BIRTHDAY BLUES

Katie Holmes and daughter Suri have built a life together — without Tom Cruise

Suri Cruise turns 12, marking the fifth year her father, Tom, hasn’t been there for the milestone.

Wearing a bright bow in her hair and holding a stack of books, Suri Cruise recently joined her mother, Katie Holmes, on the Chicago set of a new untitled Fox FBI drama she’s shooting. Suri stayed close to Katie between takes. “Suri looks like she loves to be on set with Katie,” a witness says of the tween girl. “They have an intense motherdaughter bond.”

And her father? As Suri’s 12th birthday approached on April 18, he was busy wrapping up filming on Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The last birthday he celebrated with his daughter was her seventh, five years ago, and he hasn’t been photographed with her since Sept. 15, 2013. That’s a lifetime to someone Suri’s age. “Tom’s been out of their lives for so long, she and Katie have moved on,” an insider tells Life & Style, “to a life without Daddy.”

GROWING UP WITHOUT HIM

Suri isn’t the same girl Tom once lavished with attention. Over the past five years, Katie, 39, “has delighted in the way Suri is growing up, becoming more independent and finding her own passions and interests,” the insider says. Tom, 55, has experienced none of that. “I know Tom sees pictures of Suri, and comments on them from time to time to friends,” the insider says, “but he really doesn’t have a grasp of the mature young lady she’s turning into.”

Tom’s never discussed why he won’t see Suri, but his religion, Scientology, has long been blamed. The faith considers Katie a “suppressive person” who stands in the way of spiritual growth, insiders have told Life & Style, and requires Tom to disconnect from both her and their daughter. But those close to Suri find his separation from her deeply sad, especially considering the way the actor used to spoil her with presents and trips even after Katie blindsided him with divorce papers in 2012. “When she was 8 or 9, Suri must have always thought that Tom would show up with presents and take her out for a shopping spree or to an amusement park on her birthday, like he used to,” the insider notes. But as the years went by, Suri was forced to learn to scale back her expectations.

HAPPY WITH MOM

By the time her 11th birthday rolled around, the insider notes, Suri was unlikely to have been thinking about her father much at all. “She was on a beach vacation with Katie and other loved ones,” says the insider, “and looked like she was too busy having fun.” Katie’s done everything possible over the years to ensure that Suri always felt loved and cared for, and with her mom’s help, Suri appears to be enjoying life as much as she can without a father in it. “She’s obviously old enough to understand what divorce is, and has to have accepted the fact that she’s in a single- parent family,” says the insider.

Of course, that could eventually change: Katie’s been dating actor Jamie Foxx, 50, for years, and they’ve gotten serious enough to take their longsecret relationship public in recent months. But for now, Suri’s clearly content to spend her days with her mom, with whom she shares a love of shopping, sweets and arts and crafts. “At one time, Katie felt that Suri needed Tom’s presence in her life,” the insider says. “But not anymore. Katie tells Suri that she, her parents, relatives and friends are all the family she needs. Together, they’re happier than ever.”