"Drink, drink, drink!" I tried my best but after some seconds I had to push the tube away from my mouth. I coughed and wiped my mouth with my arm. Some beer was spilling on the floor while I joined the laughter of the others.

"Eh, Marc. Your planing on making my birthday my death-day, aren't you?!" I gasped with a grin.

"Eh, dude! It's your twentieth, man! That's gotta be celebrated!"

I agreed with a cool smile signaling him a 'thumbs up' while the next one of my friends layed down on the wooden bank and the cheering crowd got ready to empty the next couple of beer bottles through the hose into the poor bastard's mouth.

It had been Brian's turn. He got up and stretched his arms out in a victorious gesture.

"You've seen THAT, man?! - THAT'S how it's done!" he yelled over to me.

"Oh, come on you old poser! Don't make such a fuzz about it. I swear I've seen half of this beer going into the sand!"

"Yeah, you'd wish that, dude! - Yieeeehaaaa!"

"You need prove? Watch out, I'll embarass you, pal!"

Of course I knew I wouldn't. I was already pretty much drunk as well as all of the other guys and girls of our crowd. But what would you expect? Eh, we where young, it was summer, it was the goddarn californian beach and we had some girls and loads of beer-cans.

"It's time for the present, guys!" Marc held up something which had intentional loose and careless being wrapped into a piece of wrapping paper. They stormed over to me, yelling and laughing. "Here you go, man. Happy twentieth birthday, you old scumbag!"

I grinned at them, going along with the joke and unpacking my so "carefully" packed present. It turned out to be somewhat like a little jug ot something. But when I held it nearer to my blury eyes I got a better view on it.

"You gotta be kidding me." This thing they had presented me with turned out to be some old oriental oil lamp. You know the kind and might have seen some alike it in old movies.

"So, give me a hint here. What sense might THIS thing make, guys?"

"We'll let you know, dude.", Brian said with a fake conspiratorial impression on his face, while he came close to me. "Now listen carefully, grasshopper..." he whispered imitating a japanese accent with this sentence.

"THERE IS NO SENSE!"

I got the message. They had planned this. All the crowd laughed out so hard I thought the whole beach was shaking.

"But it might not be not completely useless. You hear me out, man... - The old crow who sold it to us told us that it would grant it's owner one wish..." he blinked ironically.

"Unfortunately..." he continued, yelling over the noise of the gang, "...even though we finally bought this thing, we couldn't get the lady to tell us where to get the pot she's obviously smokin'!"

I simply had to laugh along with 'em. This present was so senseless that even to me being it's target the joke seemed obviously so funny that I couldn't resist to.

"You know you fucker's are nuts, don't ya?!"

"HELL YEAH!"

It had been a fun week. A little to much alcohol maybe, but ey: You're only young once!

But even my trained young body had it limits and so I was glad to now be able to take a seat on the stool in front of the bar next to my ol' pal Marc, while the others kept on dancing behind us.

"Fun party, ain't it?!" Marc said. Quite loud to make it audible over the music in the background.

"Yeah." I babbled, twisting the bottle of beer through my fingers. I really didn't feel to good. It seemed I'd pretty much reached my limit. "I'd just wish there would be something that would make me stop drinking."

But all of the sudden, I kind of refreshed and started to feel WAY better.

"But on the other hand: Screw it! Cheers!"

"No!" Marc grabed my hand with the bottle and pulled it back to the counter with an impressing strength. "Sweety, what's up with you?"

"'Sweety' up your ass, dude!" I laughed. It came out in a strange voice, maybe I had smoked to much cigarettes this evening. "Don't you get all sissy on me you old jester!"

I laughed out but Marc somehow this time wouldn't join me. He seemed to be all serious and... sober. As well as I did feel no more intoxicated...

"I know in your condition people sometimes can get a bit moody, but hon you gotta be reasonable when it comes to..."

"Eh, now it's enough man, you hear me?!"

Hey, I was really not the kind of man who takes comments to serious. Especially not if they come from drunk friends of mine. But even with me, there was a line which one better shouldn't cross.

"You can't just drink, dear. Think of our baby..."

When he layed his arm gently around my hips I realized how huge and round my belly suddenly was.

"What...?" In disbelieve I ran one of my hands over my stomach, while I had the other one probing one of these strange large bulges, which on my chest stretched the pink fabric of the... bathing suit? And why could I feel my bellybutton being pressed against his gut?

Brian meanwhile took a stand on a table, raising his glas.

"Here's to the happy couple and parents to be! - Another comrade fallen to the old ball and chain!"

Marc took the joke on him well and just smiled.

I did not...