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It went very simply.

It was Alec's birthday - he'd just turn ten - so after he'd been dropped off at Andrew's office he walked in and said, "It's my birthday. I want ice cream for dinner. You promised."

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He gets some of it. Business never really quite interests him, but he does try and pay attention.

"They should give you more money."

That's what investors did, right?

"I agree."

More or less, Alec. More or less.

"But eventually I think most people will come around to my way of thinking."

How wrong Andrew is. Alas, Alec doesn't know any better so he nods in agreement.

"I need new shoes," he says licking his spoon.

"Have you outgrown your old shoes already? I could have sworn I just bought them..."

But then, little boys' feet grow fast. He hadn't remembered that. It had been awhile since he'd been a child.

"Yes. They pinch." He makes a face.

He is going through a growth spurt and he's going to need new clothes soon as well.

"Very well. We'll get some tomorrow."

He takes another small bite of ice cream. "This really isn't bad," he muses, almost to himself.

"Of course it is. It's ice cream. You should eat it more often."

"It's too sweet to eat on a regular basis."

Yep. No sweet tooth here.

"You don't eat it at all. So more often would be like once in a month."

"Would it really improve your life to see me eating more ice cream?"

"It might improve your life."

Alec doesn't care as long as he's got ice cream.

"I'll take that into consideration."

He pushes aside the little bowl of ice cream, which is only about 3/4 finished.

He stares at that.

And then at his (second) finished ice cream sundae.

"Can I finish yours?"

A look of amusement, then a nod.

"Of course. It's your birthday. Get as sick as you like."

Getting sick as he likes may come back and haunt Andrew later that night. Still, with all the gusto that he used with his own ice cream he quickly finishes off Andrew's.

"Steve got a bike for his birthday," Alec says, mentioning another classmate. "Steve says it's cause his parents got money. Walter says it's because his parents stole the money."

There's a pause as he licks the spoon. "They got into a fight and got detention."

"Steve got a bike? Well, lucky Steve. Perhaps we should go home and open your presents, and you can see if you feel even luckier than Steve."

If there's one thing Andrew does well, it's purchasing things.

Alec's eyes light up and he drops the spoon. He does know that Andrew is very good at purchasing things. And purchasing lots of things.

"Yessir!"

And then, briefly, there's a sad look on his face as he recalls he won't be able to share what he's getting with his family.

"Is there something wrong, Alec?"

Of course he's not perceptive enough to realize why Alec looks sad -- he just recognizes the expression on his face as something not happy.

"No, sir," he says, trying to be convincing. He knows Andrew dislikes having to deal with the whole Feelings Things.

"Then shall we return home and let you open your presents?"

Andrew really is bad at the whole emotional thing.

Alec nods and bounces off his chair, the sugar high starting to hit.

Oh boy. Andrew can already tell this is going to be a long night.

When they arrive back at the apartment, Andrew goes into his office to bring the gifts out -- gifts that he actually wrapped himself, which should be obvious from the slightly crooked corners.

"Which do you want first? There's a larger one I couldn't wrap, but perhaps we should save that for last."

The fact that Andrew actually spent the time to wrap the presents means a lot to Alec. At least once he comes down from the high and recognizes it.

He looks at the gifts gleefully and greedily, shifting from from foot to foot. "Um. That one." And he points to a boxy shaped one.

It's a random pointing because he just doesn't know which to pick.

He hands him the boxy shaped one, waiting for Alec to unwrap it. When he does, he'll find a model making kit. He'd picked it after much deliberation, trying to figure out just what ten year old boys liked. He couldn't remember much from his own youth.

Was Andrew every little?

"Oooooh!" Alec says, running his fingers over the box. "This is fantastic! Wolf had a bunch of these......."

Oh. Shit.