Nick was right; the restaurant was stunning.

It was on the top floor of a building in Midtown, and had expansive views of skyscrapers all the way down to the financial district. Sumire was glad she'd brought nice clothes to wear in her small bag.

They were being led to a table near  window, prime seating which made sense for a star like Nick Pensieri. Nick was also smiling at her strangely as they were being led to their table, as if waiting for some sort of reaction from her.

"What?" she asked, confused. She looked at Darcie, who looked as clueless as she felt. Darcie, of course, looked outstanding, at her part-time model best in a sparkly dress with strappy sandals.

There were no open tables where they were being taken, and she turned to Nick to ask what was going on. Nick just looked back at her and continued to smile, enjoying her discomfiture.

The two people sitting at the large table for five rose as they neared, and Sumire finally recognized them.

"Oh my god, Mom, Marcus, what are you doing here?" she cried. She ran the last few steps to kiss her mother on the cheek and give Marcus a brief hug.

"Surprise!" Nick declared as they were shown to their seats by the maitre d'. He was happy that he'd been able to keep Sumire's parents' presence at tonight's dinner a secret until the very end; he'd made a point of not even telling Darcie, as she was known for "accidentally" letting secrets spill at the most inopportune moments.

"Nick, Darcie, this is my mother, Christine, and my stepfather, Marcus," Sumire said as they all took their seats. He looked curiously at the older couple, at the woman who'd produced his tutor, and the man who'd taken her father's place and helped raise her for the last half of her life.

Her mother, Christine, was petite and blonde, maybe a bit taller than her daughter, her hair done up in an elegant chignon. Lovely diamonds shone on her fingers, and she was definitely wearing custom couture, Nick could tell.

The stepfather, Marcus, was a large man, perhaps a shade taller than Nick himself, broad-shouldered and stocky, a man who gave an impression of filling a room, of announcing his presence. He had a jolly air, and a thick, full beard, with bright blue eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you," Nick said sincerely, holding out his hand.

"Likewise," Christine responded warmly, smiling. "Of course we know who you you are. And thank you for inviting us to this wonderful dinner. We haven't seen Sumire in so long, and it's lovely to get to spend an evening with her before you two head off to the wilds of Japan."

Sumire looked at Nick. "I told you not to, didn't I?" she chastised.

"And I told you that I wanted to do it, didn't I?" he responded. "So just let me, okay? It nearly didn't happen, I want you to know, your parents are busy people."

"Oh?" Sumire turned to her mother and Marcus.

"Well, I have to take the train back to Boston tonight because I have a meeting tomorrow morning, bright and early, with my department heads about curriculum changes," Marcus explained. "Some idiot scheduled it for eight AM, no way to spend the night and make it, so I'm afraid I'm off tonight, as soon as we're finished here, though I know how rude it is to eat and run," he added apologetically.

"No, not at all," Nick assured him. "Just glad you could make it, sir."

"And I'm headed to Washington first thing in the morning," Christine said. "You remember Aurora Jennings, darling? Yes, her daughter's getting married tomorrow, and you know how I hate to fly if I don't have to, especially alone. So I have to be on a train practically at the crack of dawn, though at least I will get to spend the night here in the city, which will be nice. I'm at the Plaza, actually, just like you," she said with a pleased smile.

The waiter came just then to take their orders, and Sumire took her first look at the menu. She realized as she did so that this was one of those restaurants where only the host's menu showed the prices, and she was equal parts shocked and grateful to Nick for doing such a generous thing for her birthday.

She looked at Nick, who was sitting next to her, to say something, but he shook his head slightly at her.

Don't say a word.

But Nick.

No, don't. It's my pleasure.

But Nick!

Stop.

She finally shook her head and just decided to enjoy herself.

As the evening progressed, and the wine flowed, the conversation ebbed and flowed around them, keeping everyone laughing and enjoying themselves.

"So, Darcie, what are you studying?" Marcus asked at one point.

"Well, Nick teases me and calls it 'Bartending and Poverty,' but my diploma will say 'Theatre,'" Darcie answered, nudging her brother.

"Nah, I do bug her about it, but she's really talented," Nick interrupted. "And the fact is that in this business half of success is who you know, and she knows me, so she's headed for success, no problem, you know?"

"Except for the fact that I'm interested in theatre," Darcie interjected. "And knowing Nick won't really help a whole lot on Broadway." She nudged him again. "So we'll see, won't we?"

"Well, I think it's admirable that you're striking out on your own," Christine said with a smile.

"Kind of like my dad," Sumire said. "His parents were both in academia, and he could easily have followed where they'd paved the way, but he chose his own path."

"Well, there's independent, then there's just plain pig-headed and obtuse," Christine, interrupted with a laugh. "Your father's parents were both full professors at the premiere university in Japan, and he was a doctoral candidate who had a place waiting for him after he graduated. But he chose to work in park maintenance instead, working for the prefectural government."

"Mom, don't call Totto-san pig-headed and obtuse!" Sumira objected. "He didn't enjoy research! He wanted to be out in the sun, he enjoyed growing things, that's all, you know that."

Her mother patted her hand. "I know, I know, darling, and I'm sorry. I should know better than to insult your father in front of you, I know how happy he made you."

"So Marcus, when did you grow your beard back?" Sumire asked as she took a bite of her food. "I haven't seen you with that much facial hair in, what, ten years?"

"Oh, this?" Marcus stroked his beard in a self-deprecating way. "Well, one of the kids in my summer school class said that I looked like someone's 'dweeby uncle' when I was clean shaven, and that maybe I should try a beard, that it might help."

"Oh no, really?" Sumire laughed.

"Yes," he continued ruefully. "And while I don't know exactly what 'dweeby' means, and I didn't want to ask, I could tell it wasn't good, so I grew it out, to see if it would help with my street cred with my classes."

"And did it?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, summer classes ended before it grew in completely, I never got a chance to ask."

At this point in the evening the beautiful birthday cake came, with both Sumire's and Darcie's names written on it, and a candle for each of them. Neither of them were expecting this, and both clapped as Marcus, Christine, Nick, and the staff sang to them. Then the two of them leaned forward and blew out the candles.

"Okay, now presents, now presents," Nick declared as gifts were pulled out and handed over to the girls.

"I'm so glad we hadn't mailed this to you yet when Nick contacted us," Marcus said as he handed over the package.

Sumire opened a first edition of poems by A.A. Milne, some favorites from her childhood, a book she'd been wanting for a long time.

"Thank you, Marcus, Mom," she said, smiling at the two of them.

"Okay, now mine," Nick said, handing his sister and tutor each a small box.

They opened them at the same time, and pulled out finely wrought necklaces, each with a kanji, or Chinese character, hanging from it.

"Darce, yours says imouto, which means 'little sister' in Japanese," he told her.

"And what does hers say?" Darcie asked curiously.

"Hers says tomodachi," Nick said, looking at Sumire.

"Friend," Sumire translated softly.

She clutched the necklace in her fist and leaned in to hug Nick fiercely, which surprised him. Before he could hug her back, she released him and sat back in her chair, reaching behind her neck to fasten the clasp.

"How does it look?" she asked her mother, who was looking at her in surprise as well.

"It looks lovely, dear," she replied, nodding.

🌟🌙🌟🌙🌟🌙🌟🌙🌟🌙🌟

They said good bye to Marcus in front of the restaurant, since he was headed straight back to the airport.

"Thanks for coming, Marcus," Sumire told him.

"See you in a few days, darling," Christine said, pecking him on the cheek.

"Well, thank you for a wonderful meal, young man," Marcus told Nick, shaking his hand. "It was a real pleasure to meet you, and your sister as well."

He climbed into his cab and waved as it pulled away.

The three young people decided to walk back to the Plaza, since it was a beautiful evening, but Christine begged off, saying she needed to get to bed for her early train.

"In fact, I need to say good bye to you all as well, I suppose, since I'll be on my way before any of you are up, won't I?" she declared.

She hugged Darcie and Nick, thanking them both for a lovely evening.

"Good bye, dear," she said, hugging Sumire and kissing her cheek. "Have a wonderful time in Japan, and don't forget to call once in a while, okay? Be safe."

Then she, too, hailed a cab.

"Wow, Nick, I can't thank you enough for tonight, Sumire said as they walked over to Fifth Avenue before turning north. "It was the most amazing evening." She gave him her small smile. "I guess having friends can be pretty great."

"What does that mean?" Darcie asked. "You must have gobs of friends." She looked from Sumire to Nick in confusion.

"Nothing, sis, don't worry about it," Nick told her, and so she let it go.

So the three of them headed uptown, enjoying the evening and each other, not knowing what awaited them.

AN: Things are going to get ugly, my Intrepid Readers, and you all know that I don't ever describe things gratuitously, right? Only enough to get my point across. But this is going to be one of the ugliest things I've ever written about, so bear down and be strong. This is an HEA, but it will take a bit to get there...