Happy Birthday/Sorry A week after Summer Collindale’s first birthday, an owl made its way to the Xaviers. The envelope tied to its legs contained a cheerful card on which a hand-drawn looking purple dog, similar to the one Dora had played with on their visit, held up a balloon with a ‘1’ on it. Raine felt guilty that Professor Xavier might think she had gone to a lot of effort to hand make something, but she had found it easier to find the time to do that than to go to the shops. It was just the latest on a long list of things to feel horrible about; the fact that Dora’s birthday was before Summer’s - and that it was only the arrival of her card from Professor Xavier that had made Raine realise she had missed it - also made an appearance.
The card was accompanied by a brief note. For such a short missive, it said a lot. A large part of that was in the degree to which Raine’s spelling and grammar had disintegrated. They had never been her strong points but she usually tried harder than she appeared to have on this occasion. There were also certain words such as ‘Professor’ which seven years of Sonora had, at one point, successfully drummed into her head by sheer force of the frequency with which they were used. Apparently that had recently made way for other things.
Dear Profesor Xavier,
Im rely sorry I forgot Doras birthday. I rote it down and evrything. Theres been a lot going on. Thanks for the card you sent Summer.