, Ray blinked owlishly. Soon the blinding flashes and brightly coloured shapes resolved themselves into streamers, confetti, loads of balloons and the smiling faces of a roomful of people. How did they get so many bodies in here anyway? Ray wondered briefly as he was enveloped by warm hugs and well wished by Lt. Welsh, Elaine, Jack, Luis, Frannie, Turnbull, Inspector Thatcher, a whole bunch of attractive women he'd never met before but who assured him they knew him very well (they also mentioned something about peaches, but he wasn't sure), Fraser and even Dief. They all joined in a raucous rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow', and Ray had a very happy birthday indeed.

The End

Catalina Dudka