{"id":14252,"date":"2017-04-30T14:29:35","date_gmt":"2017-04-30T18:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14252"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:41:12","slug":"birthday-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14252","title":{"rendered":"Birthday Boy (by faust)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>: \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Celebrating Adam’s birthday was always a somewhat strained affair. But the new addition to the family didn’t know that, and so something new happens that has everyone holding their breaths.<\/p>\n

870 words, rated K<\/p>\n

This story was first written in German, as a bow to Heike. On occasion of her first birthday after her passing in 2016, I post this translation today, April 30th.<\/p>\n

My Story Index and reading order for the Art-Universe<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n
In loving memory of Heike, fan, forum host, friend.<\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

Birthday-Boy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Actually, Adam\u2019s birthday had never been grandly celebrated. First, there was the pain of Elizabeth\u2019s passing shortly after she\u2019d given birth to her only child, always at the forefront of Ben\u2019s thinking, and Adam was so young still, a mere babe, and anyway, Ben was alone with his son\u2014who would have benefitted from a birthday party? Later, there was no time to celebrate or no money, most commonly both of those. One day melted into the other, sometimes they were so similar that Ben couldn\u2019t have said if it was tomorrow already or still the day before yesterday. Those times were marked by labour and deprivation, by exhaustion and hunger. A birthday might have been a ray of hope\u2014but in focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel Ben had lost the ability to notice those small, friendly sparkles by the wayside long ago.<\/p>\n

Then came Inger, and with her candles and birthday cakes and colourful pennants on the wagon seat. Cake and pennants remained, even after Inger had been torn away from them, but cake and pennants were for children\u2014and Adam didn\u2019t seem to feel like a child anymore.<\/p>\n

Marie didn\u2019t even try and put flowers around Adam\u2019s plate on his birthday or serenade him like she did for her other children. She insisted on a birthday kiss, though, and on a merry \u201cBon anniversaire, mon fils,<\/em>\u201c but no one would overtax Adam with more than that. Presents\u2014yes, indeed, by then they could even afford presents\u2014Adam accepted with faint amazement and almost humble gratitude. And then he would bury himself in work.<\/p>\n

After Marie died, Adam went to college, and Ben suspected that his eldest opened the parcels they sent him for his birthday only secretly, just so that no one would become aware of anything.<\/p>\n

Later, when Adam was back on the ranch, he coincidentally would be in Placerville or San Francisco on his birthday, or somewhere else, the farther away the better it seemed, until he eventually was a very long way off, in Europe. Ben would write him letters there, extra-long ones for his birthday\u2014even though it felt like doing something forbidden.<\/p>\n

That Adam would come home to the Ponderosa just on his birthday of all times, could safely be considered as an expression of some peculiar cosmic humour, which then was thoroughly discussed at the breakfast table. The only one who did not understand the joke was Jamie\u2014but how should he, having joined the family only after Adam had gone to Europe and never having witnessed how \u00a0Adam would bravely endure birthday well-wishes.<\/p>\n

That Jamie didn\u2019t come along to the stage coach station to collect the homecoming older brother, seemed understandable to all. Adam should be welcomed there by the family he already knew, and meet the new brother not until back home at the ranch\u2014without half of the town as audience for their first encounter.<\/p>\n

But no one could have anticipated that, in the time it took the Cartwrights to ride to town, wait for the stage coach and then pick up and bring the lost son back to the Ponderosa, Jamie would be able to not only decorate the whole great room with pennants, candles and flowers and, with help from Hop Sing, set up a formidable cake buffet, but also to adorn the veranda with lampions and multi-coloured ribbons and a giant banner saying \u201cHappy Birthday, Adam!\u201d\u2014or that he would come up with the idea of doing so to begin with.<\/p>\n

Ben was accordingly consternated as they reached the ranch. Of course, the boy meant only well, and Jamie really couldn\u2019t have known\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam,\u201d Ben said. \u201cSon, I\u2019m sorry\u2026\u201d And then he actually was at a loss, he, Ben Cartwright, the man who always found the right words.<\/p>\n

He tried a smile, but that turned out rather strained; and in the background Joe giggled, and Hoss said, \u201cOh, Lordy,\u201d and then Jamie came onto the veranda and grinned broadly and spread his arms wide and cried in a cracking voice, \u201cWelcome home, older brother! And happy birthday!\u201d<\/p>\n

And Adam, thunderstruck, stood there in the front yard, staring at the banner and the lampions and the red-haired boy, and back at his family, and then again at the banner. And then he started to laugh. Laughed and laughed and laughed, shook with laughter, bent forward and leaned onto his thighs, laughed and laughed; and then there were tears, and Ben knew they were no tears of laughter, and he laid his arms around his son\u2019s shoulders and squeezed him, gently.<\/p>\n

Adam beckoned Jamie over, the boy who by now wasn\u2019t grinning anymore but looked alarmed from one to the other and left the veranda only gingerly to approach the still laughing and crying as if out of his senses stranger.<\/p>\n

Adam pulled him close, enfolded him in his arms, and said, \u201cWell, that certainly is a surprise.” And then the grasp tightened, and Jamie heard a hoarse whisper in his ear, “Thank you…little brother<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer. ~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is not beta-read, so if you spot a mistake, please, do not hesitate to tell me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Birthday,\u00a0Family,\u00a0Jamie Hunter Cartwright<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: Celebrating Adam’s birthday was always a somewhat strained affair. But the new addition to the family didn’t know that, and so something new happens that has everyone holding their breaths.<\/p>\n

870 words, rated K<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-short-stories","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-8-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":2277,"today_views":1},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/WoF-37Edengirl.jpg?fit=768%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9912,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=9912","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":0},"title":"(Un)Silent Night (by heike)","author":"heike","date":"December 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 It's Christmas time for those on the Ponderosa... with their own Little Drummer Boy celebration. Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (470 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/G-1-DVS.jpg?fit=574%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/G-1-DVS.jpg?fit=574%2C690&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/G-1-DVS.jpg?fit=574%2C690&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5822,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=5822","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":1},"title":"Birthday Blues (by Patina)","author":"patina","date":"May 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Rating: K Word Count=2002 Summary:\u00a0Adam, away at college, is celebrating his first birthday away from his father and brothers.","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Adam-Stories.jpg?fit=637%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Adam-Stories.jpg?fit=637%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Adam-Stories.jpg?fit=637%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48092,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=48092","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":2},"title":"Little Joe’s Seventh Birthday (by muffinstuffin)","author":"BZTrailRiders","date":"October 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: This is a story I wrote many years ago. Thought you might like to read it. It's just a bit of a fun birthday story. Rating: G, Word Count: 757","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/frontporch.jpg?fit=439%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12159,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12159","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":3},"title":"Happy Birthday Big Brother (by DebbieB)","author":"DebbieB","date":"May 18, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Joe is away on Adam's special day, but still manages to send his respects. Rated:\u00a0 G\u00a0 (1,200 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/A-J.jpg?fit=400%2C320&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56920,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=56920","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":4},"title":"Adam’s Journal — She Walks in Beauty (by JC)","author":"JC","date":"May 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Adam's version of events surrounding the unforgettable Ragan Miller. Written for the 2025 Pernell Roberts Birthday Literary Challenge. Rating: T\u00a0 Word Count 574","rel":"","context":"In "Adam \/ Hoss"","block_context":{"text":"Adam \/ Hoss","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1090"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Caption-1.png?fit=665%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Caption-1.png?fit=665%2C473&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Caption-1.png?fit=665%2C473&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15348,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=15348","url_meta":{"origin":14252,"position":5},"title":"Joe Cartwright – Magician! (by Questfan)","author":"Questfan","date":"October 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"SUMMARY: A Bonanza story celebrating that fun side of Michael in his role as Joe Cartwright. 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