《Welcome Home》


 Chapter 1: Follow-Up Call

    One, two. One, two. One, two. Left jab, right hook. Left jab, right hook. Distract, stagger, bust out the knife. Many idiots wanting to get into fist fights against someone smaller than them, but not even the psychos want to punch against a knife, even against someone half their size.


    One, two. One, two. One,


    Riley snapped to the side halfway through her punch, noticing some motion in the corner of her eye, reaching over to her switchblade at the-


    Nothing. There was nothing there. Again.


    She punched the bag with all her strength in anger, the half frozen pleather flaking just a bit more in return, the whole thing barely even bulging, before sitting down against the wall of the concrete alcove, looking out at the orphanage''s courtyard, a layer of fresh snow accumulating on the muddy dirt.


    Of course, this prestigious institution wasn''t "an orphanage", as the administration constantly reminded both the kids living in there and the prospective parents. It was, of course, the "Oakwood Child Care Center", or something to that effect.


    Even trying to recall it made Riley gag at the pretense of it all.


    "Child fucking Care center my ass..." She muttered to herself as she watched the pearly snow slowly accumulate, hidden in the small alcove. The name was even more bitterly ironic in that it didn''t just not care about its occupants, cracked walls and broken armature being proof of that plenty.


    It was, more than anything, a house for children that *nobody* cared about, in all meanings of the word.


    Not even themselves.


    A loud noise interrupted her brooding as a wolf boy was thrown onto the snow from a doorway opposite to her, yielping in pain, followed up by the teen hunk of a human walking out, looking mighty pissed at him.


    "Come on fur rug, where''s my fucking money~" He harassed, stomping on the boy''s back, pushing his head even deeper into the snow.


    Riley stood up and approached the two, readying the switchblade in her pocket as she neared the bully.


    "Fuck off Bruce." She barked at the human, interrupting his punishment and making him laugh.


    "Or *what*, chickpea? You''re gonna tickle me to-" He taunted, his expression quickly washing from his mug as Riley showed off her knife, going from cruelly joyful to frustrated.


    "Don''t make me repeat myself." Riley responded grimly, knife ready to stab, and stab to injure.


    "I''m gotta get him one day either way, gonna skin his furry ass and splay it in front of this place, and then do the same to you if you keep getting in my way." He threatened as he backed off, walking backwards, keeping his eyes on Riley''s knife.


    "You''re too dumb to make out an ass from a face anyway, judging by the shit you keep spewing. Out of my sight." Bruce obliged, running off into the depths of the concrete jungle of the orphanage.


    Riley sighed and reached down to help the pained wolf boy up, swiping the snow from his fur and clothes as he looked up at her in disbelief, the girl looking away from him all the while, expression still locked in a snarl.


    "What are you waiting here for?" She sent him off, not particularly fond of the anthro folk herself, just not too willing to become a silent accomplice to what would well have become a murder knowing that oaf.


    There''s enough misery around already, adding cops would''ve only made it worse.


    She shuddered off the snow as she walked back inside, some of the cold managing to bite through her worn jacket. Great, now she had to try to find a spot on the heaters, else there was no way in hell this rag would dry on its own.


    As she made her way over to the cafeteria for lunch, her steps making the tiled wood creak pitifully, she heard a gruff voice coming from its direction, sounding mighty annoyed. Probably something broke again and the fatass was trying to blame it on everyone within earshot, wouldn''t be the first time.


    Though, the call that she did hear clearly after she walked over closer did catch much more of her attention, Riley breaking into a sprint at the sound-


    "Riley Wi-"


    "PRESENT!" She called out, turning the corner into the cafeteria to see one of the admin clerks calling for her, groaning once he finally saw her.


    "You are required in the headmaster''s office as of half an hour ago, young lady."


    Fuck.


    Riley nodded and turned over in the direction of the main staircase of the building, not liking this all one thing. Administration taking interest in her, or anyone else in specific for that matter was never a good sign. Were they gonna blame something for her, finally kick her out, futilely try to ground her, maybe even threaten her with being sent to kiddy prison for the umpteenth time?


    So many wonderful possibilities to choose.


    Her heartbeat sped up as she scaled the well worn stairs, walking into the secretary room and knocking on the big guy''s office, leering at the secretaries who crinkled their noses in her presence as she waited for a response.


    I''m not the one skimping on hot water, assholes.


    Few moments later the door opened before her, headmaster only managing to ask "Riley W-" before being cut off with a frustrated "Yes.". He let her in and told her to sit down, the meager padding on the chair already elevating it in quality over most of the furniture given to pupils.


    "What is it?" Riley snapped out, hating having to spend any time around these self important bastards, feeling mostly mutual. Not like they could scold her for bad behaviour any more than they already have.


    The headmaster huffed at her terrible manners before shaking it off, looking down at the papers on his desk.


    "Riley, one of the families that had interviewed you has decided to go ahead with the adoption process."


    She sat in silence for what felt like an hour, the words refusing to make sense once combined.


    Adopted... her?


    "We''ve ran the necessary background checks, we have not a single reason to believe that the family is involved in any sort of human trafficking activity, if that''s what you''re concerned about."


    "Who are they?" Riley asked in return, trying to futilely recall all the families that had interviewed her since she''s been here. After a couple failed ones she stopped paying attention to them, vast majority some upper middle class couple trying to show the world their good deed in graciously taking in one of the poor, dirty orphans. That or obvious fronts for child trafficking. Fortunately for her, neither were particularly interested in her- she always made it clear enough that she was armed and distrustful. Neither an easy prey or a sweet little angel to show off on your Facebook timeline, too young to have been left traumatized by the whole process of ending up here in the first place.


    Unadoptable.


    "The Asher family, they''ve interviewed you three months ago if I''m not mistaken. There''s their photo in your case file if you need a reminder."


    Riley looked over with an uneasy expression and reached over for the photo, taking a glance at-


    Oh no.


    She almost dropped the photo, suddenly remembering *exactly* who the Asher family were. She remembered her own surprised grimace once the couple walked into the room, black fur, white hair, and long, striped tails. Human families were shitty enough, the couple times anthro ones showed up she acted almost as shitty as she could. She remembered her hateful leer, answering their questions as curtly as she could, mostly just praying they''d sod off already.


    Why them?


    Why her?


    "A-are you sure it''s them?" Riley asked, unusually uncertain. It *couldn''t* have been them. Not with the way she''d treated them.


    The headmaster took one more look at the papers and nodded, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.


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    "I know that this is probably hard to take in Riley, especially since you''ve been here for over three years now, but it''s true. You must have made a good impression on them!" The enthusiasm in his voice was about as real as the leather on various pieces of furniture in his office, both of them knowing that she couldn''t make a good impression on anyone even if she tried.


    Riiiight.


    "Isn''t there another interview when a family expresses interest?" Riley asked, the technical procedures mostly faded from her memory after she had accepted her fate.


    "Indeed, which is what I wanted to inform you of as well. Does tomorrow at 12PM sound okay?" He asked rhetorically as he neatly collected the assorted papers- not like she had anywhere else to be at that time of the day after all.


    "Sure..." She paid half mind to the actual hour, the mere fact that she''d have to face them again made her stomach churn. How could she face them again? How could *they* face her again? The thought made her feel unwell as she left the office, guilt of her actions feeling like it would tear her stomach apart.


    She skipped lunch, going back into her room as she struggled to process the whole situation. None of it made sense, her past actions weighing on her thoughts, suffocating her from the inside. She went through whatever she still remembered from the original interview, running the footage over and over through her mind''s eye, searching for... something. Some action, gesture, be it from them or her, that would make it all make a scrap of a sense.


    Nothing, nothing did. She tossed in her bed for the rest of the afternoon, almost skipping dinner, desperately struggling to make out the one piece that would make it all... logical. Even somewhat coherent. After having some canned soup she went back onto the courtyard to take in some fresh air, sparring some more with the boxing bag decorating its corner. Snow had thankfully left her alone in the dark for once, the small plaza only dimly illuminated by the faint light coming from the windows above. She kept punching and punching, giving it her all, faster and faster, trying to distract her mind from the constant torrent of her own ruminations, lest devour her whole.


    Her meditative session was stopped abruptly once she felt a sudden pain in her side after a particularly strong punch had narrowly missed the bag, straining something in her side. Guess that was as good as a sign to get some rest as any other.


    With one more jab hitting the center of the bag for good measure, she headed back into the slightly warmer building and to her room, grabbing some clothes to change into before she made her way towards the showers, steeling herself in anticipation of the wonders of barely lukewarm water and shower gel that was indistinguishable from repackaged hand soap.


    At least the individual stalls had doors with locks on them.


    The cold water slowed her racing mind as it cleansed her body, offering some very welcome reprieve. Riley tried to go over the whole thing one more time, hoping that maybe this time she''d see... well, whatever the family saw in her in order to make their decision. Guess her gender did her some favors, not many people who haven''t had a direct experience with places like this one would believe that girls could be just as vicious as boys, if not more so. At fifteen, almost sixteen she was way past the prime adoption age, but at least she didn''t need to be taught everything from the ground up?


    Aside from that... nothing. If anything, she hoped that tomorrow''s interview would elucidate it somewhat. But that was tomorrow. And right now, it was time to rinse off and stop hogging the stall, someone was knocking on the door in annoyance.


    A few minutes later, she was on her way back to her bunk, dripping hair leaving a wet trail behind her. There really wasn''t much of a point in staying up any longer, not while so damp anyway. Tomorrow would be an important day, least she could do is stop torturing herself with what-ifs, quickly sliding into her sleeping bag and dozing off, facing the wall.


    She''d preferred not staying awake in this place for any longer than she had to.


    ***


    Riley''s dreams were... unclear at best. Hazy blobs of color dancing without any rhyme or reason, occasionally spliced with the most random, pointless stimuli. Cartoon characters she saw once almost a decade ago? All the time. A jingle overheard on the radio? Way, way too often. Any people or concepts relevant to anything that was happening in the waking world? Forget about it.


    The closest her brain came that night to a coherent image were black and white circles spinning around the camera, laughing at her.


    Thanks, brain.


    ***


    She awoke with a start, reaching for her knife before she could even comprehend what was going on. She looked around in panic for the threat, only seeing other girls in their beds, most similarly startled. A few moments later her brain had finally caught up with her body, turning off the mental alarm with *"Someone just broke a window two floors down, go back to sleep you idiot, it''s still very dark outside"*.


    After looking around for few more moments to really make sure she was safe, she laid her head back on the pillow, sliding her switchblade back underneath it. Any further attempts to get some more shuteye were refused by her brain, which immediately navigated over to the doubts about tomorrow''s- well, now today''s interview, redoubling them the second she felt safe-ish again. It was like trying to swat away a cloud of mosquitos with just your hands, buggers just kept coming, any thought she''d managed to push out of her conscious would only be replaced by one just as anxiety inducing.


    An exhausting half an hour later she''d given up, groaning into her pillow before she begrudgingly got up, putting on her jacket and sneakers, looking out the barely lit window, thankfully not spotting any fresh snowfall.


    She quietly ran downstairs, knocking on the doorkeeper''s booth to be let out. Technically pupils weren''t allowed outside on their own without supervision... but in practice as long you looked like you could take care of yourself the doorkeeper would let you out, after all some more prospective kids wanted to earn some on the side so they wouldn''t be completely fucked once their time came.


    With a groan he opened the front door, Riley responding with a nod as she pulled the hood over her head and lifted the collar to cover her mouth. The mid-December greeted her with a freezing embrace, biting cold air coupled with barely any light of very early morning making for a desolate, unwelcoming atmosphere.


    Ironically enough, this is where Riley preferred to be. Desolation also meant nobody else would be around to disturb or harass her, after all.


    After briefly taking in the scenery, she turned left and headed down the narrow sidewalk, thankfully spotting nobody in sight. After a couple minutes, she took a sharp turn into the surrounding woods, the dirt path clear enough to follow despite the snow. In not too long she had arrived at her destination, a small clearing with a half-built playground in its center, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.


    From what she''d gathered, the county was predicting a population boom in the area in the nineties, and wanted to cash in on gen X-ers trying to settle down away from a large city. Needless to say, nothing like that happened, millions in investment lost due to a mayor''s greedy leap onto an economist''s hunch. On the opposite side to where she came from there were still some unfinished concrete ruins of a daycare center, meant to be connected to the main street with a small paved road, most of it swallowed by overgrowth since then.


    The playground was one of the few mostly completed parts of the whole undertaking before the deal fell through however, and its seclusion did wonders for Riley''s psyche every time her own brain was threatening to beat her unconscious with anxiety.


    She swiped the dry snow from the swing and sat down, quickly gaining height as the morning air filled her body with resolve.


    She could do it, no matter what weirdness the interview would throw at her, she COULD do it. She WOULD strut in and start asking questions and demanding answers. She WOULD be in control. She WOULD-


    She would fly through the air after not noticing a thin layer of ice on the swing seat, making her slip off mid swing.


    A foot or so of snow had thankfully softened the impact enough to not significantly harm her, but the pain still made her gasp. After a few seconds of grunting and trying to catch her breath, she slowly got back up, her leg hurting something fierce. Must''ve landed on it, fuck. The sheer cold had numbed some of the pain, and much to her chagrin, quite a bit of her good leg as well.


    She wiped the snow from her face and jacket, slowly limping back to the orphanage, thinking on how she''d handle this, and whether she could at least take care of the pain in the rest of her body. The last thing she wanted is to look weak and beaten up on her interview.


    The short path felt impossibly long when every other step resulted in a painful wince. She had to slow down even further as she felt a layer of ice under the snow with her good leg, forcing her to walk along the path but not on it. And then it started snowing again.


    Wonderful.


    Half an hour later she''d finally managed to stagger her way back to the orphanage, the doorkeeper shooting her a concerned look once she walked inside. "I''ll be fine." She shrugged it off as she walked on towards the cafeteria, bruised and hungry.


    She''d just managed to come in time for the last serving of breakfast, a bowl of warm, barely sweetened porridge. She sat down in the corner, making sure nobody still around was looking too closely at her as she ate. Fortunately, most of the kids still around were more concerned with reading some books, leaving her effectively alone.


    The best that she could say about the soggy mess is that it was edible without too much trouble, as opposed to some of the cheaper dinners they liked to dish out. Or worse yet, meats. As she ate, she peered up at the clock hung above the food disposal counter, reading a few past eight. She cleaned the bowl and handed it back, the questionable breakfast restoring some of her strength even if her tongue was left disappointed. Most of her roommates were away in class, giving her some needed privacy as she scrambled back into her room to inspect the extent of her injuries.


    A hand sized bruise on her thigh worried her a bit, but other than that she seemed to be otherwise fine if sore. Thank goodness.


    With some time left until the interview she laid down on her bed, pulling on some more clothes to try to warm her extremities up, ending up wearing her entire wardrobe just to warm up, heh. Heh...


    With an exasperated sigh she pulled up the cheap puzzle booklet from under her mattress. Worn down and mostly solved as it was, the stuff that was still left was enough to provide some enjoyment at least, and if not that, then at least a distraction.


    The warmth and comfort, combined with the exhaustion have made her drowsy, knocking her out before she could reign herself in...


    ***


    "Riley, Riley!"


    She gasped awake on hearing her name, one of her roommates standing a few feet away from her, calling her over.


    "What''s going-"


    "The admin has been looking for you!"


    Fuck.


    "What time is it?" She spat out as she quickly put on her sneakers, sliding into her half dried jacket and heading outside.


    "Ten past twelve!"


    FUCK.


    She ran upstairs, much to her leg''s dismay as the once dulled pain was brought back to life. She could take care of that after the fact however, sprinting up the last flight of stairs and bursting into the interview room, out of breath.


    "Riley Williams! What do you think you''re doing, spitting at the face of a prospective parent like that!?"


    *"One more word and I''m gonna spit at your face, pencil dick..."* She thought as she regained her breath and posture, looking around the room, quickly noticing Mr. Asher calmly sitting in the corner, looking up mildly surprised at the fuming vice-headmaster berating her.


    "Don''t even try to defend yourself young lady. You''ve wasted enough of Mr. Asher''s time, at least try to pay some respect to him!" He spat out as he closed the room behind himself, Riley following him out with a middle finger as she sat down, the skunk reacting with a muted chuckle.

 Chapter 2: Interrogation

    "Good morning Riley." Mr. Asher slid his chair closer to her, giving Riley a warm nod and extending a... paw? towards her as a greeting. She leaned further into her chair, eyeing him down as she kept her hands to herself.


    He seemed unphased however, taking his hand back and speaking up-


    "You must have so many questions Riley, and I intend to answer most of them. Feel free to ask whatever''s on your m-"


    "Where''s your wife?"


    He chuckled at her astute observation, before explaining it away- "Ella caught some nasty flu and right now is probably napping."


    Riley nodded, satisfied enough with the response, but not responding beyond that for now.


    "I did mean anything that''s on your mind Riley. I have a pretty good idea of-"


    "Why me?" She glared straight at him, expression wavering between anger and uncertainty. "Why not any other kid from this god awful place?"


    He took in a deep breath, his calm expression breaking through, revealing a slight frown.


    "I cannot answer the latter. I do not believe that it is a question that should, or even can, be answered. I will answer the former, but I hope you''re ready for some old man storytelling."


    "I don''t want your- your fucking stories Mr. Asher, I want answers! You think you can pull me back in here after that first interview, and insist that all is well and there are no issues with me!?"


    "I''m not insisting there are no issues with you, and our first interview was clear enough about that. What I''m saying is that I''ve my reasons for continuing despite them, and see you as more than capable of overcoming them."


    "''Your reasons'', eh? Cmon big guy, admit your spiel, what is it? Child trafficking? Homemade kiddy porn? Maybe wanna carve me up for organs?"


    "Well, if I were interested in you for any of those reasons, that would make me an idiot who can''t pick his victims right. Do I look like an idiot who can''t pick my victims right?" His speech was almost unnervingly calm considering what was being talked about.


    He didn''t look like an idiot who can''t pick his victims right. The only idiot in the room was Riley, and she was acutely aware of that.


    "I''m fucking armed you dipshit, I could kill you at any moment!" Her voice was cracking in fear as she stood up and pulled out the knife, her hand shaking as she struggled to keep up her grimace.


    "''Could'', and ''Would'' are two different things." He responded flatly, looking sternly at her. No, not sternly... disappointed?


    He was right. Worse still, she wasn''t unsure whether she even *could* kill him anymore, considering her stress and leg injuries, ''would'' being out of the question entirely.


    She slowly sat back down, feeling outplayed. She still held the switchblade in her hand, just locked up in her jacket''s pocket, still ready to defend herself with everything she had.


    After a few more shaky breaths she finally managed to sputter out a response, her voice on the edge of a panic attack-


    "Who the fuck are you!?"


    He took a breath and responded, keeping his voice calm-


    "Well, that''s why I wanted to tell my story. So that both my reasons and my, well, behavior are clearer. Can I?" His question sounded genuine, as if he really wanted her to want to know.


    Well, given that she''s just threatened his life and he barely even reacted, she figured he was some sort of military, maybe even a SEAL or something.


    In any case, he had her full, undivided attention as she nodded slowly, eyeing him down more intently than before.


    He leaned back on his chair, gathering his words before he started.


    "You aren''t the only one who''d learned to have a knife on her on a young age."


    She shook a bit in her chair, dozens of questions springing up instantly, her mouth half open as he cut her off, continuing.


    "Mother died when I was two. Overdose. Lived with father in a trailer for some ten odd years afterwards. Growing up in a trailer park, as an anthro, let alone a skunk, was, well, rough. There were some friends of course, but a knife was a must."


    Riley''s brain was firing on all cylinders, his story recalling some... not too dissimilar memories, most of which she presumed buried long time ago, barring his species of course. She was all ears, the tiniest of tears forming in the corner of her eye as the old wounds were scratched by his recollection.


    "In case you''re wondering why a knife with a tail like that, well... this was before the Anthro Anti-Suppression Act of 1982, so me trying to use my, well, natural defenses would have us evicted on the spot. If they didn''t shot us up first, of course. But anyway, ten years or so later, papa got busted. Possession and Distribution of Underage Pornography, life without parole."


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    This was all too much for her. Why was he telling her all this, what was the point!?


    "So, me and a few other kids, most of them friends, end up in the county orphanage. No, not this one, but taking a look at the whole of it it''s really not too dissimilar, especially considering the, well, budget. We... persevered until we were all sixteen to seventeen, none of us having much luck with adoption."


    She wanted to stand up and accuse him of making this all up on the spot based on her case file, but she held back, very curious as to what would happen next.


    "We were all preparing to finally get out of that place. Saving some on the side, one guy even afforded some cheap used car- it''s the early eighties after all, go wild. We thought we were more than ready. And then, a wrench into our gears. I got adopted."


    Riley saw it now, or at least, she thought she did.


    "Really? Pity?" She asked in mild disbelief, feeling almost robbed of a proper conclusion.


    "Hardly. Please let me finish." He responded, taking a second to compose himself before continuing.


    She nodded quietly, less angry and more curious now as he continued-


    "It went through, and my new folks were... a bit unprepared for the whole mental baggage that came with me included. But they more than made up for that with good intentions and being more understanding than even some therapists I''ve come across. As to what happened to my friends, well... you can plan for what happens once you''re finally in the ''Real World'' for eighteen years, and have the entire plan fall apart in days if not weeks. Lost contact with three of them after they ended up on the street, only one guy is still hanging on, as much as having to work sixty hours a week just to make rent and not starve could be called ''hanging on''."


    Riley sat in silence, head staring at the floor, panicking at the thought of all her plans, all her hopes just burning up like that. She knew something like that could happen of course, but not to her, not with her intuition...


    What intuition, even? She got spooked by dead nothing on a regular basis. She wasn''t bright, she was a paranoid wreck who could only think in perceived threats and her dull switchblade which wouldn''t even pass muster as a butter knife. Why did she think any of it would ever work-


    "Riley?" Mr. Asher called out, snapping her out of the upcoming panic attack. He had a look of concern on his face, asking calmly- "Do you need some space?"


    She looked up at him and shook her head slightly, trying to untangle herself from her own thoughts as a question popped up, an unresolved thread hanging in the air.


    "Why me?" Her voice was much more exhausted now, her mind having had drained itself completely between the anger and anxiety.


    "Because I want to pay the gift my folks gave me forward. Because I don''t want another bright mind getting fucked over by random forces in life that make a living exploiting the most vulnerable like that. Because I know just the sort of constant, unrelenting paranoia you''re dealing with, and I want to help as much as I can, and so do the rest of my family." His tone was as earnest as it got, and coupled with his assertive expression it really didn''t leave Riley to any doubts.


    He did mean it, as, as...


    Too good to be true as it seemed.


    She looked up at him, too exhausted for cynicism, too worn down by her own defenses, her glistening eyes asking only one question, one she''d secretly wanted to ask for far too long, every time she''d cried herself to sleep in the past.


    "R-really?" She whispered out, the word barely audible over the background din of countless faded steps.


    Mr. Asher smiled softly and nodded deeply, replying slowly with-


    "Yes Riley, really."


    She only barely held back the flood of tears, emotions she couldn''t even make out surging through her in intensity she''d not experienced in... years.


    The next few minutes were spent in silence, Riley trying to sort out her own thoughts as Mr. Asher smiled calmly at her, making it clear that she had as much time to mull through it all as she needed.


    She still had a few more lingering questions, but was too tired to air out any of them. Besides, none of them were even that important, and would probably make themselves clear in time.


    "So... what now?" Riley asked, wiping the last few tears off her face, her expression confused but for the first time in forever, also ever so slightly hopeful.


    "We''ve dealt with all the paperwork and housing checks in the meantime, so there aren''t gonna be any more delays with those. Really all that remains at this point is to sign the actual document and for me to pick you and your stuff up from here. That is of course, if you want to come with us."


    Riley wasn''t used to having this much agency. As independent as she liked thinking herself to be, most of the time she was just going through the motions day in and day out. And now, she was suddenly slapped with a decision that would very well change everything.


    And it was fucking terrifying.


    "W-what should I even say to that!?" She snapped, the weight of her choice pinning her to the chair she was sitting on, squeezing the air out of her lungs.


    "I know what I would like you to say. What you will end up saying is your, and only your choice."


    "H-how can I trust you? How do I know you''re not fabricating your whole story up, trying to break my guard and then dispose of me!?" She called out, the tendrils of paranoia refusing to make themselves forgotten.


    "You can''t, short of coming along for the ride."


    Riley''s mind went silent at this, his response stilling the panic. You wouldn''t say something like that if you weren''t either the best liar in the world, or even scarier, completely, utterly honest.


    The simple sentence cloyed her mouth up, words feeling wrong as she tried to rephrase it over and over again, before just throwing her mental hands up in frustration and speaking out-


    "I-I want to come with you..."


    Mr. Asher smiled and got up, leaving the room with a brief message of "I''ll be right back, need to grab the actual document."


    Was this all really happening? Was she... being adopted? The word itself made her feel on edge in angst and fear, but along the way... a tiny ember of hope lit up inside her, its faint light enough to at least make her not fall into another panic attack as she waited for Mr. Asher to come back.


    The tiniest of sparks indeed, but it was better than nothing. It was better than the last two years spent in resignation and stagnation, in which there was no disappointment but also no hope, no joy, only... idly existing, day by day.


    Mr. Asher walked back into the room, handing a thick document and a pen to Riley, instructing her simply-


    "Write your signature there, and you go under our legal protection. All that''ll be left at that point is just driving over to pick you and your stuff up, and... head home."


    She took the document and held it up on the wall, the tiny ember quickly growing in intensity as it spread through her body. And for the first time in forever...


    ''''''


    Signature (Child): Riley W.


    ____________


    ''''''


    ...she no longer wanted to fall asleep and not wake up.

 Chapter 3: Holding On

    Riley lifted the pen off the page and stared at the document, racing thoughts not letting her see it as anything more than a blur of dark letters on white paper.


    "So... what now?" She asked, passing it and the pen back to Mr. Asher, who took it with a nod before responding-


    "Well, all that''s really left is for me to take you to your new home. And while I wish I could do it here and now, paperwork needs to be processed which will take at least until tomorrow. And even then, I think the best date would be in two days, on fifteenth."


    Riley lifted her brow in confusion, looking up at him.


    "Why the wait?"


    "On that day Ella will be shopping for Christmas with the kids all day, which lets me do the necessary shopping with you and show you around the house without four extra curious heads to make you anxious. And even afterwards, I''m not expecting you go out and start socializing with everyone immediately. As fast or as slow as you want."


    Riley took in the explanation, nodding in understanding as she went over his answer, one part sticking out to her.


    "...four curious heads?"


    Mr. Asher chuckled and sat back down on his chair, feeling a bit dumb for not mentioning that before.


    "Yeah. Ella and our three kids."


    "You have three kids already and you''re taking another one in? Are you a billionaire or something?"


    "Haha, hardly, but we''re comfortably well off. We actually live not that far from here, some old hefty household on the edge of this place. It was quite cheap since nobody would ever buy it otherwise, it''s in the middle of nowhere."


    "Sounds... cozy." Riley responded, unsure what to think about the seclusion. Then again, it''s not like this place was anywhere near the city centre either...


    "Oh it is, especially when the fireplace is lit. But then again, it''s within the walking distance of this place if you need some space for yourself."


    She nodded, happy to at least hear that. While she wasn''t gonna be coming back to this place, being able to reach the abandoned playground will be welcome.


    "Anything else you''re curious about Riley?" He asked, taking glances at his watch.


    "Your kids, if you''re adopting another one then are most of them off to college?"


    "As a matter of fact, none of them are!" He gave it a hearty laugh, smiling wider at Riley.


    "You''re gonna be the second oldest, in fact."


    The explanation didn''t make anything even a lick clearer. How could he afford the time and energy to take another kid in with all three still in house?


    "Now I''m confused." She flatly responded.


    "Lemme try to make it clearer then. The oldest is Andrew, he''s seventeen and in last year of high school. Then you, then Lily, had her eleventh birthday couple weeks ago, and then Timmy, he''s four."


    "Been busy, eh?" Riley whispered under her nose on accident, intending to keep the quip in her mind. Her eyes and face shot away from Mr. Asher, trying to hide herself and her embarrassed blush from him.


    "Very." He answered with a chuckle, getting up and stretching his arms, taking a glance out the window at the afternoon sky.


    "And you must be tired." He followed up, going out to put the document back in headmaster''s office, urging her to follow him with a gesture.


    She slowly stood up, grimacing as her leg screamed at her for daring to use it again after overexerting it like that. After she finally managed to walk out of the room, Mr. Asher was waiting for her, another question on his lips.


    "As for picking you up from here, I''d rather have it done in the morning so we have as much time as possible before the rest of the family comes back. What''s the earliest you could get up on?"


    Riley thought about it for a bit, reminding herself about that one kid who could arrange waking up... And yeah, she didn''t want to spend any more time in here than she strictly needed to. Bad fortune, after all.


    "Six. How''s that sound?"


    "Ella is gonna complain about the alarm clock set at five-fifteen, but six is pretty much the best case scenario. Plenty of time and mostly vacant shops. If you can manage it then it''s great, but if not then I''ll just be waiting at the cafeteria, no sweat."


    Riley smiled slightly at his words, appreciating the buffer in case something happened.


    "And for now Riley... well, I''d advise getting some good rest. Big day ahead of you, so just take it slow, wrap up anything that needs taken care of, pack your stuff, and try to get as much sleep as possible. And in more immediate future, I think they''re serving lunch right now, judging by the noises."


    Indeed, cafeteria sounded like it was full to the brim judging by the echoing footsteps from below. Mac and Cheese maybe?


    "So... is that all for now, Mr. Asher?" She looked up at him, enjoying his presence more than she would admit to herself.


    "I think so, unless you wanna ask one more thing before I head off. Oh, but first-" He handed Riley an empty cloth shopping bag- "something to put your stuff into, since I assume the default is still a black trash bag for your belongings?"


    She nodded knowingly, stuffing the bag into the pocket of her jacket as a final question did spring up.


    "Mr. Asher... what''s your name?"


    He was taken aback at the question, before thinking it through and smiling in understanding.


    "It''s Rick. Rick Asher. Or, if you were to ask Timmy, Daddy Asher."


    She giggled at this, taking a deep breath and slowly walking towards the stairs, looking up at him for the last time for now.


    "Well, see you on Saturday, Mis-... Rick." She awkwardly corrected herself to his chuckle, and headed downstairs. If it was Mac and Cheese, there was no force in hell or heaven that would make her skip out on it.


    ***


    It was Mac and Cheese.


    The line was something absurd, even after ten minutes of standing in it. There were at least a dozen kids ahead of Riley, and what looked like twice that behind. The room was so full that most kids had to eat standing up, or knelt in front of the tables, or sat against the walls.


    That''s what you get when you only serve actually tasty food once a month or so.


    After finally waiting out the queue, Riley took her bowl and walked towards a free spot under the wall, already salivating at the thought of salty goodness she held in her hands. As she slowly limped on however, something unnerved her. People were... staring at her. Not everyone of course, but quite a lot of them were. Did she have a gaping hole in the back of her jacket or what?


    Trying to ignore the attention she sped up, sitting down in the corner and pulling up her knees to her chest, just wanting to enjoy the meal in relative peace.


    First few bites went quiet and pleasant, Riley closing her eyes to enjoy the taste more. As she was impaling some more macaroni onto her fork, she heard someone whisper to her-


    "Is that true?"


    She snapped her head to the side, glaring at the intruder, some ten-ish looking boy sitting a couple feet away from her. She had no patience for being interrupted like that, harshly snarling back with- "What!?" before continuing her lunch.


    He didn''t get the message.


    "T-that y-you''re getting adopted by, y-you know... *skunks*?" He whispered the last word as if it was a grave slur or something.


    "Maybe. Now piss off." She didn''t even bother looking back at him, not wanting to give him any more attention than he deserved.


    News sure got around quickly over here.


    She looked up from her spot in the corner of the room, her piercing glare forcing everyone who was oh so curious to look back at their food, lest her eyes burn their soul. Most of them were just some curious kids, but some... some were visibly envious, especially the older ones. She couldn''t really blame them for that, but she wasn''t feeling like being at the receiving end of their scorn anyway. Others still looked... afraid. Only a few of them, true, but enough to throw her mind in for a loop. What were they afraid of?


    She kept chewing through her lunch, the uneasy atmosphere having drained most of the flavor away.


    Thanks, assholes.


    Few minutes later she got up to put the bowl away, glancing around the room some more. She kept seeing the same expressions, curiosity, envy, fear... the latter  still confusing her, but a glance over the boy who sat at the opposite wall, the wolf whom she''d helped out yesterday did start tingling something together under her skullcap.


    He looked fucking terrified.


    But... not of her, right?


    She had to get to the root of this.


    ***


    She walked back down to the main corridor, standing in the doorframe of one of the storage rooms, difficult to spot unless you were walking right by her. At a glance, one would think that she was waiting for someone to walk into her ambush, which... wasn''t that far from the truth.


    Soon the first kid who she remembered being afraid walked by her, almost jumping as she caught his attention with a quiet "pssst!". He couldn''t have been older than nine or so. She waved for him to come into the dim room, intending to ask him about it all only for him to speak up first-


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    pulling out her supplies as he spoke up-


    "P-please don''t leave us R-Riley..." He begged, his voice sounding like he was about to tear up on her.


    "Too late to turn back now. What are you shaking so much about?"


    The boy couldn''t hold his tears in anymore at that, whimpering a bit before he looked over to the sides and out the door, as if checking for someone-


    "B-B-B-Bruce..."


    And then... it clicked. He wasn''t afraid of her, or for her-


    He was afraid of her absence.


    Guess she really did underrate Bruce as more than just a bother. Maybe for her he was, but for any younger kids...


    "Hold on. Stay here and don''t go anywhere, I-I''m gonna go grab something and I''ll be back." She instructed him, tone of her voice markedly changing- no longer weirded out or complaining about the oddity around her, but now wanting to actually do something about it.


    For once, she felt like she was in control of things, and she was gonna relish in that control for all she could.


    The high of getting to sign a document.


    The boy shook in place and nodded weakly, slinking off into the dark to avoid being spotted as Riley raced back upstairs and to her room, scrounging up a pen and an old, half-filled notebook, tearing out all the filled pages and throwing them in the trash.


    Time to gather the evidence.


    She made her way back much more inconspicuously, hiding the notebook on the inside of her jacket, taking her usual route towards the courtyard before taking a detour back into the other part of the building, slipping back into the now empty-looking closet, looking around for the kid.


    "Hey, you still here?"


    "Y-yeah..." The sudden words startled her a bit, coming from apparently behind her, a quick glance revealing him to have hidden behind the opened door, huddling up against the wall in the dark.


    "A-alright. I might be leaving, but I''m still gonna try to do something about Bruce while I can." She closed the door and flipped the light switch, the meek lightbulb providing the minimum of visibility in the cramped space, the sudden jump from darkness to light making the other boy flinch.


    "R-really!?" The excited squeak that had left the boy surprised her in its eagerness, Riley chuckling and weakly smiling before nodding firmly back.


    "Yeah. But for that, I''ll need you to tell me what he''s done to you. As... as much as I''d love to just come over to beat his face senseless, I think this way will be more effective." The follow-up did wonders in taming the boy''s disappointment at her not taking the most direct route to solve the problem, letting him just gather his thoughts before speaking up.


    Riley sat down against the wall and just... listened. She wrote down the testimony as legibly as she would manage, occasionally giving the boy some breathing space as he nearly teared up once more. After all was said and done she got up and smiled softly down at him, thinking through it briefly before stretching her arms wide, wordlessly offering him a hug, which was gladly accepted.


    "It''s gonna be alright, don''t worry. Now, I just need your name and signature."


    He looked up at her scared, asking- "B-b-but won''t Bruce know that''s me!?"


    "Bruce is never gonna see this with his eyes. Besides, he''d know it was you even without the name, but we''re gonna need it so that the secretaries can make really sure that it''s you. Is that okay?" She spoke softly, trying to abate his fears.


    He thought for a second and nodded, Riley''s words managing to cut through most of his worries.


    "M-my name is P-Peter..." He managed to stammer out, Riley pulling him closer in a soft embrace as she wrote his name with the free hand.


    "And your last name Peter?"


    "J-Johnson..."


    She drew a horizontal line underneath the testimony, pointing towards it and asking-


    "Can you write your name there Peter?" -as she handed him the pen.


    "I can''t write well, can''t you do it?" Riley chuckled at that, softly shaking her head and continuing-


    "Don''t worry, it doesn''t have to be written well, it just has to be written by you."


    "A-are you sure?"


    "Yeah, it''s so that they can see you signed on this testimony yourself and know it''s authentic."


    "I-I see..." He replied as he picked up the pen, his hand shaking as he slowly wrote his full name down, legibly if slightly crooked.


    "Perfect. That''s all I really need, now I only ask you that you don''t tell anybody about this. At least not while Bruce is still around, aight?"


    "Okay Riley. W-w-, Do you think that this w-will make him go away?"


    "After I get a few more testimonies, I''m dang near sure of that. Now, pretend nothing happened and you haven''t talked to me, alright?"


    He nodded and ran out of the storage room, going presumably back to his bedroom.


    After taking a few moments to collect herself, Riley got up, heading off in one of the side corridors as she sorted her thoughts, thinking how would she contact the other kids without arousing too much suspicion.


    There were a few more meals before she''d leave as a last resort, but other than that all she had left was just roaming the building until she''d spotted someone from earlier. Guess an upside to having barely any memory with names was having a photographic memory with faces.


    As she made her way upstairs towards the reading room, the sheer surreality of the situation hit her, making her laugh briefly to herself.


    A few months ago she wouldn''t have ever imagined doing something so wild. As much as she hated Bruce, she wasn''t exactly keen on getting stabbed in the back in the dead of night by some teenaged psycho who got off on stealing kids'' money. ''Snitches get Stitches'' and all that.


    Good luck putting any stitches once I''m gone, you piece of shit.


    With her motivation renewed, she pushed on towards the reading room, hoping some of the kids would be hanging out in there, and willing to talk. A few minutes later she had arrived, grabbing a random book from the nearby pile and sitting down at one of the desks, looking around. She didn''t need to be as inconspicuous here after all, as if Bruce would ever willingly set a foot in the same room as a book.


    As she scanned the faces around the room, she noticed the wolf boy in the corner behind her, and judging by him hiding from her sight he''d noticed her as well.


    Here goes nothing.


    She slowly got up and approached him, taking a nearby chair and sitting down at his desk, frowning as he was visibly shaking in fear, hiding himself behind the book he was reading.


    Riley gave him a few moments before she tried to catch his attention with a short quip-


    "I''m not gonna eat you, you know."


    He gasped quietly at this, peeking out from behind his book, his eyes already sparkling with tears.


    She softened her expression, getting a weak smile out of herself before she continued-


    "Why are you shaking so hard?"


    He tried to stammer something out for a few moments, his voice cracking up in panic.


    "Hey, hey, it''s fine. I''m not gonna hurt you kid, I''m not working with Bruce. How about this?" She tore out a page from the back of her notebook, sliding it and a pen forward towards him underneath the book he was holding.


    "Take your time."


    He slowly put down his book, looking up at Riley in confused fear as he started writing, scribbling a few things down before crossing them out, finally passing the pen and paper back after a few minutes, having written down a question-


    ~"Why did you help me yesterday?"~


    Riley sighed as she read his question, any straightforward answer refusing to reveal itself to her.


    "Because... because you needed help, simple as that." She grimaced internally at her own non-answer, knowing how well she''d hate it if someone said something like that to her.


    "And right now, I need your help to get rid of Bruce for good." His eyes and... ears immediately perked up at her answer. She had no idea the latter was even possible.


    "H-h-how so?" He softly asked, still shaking like a dried leaf.


    "You and few other kids tell me about what he''s done to you, I''ll pass it over to the administration and they''re gonna make sure he sticks in kid jail for a long, long time."


    He let out a squeal of fear at that, shaking his head.


    "B-b-but he''ll know and he''ll h-hurt us!"


    "He''s not gonna have even a single peek at this, trust me. And even if he finds out, it''s me who he''s gonna be after."


    "A-are you doing this because you''re l-l-leaving?"


    Riley took in a deep breath, nodding slowly in response.


    "Might as well do something right before I''m gone." She sighed, her conscience biting her for not doing something like that earlier.


    "D-do you promise he won''t hurt us?" He spoke up, sounding so... so hopeful. Riley felt something stabbing at her, she wanted to tell him it''s all gonna be alright, she so desperately wanted to.


    But she couldn''t. She hated promising things she couldn''t provide.


    "I... I can''t. I can''t promise you that. I''m as certain as I can be, but I can''t promise you that. I wish I could."


    He looked up at her, initially confused and slightly upset, but as he chewed through her words, he nodded slowly in understanding.


    Smart kid.


    "If you don''t want to, then I can''t force you to tell me what he''s done to you. It''s your-"


    "I-I''ll speak."


    She smiled at him, opening her notebook to a new page and picking up her pen.


    "I''m all ears."


    ***


    This one took... longer than Riley had expected, and not because of the boy''s, or rather Sam''s fault. At times she just had to put the pen down and take in some deep, slow breaths, else she''d shatter the cheap plastic with her hand.


    Turns out Bruce hasn''t just been harassing him, but also almost anyone he caught him speaking to. Explains why he was trying to hide in the corner. And the money he''s been stealing from him? Pocket money from his grandma who is herself only barely scraping by, trying to send what she can since she''s too sick to take him in herself.


    Bruce had to fucking go. Her current plan wouldn''t work, wouldn''t be... enough. He''d just get transfered somewhere else to terrorize some more kids. It was correction facility or she might have failed for all she cared.


    As the rage sped her thoughts up, something did come up, a wild stretch... but not an impossible one. Hell, it might be scarily doable. She chuckled to herself before her train of thought was derailed-


    "Riley?"


    She shook the sensation off, promising to herself that she''d let herself focus on it once she was done for the day.


    But not right now.


    "Sorry Sam, got a bit distracted. You said it was all for now, right?"


    "Y-yeah. W-will that be enough?"


    "More than enough, don''t worry. It''s *definitely* more than enough." She said slowly, trying to suppress her temper.


    "Now I just need your signature and full name, and that... that''ll be all for now." She passed the notebook over to him, rubbing her face to try to calm herself down.


    Few scribbles later and they were both free to go, Sam getting up first and causing Riley to jump a bit as he placed his paw on her shoulder, getting her attention.


    "C-can you p-promise me something R-Riley?" He sounded concerned, worried not for himself but for her.


    "What is it?"


    "That you''ll l-look out for yourself. B-Bruce will try to h-h-hurt you in return, c-can you promise me that y-you won''t let him?"


    "I won''t. I haven''t so far, and if he tries anything then well, the knife''s always in my pocket. I promise I won''t let him hurt me Sam." Riley sounded determined, smiling slightly at Sam''s worry as she got up herself, emotions surging through her.


    "T-Thank you." He smiled before making his way out of the reading room, leaving Riley with her own thoughts.


    After a few minutes she got up herself, hiding the notebook in her mattress before she made her way to the courtyard, taking a deep breath of the freezing air as she watched the pristine snowflakes fall, sky above quickly darkening as the sun set. As calming as the sight and the chill were, they weren''t enough. She walked over to the punching bag, hiding in the small alcove as she started her routine, going at the bag as she heated her body up, letting her fantasies run wild.


    Too wild perhaps, as her raging thoughts only became wilder and wilder, red all over her eyes as she started to snarl and grunt with every punch, hitting as hard as her body would let her, feeling like she was about to reach her limit. She drew her knife with the final strike, carving a massive gash out of the bag and sending a sprinkling of old sawdust over herself and the floor as she struggled for breath, leaning on the cold wall.


    She slid down and sat on the ground, eyeing up the courtyard and catching a few pairs of eyes watching over her, most of them scattering once she''d taken a glance at them.


    "Great, as if I needed more audience..." She muttered to herself as she got up, before making her way over to the bathroom to wipe most of the sweat and dust off of herself with a wet rag, too tired for a full blown shower. Dinner wasn''t served quite yet, so she had some downtime to go over the plan she''d come up with earlier.


    It was... wild, but nothing she couldn''t manage. While she was hardly a locksmith, she knew how to rattle open the most common door locks relatively stealthily. She got some experience with computers back in the middle school, none of this should be too much... The passwords might me tricky, but judging at... the staff''s overall view of their pupils, she didn''t think they even locked up their PCs when they left.


    This all just may work-


    *yaaaaaawn*


    She was, indeed, exhausted. Dinner and bed, she had so much to do tomorrow, and so little time.


    Riley got up and headed downstairs, taking her place in line before the dinner started being served, looking around with groggy eyes as she leaned against the wall.


    Her hand shot to her knife once she saw Bruce walk past her before forcing himself into the front of the queue, as if it was utterly ordinary- which for him, it was. She was holding the switchblade so hard her knuckles whitened, fantasizing about doing the same thing to him as she''d done to the bag.


    All in due time.


    Thankfully, soon enough the dinner started being served, Riley downing the creamy excuse for a soup in a couple minutes before jogging back to her room, the last thing she needed right now was even more anger in her system.


    She took off her jacket, laying down on top of her sleeping bag as she unwinded, reaching to grab another old notebook and drawing some random scribbles on the first page she''d opened, the actual contents unimportant. Just something to focus on, let the tiredness pass...


    After flipping to a mostly empty page she''d started drawing a tall figure, her style something between the most basic stick figures and simple outlines. She tried to recall as many things about Mr. Asher as she could, the clothes, his face and slight snout, his expression and tail. Of course there was only so much detail that could be made by a shaking hand with a ballpoint pen on an A5 page, but the exercise was enough for her to bleed out all the leftover anger.


    She tore out the page and slid it into the planks of the bunk above her, to remind herself about Saturday when she woke up.


    But before Saturday was tomorrow, and it was gonna be a rush.


    She slid inside her sleeping bag as she felt consciousness slide away from her, dozing off in an instant.

 Chapter 4: Last Minute Changes

    Hundreds of sparks danced above her, their patterns inscrutable, each seemingly dancing to a tune only it could hear.


    Then, Riley dared move her head, and all of them stopped, gliding closer and closer towards her. She tried to move, but her feet were... not there. As the sparks got closer, she felt both freezing cold and burning warmth radiating off of her, her face threatening to melt off as it froze.


    You don''t have to torture me brain, just tell me you don''t like me and I can arrange something.


    ***


    Thankfully, there were no loud noises to startle her awake today, or any extremely urgent tasks to force her to get outta bed at an absurd hour.


    She tried to relax some more, her leg giving her a warning shot in form of a small jolt of pain when she initially tried sliding out of the sleeping bag.


    Fine, you win this time.


    As Riley turned from side to side, trying to get all the comfort she could out of her pillow, she kept peeking at the sketch of Rick she drew the previous evening, his eyes drilling into her the weight of what she had to do today.


    But that was later, and now is sleep.


    She slid in deeper into the sleeping bag, the warmth making her doze off for the second time, catching just a bit more-


    "Riley, you''re really leaving!?"


    Fuck off.


    She quietly groaned as she turned away from the wall, one stinking eye towards one of her roommates who''d apparently only just heard the news.


    "M-mister headmaster t-told us at breakfast!"


    After taking a long sigh, Riley finally spoke up, most of the annoyance in her eyes since evaporated.


    "Yes Liz, I am getting adopted. Tomorrow, very early."


    The girl looked fascinated, letting out a quiet ''wow'', her eyes racing with questions.


    "Can I have your stuff after you''re gone?"


    Excuse me.


    "What stuff, even." Riley responded, her voice deadpan.


    "Y-you know, the notebooks, the pens, the bobby pins, m-maybe even your bunk!?" She sounded as if inquiring about the details of a half million inheritance from a dying grandma.


    "Knock yourself out." She muttered, slowly pulling herself out of the sleeping bag, figuring she wasn''t gonna have any more luck with sleep this morning.


    "Thank you thank you Riley! You''re the best!"


    Riley rolled her eyes as she put on her clothes and got up, her notebood and pen with her, mentally prepared for a busy day. Sure, she''d skipped breakfast, but it''s not exactly like she needed much food, she was barely even peckish.


    Benefits of being tiny, I suppose.


    First things first, she had to get back to the reading room. Sam had brought up the idea of bringing in some other kids he knew that also got on Bruce''s bad side but wouldn''t give their testimonies without him giving them some reassurance.


    He''s a good kid.


    She slinked into the bright room, following the shadows towards a desk in one of the dimmer corners, the same one Sam had been sitting at yesterday. She wasn''t sure when he would be back, so might as well grab some reading material for herself.


    The books were only nominally sorted, most of them from bulk donations or just ones that went unsold at book stores. Didn''t make for the most thrilling selection of stories, unless you really enjoyed the entire Dickens bibliography multiplied by twelve, with side of a smattering of old schoolbooks, sprinkled with romances so awful they somehow didn''t sell.


    Riley didn''t have a better way to search than just looking through the titles until she''d stumbled upon something interesting. And while there were some vaguely recognizable titles in there, their condition was... less than preferable.


    After glancing through the entirety of a few bookshelves and finding nothing that even looked remotely interesting, Riley was about ready to call it quits, before one title caught her attention, looking like some sort of medical book-


    ''''''


    Illustrated Morphology of Ungulate Anthropomorphous Species


    ''''''


    While each of the words even individually was way above Riley''s education level, the unusually complex name and a relatively good condition prompted her to slide it out, opening it on a random page.


    Sure enough, it seemed like just a book full of lots of pictures of horse and cow anthro anatomy. Everything from arms to torsos, to their weird looking legs. One of the pages even had a helpful diagram comparing the bones in human and horse leg, realization that they were essentially walking on their toenails making Riley just a tad bit queasy.


    She shifted the pages back to the index, checking to see whether she could find something interesting in there, unsure what other species might else be in here. Sheep and Goats and Deer and... Dolphins for some reason. It felt like the most random assortment of animals possible, Riley mentally shrugging as she tried to somehow relate all these together.


    She was about to put the book back on the shelf before one particular section caught her eyes, her teenaged mind inexplicably drawn to it.


    ''''''


    * Equine Reproductive System................87


    ''''''


    Of course, not like she wasn''t guilty of paying a bit too much attention when human reproductive system was discussed in class in middle school, but this was something else entirely, at least judging by all the things she''d heard about, well...


    She flipped over to the relevant page, after all a peek wouldn''t h-


    OH GOD JESUS.


    She slammed the book shut in an instant, looking around herself, hoping that neither the sound or the intense blush on her cheeks attracted too much attention as she hastily slid the book back on her shelf.


    After taking a while to clear her thoughts after... that, she looked over to the nearby books, noticing the few nearby looking similar. Sure enough, they had the same title, just with the middle word changed. She skimmed through each in turn, trying to find what she was looking for, finally finding the one with the ''Skunks'' section near the end of the small collection, taking it with her.


    She never was any good with biology, but maybe pictures would help? She''s always had quite a few questions about what anthros worked like on the inside, might as well learn before having to live with them.


    Half an hour later, she had her answer: Very close to how humans worked, just with more fur and a bit... wonkier extremities. Even the weird bits like paws and feet-things looked surprisingly similar once the fur and skin were taken away though.


    As she neared the end of the section, she spotted some motion above the book. She slid it under her jacket for later reading, pulling out the notebook as Sam approached her with two other anthro boys who were following him, both obviously anxious.


    She leaned back on the chair and tried to give them her best friendly impression as they neared, preparing for more writing.


    ***


    The interviews went slow, Sam having to constantly intervene to calm the boys, Joshua and Jose, down. Riley didn''t mind, it was relatively early in the day still, and the testimonies were worth their weight in gold, even if it took them both quite a bit of effort to get the boys to keep talking.


    Joshua had to be helped with the signature since he didn''t know how to write, Sam managing to convince him to just scribble something he could write again if needed. And while the idea of having testimony signed by a crude replica of the batman symbol was absurdly funny to her at some level, she did add a small note underneath that Joshua was illiterate, putting on the finishing touches on the nearly three hour long interview process, her hand cramping something fierce from overuse.


    It was enough to get her hungry for sure, the nondescript vegetable mash of a lunch going down relatively smoothly as Riley planned her next step. She''s had all the testimonies she''d need, guess now it''s time to pack up and prepare the necessary tools before the night falls and her plan springs into action.


    Realization that it was the last lunch she''d ever have at this place made her feel the slightest tinge of nostalgia before the aftertaste of the vegetable mash made itself apparent, dissolving any positive emotions towards the food being made here she might have had.


    After making her way back to her room and stuffing the anatomy book into the canvas bag, she searched around her bed, trying to find all the little curios and trinkets she had once hid for future use. Bobby pins, some nails, empty refillable lighter, the rest of her old notebooks. Nothing staggering, but all useful trinkets at times, especially today. She took out the linen bag Rick had given her, stuffing it with her spare clothes and the book she''d taken from the reading room, figuring nobody would miss it anyway.


    It was time to finally arrange the tomorrow''s waking. She took the lighter and walked upstairs over to the boys'' rooms, eventually managing to find the door with "WAKING SERVICES" written on it in permanent maker.


    Riley rolled her eyes and knocked a couple times, a scrawny looking boy her weight peeking from behind, expression twitchy.


    "Well hello hello, you must be Riley!"


    "Spare me the ceremony, we both know what I''m here for. That a good payment?" She asked, lifting the lighter into view.


    "Na-ah. Adoption days are free, so duncha worry about payment, jus''tell me the hour."


    "Twenty to six. Can manage?"


    "Pfffft, I could manage twenty to three if that''s what you needed." He bragged, much prouder of his little establishment than he had any real reason to be.


    "...alright? Need anything else?"


    "Room and bunk, and make sure ta leave the door unlocked at night, else I can''t do my duties."


    "Two-Eleven, to the right after you enter the room, lower bunk."


    "And that''d be all ma''am! Farewell on your new life!" He exclaimed, before shutting the door, leaving Riley standing there confused before an idea sprung into her mind.


    Make sure to leave it unlocked, eh...


    She made her way back to the ground floor, letting herself into the storage rooms, searching for replacement door locks, since the cheap ones got broken quite often from overuse. A flick of the light switch later she found herself inspecting the mechanism, not looking for ways to break it open, but for ways to break it shut.


    And after some tinkering, something just like that had presented itself, the simplicity of the solution making Riley doubt herself for a bit, before grabbing one of the locks and a long, narrow nail from the tool box, testing her idea, grinning devillishly once it''d proven itself to work.


    Soon she''d found the second part of her idea, a half emptied bottle of super glue, laying on its side on a wooden shelf. One drop of the glue and a sticky wooden scrap later, Riley left the storage room, smiling slyly to herself.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    What the fuck was she getting herself into.


    ***


    All the tools were ready, and now she had to wait.


    One, two, one, two, one, two.


    Her punching session felt... weird. Of course, the physical activity made her mood improve as she blood rushed around her body, but at the same time, there was a sense of sadness to it all. Even as her own mind tried to whack the sad thoughts away, they just kept coming, drilling into her consciousness that she was finally leaving, to never come back.


    What else could she do?


    She pondered as she punched in the dark, the winter sun having long since set. What else could she do even in theory? It''s not like she had that many tools available on her hands.


    Can''t change the world with a knife.


    She kept going with her punches for a long while, her chilled mind running in circles as it struggled to think of anything up. It kept arriving at the same conclusion- no tools to do what she wanted to do, or not enough time left, or no opportunity.


    No tools...


    She kept trying to drill on that one idea as something deep in her subconscious kept tugging at it, denying her own thoughts. Even if she had tools, what would she use them on, and what tools even? It was like trying to build a tower by starting in mid air.


    She needed a foundation, she needed a plan, she needed a-


    Wall.


    She stopped mid punch as her mind almost audibly clicked together, her eyes focusing on the far wall of the small courtyard. In the summer she could just barely make out old scraps of paint in the corners last remnants of what must have once been some sort of artwork, which has since worn off. Leaving only gray concrete, oh so befitting of this place.


    That wall was visible from a lot of corridors on the upper floors, especially from ones connecting the bedrooms.


    She had her canvas, now she needed paint.


    After sneaking back into the storage room, she went through drawer after drawer, swearing there was a can of paint there at one point. She didn''t bother much with stealth at this point, aside from dinner time the ground floor was virtually empty, most of the rooms for utility.


    Besides, even if some tech did step in on her, they didn''t get paid enough to care. Given the recent wage cuts, they might even just say fuck it and help her with her little project.


    Thankfully, this scenario stayed only that, as she''d finally managed to find a can of red paint behind some old grease. One shake to confirm its contents later, and Riley was back on the courtyard, her spirits renewed despite the arrival of a blizzard.


    Her artistic capabilities were... very rudimentary even with a pen, she''d never even held a can like that in her hand. Any drawings were out of the question... but not simple writing. But what could she even write here that would have the impact she wanted to have? It couldn''t be a quote, and not just because she didn''t know any.


    It had to be very short, so that she could use large letters and make it readable from the above floors. It still wouldn''t look *good*, but it would at least be intelligible.


    Come on Riley, use your brain or something.


    What would she want to hear? What would she want to be reminded of every day when looking outside?


    With a deep breath of the blizzard air, she looked up and started writing, ambient light from the floors above making it just barely visible. Much to her joy, she managed to fit the entire thing in one line without having to squeeze the letters in, even leaving herself enough space to add an exclamation mark at the end.


    She stepped back and took a look at her creation, or at least tried to, being forced to squint to even make out the red paint on almost completely dark wall. After a few minutes more of freezing outside as she inspected her masterpiece, she decided it to be good enough and ran back inside, dusting off all the dry snow that had accumulated on her jacket.


    ''''''


    IT DOES GET BETTER!


    ''''''


    She was so into her little showoff she forgot just how cold it had been all this time, feeling like she was thawing out of being encased in an ice block as she almost stepped into the cafeteria while still holding the paint can. A brief recourse to dispose of the evidence later, she went to grab her last supper, the microwaved dumplings succeeding at warming her insides even if they didn''t impress her tongue.


    A glance at the clock sped her heart up, it was almost eight by now. Just an hour from her plan, but it''s not like it was particularly time sensitive, all that mattered is that it was late, dark, and quiet. She quickly wrapped up the dinner and went back to her room, preparing herself to do the impossible.


    But first, shower, the last thing she wanted was to stink tomorrow, and she had a sneaking suspicion that underneath the numbing cold she was reeking.


    She grabbed the last clean set of underwear she still had, along with the least worn tee and headed for the showers, the other girls... stepping out of her way once they saw her? Regardless whether it was mockery or respect, she wasn''t the one to say no to skipping the queue, getting into one of the stalls and probing the water, thankfully it was at least slightly warm today, the numbness in her fingers finally subsiding.


    She took her time, cleaning herself more thoroughly than she was used to, wanting to make the absolute best proper first impression she could, despite limited... everything.


    Fifteen minutes later she was about as clean as she was ever going to be, relaxing as the water cleansed her hair from leftover foam, until she was interrupted by...


    Silence.


    She closed her eyes and focused her hearing, trying to make out any sounds besides that of her running water. It was the middle of the showering time, there was no way she was actually alone in here, there were like 7 girls already waiting in line when she stepped in, and she couldn''t recall hearing the characteristic croak of the old pipes being forced to start delivering water again from other stalls.


    She slowly turned off the shower and tried to dry herself as quietly as possible, listening out for any quieter sounds. This time she could hear soft steps, whispers, not far from her stall, was someone about to ambush her? What was happening?


    She took a deep breath and steeled herself for any possibility, wiping herself off and putting on the cleanest clothes she had, readying her switchblade just in case.


    Here we go.


    Riley opened the door to a shared soft gasp from the outside, stepping back into the bathroom to see...


    The majority of the girls living in here that she could recognize, all of them looking over at her.


    She was dumbfounded by the sight, having no idea whether she was gonna be eaten or revered, so vastly outnumbered it didn''t even make sense to keep her knife readied. She crossed her arms under her chest, eventually finally asking-


    "What''s going on?"


    The mass of girls, human and anthro looked away at one of the older girls, Luca, just a few months younger than Riley as she stepped forward.


    "Riley, we just wanted to say... well, thank you. For everything."


    Riley took a moment to close her eyes, trying to clear the hostility from her face before looking around once more, meaning more to every girl here than she could ever know. She then nodded, smiling at Luca, as she spoke up herself.


    "You''re welcome, all of you. I might not have been the most talkative of the bunch, but... I hope I made it, this whole mess, just a bit more tolerable for you all."


    "You have, you have no idea just how much..."


    The words made Riley''s eyes just a bit wetter as she walked closer to Luca, who seemed to be extending her arms for a hug, making Riley raise her eyebrow for just a moment, before she gave herself a mental ''screw it'' and went in for it, holding Luca tightly.


    She opened her eyes as she felt an arm around her back, and then another, feeling like she was gently pushed into from all directions. A quick glance confirmed her suspicion- guess everybody really did want to join in on the group hug, the sight of dozens of tweens and kids wanting to give her a goodbye hug making Riley''s heart melt. She closed her eyes again, just enjoying this unexpected, but oh so welcome moment.


    The hug went on for a minute or so, a wobbly rhythm eventually developing as the mass rocked back and forth, a yawn or two slipping out from some of the younger participants.


    After being freed, she looked around to see most of the girls sharing her damp eyes, most of them smiling as they looked up at her.


    No, not at. Looked up to her.


    After a few more moments Luca broke the stalemate, calling out to everyone present-


    "Alright girls, we all need some sleep, especially Riley! Let''s all give her our goodbyes, on three, one, two-"


    The room erupted into a cacophony of every girl saying something different simultaneously, but Riley couldn''t help but giggle at it all, the entire thing coming at her out of the left field.


    Once the last echo had cleared out, it was Riley''s turn to say goodbyes-


    "Take care girls. As... hollow as this may sound, I promise you all that things will get better, maybe even sooner than you think. Don''t lose hope, despite how much this place wants to take it away from you. I hope I''ll see you all again some time, in a... better place than this."


    And with that, she headed for the door, the girls stepping aside to let her through as she left to a chorus of "Take care Riley!" and similar calls, heading for her room.


    ***


    Preparation was the easy step after all. It was one thing to think up a mad plan, it was another to actually go with it. "''Could'' and ''Would'' are two different things."


    Rick''s words echoed through her mind as she stood in front of the secretary room in shadow, illuminated only by the reflected light from the floor below. She''s been trying to drill the door lock open with her eyes for the best part of last half hour, too afraid to step any further.


    She could still go back, forget about her dumb idea and just go to sleep. She could just slide the notebook under the door into the secretary room, hoping they wouldn''t be as... bureaucratic as to just sweep it und- oh of course they would.


    The jolt of anger gave her the push she needed to kneel in front of the door, pulling out her knife and a bobby pin, looking the first about a centimeter in or so into the keyhole, the small blade fitting well enough to leave space for the bobby pin.


    Riley slid it in next to the knife, having scraped off most of the rubber coating to make it fit, listening intently as she started to slide the pin back and forth, putting pressure on the knife to turn it away from the-


    *Click*


    Huh. That was easy.


    With the door now opened and inviting her in, she wasted no time, turning on the light and taking a look around, the room''s layout only superficially recognizable. After a bit of consideration, she sat down in front of the computer closest to the scanner and pressed Enter on the keyboard, waiting for something to happen.


    After a few seconds of the old desktop struggling to get its fans back to life, the monitor lit up to a login screen, asking for a password.


    Riley sat in silence, trying to figure out what the password would be. She tried "password", then "password1", then "oakwood", but it didn''t gave in. Riley was getting upset, her plan crashing down at the dumbest step... until she noticed a small text underneath the input box.


    ''''''


    Hint: top right


    ''''''


    She was dumbfounded by this. What did ''top right'' mean? She was about ready to try a different PC, before she noticed a yellow post-it sticking to the top right of the monitor, its contents self explanatory:


    ''''''


    december password: YAV4zL1C


    ''''''


    Sure enough, a few confused taps on the keyboard later she was let right into the system, free to do as she pleased. That is, if she had an idea how to proceed. The lessons she thought she remembered from the middle school were crumbling into the dust the moment she tried to make use of them, looking around the desktop in confusion, before finally spotting an icon she recognized.


    With Internet Explorer now open she at least could ask the internet for help-


    "how do i scan notebooks"


    The rabbit hole of search after search that followed took Riley more time than she''d anticipated, with having to figure out what kind and model of a scanner printer- thing it was, but in the end she had a rough plan of action. She managed to find the printer manager, selected the one and only printer, pressed "Scan Multiple Manually" and got up, walking to the beast of a machine, which had chirrled to life in the meantime.


    With some effort she lifted the scanner cover up and slid her notebook in, opened on the first testimony, before letting the heavy cover fall back down, her attention shifting to the LCD display underneath. With a press of an onscreen button, the machine rumbled awake, the nose making Riley worry about attracting attention.


    She glanced over at the PC screen, checking to see how the scan went... before reaching in and turning the notebook around, since for some reason it''d scanned upside down. She pressed the ''scan'' button again and again, reaching in and flipping over a page every time, making sure all of it was legible.


    What in her anxiety felt like most of the night, but in reality was barely half an hour of scanning later she was finally done, pressing the ''finish'' button and sitting back down, when she heard footsteps up stairs approach, her body freezing, before she hid under the desk that faced the door, waiting for the inevitable.


    The steps stopped in front of the door to the secretary room, a gruff voice she recognized as one of the janitors calling out-


    "Didn''t the boss tell you you''re not allowed to go in and just scan shit after hours? Guess if you''re here this late it must be urgent, whatever. Just clean up after yourself when you''re done so nobody bitches at us." -before walking away and downstairs, swiping the floor behind himself.


    Riley stayed still until she could no longer hear his footsteps, her heart finally starting to slow down. That was a close call she absolutely didn''t want to repeat, her motivation renewed to get this done as fast as she could.


    After sifting through the icons on the desktop she managed to locate Outlook and make a new email, having to look up instructions in the other window every few seconds. She added all the scans as attachments, before moving to add the subject, typing it in all caps-


    ''''''


    TESTIMONY OF ONGOING ABUSE AT OAKWOOD CHILD CARE CENTER


    ''''''


    Hopefully it was eyecatchy enough. It was time for all the recipients, Riley going through the address book and adding everything that she thought would make the case louder- the headmaster himself, the local police department, hospital, the county office, all sorts of fun.


    At the last moment she thought of something to spice it up even further, searching for local and county newspapers, adding their contact emails to the recipient list, the more the merrier.


    With one last checkup she made sure that the scans were all legible, surprised by just how many pixels they had up close, and moved the mouse cursor over to the ''Send'' button, taking a long breath before slamming it hard.


    So... that was dealt with.


    After taking a few moments for adrenaline to leave her system she closed all the windows and logged out, getting up and sliding all the chairs back in, almost forgetting to take her notebook back with her before turning off the lights and leaving the room, ensuring that the door was locked once more before slipping downstairs, to take care of the second part of her plan.


    Bruce was one of the few privileged enough to live inside a one person room, its tiny size wouldn''t even let them fit a bunk in. All the older kids were envious of the boys who got to take one of the solo rooms, for... obvious reasons.


    It was just perfect from Riley''s point of view, however, as she approached his room, tentatively pushing down on the door handle to make sure it''s locked, a slight rattling satisfying her. She took out the long, narrow nail she found earlier that day and gave it a solid coating of the super glue, before sliding it into the keyhole all the way in, quickly wiping her fingers away before the glue cured.


    After a minute or so she tried pushing on the door handle again, this time it wouldn''t bulge at all, much to Riley''s glee. She took a look around to make sure nobody was around to have seen that, quietly whispering into the new jammed keyhole-


    "Sweet dreams, piece of shit." -before getting up and walking downstairs, the sheer impact of her actions having not yet hit her sleepy mind.


    Inside her room she found a surprise- a wrapped package on her bed, a small bundle wrapped in brown paper, with a scrap of paper on top of it-


    ''''''


    Meant to give it to you in the bathroom but forgot, it''s from all of us


    Luca


    ''''''


    Riley almost wanted to open it there and then, before a loud yawn swept the thought from her mind, the bundle placed inside the canvas bag along with her notebook.


    The mystery could be explained tomorrow, but now she was almost falling asleep sitting up, exhaustion taking over as adrenaline left her system.


    Holy fuck she actually did it.


    The grin refused to wash away from her face as she took off her clothes and slipped into the sleeping bag, the warmth only making her feel better about herself as she dozed off, a smile not leaving her face even as she was deep in slumber.

 Chapter 5: Proper Attire

    "Don''t worry Riley, it''s all fine. It''s my fault for being late, had to grab some coffee else I would have shared your fate, haha. But with that out of the way let''s get out of here, I told the doorkeeper I''ve come to pick you up and he''ll pass it to the headmaster. You ready?"


    Riley glanced at the clock, with almost twenty minutes past six he was indeed late, but she didn''t mind, standing up and stretching as she answered with a "Hell yeah."


    He nodded at her with a smile, tilting his head to get her to follow him as they walked out the front door, doorkeeper nodding at them as they stepped into the cold dark, Rick''s white stripes the only thing she could see clearly enough to follow.


    "My car is right over there, feel free to take a seat at the front."


    A few moments of careful walking and a couple of almost-slipups later they''ve made it to Rick''s car, headlights turning on as he unlocked it.


    "Just put your stuff in the back for now, we can sort it out later." He answered her question before she had a chance to even ask it as they strapped themselves in, Riley feeling drowsy again from the warmth.


    "Judging by your expression you didn''t sleep too well, eh?" He tried to lighten up the mood as he turned on the engine and pulled onto the road, Riley looking back at the orphanage as it zoomed away.


    "Slept fine enough, just for not as long as I should have for..." She mumbled out, having to shake herself away from dozing off yet again.


    "Don''t worry, getting to the shop we want will take at least forty minutes or so anyway, feel free to catch a few more Z''s."


    She turned her head towards him and lifted a brow- "Isn''t there a supermarket like ten minutes from here?"


    "Sure is, but that''s where Ella will be going with the kids, and the last thing I want is for you to stumble into them on accident before you get used to them."


    Riley was satisfied with the explanation, turning her head back towards the dark road, letting the warmth pull her into some more welcome sleep as Rick turned on the radio, lowering the volume until it was just some background noise.


    ***


    "Riley, we''re here."


    She groaned as she forced her eyes open, taking a moment of looking around in panic to remind herself of the day''s events, Rick smiling softly as he leaned over her.


    After unbuckling and scrambling out of the car, she took a look at the mostly empty parking lot, barely illuminated by the dimly glowing sky, only a couple other cars scattered around the place.


    "Chilling." She admitted more to herself than anyone else, stretching a bit after the car ride as Rick walked around the car.


    "Yeah, no joking. I''ve read horror books with less of an atmosphere than this lot. Best keep going or we''ll find ourself as protagonists of one, heh."


    Riley chuckled along, following Rick as they made their way to the main entrance, uncountable fluorescent lights spilling out through the glass doors.


    "So... what are we shopping for anyway?" Riley asked earnestly, the details escaping her poor memory.


    "Clothes and hygiene supplies for you, maybe some food afterwards, basically whatever you feel you''re gonna need."


    Riley stopped in place and raised one groggy brow at him.


    "I have clothes already, some spares in the bag."


    "If you had to have your first impression with the rest of the family in those, how would you feel?"


    She was taken aback by the unexpected question, thinking of all the worn parts and holes in the spare clothes making her feel uneasy.


    "I... I see. Are you sure you want to do this Rick? I''m not exactly lacking in clothes, and new ones are gonna be pricy."


    "Less so than you''d think. Besides, it''s not like me and Ella just woke up one day and decided we wanted another kid, we''ve been saving for a bit just for an occasion like this."


    "And more importantly, you deserve to feel good in your skin, and that means clothes you''re not ashamed to be seen in."


    Riley nodded slowly and followed along, her brain thinking the whole situation through on all cylinders. She''s never had an opportunity to choose her clothes, donated ones were just given to the kids that needed them the most and most vaguely fit them- with a bit of brawling helping in deciding who got the nicer ones.


    So much agency on her head all of a sudden, jeez.


    She was lost in thought as Rick grabbed a shopping cart and went straight towards the clothing section, Riley almost tripping once they''d stopped all of a sudden.


    "Guess we should get this squared off first, just so that it''s gone and done."


    Riley was confused before she turned towards the shelf in front of which they''d stopped, lined up with female underwear of all sizes and fits.


    "I''ll... leave it to you to find your size and pick the ones you like, gonna go grab some coffee and clothes for myself. Be back in a few."


    She could swear she saw a blush under his fur as he walked off, leaving her with the empty shopping cart and a wall full of more sizes of bras than she thought existed.


    Find my size, right.


    She slunk off into the changing room, trying to read the sizes off of worn tags, eventually piecing together both relevant numbers and walking out. She grabbed a few pairs of underwear and socks of her size, annoyingly hidden in the nearby "Kid" section, before going back to find proper bras... only to look up deadpan as her size was all the way up on the highest shelf, mocking her.


    For fuck''s sake nobody with that size was gonna be tall enough to reach that high up.


    Having Rick reach up to help her with this was certainly an option, but not one she''d rather subject either him or herself to. She looked around for an alternate solution, eventually finding an unopened cardboard box of what seemed to be sweaters judging by the writing on it, dragging it next to the shelf and climbing up, just barely managing to grab a handful when she stood on her toes.


    "What are you doing Riley?" She heard Rick behind herself as he got back to her, dropping a couple packs of coffee and some socks into the cart.


    "Compensating." Riley responded with a deadpan voice, climbing down from the box and dropping the bras in the shopping cart.


    "You sure got the right size?" He questioned as Riley pushed the box back to where she got it from,


    "The same I''m wearing right now, and it fits well enough I guess."


    "Alright, worst case Ella can go out with you and help you out with fitting. Anything else you feel you''re gonna need?"


    Riley shook her head, any of the more intricate designs for underwear just making her tilt her head in confusion.


    "Onto shirts and jackets!" He slowly turned the cart around towards the tops aisle, so full of clothes it made Riley''s head spin as she tried to look at it all.


    "I think your size is further into the aisle, any idea what are we looking for?"


    "XS? Have had the most luck with that size if memory serves."


    "If not XXS, yeah. Best to just try both and see which is better. See any designs you like?"


    Riley looked at the shirts, going through the designs, most of the overly girly stuff more offputting than anything. A bit further into the aisle there was some stuff that grabbed her attention, dark shirts with geometrical patterns, some metal band ones, one with the night sky all over.


    After taking them with her into the changing room, she sadly realized that most of the shirts were just a bit too large. Fucking XXS, what kind of size even is that. Bullshit.


    She groaned in annoyance, sitting down on the bench inside the changing room, trying to convince herself that the M sized space shirt actually fit her and didn''t look like a night shirt on her lanky body.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    In the end, after sorting through the rest of vaguely interesting shirts she was left with only four that actually fit her, and one that was just a bit too large but comfy enough that she didn''t care.


    As she carried the good shirts back to the shopping cart, Rick was busy doing something on his phone, too engrossed to notice her walk back.


    "What''s up?" She asked him, his expression looking quite concerned as he looked up at her.


    "Just checking the morning news... there''s something about the orphanage I took you from, sounds serious but details are, well scarce. Wonder if it''s gonna develop into something bigger."


    Boy do I as well.


    "But that''s neither here nor there, found something nice for yourself?" He tried to change the mood as he got up, taking a look at the shirts Riley''d brought.


    "Not that much choice when you''re the size of a garden gnome."


    He chuckled and nodded appreciatively at the clothes, before seeming to have realized something, bursting into laughter and leaning himself on the cart, his tail shaking rhythmically.


    Riley looked up at him, her brows furrowing. What was going on? He couldn''t have connected her to the news on the orphanage... could he? She was about to start panicking before she took a glance at the clothes, the revelation cutting through her anxiety in an instant, her cheeks lighting up with embarassment as she couldn''t help but giggle.


    "Hahaha, trying to fit in aincha, haha..." He laughed out, getting his bearings as he smiled down at her.


    All the shirts were very dark with white markings on them.


    She giggled on for a longer while, the anxiety leaving her system. God did she need that. After a minute or so she was finally done, looking up at Rick, who was still smiling widely at her.


    That felt nice.


    "W-well, should I change them?" Riley asked, not wanting to accidentally insult her new family.


    "No, not at all, it''s hilarious! Ella will love it." He had to stop himself from falling into another chuckling fit as he spoke.


    Riley smiled and nodded in response, grabbing a hold of the shopping cart and moving on towards bottoms, before a ringing noise interrupted them both.


    "Speak of the devil..." He chuckled to himself, pulling out his phone and answering the call.


    "Hey sweetie, good morning! I''m alright, yeah, yes, she''s here with me, we''re grabbing some clothes. Yes, yes... yes, don''t worry we''re gonna be quick with it, it''s going very well so far. Yeah, I''ll pass it on, take care!" The call went by quickly, Rick ending it in less than a minute.


    "Your wife?"


    "Aye. She wanted me to pass on that they''re all excited to meet you eventually, especially Timmy."


    "Eventually?"


    "I''m not gonna force you to stand in front of them all when we get home, you''ll have your room and then will be free to come out to the rest of the family when you want, at your own pace."


    "How are you gonna explain it to your kids?"


    "Oh that''s easy, as far as they''re concerned you''re just sick and will need a few days to feel better, which isn''t that far from the truth anyway."


    "I see. What about having to go to the bathroom?"


    "You''ll have the large bedroom, we''ve used it mostly as a guest room until now since it has a small attached bathroom."


    "What about meals?"


    "We''re not gonna chain you to your bed you know, if you feel like you can deal with a few curious kids then you''re more than free to go out and grab some food. Although for the first few days I''m probably just gonna bring the meals to your room if you''d prefer that."


    She nodded at the offer, not really sure whether she could actually deal with a few curious kids.


    "Any more housing questions Riley?"


    She thought for a bit, a question quickly popping up-


    "Will I be able to go out for walks and such?"


    "Of course, you''ll get a front key. Just lemme know where are you gonna head off to in case something happens."


    She was satisfied with the responses, taking a deep breath and pushing the cart on, one more question coiling up in her mind, left unspoken for now as they went into the bottoms aisle, Riley drawn towards running leggings and darker jeans, thankfully managing to find a relatively well fitting pair of the latter, the last in stock.


    As she emerged from the fitting room, holding a few fitting clothes, she noticed that Rick wasn''t around, making her look in the nearby aisles, finding him looking at some jackets.


    As she walked up to him he turned towards her, grinning widely as he held-


    No fucking way.


    A brand new copy of her current jacket, showing off its black finish, and as opposed to her current one''s worn down or grayed out- this one''s decals were pearly white.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me..." She remarked as she picked up the replacement, the same size even as her current one.


    "Thanks for finding it, Rick."


    "You''re welcome Riley. Put it in and we''re done for the clothes, aren''t we?"


    "Think so, unless we both forgot about the same thing. You mentioned hygiene, right?"


    "Yeah, it''s four aisles ahead. What about it?" He asked as they both made their way back to their cart and pushed on, Riley noticing another person in the shop for the first time that morning.


    "Don''t you guys already have a shower gel and stuff? Why do we need to buy more just for me?"


    "We do, but it''s for, well, fur and not skin. If you wanted to use the skin one with fur you''d need an entire bottle every shower, and apparently the other way around it just feels slimy and sticky, different formulas and such. At least shampoos are the same, but I''d still rather you grab your own, just so that everyone has their own and nobody is upset about anyone using anyone else''s... as has happened before."


    Riley lifted an eyebrow at him, curious about the unspoken story.


    "Lily threw a fit after she caught Andrew using her shampoo over and over, since then we just have a separate bottle for everyone, works best this way."


    "Why was he using her shampoo?"


    "Cause it made his hair soft and smelled of strawberries."


    "Couldn''t he just have grabbed a bottle for himself?"


    "He did later, but that was a few years ago and let''s just say back then he was... a bit insecure about his masculinity, and didn''t want to be caught buying ''girl shampoo'', despite using it at home since the ''guy'' stuff is so shitty."


    "Oh joy." Riley responded in a mocking voice, having an idea of the type of boy Rick was talking about.


    "Don''t worry, he''s got a lot better about this since then. Last time I heard he was even considering picking up knitting!"


    "Oh. Glad to hear that, at least."


    The mental image of Bruce knitting was equal parts amusing and disturbing. She shook it off and turned into the hygiene aisle, dazzled by the absurd number of different gels and conditioners.


    "Uhh... got any recommendations?" She asked, having no idea why would she choose one over another.


    "Not for shower gels, but I can grab you the same shampoo and conditioner that almost all of us use if you want. Just tell me your favorite fruit and go grab a shower gel for yourself."


    "Uh... peaches I guess." She didn''t eat nearly enough fruits to make an informed decision, but peaches smelled nice enough the few times she had them, or at least yogurt that claimed to have had them.


    After walking over to the shower gel shelf, Riley swept it over with her eyes, crouching to grab the cheaper stuff. Most of the writing at the front of the bottles might as well have been gibberish, but she eventually managed to find one that looked slightly more enticing than the rest, some light green one that was apparently apple scented. Neat.


    She also took a quick glance over at the toothbrushes, grabbing the cheapest store brand one with a toothpaste to match, dropping them both in just as Rick came back with the shampoo.


    "Alright, that''s that, thinking about something else we could grab while were here?"


    "I dunno, I think that''s all, at least as far as hygiene goes. I guess a towel if you don''t have any spares?"


    "Thankfully we do, we bought new ones a few weeks ago and grabbed one more in advance. Oh, just thought of something, what about a brush?"


    "A brush? I guess, never really used one."


    "Definitely a brush then. Anything more, hmm... Ella still has a few boxes of tampons in case, so that''s not an issue... can''t think of anything more, let''s grab that brush."


    Riley was already on it, the t-word sending her flying a few moments earlier. The selection was fairly modest, but there was one neat looking wooden one, looking much less flimsy than the cheap plastic ones around it. She slid her finger into the hole on the handle and made her way back, spinning the brush around her finger and only barely managing to catch it once it inevitably flew off.


    After catching up to Rick they headed towards the food section, Riley bringing up the question-


    "What''s on the shopping list?"


    "For us? Nothing set, Ella is doing all the actual food shopping, we''re just taking a look to see if we can get you something you like. Have any favorite snacks?"


    The last time she had a bag of crisps was six years ago, orphanage wasn''t too keen on spending on some unhealthy snacks, or just spending at all for the most part. Even once she''d made some of her own money on the side, she had better things to do with it than waste on junk food.


    "Not really, it''s not like we had any often. Just grab me some of your favorite I suppose if you really want."


    He chuckled to himself, turning into another aisle.


    "Ha, doubt you''d really want that. I''m gonna get you some peanuts then, I''m sure kids will share their favorites with you once you''re settled."


    "Why wouldn''t I want your favorite?"


    "Well, most humans in my experience are rather repulsed by the thought of eating insects, even dead ones."


    "Oh. Peanuts it is then."


    "Knew it." He chuckled to himself, grabbing a half pound bag of peanuts and one massive bag of peanut butter candy.


    "Why the candy?" She asked, confused by the unusual flavor as well as the sheer size of the bag.


    "Cause it''s great. And it''s something of a family tradition to gift it for smaller occasions, or, in this case, larger ones. Expect four more bags later today, haha."


    Riley couldn''t help but smile a bit at the gesture as they turned the cart around out of the snack aisle, Rick humming some tune to himself before asking-


    "You drink coffee or tea?"


    "Nah. No kettles for the kids, because they''d burn themselves or something. We got it sometimes with dinner, but I was never impressed with it.


    "I see. Ella will be more than happy to show you her tea collection if you''re ever interested. Any soda?"


    Riley shook her head, more so because of ignorance than any preference.


    "I think that''s about all for now. Any other ideas before we head to the checkout?"


    She thought for a moment before turning around and running back into the candy aisle, grabbing five smaller bags of the peanut butter candy.


    "Might as well join in on the tradition from the get go!" She answered his question before he''d even utter it, the smile on her face spreading over to his.


    A few minutes later they were done with the checkout, Riley wheeling the cart back to the parking lot, Rick having went to grab something in one of the nearby stores, telling her to wait by the car.


    A peek outside the supermarket''s doors made her change her mind. It was snowing, yet again. She certainly wasn''t gonna go wait in the cold, waiting on a nearby bench, next to a news stand.


    She sneaked a peek over the newspaper headlines, most of them sadly the national kind. Seems no news of her stunt just yet.


    "Aaaaand it''s snowing again." His exasperated sigh took her out of her little news hunt as he walked back to her with a small package, his glare threatening to murder the season of winter itself.


    "Winter surprises drivers yet again..." She chuckled to herself as she got up, Rick groaning a bit at the overused joke as they make their way outside, quickly jogging back to the car before they got buried. After putting all the bags on the back seats and hopping back in the car thankfully cooperated, wipers cleaning the view as they rolled out of the parking lot.


    "Where do we go now?"


    "Well, we head home. Ella and the kids won''t be back for at least a couple more hours, so we have all the time we need to show you around the house." He pulled back onto the main road, snow accumulating on the asphalt as the early winter showed herself off, white flakes lining the ground as white sky lined the heavens.


    "Goddammit. Will have to shovel the garage drive again, sigh... At this point just placing a roof over it might be less hassle in the long run." Rick grumbled to himself as they drove off, the AC making the inside of the car drowsily warm once more...

 Chapter 6: Home Sweet Home

    The ride to her new home was fortunately uneventful. Riley was too sleepy to speak up, but just barely not enough to actually drift off again, leaving her in a half conscious daze. Rick kept cursing the snow intermittently, having had to turn off the radio to avoid blaring static.


    At least the snowfall cleared up after a while, improving the visibility on the road from the absolute nothing it had been before.


    Riley was startled into full attention upon feeling a bump on the road, which turned out to be just a speed bump. As she focused her eyes on the snow covered road in front of her, she heard Rick chuckle, before speaking up-


    "A natural with car rides, aincha?"


    "W-*yawn*-what do you mean?"


    "How I wish my biological kids would also doze off like that when we have to take a longer ride somewhere, can sure get loud in here..."


    "Given the age of your kids I can certainly imagine."


    "Aye. Andrew at least is busy trying to stop Lily and Timmy from going at each other''s throats because one did something the other didn''t like."


    "Sounds... engaging if nothing else."


    "He''ll tell you allll about it." He sighed as they turned onto a smaller road, the barren woods opening up to reveal an equally barren field, only a few bushes visible through the snow.


    "How long till we''re at your place?"


    "Just a minute or so, it''s just down the road."


    Riley tried to keep the conversation going, the weather not exactly providing many talking points.


    "How''s this place look in the summer?"


    "Field''s quite overgrown, but has its moments once everything starts blooming. Bit further up there''s a small lake we often go ice skating on, must be frozen solid by now. How''s going there in few days sound?"


    "Fine and all, but I don''t know how to ice skate, or even have skates."


    "We have an old pair of Andrew''s that should fit you well, and besides, half the fun of skating is learning it for the first time."


    "Including all the crashes onto ice?"


    "I mean... yeah. Can''t learn if you''re so afraid of failure you don''t even try. And if you''re really afraid of a mishap or two, we have enough pads to make hockey goalkeepers jealous."


    Riley paused a bit upon hearing his words, mulling over them as a sizable household emerged itself from behind the trees, Rick pulling up onto the thankfully only slightly snowed driveway.


    "That''s a big house." She flatly admitted, whistling as she took in the sight. You could fit like three families in this...


    "Indeed. We had to put in quite a bit work to get it presentable after buying it, it sold for peanuts for a reason. But that''s long done, and we have a place where all the extended family can meet up for special occasions."


    She lifted her brow at this, certainly hoping that she wasn''t gonna find herself in such a special occasion.


    "Don''t worry, this year it''s just us for Christmas. Next year, who knows, but not yet. One family must be overwhelming plenty to meet, let alone..." He faded off as he drove into the garage, the door closing behind them.


    "Let alone what?" Riley asked as she got out, taking a look around the cluttered garage, gas canisters and various junk lining the walls.


    She took a deep sniff, a faint unfamiliar scent tingling her nose as she looked around for its source. It wasn''t unpleasant or anything, it just... was.


    "Gimme a sec, counting..." He muttered out, grabbing the bags out of the back seats and passing some to Riley.


    "Counting wh-"


    "Eight! Let alone eight families. Sorry, blanked out there since I couldn''t for the life of me recall the number and had to count them up. Let''s just say that if you thought we were busy, Ella''s folks were something else entirely, five sisters and then some more cousins on top, most of them with families of their own."


    Riley couldn''t help but chuckle in disbelief at his words, her mind blanking at trying to imagine so many people together, let alone anthros.


    "Must get cramped in here."


    "Not as much as you''d think~" He smirked as he opened the door into the house proper, Riley following him.


    He was right. You''d need at least twice as many.


    The massive open room they stepped into made Riley''s eyes go wide as she tried to take it all in. It seemed like most of the ground floor was one open room, the individual areas separated only by loosely scattered columns. The far end seemed to be a kitchen, which then flowed seamlessly into the dining area with a heavy set wooden table, and then into the living area with couches and the fireplace. The entire thing held up by only a handful of square columns, which aside from keeping the building up also had the secondary purpose of getting completely covered with framed family photos, the sincerity of it all making her crack a slight smile.


    "How ya like it at the first glance?" Rick asked with a smile as he sat down on one of the couches, groaning a bit as he stretched.


    "Haven''t ever seen anything like it before, but it sure already feels much cozier than what I''m used to."


    "I''m glad, Riley." He gave her an earnest smile as she walked back towards him, before getting up.


    "Before I''m gonna give you a tour, let''s drop the bags off in your room first, so that you can sort them out however you want." He picked his share of the bags back up, pointing towards the dining area and the stairs that went up from it. Even the stairs had carpets in this place.


    Upstairs was mostly one long corridor between all the different rooms, purpose of some more clear than others. There were three with kids'' names on them, one with a "Mom & Dad" label, one more with "Work - Do not enter", and a few left unlabeled.


    "Now you''ve got me curious- what''s in the ''Work'' room?" Riley asked as they walked past it, the mystery begging to be exp-


    "Oh, it''s just Ella''s office. She works from home, but she still needs to have a private place to be able to focus in silence."


    Well that''s underwhelming.


    "What does she do? And what about you for that matter?"


    "She''s a senior programmer at a security company. It''s about two hours by car from here, but after we got engaged and moved in they let her work remotely. Still has to show up at the office once a month or so, but other than that she stays at home."


    "And you?"


    "Work at a pharmacy. I know, not exactly breathtaking but it helps pay the bills." He answered as they walked up to one of the unlabeled doors, Rick pressing on the handle and walking in.


    The bedroom was larger than her entire previous one, and would only have one eighth of the residents. The bed alone was massive, wider than Riley even if she''d stretched her arms as far to the sides as she could. Of course, there were carpets, and more drawers than she thought any single person would ever need.


    "This is one massive room, Jesus."


    "Ha, we call it the large bedroom for a reason. I mean, if you''re fine with not having an attached bathroom you could move into the smaller one from the get go, keep it mind it''s still quite barren."


    "I''ll definitely take a look at the small one, this bed looks like it could swallow me whole."


    "Lemme tell you, it feels the part as well, that mattress might as well be filled with cotton candy with how unpleasantly soft it is. Alright, come and take a look at the other one." He walked out, not bothering to pick the bags up again just yet, opening the door right next to the ones belonging to the kids.


    He wasn''t kidding about it being bare, it was literally empty. It looked like it belonged to another house, white unpainted walls and bare laminate greeting her as she looked around the empty room.


    "Oh right, we moved the furniture out for painting before Ella got sick, my bad. Guess it''s only the large one for now, but we can deal with painting and grabbing some decorations early next week, sorry for that."


    "It''s fine, don''t worry, I''m not gonna die because of my bed being too large. But since you''ve mentioned it... what color were you planning to paint it?"


    "Mint green, but since you''re here now you''ll get to choose of course. Any preferences?" He closed the door and helped move the rest of the bags into the large bedroom, before closing it as well.


    "Something darker I think. Purple maybe?" Riley shrugged as Rick took her towards the end of the hallway, opening into some sort of game room. There was a couch facing a flat screen TV, a couple game controllers laying on the coffee table in front of it.


    "This here''s the bickering room, where everyone says it''s their turn to play now and what the clock says doesn''t matter. At least used to be, Ella finally got Andrew a desktop and Lily has her tablet, which leaves Timmy to enjoy the collection. Of course not alone, game controllers are a bit tricky when you''re four and can''t figure out how to press more than one button at the same time, so I tend to play with him in my free time."


    The sight was certainly intimidating. All Riley knew about videogames came from the occasional ads she overheard, unable to identify anything in the room.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Is something wrong Riley?" Rick looked a bit concerned, noticing the change in her expression."


    "No, it''s just... I feel a bit lost here. I''ve no clue about most of the things you''ve just mentioned."


    "I know what you mean Riley, although I haven''t felt it as strongly as you must be right now. I wish I had something more profound to say than just "it gets better", but I suppose the one upside is that getting to introduce a sibling to videogames is about the coolest thing for a kid I can imagine, so they''ll certainly be motivated to ease you in as well as they can."


    Riley cracked a small smile at his earnesty, her imagination going wild as she tried to visualize what getting eased in like that would even look like.


    "Ready to start the rest of the tour?" He asked as he walked out of the room, shooting Riley a reassuring smile.


    She shook off the train of thought before it could threaten to start gnawing at her mood any more, following Rick out as he went through the corridor.


    "Most of those are obvious enough, especially since we''ve been to the most unmarked ones, the two I haven''t mentioned is the storage room here-" He tapped his knuckle against the door- "Where your furniture is in right now, and the one right next to stairs is the bathroom. Anything else... guess it''s worth saying out loud, if something weird is happening at night then absolutely feel free to bang on our door."


    "I have a suspicion there''s a story behind you saying that."


    "As basic as stories get. Andrew threw up at night one time when he was little, but was afraid to wake us up, so he laid down and slept in the corridor, to Ella''s surprise when she got up in the morning."


    "Awwh, sounds rough."


    "Yeah, we had a bit of a talk about it being okay to wake us up for stuff like this, and then he got to skip school the next few days because of the initial issue."


    "Anything serious?" Riley asked as they both made their way downstairs, stepping back into the open room.


    "Just some food poisoning, thankfully. Alright, so hopefully the ground floor is self explanatory for the most part. As far as these doors on the left go- bathroom, washing room, drying room, and the one furthest back, behind the fireplace leads to the basement, mostly just more storage. Oh, and the garage of course. Anything I missed?"


    "You tell me."


    "Ha. But no, don''t think so, think I got them all. Wanna go and make the large bedroom a bit more yours as I fix us something to eat? I''m famished."


    "Good idea, I''m getting hungry myself. What''s on the menu?"


    "We had some homemade Chinese yesterday, there''s... huh, pretty much just enough left over for both of us."


    "Chinese?"


    "Stir fried veggies, crispy chicken and some good rice. How''s that?"


    "Sounds great. Guess it''s about time to find out how actual food tastes like."


    "What''d they feed you with back there?" He asked offhandedly as he pulled out the plastic container with the leftovers from the fridge.


    "Oh there was variety alright, ranging from somewhat decent to downright inedible. Soups, creams, "chili", meats..." Riley had to take a deep breath, brief wave of nausea rolling over her as she recalled the latter.


    "Don''t worry, here we actually cook them."


    She chuckled briefly before turning towards the stairs, the carpets throwing her off by muting her footsteps as she walked upstairs, managing to recall which door led to her large bedroom.


    It felt even bigger the second time around.


    She went around the room checking out all the furniture for any forgotten goodies inside, not finding much aside from a set of towels on the upper shelf of the main wardrobe. Cursory look out the windows confirmed her suspicions that they were, in fact, facing the front of the house, snowfall having returned with vengeance in the meantime.


    She looked back towards the dimly lit room, approaching the bed and kicking off her shoes, thinking that after all, best way to see if this bed really is as bad as it looks is to just hop right onto-


    *squeak*


    She must have sunk almost three inches into the absurd mattress, feeling almost trapped inside of a Riley-shaped hole. After gathering her bearings and shifting around, it thankfully got a little bit more manageable, old foam spreading her weight properly once more. Even then, it definitely beat the paper thin mattress back in her bunk, Riley having to shake herself out of falling asleep on the spot.


    After climbing out out of her foam prison, she started going through the bags of clothes, placing the underwear in one drawer and the rest of her clothes in another, dumping her orphanage stuff into the bottommost one, spotting the bundle Luca gave her on top of the clothes pile just before she closed the drawer, picking it up and starting to unwrap it.


    Inside, there were at least a dozen or so bundled cards, crudely cut out from old printer paper. There were drawings on each, drawn with off brand wax crayons and some disposable pencils. Some had what Riley figured was herself with her dark jacket and absence of a smile, next to a few other smaller girls, all holding hands. She couldn''t help but smile at them, with their misspelled names scribbled above each girl, no sense of scale, and being apparently set on a flower field with a smiling sun above their heads.


    "Don''t lose your spirit girls." She whispered quietly to herself, going through the cards, most fairly similar except for the last one which perked Riley''s interest. It was a pencil drawing of her in the middle of her training session, taken apparently from above. On the other side there was a similar drawing, but of around dozen or so girls and boys seemingly trying to follow her steps, none of them looking older than twelve or so. Judging by the shape of the room it was one of the play rooms, the perspective from its window onto the courtyard roughly fitting the one in which the first drawing was made.


    On the back there was a small written note-


    ''''''


    I originally started this a year or so back, after some of the younger girls remarked to me how they wanted to be so badass and unafraid as you are, but were too intimidated to ever speak to you directly, and for the most part, so was I. But I got an idea that we could watch you as you trained and learn that way, and it took off. Soon girls started training on their own, and using your moves to get out of trouble, knives and claws helping them out of course.


    Now, knowing you''re gonna leave tomorrow, I wish I could have told you sooner how much you meant for us, all of us.


    Thank you so much Riley.


    Luca


    ''''''


    Riley had to wipe her tears into the sleeve of her jacket as she set the card aside, holding her hand over her mouth as the reveal sank in. She never would have expected anything like that. Maybe one or two girls to try to clumsily imitate her, but something so organized and so effective? Because of her?


    After taking a few moments to let her eyes dry, she grabbed the cards and set them up on one of the cupboards, smiling a bit at the display as she took it all in.


    Judging by the ambient sizzling sounds the lunch would be ready any moment now, Riley heading to the attached bathroom to make herself a bit more presentable. She took off her jacket, leaving only a plain white tee underneath as she looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Pale skin, hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair, a tangled mess that fortunately only reached her ears, cut diligently with safety scissors at random intervals.


    She splashed her face with cold water to try and appear as if nothing happened, before grabbing her new brush and trying to untangle her hair into something coherent, succeeding only partially. Still, better than how it looked most of the time while hidden under the hood of her jacket.


    Afterwards she took a moment to change into one of her new shirts, the brand new fabric feeling pleasant on her skin as she heard Rick call out from below-


    "Riley, lunch''s ready!" Judging by how clear he came through, there must have been a hole in the floor or something. Cursory inspection found the offender, a round hole after what must have once been a knot in the wood in one of the floor planks. If she laid down next to it she could even see through it, getting a glimpse of the dining table undern-


    "Riley?"


    "Uh, sorry, on my way!" She got up embarrassed, deciding to skip putting on shoes due to all the carpets in the house, quickly running downstairs to see Rick laying two plates down on that same table she was just spying on, looking at her curiously.


    "Got caught up in something?" He asked as he sat down, leaving a chair worth of free space between himself and Riley.


    "There''s a hole in the floor." She answered as she joined him, picking up a nice looking fork.


    "Was wondering how long would it take you to find it. We''re the only ones that know about it, funnily enough. And yes, don''t worry about listening in on anything, nobody is gonna talk about their secrets at the dinner table or something."


    "Really, nobody else has found something so obvious?"


    She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork, tasting it along with the rice, chewing softly as the taste made her close her eyes in appreciation, savoring the dish.


    Holy fuck did this taste good.


    "It''s not like anybody uses the room, and it''s at an awkward angle where it blends in from below." His explanation was confirmed with a quick glance upwards as she kept shoveling the food into her mouth, it was hard to make out the small opening despite Riley knowing exactly where it was.


    Not even two minutes later she was done with the meal, the veggies providing the spice she was deprived of at the orphanage, where salt and pepper were seen as making the food too hot for the oh so poor kids.


    "How was the food?" Rick asked amused as Riley had to constantly stop herself from leaning in to literally lick the plate clean.


    "How much would it surprise you to hear that this is the best thing I remember eating?"


    "Honestly? Not that much considering what you''ve told me about the food at that place." He admitted, chuckling.


    "Still, I''m happy you enjoyed it, Ella will be ella-ted to hear your compliment."


    Riley groaned at his pun as she got up with her plate, walking back towards the kitchen before placing it in the sink.


    "We have a dishwasher, to the left of the sink there''s a handle sticking out, just pull it towards you." He called out behind her, tone suggesting that this was something he had to repeat over and over again.


    She looked around, trying to spot the handle he mentioned, pulling random drawers open until one finally worked, her eyes going wide as she opened it all the way, hidden behind a wooden facade, making it fit in with the rest of the kitchen. She slid in the plate next to the other ones, placing the fork in the utensil basket and staring at it confused.


    "What do I do now?"


    "Just close it, when it''s filled up I''ll show you how to turn it on."


    She carefully closed the contraption, taking a step back in case it turned itself on and was hostile.


    "Never seen one before?" Rick asked as he walked up with his plate, putting the dishes in confidently.


    "Heard ads I suppose, but never actually saw it in person until now. Neither the orphanage kitchen nor the kitchen at the place I worked for a bit had one."


    "You worked in a kitchen?"


    "That''s putting it too strongly. I washed dishes and mopped floors for a few months, paid pennies under the table. Still, money is money, and it''s not like I had anything better to do."


    Rick nodded, reminding himself of similar gigs he had while he was still planning for the future with his friends, a tinge of sadness crossing his expression before he shook it off. No point in feeding his regrets.


    "So, now we just wait for Ella and the kids to get back, shouldn''t be more than an hour or two. Have something to spend time on?"


    She reminded herself of the anatomy book she snatched from the library, probably nestled between her clothes in the bottommost drawer, and that she still hadn''t finished it.


    "Yeah, don''t worry, I''ll be fine."


    "Oh I know you will, but I want you to feel more than just fine. If you need anything I''ll be taking a nap on the couch." He waved to her as he walked deeper into the room, Riley taking a moment to stretch before heading back to her room, digging the book out from the drawer.


    She laid down on her bed and dug in, giving it a closer read.


    ***


    Reading about skunks'' natural defenses was... certainly fascinating if nothing else, Riley arriving at a conclusion that she''d still rather have a knife, more convenient.


    She put the book on the bedside table and stretched her arms, not used to reading in bed, before getting up. Noting lack of any clock in the room she intended to go down and ask Rick for the time, faint rumble coming from outside interrupting her mid step.


    She walked to the window, seeing a car pull onto the driveway before stopping, a few blobs of black and white and other colors getting out, grabbing bag after bag from the trunk, the largest one fumbling with the door before opening it, Riley quietly making her way back to the hole in the floor to listen in.


    "Rick!?" A female voice called out, a bit annoyed judging by the tone.


    She heard his voice slurring something in surprise before he ran over to help them with the bags, setting them on the dinner table one after another, mumbling out an apology for not opening the door for them. A few more voices joined in, too quiet to make out exactly what they were saying.


    As they started unpacking they all got quieter and quieter, tension growing in the air. Rick must have noticed as well, as he eventually asked "What?" out of the blue, tone just a bit jovial.


    "You know what full well honey, we were all so excited on our way back home even I had a hard time shutting up." That must have been Ella.


    "I have absolutely no idea what are you all talking ab-"


    "Riley, Riley, Riley!" A high pitched boy voice interrupted him, by the sheer energy it must have been Timmy.


    "Aaaah, thaaaaaat." Rick responded, barely holding back a smile, judging by the inflection.


    Even Riley was excited at this point, giggling quietly to herself.


    "Well, she''s home!" He continued, getting an excited gasp from the younger kids. "But sadly, she got quite sick recently, so it might take her a while to feel better. And even when she does, I want to ask you all to give her some space while she settles in, alright?" His question answered by a choir of three "Yes"-s.


    "B-but, where is she?" Timmy asked, some of the conversation clearly having gone over his head.


    "Probably taking a nap in the large bedroom, so try to keep qui- Timmy, wait!" He called out, muffled steps already racing upstairs.


    Upstairs, towards her.

 Chapter 7: Four Curious Heads

    Riley got up from the floor and scrambled against a wall. This wasn''t going how she wanted it to, with no idea how would Timmy even react to her, or what would he even do for that matter.


    Dark thoughts started twisting around in her mind before he heard his running footsteps approach her door, judging by the sound he hadn''t even taken his boots off. She waited for a few moments, tension rising in the air, not hearing any other noises, too afraid to make any herself.


    *knock knock knock*


    In all her growing panic, she almost forgot Timmy was four.


    "Riley?" She heard a faint whisper from behind the door, Timmy trying his best to keep quiet.


    She slowly slid over to the door and leaned back against the wall next to it, thinking of what to respond with until the obvious solution showed itself.


    "Yes?" She whispered back, having to stop herself from giggling at the absurdity of the situation.


    He gasped loudly and judging by the sounds, started running back and forth around her door in excitement, talking and laughing to himself.


    She let out a breath she wasn''t even aware she was holding, relaxing a bit at hearing his obvious joy. She didn''t know if she wanted to open the door quite yet, but this was nice enough in its own regard.


    After a few moments Timmy stopped running around, leaning against her door again and continuing, still whispering-


    "How old are you Riley?"


    "I''m fifteen!" She kept whispering on her part as well, a smile not leaving her face.


    "Wow! Why are you sick?"


    She was taken aback by the question, coming up with something on the spot.


    "I didn''t sleep enough!"


    "Why aren''t you sleeping?"


    "Because, uh... I was excited to meet you!" Which was technically true.


    "Wanna be friends?"


    "Sure!"


    He let out a long "Yay!" as he ran back downstairs, the rest of the family mostly done with unpacking by then.


    She moved back to her spying hole, listening in on cheerful Timmy as he told his parents that he''s made a friend, the couple responding with warm sounding words and chuckles. Most of the conversation was too quiet to listen in on anymore, and judging from the steps outside the other kids have made their way back to their rooms, getting Rick''s message.


    She stood up and stretched, a quiet yawn leaving her lips as she considered Timmy''s question. Maybe a nap wouldn''t be that bad of an idea. She slid off her track pants and snuggled underneath the thick covers, the soft warmth much more than she expected, slipping off to sleep before she could even reign in the mattress.


    ***


    *knock knock*


    "Riley?" An unfamiliar voice called out from behind the door.


    She stirred around under her covers, the dark and the warmth making her just turn onto the other shoulder, still half asleep.


    "Riley, I brought dinner with me, can I come in?"


    The voice finally slipped into her mind as she looked back at the door in darkness, her brain taking a few seconds to process the message before it kicked her back to awareness.


    "O-oh, sorry, one second!" She responded in a hurry, scrambling around to find her tracksuit bottoms in the dark, pulling them up and running up to the door, flicking the light switch on much to her eyes'' annoyance. She took a deep breath and opened the door, preparing to meet someone who judging by the voice could only be...


    "Oh dear, did I wake you up Riley?" Andrew asked with concern as he held the bowl of steaming food in his paws.


    "Yeah, but don''t worry, it was just supposed to be a nap and judging by it being dark out I''ve slept plenty already." She responded with a stretch and a yawn, looking up at him as she carefully took the bowl of food.


    He easily had a foot on her if not more, and coupled with his wide frame he downright towered above the slight Riley, making her feel just a bit defensive. Thankfully his expression softened the image a bit, a wide smile as he looked down at her. His face was similar to Rick''s but a bit wider, the slight white stripe above his nose reaching all the way to his hairline.


    She set the bowl down on a nearby dresser, looking back up at Andrew with a slight smile as she leaned on the door frame and crossed her arms.


    "Lemme guess, not quite what you expected?" She asked in a curious tone, trying to not come off as too snarky.


    "Well, yeah, can''t deny that. Then again, Dad didn''t tell us much beyond your name and age, so our imaginations ran wild." He responded honestly, his soft voice matching the white shoulder length hair.


    "Buuuuuut, that''s not gonna stop me from loving my new sister!" He followed up cheerfully, opening his arms for a hug.


    She was taken a bit aback by the gesture, having only just met him after all. She shot him a worried glance, feeling a bit concerned, taking a step back.


    He lowered his arms, noticing her doubts and calmly asking in response-


    "What''s wrong?" He took a step back as well, figuring out she needed some space.


    "D-don''t worry, it''s nothing, it''s just... I need some time getting used to this..." She answered, feeling bad for refusing his kindhearted gesture, despite meaning every word. He just was so genuine...


    "Hey, it''s all fine sis." He calmly reassured her, guess he really took after Rick. "Promise."


    She cracked a smile at this, nodding in appreciation.


    "Thanks Andrew, I mean it. Nice to meet you, bro." She extended a hand towards him, being comfortable with that much.


    He responded in kind, grinning happily as he gently shook her hand, his paw feeling a bit funny, but not unwelcome.


    "Enjoy your dinner!" He waved goodbye as he walked down the corridor, Riley closing the door behind him, taking a deep breath now that this was finally over. Andrew definitely felt like a good person, just... the kind she was mostly distrustful towards in the past. Hopefully she would get over herself soon.


    With a little jog to get the burning bowl out of her hands, she moved it to the desk in the other corner of the room, sitting down in front of it, looking out the dark window.


    The faraway moon illuminated some of it, at least enough for Riley to see that it wasn''t actively snowing anymore, and to make out the black stripe of the road, sandwiched between the white field and the snow covered parkway.


    Stripes upon stripes, eh.


    She shook off the thought and focused on the dinner in front of her, grabbing some of the stew onto her fork, giving it a taste. The chicken tasted great, especially with the lighter sauce, not at all unseasoned however. She vacuumed it all up, letting out a sad ''awwwh'' upon realizing she''d emptied the bowl already.


    Wait, what now?


    She had to return the bowl somehow, and wouldn''t that go against what Rick wanted her to... unless he knew exactly what he did, using this as a way to get her to get out of her room and interact with family at least a bit.


    One sneaky skunk.


    She moved the empty bowl next to the door, crouching above the hole in the floor to try to spot whether the rest of the family was still busy eating. It was empty and she couldn''t hear any clinking sounds coming from below, taking it as a good sign.


    After sliding on her duct tape-reinforced flipflops she carefully opened the door and peeked outside, proceeding upon finding the corridor empty. With a quiet sneak she made her way towards the stairs, taking a deep breath before going down, hoping she wouldn''t be greeted by the entire family, coiled up and waiting to spring at her like a massive jack-in-the-box.


    To her and her heart''s appreciation the ground floor seemed to be mostly empty, light only lit up on the other end of the hall in the living room, together with the TV. She thought she could make out someone laying on one of the couches, but she as too far away to tell. Was something wrong with her eyesight?


    She shrugged off the worry, walking into the dark kitchen. She just barely managed to put the bowl in the dishwasher without making *too* much noise, ready to head upstairs before the person on the couch called out to her-


    "Riley, that you?" With the voice she recognized as Ella''s.


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    "Y-yeah!" She answered, unsure whether she should keep going or stay put.


    She saw Ella get up and stretch, which interestingly enough also included her slightly frizzled tail, before making her way over, hands in  pockets.


    She was only an inch or so taller than her, at least that''s what Riley thought. The short messy hair made it a bit hard to tell, especially with the less than stellar lighting. What she lacked in height she more than made up in build, soft and rounded all over, making Riley almost look like a stick figure in comparison.


    "Nice to finally get to meet you sweetie." She greeted with a smile, extending a paw towards her and shaking vigorously once Riley returned the gesture, before reaching over to the light switch, illuminating them both better, making her realize Ella wore large, round glasses.


    Riley was a bit surprised by such a friendly greeting, especially considering her behavior the last time they met. Guess she had to bring up the elephant in the room at some point.


    "I-I''m sorry for how I acted on the int-" Ella didn''t even let her finish, cutting her off with a ''stop'' gesture and a loud ''Shhhhhhh''.


    "That was in the past and a lot has changed since then Riley, Rick made me well aware of that. I''m not gonna hold it against you or let you do that either, understood?" Her words were gentle but very firm in only the way a mother could speak.


    "Y-yes, Mrs-"


    "It''s Ella, don''t worry. Every time I hear a ''Mrs.'' referred to me I feel like I age another year, hah." She chuckled and smiled at a bit confused Riley, trying to come off as non threatening.


    "Alright, Ella. N-nice to meet you as well!" Riley responded uncertainly, not expecting her to just bury the hatchet like that, but definitely welcoming it.


    Ella smiled widely, Riley only just noticing how the slight stripe above her nose was replaced with a round spot between her eyes, making her do a double take.


    "Curious about the spot?" She asked as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world, making Riley blush at being caught staring like this and trying to avoid further eye contact in shame.


    "Hey, nothing to feel bad about Riley. I get asked about it sometimes, and it''s not like you were leering or anything. Promise, I''ll be happy to tell." She sounded earnest, with a tinge of sadness for making Riley feel bad like that.


    Riley slowly looked back up at Ella''s encouraging smile, eventually managing to force out-


    "S-sure..."


    "There''s nothing wrong in being curious Riley, and given your circumstances I was half expecting you to just go and start endlessly asking questions, not unlike Timmy when he gets going. If you ever want to ask something I''m here sweetie, and I do mean anything, alright?"


    She nodded in response, happy that Ella was so open minded. More so than herself, definitely...


    "So, the spot is simple enough. Grandma was a spotty and I guess I just got it from her. Have some spots on my stomach and her height as well, so it checks out. Mom got it worse, stripes on most of the body and then a tail of a spotty, Dad was quite baffled when he first met her, haha."


    "A spotty?" Riley asked in confusion, a bit afraid this was something she was supposed to already know, but after all Ella did encourage her to ask questions...


    "Spotted skunk, a different subspecies, as opposed to us striped ones. Heard about em?" She explained quickly, eager to inform.


    "No, not really I think." Riley responded, a bit calmer given that Ella seemed to not mind, but still just slightly on edge.


    "Well, for starters they''re quite a bit smaller, my gran was pretty much your size. And they''ve spots instead of stripes, well less spots and more kinda blobs, hard to describe without showing it, different tails too."


    "Also with spots?"


    "Ha, not quite but that would be quite a sight. They''re all black with only white tip, and overall a bit wispier. Other than that, hmm... oh right, spotties are quite agile. My gran was cartwheeling at times in her seventies."


    "Wow, that''s quite something. What happened to her?" Riley asked, curious about what became of technically her great grandmother.


    Ella''s enthusiasm deflated as she sighed wistfully, looking down a bit.


    "Can sprint and walk on your hands all you like, but you can''t dodge cancer."


    "Oh god, I''m so sorry to hear..."


    "It''s all fine Riley, she passed away over a decade ago, I need to finally get over it sometime. Just, still miss her at times."


    "I see. What- what was she like?"


    "She lit the entire room up wherever she went, heh. Always chatting, cracking jokes, entertaining us lil'' kits with her antics. Never stopped, even once we were hardly kits anymore. Called us every so often afterwards, remember her being so excited and happy when I got pregnant with Andrew, even more so when he joined our lil'' family. Was the first to visit us in the hospital."


    "Yeah, she sounds great. Never met my grandparents, and from what I''ve heard they''re not the kind of people that I would wanna meet anyway."


    "I understand Riley, can''t choose your birth family after all. Buuuuuut, I''d say you couldn''t have chosen better with your actual one!" Her expression lit back up as she smiled warmly, shaking off her funk.


    Riley giggled a bit at that, unable to help but agree in all regards so far.


    "Well,  I''m certainly glad I said ''yes'', that''s for sure." She smiled back and closed her eyes, savoring the sweet moment.


    "As am I sweetie. As am I." Ella took a deep breath and extended her arms for a hug, shooting Riley an overjoyed grin.


    Riley''s expression broke a bit as she took a step back, trying to break through her mental blocks and return the hug.


    "Ri-" Ella noticed her unease and lowered her arms a bit, worried. An instant later Riley bit her lip and went for it, holding her as tightly as she could. She was tensed up all over, suppressing her brain screaming at her to run away.


    After a moment of confusion Ella held her back, reaching up to gently pet the back of her head, the pleasant sensation cutting through some of the anxiety.


    "It''s alright sweetie, it''s all fine." She cooed quietly, gently rocking them both back and forth, trying to ease her daughter''s stress.


    A minute or so later Riley finally had enough of grip on herself to unclench her body, taking a deep breath after another, slowly and deliberately letting go.


    Ella stepped back a bit and nodded reassuringly at Riley, busy trying to hold back tears.


    "I-I''m sorry, j-just-"


    "Shhhhh. It''s really all fine sweetie. Not used to hugs all that much, right?"


    "Y-yeah. I''ve a b-bit of a hard time with them and just pushed through this time, and guess it w-worked." Riley felt a bit better at the realization that she did succeed, even if it came off awkward.


    "It did! And you''ll only get better at it as you practice, promise!" Ella cheered her on, placing a paw on her shoulder and smiling.


    "T-thanks, Ella. I appreciate it."


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Oh, just thought of something to sweeten the mood-" She walked over to the kitchen reaching up to one of the cupboards, pulling out one of the larger bags of the peanut butter candy and passing it to Riley.


    "Has Rick told you about those?"


    "Yeah, he has, we even- oh , gimme a moment!" Riley passed the bag back to surprised Ella and ran back upstairs, completely forgetting to sort the candy out. She grabbed the shopping bag and thew the pack of peanuts onto the bed before racing back downstairs, catching her breath as she gave it to Ella.


    "G-got an idea at the shop to grab some for each of you, forgot to bring it to the kitchen earlier-"


    "Awww, that''s so nice of you Riley. Gonna give it out after tomorrow''s breakfast I think, can''t think of a better way to warm them up to you some more than that!" She smiled widely as she took the bag and stuffed it into the same cupboard she pulled the candy bag out of, having to push on the doors to get it to close again.


    "We had a similar idea earlier today, but sadly they were out of stock. Next time we go shopping we''re gonna shower you with them to make up for it, how''s that sound?"


    "Sounds nice, b-but it''s really not nec-"


    "Not many things are necessary sweetie, but we want to make you feel appreciated and cared for. Beeeeesides, I don''t think anyone would be *too* opposed to you sharing some with them if the guilt is really eating you up~" Riley couldn''t help but chuckle at the latter part, feeling much better about the whole thing.


    "In that case, I''m in!" She responded cheerfully, her and Ella sharing a chuckle before being interrupted-


    "Mooooooom!" They heard a girl''s voice calling from upstairs, Lily running down towards them soon after.


    "Mom, where did y-" She froze as she stared at Riley and Ella, shocked.


    It was hard to make out some details from the distance, but she did have more of Ella in her than Rick, including a white tip on an otherwise normally striped tail and a pair of glasses. What interested Riley more than that, however, was her expression, which was quickly souring, the girl looking almost hurt.


    "Hey sweetie, was just chatting with Riley, what do you need?" Ella asked calmly, not noticing the distress on her daughter''s face from her angle.


    Lily kept staring at Riley from above, latter tensing up a bit once she noticed her tail was rising and bristling slightly, putting her on edge. Suddenly, she stopped, her tail falling back down and the hurt expression turning into almost despair, her eyes darting between Riley and Ella.


    "N-nevermind." She managed to get out in shaking voice before running back upstairs, Riley''s grimace deepening as she heard her tear up just before she''d closed the door to her room.


    She turned towards Ella who was just as confused, her expression a bit shocked as she looked up at the stairs.


    "D-did I do something wrong?" Riley asked uncertainly, afraid she''d offended the girl somehow.


    "Don''t think so, I''ve no clue what got into her. I''m gonna go up and ask her, do you need anything else Riley?"


    "I-I''m good." Riley assured her as Ella passed the bag of candy back to her and walked upstairs, Riley following her slowly. Lily''s audible cries felt like she was the one getting stabbed, having no idea what she even did wrong.


    She put the snacks on the desk, suddenly no longer hungry, and sat down on her bed, her anxieties worming their way into her thoughts. The occasional scream, muffled too much to discern meaning but not enough to obscure the fact it was Lily''s, only added to her tension.


    It was too much for her, she had to tune it out somehow. She grabbed some freshly bought clothes, tearing off their tags before heading to the shower, and turned on the hot water, having to tune it down quite a bit since it was actually hot here, almost burning her skin.


    Even through the din of the water she was certain she could still catch Lily''s shouting, that or her brain was really despising her at that moment, not giving her a breathing moment even as she was busy lathering up.


    The shower didn''t calm her down, the hot water only doing the opposite as she couldn''t even stand still as she dried off, making it take forever before she threw the clothes onto her still damp body, hair dripping behind her as she paced around the room, waiting for-


    *knock knock*


    She almost ran to the door, opening it widely to find Ella waiting for her, a look of unease on her face, obviously hiding something Riley wouldn''t want to hear.


    "Riley, I''ve talked with Lily, and, well..."


    "W-what is it Ella? Did I do something wrong?"


    "No, no, it''s nothing you did, more so... sigh. Well, she''s wanted to have a skunk sister for the longest time, and when Rick told us you''d be coming along he didn''t mention that you''d, well, not be a skunk, so Lily of course zeroed in on her wish. She was easily the most excited for you, and now it''s clear why. I should have talked to her about this beforehand, but I just kinda, kinda forgot... I''m so sorry for this mess Riley."


    "I, I understand." Riley responded, not really knowing how to answer, but at least knowing it wasn''t anything she did.


    Instead, it was who she was.


    "It''s even worse when taking into consideration that a lot of human girls at her school have been... less than friendly, even mocking her for having a tail."


    "I''m sorry to hear, they sound like assholes."


    "Taking after their parents if anything." Ella took a long sigh, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion before looking up at Riley.


    "Of course, me and Rick are gonna keep talking to her about this, this isn''t healthy for either of you. Until she feels better about you, the only thing I''m asking of you is to try to not take it personally, alright?"


    "I-I''ll try my hardest." Riley responded with a determined nod, exasperated Ella smiling ever so slightly.


    "Thank you sweetie. Again, I''m so sorry for all this, we should have told her sooner and have had the whole big conversation, sigh." She took in a deep breath and suppressed an exhausted yawn, slowly shaking her head.


    "Seems like we could all use some sleep." Riley offered, Ella looking up at her mildly surprised, before nodding in acknowledgment.


    "Definitely, Lily most of all. Sleep well Riley, don''t let it all get to you, alright?" Ella smiled at her reassuringly before waving and heading to her and Rick''s room, Riley closing her door afterwards.


    She was lowkey expecting something like this to happen, but not as... heart-wrenching as this. She turned off the light and laid down, trying to think of how she could win Lily over. After twenty odd minutes of her tired brain repeatedly throwing up hands in defeat she decided to just call it a night, hoping the next day would clear the whole mess up a bit.


    She snuggled in deeper under the thick covers, the occasional whistle of the wind raging outside only making her feel more comfortable as the soft warmth put her to sleep.

 Chapter 8: Unfit

    Her dreams have thankfully left her alone this time, well almost. There were no wisps or advertisement jingles to torment her, but all the time she felt like she was falling. Or sinking deeper into the mattress. Couldn''t really tell.


    For once, she didn''t get woken up by anything. Just gradually unbinded herself from being tied up in her sleep, shaking a bit on the massive bed before she finally opened her eyes.


    After a moment of confusion the events of yesterday fully caught up to her, the gathering doubts making her say goodbye to any hope of getting any more sleep. With a tired groan, she threw off the thick covers, exposing herself to the slightly chilly air of the room, making her shiver just a bit.


    Outside was still rather dark, the sun only beginning its journey up the horizon. With a stretch, Riley put something on and listened in on the hole in the floor, hearing some faint music. Guess she wasn''t the first one to wake up this morning.


    She slowly opened the door, proceeding upon only hearing nothing on the other side. As she walked towards the stairs, she could swear she heard some noise from the work room, but wasn''t too inclined to actually check for herself.


    Downstairs, the soft tune from earlier filled the room, Rick calling out to her when she stepped off the stairs-


    "Good morning Riley. Quite early to be up on Sunday, isn''t it?"


    She shrugged and approached him, sitting on the other end of the sofa, smell of coffee filling the air.


    "Just woke up like that I suppose." She leaned into the soft seat, snuggling into her new jacket.


    "Right, not like yesterday we went to bed particularly late either, heh." He chuckled to himself, a hint of tension hidden behind his tone.


    "Has Ella-"


    "Yes, she did tell me what happened to Lily." He took a deep sigh, rubbing his temples.


    "Can''t really offer much advice beyond what she did, maybe teach you how to brush a tail and such. Beyond that, only time will help, sadly." He sounded unusually resigned, closing his eyes and taking another sip of his coffee.


    Riley nodded at this, feeling his defeat. Worries started trying to worm their way into her mind again, and she wasn''t gonna let them.


    "You told me you can get from here to the orphanage on foot, right?" She brought up, really needing a walk out in the cold.


    "Aye. There''s a path from behind the house that leads to the old playground, and then on the other end another one that leads to the street with your old place."


    "You know of that playground?" She asked, surprised. All this time she thought it was hers and hers alone...


    "Pfft, of course. Used to take kids there all the time. Judging by your tone you''re not unfamiliar with it either?"


    "That''s putting it lightly. I guess we just never ran into each other?"


    "Probably. If you went there in the mornings then that explains it, since we took kids there after school and such. Still, at least I''m glad I know where to find you in case, heh." He chuckled, some of the tension diffused.


    "So... can I-"


    "Of course! You''re a free person Riley, feel free to go wherever, just tell us beforehand, aight?"


    "Heh. Thanks, Rick."


    "No need to thank me for anything. Just watch out for yourself, alright?"


    Riley smiled and nodded, getting up from the way too comfy sofa with a small yawn. After going back up to grab her sneakers, she was just about ready to head back down and venture out into the cold, when the door to the work room opened in front of her. Half asleep Ella walked out of it, wearing a night shirt with a cartoony moon on it, looking bedraggled all over.


    "Management waking me up on Sunday just to sort out merge conflicts, kiss my fucking-"


    She stopped as she noticed Riley in front of her, letting out a soft ''Oh'' of surprise.


    "Going out?" She asked curiously, taking a look over Riley''s clothes, softly shaking her head.


    "Y-yeah, just want to go out for a walk, is some-"


    "You''re not going out like this young lady. Wait just a moment." She scolded her gently, quickly going back into her and Rick''s bedroom, leaving Riley confused in the middle of the corridor.


    What did she mean, not going out like this? Did I put on my jacket backwards or wh-


    "Catch!" She heard Ella shout from behind, Riley''s reflexes managing to grab a blur that turned to be... a rainbow-striped bobble hat, soft and plush.


    Oh. Not going out without a hat.


    She pulled back her hood and dragged the hat on, the thing just a bit too large, almost covering her eyes.


    "And also this!" Riley only barely caught the white scarf, unsure how to even tie one. In the end she just wrapped it around her neck and chin a few times, sticking the tip in on the inside of the loop.


    "That''s better." Ella said approvingly, Riley turning to face her, wrapped up all over.


    "Don''t want you catching a cold on your second day here after all. Now go on, get some fresh air sweetie, we could all use some after yesterday."


    Riley nodded, her "See ya" muffled into incomprehensibility as she head back down, Rick bursting into laughter upon seeing her as he washed his cup.


    "Ella caught you, hasn''t she?" He managed to force out between fits of laughter, the devil herself having quietly followed Riley downstairs, leering at her husband as he recovered from almost laughing himself to tears.


    "O-oh, hi honey." His laughter was flushed immediately once he caught his wife staring expectantly at him, desperately trying to suppress a smirk of her own.


    "One more word and I''m gonna catch you, and you''re not gonna enjoy it one bit~" She teased and walked back upstairs, chuckling to herself as Rick recovered from being caught like that, his tail still fluffed up a bit as he snuck a glance at Riley-


    "Aren''t you supposed to be out or something?" His words threw her out of her daze, Riley opening the front door with a slight giggle, taking in a lungful of winter.


    Outside was mostly covered with snow, the stone path leading to the tiny sidewalk only peeking out of the white cover in spots where the salt crystals fell, illuminated by the hazy sun, itself struggling to get up.


    She took a deep breath, warmed up a bit by the fabric of the scarf and turned to the right, following a path around the house, the back yard housing a snow covered trampoline and a few smaller trees, quite different to the pines and oaks of the surrounding woods. There also seemed to be a few rows of regular bumps underneath the snow, a small field?


    Shaking that possibility aside, she finally spotted the path leading to the old playground, carefully walking through the thick layer of snow towards it, not wanting to trip on anything on accident.


    After making it through, she swiped the excess snow off of her boots and calves, not wanting them to soak through already. She turned around and looked at the back of the house, spotting a hidden back door that must have lead to the drying room. With a glance at the upper floor windows she hastened her leave, quite sure she spotted Lily stretching in one of them, judging by her tail. Thankfully she wasn''t looking at her, Riley didn''t want to give the poor girl any more grief than she already did.


    This path was quite covered up, guess they haven''t used it recently with all the snowfall. Riley trudged through, each step kicking old snow around, hopefully making the way back less of a chore.


    The seclusion stilled her anxiety as she pushed on, Riley finding herself whistling the tune she''d overheard this morning.


    How could she win Lily over, or at least make herself a better sister? What did sisters even do with sisters? Rick suggested teaching her how to brush tails, was this a social activity for them? Even if, it wouldn''t exactly be a two way thing, she didn''t even have enough head hair to brush or tie up into braids or anything. Most you could do was to dye it, but what color even?


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    Black with a white stripe maybe, let''s play it on the nose.


    Riley shook it off as she finally made it to the playground, the ruins to her left a familiar marker. She walked towards the swings, this time having enough foresight to get rid of any ice on top of the seats before sitting on them.


    Play with her maybe? But what could they even play, the most Riley know to play was card games she learned during breaks at the kitchen she worked. She doubted whether an eleven year old would be even remotely interested in Poker.


    Another thread that went nowhere.


    She gave it her all as she rose higher and higher on the swing, the rush of air against her head blowing the hat off and ruffling her hair even harder. She was nowhere near stopping, the freezing cold on her face feeling like it cleansed her thoughts time after time.


    Higher and faster still, higher and faster.


    As she reached the apex of one of the swings, she felt a gust of biting wind strike at her, her hands clenching hard around the chain links as the entire swing wobbled threateningly, forcing her to ease down and out of it. She definitely wasn''t looking forwards to a repeat of previous time she was here.


    After a few chaotic moments she managed to slow the swing to a still, digging in her legs into the snow.


    Well, no wonders Riley doesn''t know what to do with her if she doesn''t even know her. What does she actually enjoy doing, her preferences and stuff like that. Can''t base much on the fact she''s eleven and a girl with a tail.


    God knows she at that age was more interested in downing the entire contents of her mother''s medicine drawer than any real girl stuff. And while she doubted Lily was dealing with anything near as dour, aside from Riley herself of course, she still didn''t quite strike her like just a ''normal'' tween girl.


    If such a thing even existed.


    A swing bonking into her from behind snapped her out of her thoughts, the sudden pain in her ears making her search for the hat, rolling through the snow at the edge of the treeline. Riley snatched it back up as another nasty gust struck, forcing her to hold onto it even after she slid it back on, lest the quickly intensifying wind blow it off of her again.


    She ran madly back to the path home, the trees thankfully muffling the wind out. There was the serene kind of cold, and then there was the kind that made her afraid for having her feet and ears frostbitten off.


    Even as the trees did their best in softening the blows, she still tried to make her way back as fast as she could, feeling her feet going numb. It wasn''t quite as bad as being caught in a full blown blizzard, but the wind certainly tried its hardest to make up for the lack of snowfall.


    After an exhausting fifteen minutes or so she finally ran back onto the backyard, having to hold onto a rough tree bark to not get thrown onto the small field the moment she slid her nose out from the safety of the trees. It stung and cut her palms before she finally let go, dashing towards the household and trying to get through the back door, unfortunately left locked.


    After managing to make her way around the house she caught a glimpse of the day sky, the gentle sun having finally fully come out of hiding, to the backdrop of wispy strands of clouds and a pale blue sky. After pushing through the last gust she finally reached for the door handle, the wind flinging it open before Riley managed to dash inside and pull it close again, gasping in exertion.


    "Well, good morning Riley!" She heard Andrew call out, looking up to see most of the family looking at her in surprise as they ate breakfast, sans Ella and Lily.


    "Hey." She forced out between strained breaths as she unwrapped the scarf and took off her hat, helping her breathe, the frosty red cheeks standing out against her pale skin.


    "Riley isn''t a skunk?" Timmy asked in surprise as he looked up at her, Rick and Andrew sharing unsure glances before she responded-


    "Well, I''m not!" She responded as cheerfully as she could, trying to keep up the mood in the room.


    "Oh. Okay!" He answered, focusing back on a half eaten pancake, the rest of the skunks releasing a shared breath of tension as Riley hanged her jacket, shirt soaked with sweat underneath.


    "Leave some for me, just have to change and I''ll be back-" She called  out as she ran upstairs, laying her soaked clothes down on the radiator, changing into something less drenched. Judging by her socks being drenched her shoes were no longer as seemingly indestructible as they once were.


    The cold made her wish she had something to put on top of herself other than just her old jacket, not really wanting to use it more than needed anymore.


    She decided to just weather it, sliding on her flipflops and running back down, a plate full of pancakes waiting for her on the table, Rick having just finished his share and sliding his plate into the dishwasher.


    She was just about ready to sit down and sink her teeth in before the stinging in her palms reminded her she needed to wash them, and clean the cuts.


    "You alright Riley?" Rick asked as she approached the sink, scrubbing her hands clean with the dish soap.


    "Yeah, just a bit cold, wind really caught me out..." She shuddered as the hot water brought feeling back to her hands, cleansing the scratches.


    "Want to borrow one of Ella''s jumpers? She won''t mind, and you''re still shaking."


    "I-I''ll be fine, r-really!"


    "Well, that isn''t in question, but I''d rather you not feel cold just because you''re a coat of fur short. Go and dig into the pancakes, I''ll be right back with her jumper."


    Riley nodded in defeat, not succeeding at not making herself a bother as she sat down at the table, Andrew slowly mulling through his plate as Timmy looked up at her again and asked-


    "Why are you not a skunk Riley?"


    She and Andrew exchanged glances, both slightly taken aback, having no idea how to answer. Timmy looked at his brother expectantly, as if it was the most normal question in the world.


    "I guess I just wasn''t born as one." She sighed, smearing some peanut butter on her pancakes and taking a bite, the taste sweetening the sour mood from yesterday, brought back by the question.


    "Why not?"


    She stopped mid-bite, ticked off by the idea she chose to be born in a trailer to a junkie, her grip around the fork tightening.


    "It''s not nice to ask questions like that Timmy." Andrew interjected and took Timmy''s attention onto himself, noticing Riley''s wordless annoyance.


    "Why?"


    "Why not?"


    "What?"


    The little exchange eased Riley''s mood a bit, her mouth starting up again as she kept working the utensil.


    She sure wished she was born as one right now.


    With Timmy''s attention brought back to the food he quickly finished his plate, sliding it back into the dishwasher before walking up to Andrew-


    "Andy can you race with meeeeee?"


    "Sure sport, just let me finish." Andrew sent him off, turning back towards Riley-


    "Hey, sorry for this Riley." He said softly, smiling apologetically.


    "It''s fine." She responded shortly, still cooling off, before a too relevant question slid onto the forefront of her mind.


    "Where''s Lily?"


    "She ate in her room, said she feels a bit sick."


    Sick of her, maybe.


    Riley sighed again, the couple of remaining pancakes feeling like an impossibly large amount as the guilt tied her stomach shut.


    "Sorry for the wait Riley, took a while to dig this one out-" Rick walked downstairs, looking a bit excited as he showed off the jumper.


    All black with two white stripes running down the back.


    She had enough.


    "I''m not hungry anymore." She got up and headed for the stairs, deliberately ignoring Rick as she got back to her room, slamming the door shut a bit too strongly.


    She laid on her bed face down, angst and insecurities flowing out of her tear ducts.


    She got it, she was fucking broken, no need to rub it in everyone. Lil'' Riley can take care of it herself. Come on Lily, be nice and come share your tail with the class, we''ve such a pretty knife here-


    "SHUT UP!" She shouted into the mattress, trying to silence the voice that always came up during the times like this, shoving the most deranged and monstrous fantasies into her conscious.


    Oh come on, what would they even do? Return you for being deficient? Besides, you''d be more of a skunk than you could ever even hope for otherwise, more so if you take some of her skin as well-


    Riley pulled out her knife and got up, heading to the bathroom, pouring the cold water as she placed her forearm palm up on the sink, hatefully staring at her own reflection.


    There was only one surefire way to make that voice fuck off, and Riley was more than ready to make use of it for the first time in months.


    Oh dearie dear, what would this pristine family think of you? Cutting like some gutter scum? After all, what use is there of a pretty little daughter with scars on her wrists, let alone a sister? Now, if you cut them a bit, that would be so higher class, especially at the ne-


    Riley brought the blade to her wrist, pushing it in a bit but not cutting just yet, the tiniest bead of blood leaking out.


    Do it, you coward.


    Riley took in a deep breath, tensing up in anticipation-


    *knock knock knock*


    She took the knife away, flushing the small scratch with cold water before splashing some more on her face, trying to shake it off before she walked up to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it, Andrew standing on the other side, looking concerned.


    "What?" She barked, too angry for being amicable right now.


    "Can we talk?" He seemed unphased by her hostility, his tone as calm as ever.


    "About what?" Her response was quieter, his serenity rubbing off on her.


    "About you and Lily."


    "Guess Rick did tell you about what had happened?"


    He nodded slowly in response, sighing and looking away for a moment.


    "What more is there to say?" She followed up quietly, trying to focus on not letting that voice surface again.


    "I don''t know what they''ve told you already, but I do know you''re in pain."


    "As is Lily."


    "And as are you. You''re not somehow less important than her. You deserve to feel good in your own skin."


    "And so does Lily in her own home."


    "She already does. I''ve just talked to her a bit about the whole thing, and, well, she''s sorry for how she reacted yesterday. She still does feel hurt and needs some more time for herself to come to terms with it all, but she didn''t want you to feel hurt."


    Riley processed the news with a slight nod, looking up at Andrew before responding-


    "Well, can you tell her I''m sorry for hurt-"


    "You hadn''t hurt anyone Riley." He interrupted firmly, guess took that from Ella.


    "Yes, Lily does feel hurt, but it''s not because of anything you did, and you don''t deserve to feel bad for it. If you really want to blame someone for that then blame our parents for not making it all clearer to her beforehand, and not yourself."


    Riley sat down on her bed in silence, trying to form a cogent thought once more after being silenced like that, the hurt making her speak up reflexively-


    "But I''m still not who she''s been hoping for..."


    "So what? You''re your own person Riley, you''re not made more or less worthy of feeling good depending on someone else''s whims. If we want to go that route than even Timmy shouldn''t feel good about himself, I still remember Lily''s tantrums when he came around because parents didn''t tell her it''s not gonna be a sister. And guess what, she got over it in a couple of weeks."


    "I, I see." She responded, taking the words in, some of the guilt having evaporated.


    "You''re still gonna be the best sister Lily could ever have, skunk or not." He cracked a smile, sitting down next to her, needing a moment to balance himself after sinking too deep into the mattress.


    "T-thanks Andrew, I- I needed that." She returned the slight smile as she looked up at him, wiping off the stray tears.


    He wordlessly extended his arms for a hug, Riley taking a moment to compose herself and close her eyes before leaning onto him, hands forced into tight fists on her lap as he held her warmly, gently rubbing her shoulder.


    Her heart sped up to three digits but she didn''t bulge, withstanding her body shouting at her to run before Andrew let go of her himself, his smile widened.


    "Still feeling cold?" He brought out the jumper from behind himself, Riley too occupied by her own brooding to notice it earlier.


    She quietly took it and put it on, soft material feeling comforting as she warmed up beside her brother.


    "Hope you''re feeling a bit better Riley."


    "Yeah, I think I am. Thank you so much, bro."


    "Hehe, you''re welcome sis. So, wanna join me and Timmy on the couch?"


    "Oh? What are you gonna do over there?"

 Chapter 9: Playtime

    After taking a moment to gather her bearings, Riley followed Andrew out of her bedroom, turning right towards the play room. Timmy was already present, busy squirming on the sofa and holding one of the controllers.


    "Can we plaaaaaay now Andy?" He asked, sounding a bit exasperated as he looked up at Andrew. She could finally see his features for once, and he seemed to have inherited the spot from Ella and overall shape of the snout from Rick, along with wider stripes on his tail.


    "Fine, fine Timmy, sorry for making you wait for so long. Hope you don''t mind Riley joining us!" Andrew smiled as he slid a disk into one of the consoles and sat down on the far end on the couch, his tail curled up around him and laying on his lap.


    "Is Riley gonna play toooo?" Timmy followed up, looking up at her hopefully as she sat down on the free space, opposite to Andrew.


    "Oh no, don''t worry, I think I''m just gonna watch for now."


    "Why not?"


    "Because I don''t know how to play." She shrugged and chuckled, leaning further into the soft couch.


    "Why?"


    "Why not?" Andrew chimed in, barely holding back a giggle himself as he short circuited the poor four year old''s brain.


    "What?" Timmy blinked and looked around at his amused siblings, both trying to pretend they weren''t. After taking a moment to gather his confused thoughts, he slid down from the couch and waddled into the corridor, his tail waving high behind him, Andrew calling him out-


    "Timmy, I think Dad is a bit busy right now. How about you ask Riley to help you out with the gamepad?"


    The what.


    He turned around and scrambled back up on the sofa as the TV turned on, showing some splash screen Riley was too distracted to read as he turned towards her, looking adorable as he looked up at her-


    "Rileeeey, can you help me out because Dad is busy?"


    "Uhhh, I''ll try, but I''ve never even touched a ''gamepad'' before, so you''ll have to explain it to me first."


    Timmy just tilted his head in confusion, Andrew picking up the cue to step in-


    "Timmy, can you hold the gamepad for a moment?"


    He picked up one of the controllers and held it in front of himself, right paw holding it from the right, thumb covering all the buttons on the right side, with the left paw holding it from the bottom, thumb on the right... wiggly thing.


    "He''s just a bit too small to hold it the normal way, so usually dad comes around to help him with the left stick, like so-"


    Andrew slid his left hand around, holding the left side of the controller firmly, his thumb on the left wiggly thing, guess it''s called a stick.


    "Come and give it a try Riley." He followed up as he took his hand away.


    After a moment of hesitation she tried to mirror him, sliding in her left hand and gripping the warm plastic, her hand a bit too low to do anything but grip the thing.


    "Lemme help a bit-" He gently corrected her grip, moving it upwards and lifting the thumb onto the stick. It felt a bit weird, her hand was not that big either and she almost had to lean towards Timmy to actually hold it somewhat comfortably.


    Andrew noticed, taking a moment to think before coming up with something obvious in hindsight-


    "Well, usually Timmy sits on Dad''s lap for this, dunno how comfortable you''d be with that."


    "Definitely more so than right now-" She took away her hand and stretched it a bit, looking down at Timmy and taking a deep breath before asking-


    "Wanna sit on my lap?"


    He wasted no time in scrambling over, Andrew having had to hold his gamepad for a moment since he didn''t think to put it down first. He was definitely heavier than he looked like, Riley letting out a surprised breath as he pinned her to her seat, his tail obscuring her vision as it brushed against her face.


    "Timmy, tail!" Andrew called over, Timmy responding with a quick "Sorry!" before lowering it and laying it down by his side, still excited judging by how it kept waving. Riley still had to tilt her head to see the TV well from behind his head, with most of the bottom half obscured by his hair, but she didn''t mind much.


    "Before we start..." The older brother maneuvered through some menus, selecting a "Quick Race" option, whatever it meant. After a loading screens they were brought to the gameplay proper, showing some sports car at the start line of what had to be a race track, Riley taking a moment to realize this wasn''t a prerecorded footage of an actual race.


    "Hey!" Timmy interjected, realizing this wasn''t a Versus Race, looking up at Andrew in confusion, his tail rising a bit.


    "We need to teach Riley how to play first, right?"


    "Yeah! You have fast cars and race and-"


    "Haha, let me teach her, okay? And then we can race for as long as you want, aight sport?"


    "Okay."


    Andrew nodded and turned towards Riley, starting his explanation-


    "So, because of the way you two are holding the controller, Timmy controls the gas and brakes and Riley controls turning." He paused the game before the actual start of the race, looking over to make sure her thumb was in right position.


    "H-how do I do that?" Riley asked, feeling just on the edge of being overwhelmed, thankfully Andrew''s slow pace alleviating some of the anxiety.


    "Pull your thumb to the left or right to turn, like this-" He reached over, placing a finger on top of her thumb, tilting the stick to the left and then to the right, Riley repeating the weird motion, trying to get used to reaching her thumb that far.


    "I''m gonna unpause now so that you two can get a feel for each other, alright? Don''t worry about crashing or anything, just try to get used to turning, ready?"


    Here goes nothing!


    With a press of the button Andrew unpaused the game, the actual race starting moments later, Timmy hitting the gas as they neared the first turn, Riley too paralyzed by the speed of the action to turn in time, the car slamming into the seemingly indestructible barriers.


    "Turn right!" Timmy shouted, Andrew shooting them both a concerned look as the younger brother pulled into reverse and tried to take the turn again, Riley sliding her thumb all the way to the right. The car successfully took the corner this time, before bumping into the barrier on the right side, Riley having forgotten to let go of the stick after turning.


    By the sheer force of driving forward and grinding against the barriers the car managed to straighten itself out before it approached the slight turn left, Riley managing to react just in time to take the turn. She turned just a bit too hard, bumping into the barriers once more, Andrew offering a tip-


    "The more you turn the stick the more the car turns, try to wiggle a bit on this straight bit ahead-"


    Wiggle!?


    Riley tried to apply his words, tilting the rubber stick ever so slightly, smiling in satisfaction once the car snaked gently on the dirt road, preparing for the next turn. Timmy tapped the brakes and she held the stick about halfway to the left, their combined efforts resulting in the car managing not to crash into anything this time.


    "Well done!" Andrew cheered them on as they made their way through the forest track, both too focused to respond. They took corner after a corner, Riley quickly getting the hang of just for how long to tilt the stick to take any particular corner, the couple bumps and spins making the eventual successes all the whole exhilarating.


    A couple minutes later they managed to make their way over to the finish line, Riley letting out a breath she held in excitement, sneaking a glance at Andrew, who nodded in approval.


    "How was your first drive Riley?" He asked, a hint of pride in his voice, his tail waving in the corner of her eye.


    "I... didn''t expect it to be this fun." She giggled excitedly, definitely ready for more.


    "And it''s only gets better as you do! Let''s do some actual racing now! Ready, Timmy?" After his little brother nodded back, his tail shooting a bit further up again, Andrew navigated to Versus Mode and set both of them a car, Riley and Timmy jointly controlling what looked to be a high end sports car, Andy getting himself an everyday looking sedan.


    She lifted a brow in bemusement at the choice of vehicles as they made their way to the race track again, the screen split with a vertical line down the middle, the duo''s car on the left.


    Any confusion cleared itself once they hit it off, Riley quickly realizing that the difference in cars wasn''t a stylistic choice.


    It was meant to give them a fighting chance.


    While they could overtake him on straighter segments, he just took corners so much better, seemingly without even having to slow down. Riley grit her teeth as they tried her hardest to catch up to him, ending up second by a small margin.


    "Again!" Timmy shouted, thankfully seemingly without any anger in his voice, just wanting more fun. Considering that she was directly behind him, Riley was certainly thankful for that much.


    Moments later they were already on another track, thankfully much straighter, giving Riley and Timmy a decent edge. They overtook Andrew on every straight section despite his maneuvers, by the virtue of just being so much faster. The older brother did his best to make up on it on the wide corners, but the duo ended up victorious, Timmy letting out a joyful "Yaaaaaaaay!" and raising his hand up, Riley looking at it dumbfounded before Andrew whispered to her the obvious in hindsight-


    "High five him!"


    And so she did, Timmy letting out another content "Yay" before asking for another race.


    They raced on a dozen or so tracks afterwards, mostly losing more than winning, but Timmy seemed to be unbothered and Riley was enjoying feeling like she was getting a grip on it all, eventually wanting to take a stab at controlling the whole car herself sometime.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Afterwards Timmy seemed to lose interest, letting go of the gamepad and slipping off Riley''s lap, much to her lap''s appreciation. He walked back to his room, the other siblings sharing a shrug and stretching their arms after an intense session.


    "Seems you enjoyed it?" He asked as he turned towards her with a wide smile, laying down his gamepad and getting up himself.


    "Yeah. Didn''t expect it to be this engaging, hah. How does another go sound, but with me getting to control the car on my own?"


    "Sure! Timmy is probably gonna come back with something else to do, but we can do some more racing afterwards if you''re still feeling like it."


    Riley nodded in approval, before a creaking noise from the corridor caught the attention of them both, Ella walking out of her bedroom and stretching, this time wearing a hand knit sweater. She leaned forward to see the two siblings on the couch, smiling groggily and waving in their direction.


    "Morning Mom!" Andrew called out with a wave, Ella making her way over, leaning on the couch as she took in the view.


    "So you got Riley to play with you eh?" She reached out to ruffle his hair, the big softie closing his eyes at the sensation and letting out a quiet chirl, seeming to enjoy it a lot.


    "Yeah, drew me in with Timmy needing help and now I kinda wanna play some myself." Riley admitted, chuckling at Andrew melting under Ella''s touch.


    "I''m glad! Hope you''ll keep on playing. Where''s Timmy for that matter?"


    The younger brother himself answered her question as he walked out of his room, holding a cup of crayons in one hand and some paper in the other, dropping them both upon seeing Ella. He excitedly ran up to her and hugged her legs, shouting "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" in a way only a young kid could.


    "Good morning Timmy, how are you doing?" She reached down and picked him up, smooching him on the cheek and stroking his hair, the little kit nuzzling her and letting out the same pleasant chirling sounds as Andrew did, only higher pitched. Riley noticed his tail trying to wrap itself around Ella''s torso, the detail only adding to the sweetness.


    Riley couldn''t help but smile widely at the displays of affection, the warmth making her feel good by proxy as she took it in, leaning in deeper into the couch.


    "Mommy, can you scritch Riley too?" Timmy asked innocently, drawing in three confounded pairs of eyes over him, neither knowing what to do.


    Riley looked up at Ella, who herself looked dumbfounded, her mouth slightly open as she tried to come up with a response, not wanting to overstep her boundaries.


    "W-well, if she wants me to, then sure!" She eventually answered, all eyes on Riley now, Ella looking apologetic, really not wanting to pressure her like that.


    Riley had no idea how to answer. Andrew and Timmy seemed to enjoy it and all, but maybe that''s just a skunk thing? They all did have claws on their fingers, and while she didn''t think Ella would willingly hurt her or anything, but on the other hand Riley wasn''t enjoying taking a risk like that.


    "Rileeeeey, pwease!" Timmy pleaded, reaching out one of his arms like he wanted to do it himself, tail waving behind him.


    "Timmy, don''t push on Riley like that." Andrew started, a gentle scolding tone- "If she wants to she''ll agree-"


    "Alright." Riley interrupted, deciding to bite the bullet and just do it, preferring it over the growing tension in the air.


    Andrew shot her a concerned look, wordlessly asking if she really wanted it. She nodded in response, clenching her fists and closing her eyes as Ella set Timmy down, walking up behind where Riley was sitting on the couch. Timmy looked up in excitement as the two other skunks held their breaths as Ella brought her paw to Riley''s head, laying it down and starting her ruffling.


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa-


    Wait this actually felt good.


    Riley tilted her head back and lifted her shoulders as the groomed and blunted claws gently rubbed the skin of her scalp. She kept her eyes closed, not because of tension anymore, but because of sheer, unexpected pleasure, a small moan escaping her lips.


    Ella kept going for a while, Riley squirming under her touch as her body slowly relaxed, fists unclenching and shoulders lowering down. As the stress slowly evaporated out of her she broke a slight smile in her bliss, both the sensation and positive attention making her feel all warm inside.


    After a minute or so she took her hand away, Riley keeping her eyes closed for a few more moments before she took a look around, Timmy as excited and happy as ever as the other two skunks shared an amused smile, neither expecting but both appreciating Riley''s reaction to the scritches.


    "Guess you did enjoy it after all?" Ella finally asked, Riley too embarrassed to do anything but nod as her pale cheeks bloomed with a red blush. All three shared a small giggle, Timmy responding with another long ''Yay!''.


    "And since it''s after breakfast, I think Riley has a present for you two~" Ella teased as she walked back into the corridor, stopping for a moment as she looked at the mess- "Timmy, please pick up your crayons."


    The little kit followed her and picked up the things he dropped as Riley took a deep breath, happy to at least not be the center of attention anymore.


    "A present?" She turned around as she heard Andrew ask that, a playful smirk and a raised brow.


    "Nah, it''s nothing big, just when I was shopping with Rick I grabbed some of that peanut butter candy for you all."


    She didn''t expect him to get so giddy at that, a massive grin at his face as he wiggled on his seat.


    "Guess you really love that candy huh." She admitted deadpan, amused at Andrew''s antics as Timmy finally finished bringing the crayons and paper over, laying them out on the table, sliding a sheet of paper in front of each sibling.


    "Hehe, can''t help it!" He chuckled, grabbing a couple crayons and looking up at Timmy, asking softly-


    "Whattcha drawing, sport?"


    "Riley!" He responded, the subject of his drawing blushing at this as she was the center of attention once again, snapping back as she grabbed a black crayon-


    "W-well, then I''m gonna draw you!"


    Timmy giggled, continuing to draw as Riley tried to nail his outline down, including the fluffy tail and excited, round ears that, as she only just noticed, perked up at any noise around.


    "Well, in which case I''m gonna draw... you both!" Andrew chimed in, laughing heartily as he started scribbling himself, the trio intensely replicating each other as a follow up question from earlier popped up in Riley''s head, the girl quietly muttering out a question in Andrew''s direction-


    "What is it with you and peanut butter as a whole?" She didn''t have many chances to have them, but she only ever remembered having pancakes with some weird sugary syrup and never with peanut butter.


    He chuckled a bit and shrugged, continuing to draw as he responded-


    "Honestly, no clue. Guess we skunks just love the stuff, haven''t met one that doesn''t."


    "I see." Riley responded as she returned to her drawing, in the end not that surprised she didn''t get a solid answer out of him.


    After all, they''re just people.


    All three were focused on their drawings as Ella quickly snuck back into the room, peeking over Riley''s and Andrew''s shoulders as they kept drawing, letting out a hearty laugh as she realized what was going on, three pairs of eyes looking up at her.


    "Nice draw-off you three are having, haha. I''ve brought something from Riley- Timmy, catch!"


    She threw a small pack of candy towards the littlest brother who''d just barely managed to snatch it out of the air, lighting up when he saw what it was, quickly tearing the packaging open and unwrapping one of the pieces, stuffing it inside his mouth and chewing. A few moments later he let out a quiet chirl along with a shudder that seemed to vibrate even through his tail as he enjoyed the treat.


    Guess they really did enjoy the stuff, wow.


    She passed another pack to Andrew who did the same with almost the same childlike glee, choosing to suck on the candies instead. Candies, because he didn''t seem to have an issue with unwrapping three and having them all at once. As he enjoyed himself, his mom quietly slipped a couple water bottles on the table. Gotta stay hydrated, after all.


    Ella gently poked Riley''s shoulder as she quietly passed her a third pack, the human looking up at her in confusion before the skunk just smiled and winked at her, knowing full well what she was doing.


    Riley couldn''t help but smile and nod at that, finally being in the mood to have some of that candy herself. She opened the small bag, quite a bit slower than the two brothers, without claws to help her. She grabbed one of the candies and unwrapped it before taking a closer look.


    It was creamy white and spherical, the size of a quarter. After the brief inspection she put it in her mouth, the sweet taste melting in her mouth. It was definitely white chocolate, which confused her briefly before she gently pressed on it with her teeth, easily biting through the outer shell-


    And realizing that the inside was literally just a ball of peanut butter.


    The sweetness cloyed her mouth as she tried to scrape it from the roof of her mouth, the weird, pleasant sensation unexpected, but coupled with the rich flavor of the buttery insides it was definitely clearer now as to why it was such a hit with the family.


    After finally dealing with the first candy Riley glanced to her left, realizing Ella was still standing in the door frame, looking at her curiously, brows raised. Riley responded with a vigorous nod and a thumbs up gesture, before grabbing a couple of the candies and stealthily throwing them towards Ella, who appreciated the gesture with a wide grin, even her tail shaking in excitement a bit.


    With that out of the way the trio returned to their drawings, snacking intermittently on the candy as they finalized their masterpieces, Timmy rising his in the air first.


    Riley had a hearty laugh as she took in the portrait, the four year old having had no idea what color to use for her hair, eventually going with... purple of all things. Guess it fit the hot pink skin and fire engine red lips. Her nose was a lime green triangle, and her eyes brown circles, with her ears sticking out where a skunk''s would, also purple.


    She loved it.


    "It''s great, thanks Timmy!" Was all she could get out between fits of laughter, Andrew sharing in the glee before she finally calmed down, making some finishing touches before she showed Timmy her drawing, as rough as it was. It was a bit tricky adding black details on black, so she decided to fill his fur in with dark gray, using black for details like nose, eyes and whiskers.


    "Why am I not black?" He tilted his head at the sight, Riley unsure how to frame it in a way he would understand, glancing at Andrew for help.


    "Well, why did you make Riley''s hair purple?" Andrew responded with a question of his own, lil'' Timmy deep in thought before he answered with-


    "I don''t know!"


    "See?" Andrew chuckled, before showing his own drawing, pretty basic but better on colors then either the previous siblings- using a mixture of yellow and brown for Riley''s hair, with white and orange covering her skin. Timmy on the other hand was really dark navy blue, with black outlines managing to stick out just enough to be noticeable.


    "Wow, really well done!" Riley couldn''t help but praise him with how well he''d nailed her hair, smiling and nodding at his efforts, getting him to blush a bit.


    "Andy, can we race agaaaain?" Timmy suddenly called out, dropping his crayons and running up to his brother, looking up with pleading eyes.


    "Not before you clean up!" Andrew responded softly but firmly, Timmy groaning in response and starting to pick up the stray crayons, running back and forth between the game room and his bedroom until the coffee table was cleaned up.


    Afterwards they got back into their racing routine, Timmy having to be again reminded to get his tail off Riley''s face a couple times. After a few more tracks he started to lose focus, his grip on the gamepad waning as he leaned back onto Riley, dozing off on her lap.


    She smiled warmly at this, finally having the opportunity to do some racing on her own. Focusing only on turning was one thing, controlling several things at the same time took a longer time, Riley needing a half an hour just to stop letting go of the gas at the turns, but eventually figuring it out.


    It was all so enthralling she didn''t even notice when Timmy woke up, his tail gently waving in excitement as he quietly stared at the screen, still obviously groggy.


    After almost two hours of grinding race after race, Riley finally got her first solo win, prompting a loud "Woooooo!" despite the obvious handicap.


    "Well done Riley!" Rick chimed in as she peeked into the room, any leftover concern on his face quickly melting as he noticed how much fun she was having.


    "T-thank you!" She couldn''t help but smile back as she looked over her shoulder at him, only now noticing that Timmy was awake as he turned with her.


    "H-how long have you been awake Timmy?" She asked in a deadpan voice, not expecting this at all, Andrew laughing a bit to the side before answering- "He''s been up for half an hour or so, don''t think I''ve ever seen him this quiet, haha."


    Rick walked up behind Riley, carefully reaching down to lift Timmy up, holding him closely and softly rocking-


    "One sleepy kit, aren''t you~?" In the softest voice she ever heard him use, father and son slowly making their way over to Timmy''s room, presumably to lay him down in his bed.


    Riley couldn''t help but coo quietly at the sight, her constantly excited brother looking even more adorable in Rick''s arms.


    After this brief interruption the oldest siblings continued their racing, Andrew rewarding himself with a piece of candy for every victory. Riley of course did the same, but with five pieces at a time to make it somewhat fairer.


    Darn that candy was good, if really filling.


    As the sun set behind the windows Andrew eventually called it quits for the night, standing up to stretch-


    "Thanks for all the fun Riley! I think dinner''s gonna be ready any time soon, so don''t stay up in here for too long!"


    He chuckled before walking off into his room, Riley unsuccessfully trying to race against the AI opponents before wrapping it in for the day herself, cracking all her joints as she finally got up, realizing she didn''t know what to do to turn it all off.


    She walked up to his room, knocking to a panicked-


    "One moment!"


    There was a lot of rustling and clicking from the inside, Riley standing back from the door just in case, fortunately so as Andrew flung it open just a bit too strongly, his clothes a bit of a mess as he looked in panic until he''d spotted Riley, as curious as she was surprised.


    "W-what''s up R-Riley?" He asked hurriedly, his voice a bit shaky.


    "What do I do after I''ve finished playing?" She tried asking as calmly as she could, his disheveled state mostly answering any questions she wanted to ask.


    He wordlessly took her back to the game room, pressing a button on the console and then on the TV, quickly adding- "There you go." before jogging back to his room, slamming the door shut.


    After... that, she made her way downstairs, seeing Ella, and much to her dismay, Lily, working together on the dinner. She slowly got back upstairs, thankful that she hadn''t been spotted yet, thinking on what to do.


    Of course, she and Lily couldn''t keep hiding from each other forever, despite the tension between them. She had to finally bite the bullet and show herself, even if to just slowly acclimatize Lily to her presence.


    Here we go.

 Chapter 10: Agenda

    After a moment to take a few deep breaths and ease her anxiety, Riley walked downstairs once more, turning directly into the kitchen and offering help-


    "Hey. Can I help with the dinner?"


    She saw Lily freeze briefly as Ella turned around with a wide smile-


    "Well, the casserole is done and cooking, will be ready in a bit, but you could prepare the plates and all."


    Riley nodded, taking a look around, realizing she didn''t know where the plates actually were. Ella quickly caught that, opening one of the cupboards and pulling out a few plain white plates, before sliding the utensil drawer open, adding-


    "Oh, grab the blue plastic fork for Timmy as well."


    Six plates and five metal forks later she was on her way towards the dining table, laying them out along the chairs, placing the plastic fork next to the chair with a small booster seat on it.


    "Thanks Riley. It''s still gonna be ten minutes at least until it''s ready, so feel free to do whatever."


    She nodded and turned to take a look at Lily, who seemed to have gotten the same idea, the two sisters locking eyes. Riley tried her best to come off as unthreatening and even smile a bit, which didn''t seem to be too successful as Lily still looked hurt, even if not as absolutely despairing as yesterday.


    Riley was the first to break this invisible connection, looking to the side with an apologetic expression before turning around and laying down on the couch, letting out a small yawn and quickly sitting back up. This couch was way too soft to lay on without actually sleeping.


    As she leaned deeper into the couch she tried to think through the situation with Lily once again, and how to come off as an actual sister for her, and not just an intruder in her own house. Guess bonding and such with the other siblings is a good start, and she was happy she managed to have some of that earlier today.


    Beyond that, only time could really help. And with the Christmas break and all, they had time in abundance, fortunately.


    Riley let out a quiet yawn as the warmth of the room made her feel too comfortable for her own good, forcing her to stand up and stretch to avoid sleeping through the dinner.


    With a sniff she finally smelled the dinner being made, her nose leading her in front of the oven, Lily having since went back to her room, Ella checking something in the fridge.


    "Have a nose for good food, don''t you Riley?" Ella chuckled, taking out a carton of milk from the fridge and pouring three cups, sliding them into the microwave and turning it on.


    "Heh, I sure do. What''s for dinner?" She can''t see much through the grating at the front of the oven, only able to discern that the meal contains some carrots and tomatoes.


    "Just some veggie casserole. Carrots, peppers, all the goodies."


    Riley nodded, straightening up and looking back at Ella.


    "Sounds like veggies with Timmy are a world of fun..."


    "I know what you mean, but thankfully we got him used to them from the get go. Still, doesn''t mean he never complains about food, but when he does he can just not eat it, not like we chain him to the chair until he cleans his plate. Half the time he comes back to it anyway after we reheat it."


    "And half the time he doesn''t?"


    "We make him a sandwich or something, it''s not a big deal. Point is to eat and not be hungry, not to eat specifically what I cook up."


    Riley took in the words, realizing just how different Ella''s approach was to that of her mother, whenever she was sober enough to cook. You ate the whole thing, no matter how long it took or how disgusting it was, and there was no going to bed before you did. Fortunately or not, after a certain point she never was sober enough anymore...


    "Everything alright Riley?" Ella asked concerned, noticing the grimace and tension on her face.


    "Yeah, was just... not used to an attitude like that."


    "In the orphanage?"


    "Nah, they didn''t give a shit whether you ate or not as long as you didn''t starve to death. I meant... earlier."


    "With your biological mother?"


    Riley nodded, the mere mention of her causing her fist to clench and expression to sour into a scowl. Her mother, Bridgette, was someone who Riley tried to erase from her mind as hard as she could, sadly succeeding less often than not.


    "Yes... her. You know how you said you don''t chain Timmy until he cleans his plate? Well, she would, even into the night, not even letting him sleep before he finished the barely edible undercooked chicken on the plate."


    "Christ... I''m so sorry Riley." Ella walked up to her looking apologetic, her arms slightly spread.


    Riley shook her head slightly, appreciating the gesture but really not feeling like physical contact right now. Bad memories of that one.


    Ella got the message with a nod, the loud ''ping'' noise interrupting her before she could say anything else. The oven had run its course and turned itself off, Riley stepping back and the skunk opening it, the savory aroma of the casserole only intensifying.


    After grabbing some mitts Ella lifted the dish out of the oven, tilting her head towards the counters and quickly adding-


    "Riley could you grab that metal grate and place it in the middle of the table?"


    She got the message, picking up the small cast iron trinket and clearing space in the middle of the table for it, after which Ella set the actual casserole on top of it.


    "Don''t wanna damage the table, it''s a nice one after all." Ella explained with a small chuckle, walking back to close the oven and wiping the sweat off her forehead. Afterwards she pulled the warm milk from the microwave, Riley having missed the beep apparently, and set the cups down in front of the booster seat and two other chairs.


    "Want any particular seat?" She asked off handedly, Riley sitting down next to Timmy''s seat as she walked up to the stairs and shouted upstairs-


    "Dinner''s ready!" -before taking a seat herself, sitting on the opposite side to Riley, pulling one of the glasses of milk to her plate and taking the lid off the casserole, serving herself a hearty portion. Riley followed in suit, the aroma making her shudder as she saw Andrew run down, looking a bit less disheveled than when she saw him, his hair still slightly damp.


    He took a seat next to Ella as Riley stabbed some carrot and tomato slices onto her fork, the cheesy, tangy sauce adding further to the flavor as it burned her tongue a bit, the girl not used to food straight out of the oven.


    She took a few breaths to cool down her mouth, Andrew cracking a small giggle as he realized the cause, Riley returning the favor by sticking out her burned tongue.


    After a few more moments she resumed eating, taking her time with the still hot food, the variety of veggies spicing the flavor with every bite. She was slowly going through her plate as she spotted Lily and Rick making her way down the stairs, the latter appearing to be gently encouraged the former forward, his palm on he back of her shoulder. He took a seat next to her, Lily taking the last remaining chair without a booster seat on it.


    Riley tried to avoid upsetting her any more by looking at her, her sister speaking up first much to her surprise-


    "Where''s Timmy?"


    Rick responded, smiling back at her and explaining-


    "He took a nap on Riley''s lap while they were playing, and should be waking up soon enough. If not then I''ll just prod him a bit so that he can go to bed normally later."


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Riley kept eating, the dinner going down faster with the tension in the air.


    "Who gets his milk then?"


    In the corner of her eye she spotted him shrugging, bringing up off-handedly-


    "Guess Riley if she wants?"


    She shook her head, hoping Lily would take it as a kind gesture and not just not giving a darn about anything. She took a small breath and slowed down her eating, really not wanting to be the first one to have to get up from the table.


    "Feel free to have it then Lily."


    Riley was thankful as she heard the glass slide along the table, the motion being interrupted as she heard Timmy slowly walk down, Riley looking up behind Lily who herself turned around as the little kit let out a tiny yawn and tried to stretch, his tail puffing up a bit.


    "...or not. Hey Timmy, slept well?" Rick continued, getting up as Timmy walked up to them with a quiet nod, lifting up his son onto his seat, putting a small portion on his plate as Lily slid back his glass of milk.


    "Alright, guess now that we''re here we can get prepare some sort of agenda for the next week before Christmas." Rick spoke up again after a while, taking a long look over the rest of the table.


    "So, Monday, me and Riley will head to IKEA to grab some furniture and decorations for her room, anyone wants to some with us?" He asked, judging by his calm expression he didn''t exactly expect anyone to join in on them.


    Surprising both him and Riley, Andrew raised his hand, smiling confidently at them both.


    "You sure? Furniture shopping isn''t exactly riveting." Rick responded in surprise, a piece of tomato sliding off his fork, making Timmy wake up a bit with a giggling fit.


    "You''ll need someone to help with lifting the stuff, won''t you? As strong as Riley is, I''m not sure she''ll be the best fit for carrying things like drawers and such." Andrew looked at Riley as he said this, looking a bit apologetic, his sister dispelling his worries with a small smile.


    "We''ll have help from the shop, doubt we''ll need to actually touch the boxes until they''re already in the room and ready to assemble."


    "Even then, I wanna help!" He kept his enthusiasm up, Riley curious but deciding not to pry him on this, at least not at the table.


    "Well, your call I suppose." Rick shrugged verbally, taking another bite as he kept on-


    "Later on we can try painting the room with whatever we get at the store, and add some more coats on Tuesday and Wednesday. Speaking of Tuesday- How does going out ice skating together sound?"


    Andrew, Ella and Timmy responded with small cheers each, Riley and Lily staying silent for different reasons.


    "Lily? Riley?" He asked them both, noticing their silence.


    "Sure, hope you''ll be ready to babysit me through it tho." Riley responded with a chuckle, Ella smiling widely as she responded-


    "I babysat four kids through learning how to skate, I sure enough can babysit the fifth one."


    Something didn''t add up as Riley processed her response and looked around, Andrew barely holding back a giggle at his mom''s words, Lily and Timmy as confused as she was before Rick stuck his tongue out at Ella, the mystery solved with a group laugh.


    "Ha, ha, ha." Rick''s laugh was as fake as much it was holding back a very real giggle at Ella''s tease, a small chuckle forcing its way through his lips before he continued-


    "Alright, now Wednesday, that''s easy enough as we need to register Riley at the family clinic and it''s time for our checkups."


    Timmy let out a whine at this, trying to disagree with grunts, Riley noticing his tail bristling a bit at the base.


    "Don''t worry Timmy, there won''t be any injections, you''re up to date on your shots, promise."


    He calmed down a bit afterwards, tail falling down, eventually letting out a quiet "Okay...".


    Riley could definitely sympathize with his fear.


    "Thursday, we should be done with painting by then so we can try to get Riley''s room assembled and ready so the large bedroom bed stops trying to swallow her, hah."


    Riley and Ella chuckled at the joke, others apparently not having had the... experience of sleeping in that thing.


    "And Friday... well, my parents called today, and they said they''d want to visit!"


    This time, everyone seemed to cheer, even Lily, to Riley''s surprise. Weren''t Rick''s adopted parents human?


    Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice Riley''s silence, Lily asking-


    "What about the weekend? When will we decorate the Christmas tree, or get it?"


    "That''s what I was thinking about for Saturday, we could pick it in the morning and spend the rest of the day decorating it. And then Sunday, we cook and cook for Monday!"


    Lily and Timmy seemed satisfied, Riley briefly confused as to next Monday''s significance before realizing-


    It''s the Christmas Eve.


    "Will we make cookies for Santa?" Timmy asked, Ella and Rick sharing a warm smile before his mom responded-


    "Of course sweetie!"


    He let out a small ''Yay!'' of response as the family collectively returned to eating, Riley realizing her plate was almost empty already.


    Thankfully, she was spared from having to get up first as Andrew stood up, quickly adding- "Thanks for the dinner~" -as he put the plate in the dishwasher and jogged back upstairs.


    With that out of the way Riley had the invisible permission to finish her own plate, cleaning it as Timmy spoke up-


    "Where were you all day Lily?"


    She yielped quietly, Riley slowing down as the actual reason felt like it was stabbing at her again.


    "I-I was just feeling sick." Lily responded, Riley thankful that she at least had the courtesy to not drag Timmy into it.


    "Did you catch it from Riley?"


    Goddammit Timmy.


    "N-no, it''s just a- just a cold." She deflected the question, slightly panicky tone suggesting she didn''t expect it any more than Riley did.


    "Did you get it because you didn''t sleep enough?"


    "What?" She was dumbfounded, probably a good call for Riley to get going.


    "Thanks for the meal." She spoke up and quickly stood up, sliding her chair in under the table and the plate into the dishwasher, catching Lily sneaking a glance at her as she walked upstairs. She let out a breath of relief as she turned the corner, the tension leaving her muscles.


    She felt proper tired after this, the hot food making her feel good and drowsy, but there still were a couple of threads she had to tug on.


    After knocking on Andrew''s door she stood back, looking at him expectantly after he opened it, thankfully not looking like he was caught in the middle of something important this time.


    "W-what''s up Riley?" He asked, sounding a bit unsure as he eyed her down.


    "Why do you want to come and help us so much at the furniture place?"


    He let out a breath of relief, happy it wasn''t... the other question she could potentially ask in this situation.


    "Just wanna help you out with choosing, since I feel you may need some advise at times or something. Besides, I enjoyed spending time with you, so that''s the other reason."


    "Enjoyed spending time with me?"


    "Yeah, you''re an awesome sister. Plus, quite cute when you want to be, haha."


    She stuck her tongue back at him, happy that she wasn''t being crushed on by her own brother.


    He responded with a small chuckle before responding in kind and asking quietly-


    "Anything else Riley?"


    "Weeeeeellll, I may have one more question...~" She teased, giggling internally as she saw his eyes go wide in panic at that.


    "...buuuut I feel like I already know the answer. Have fun Andrew." She smirked, Andrew taking a moment to collect himself from the depths of embarrassment before he finally responded-


    "Y-y-you too R-Riley..."


    And closed the door quietly, Riley feeling almost a bit bad for teasing him like that as she made her way back to her room.


    A few minutes later she was already in the shower, enjoying how relaxing having actual hot water was, feeling like she was melting in the good way, not unlike earlier today under Ella''s touch.


    Shampoo and conditioner later she felt like her hair has never felt better to the touch, so smooth and clean and a bit tingly on her head in a good way. It was never really a point of pride of her, Riley spending her earlier years at the orphanage cutting herself almost as short as she could, just because she got her hair color straight from her mother and despised it so much.


    But right now, she almost liked the nondescript shade of blonde as it reflected in the fogged mirror, almost shining from the white light of the attached bathroom.


    After putting something on she went back to her room, damp hair bouncing with each step as she overheard someone walking in the corridor, peeking out to see it was Ella.


    She grabbed her attention with a wave, the slightly tired skunk asking softly, tail drooping behind her-


    "Is something wrong Riley?"


    "No, not per se, but I''m just curious about something if you have a moment."


    "Shoot."


    "Rick''s adoptive parents are human, right?"


    "Yeah, is something... it''s about Lily, isn''t it?"


    Riley nodded quietly, Ella taking a deep breath as she thought a response through, shrugging slightly as she answered the unspoken question-


    "Well, it''s quite a bit different when you grow up with someone, even if their group starts being shitty towards you after. When she was Timmy''s age they would show up here almost every week, and Lily loved all the attention, still does from them. Even then, at school, as far as I can gather it''s really only a couple of human girls that are actually being awful towards her, but they''re the popular ones so nobody really wants to oppose them, human or not. And one just so happens to have your height and more or less hair."


    "That... does explain some things, yeah. Thank you Ella."


    "You''re welcome Riley. In case you''re having any doubts yourself... Rick''s parents are wonderful people, I can assure you of that. All of Rick''s best qualities? He definitely took them from his folks."


    "I see, guess I have no excuse not to look forward to meeting them myself, eh?"


    "Indeed you don''t, haha." Ella laughed at this, clearly tired.


    "One last thing, what are their names?"


    "Marvin and Liz Asher. I remember being unsure about taking on an adopted surname when I was just Rick''s girlfriend, but after getting to know them some more I hadn''t regretted it one bit."


    "Thank you. Sleep well Ella." She waved her goodbye as she walked to her room, barely keeping her tail off the ground anymore.


    Riley yawned at the sight, closing her door and turning off the lights, the hole in the ground providing some leftover ambient light from below as she sat down on her bed.


    She couldn''t wait to ask them both all sorts of questions, too many to count even. And probably none of them original, since Rick has probably asked most of them in his time anyway.


    With a quiet whistle of wind from the outside and the light on the ground floor being turned off she slipped under the covers, wondering how will they be like, the possibility that her tired mind found the most funny that they were carbon copies of Rick and Ella just without fur. Still had tails and snouts, just no fur.


    God she was exhausted after all that happened today.


    And no matter how much fantasizing she did about her grandparents, there was still the entire week to get through first anyway.


    Best start it off on the right foot then. Did anthros say on the right paw instead? Or hoof? Or-


    She didn''t finish the thought as her racing mind was silenced by the shroud of sleep, the rest of he house joining her soon after. Six souls huddling under covers as the almost-winter kept playing its window tunes off into the night...

 Chapter 11: Reflection

    Riley was suddenly awake. She looked around in the barely lit darkness to figure out what had happened, the knife already in her right hand as the mystery explained itself.


    And she sneezed again.


    With an exasperated groan she let her head fall back onto her pillow, grumbling to herself with a nasal voice as she turned to her side towards the window, judging by the dim light it couldn''t have been any later than eight or so.


    After sliding her switchblade back under her pillow she turned around some more, wanting to clear up at least one of her sinuses. Guess having that hat fly off of her did bite her in the ass afterwards.


    Curse you, winter.


    After realizing it was a brand new thing her and Rick had in common she tried to relax on the soft bed, pulling the covers as all the way up to her eyes, wanting to watch the ever so slowly brightening sky.


    As her sinus finally cleared and she could smell at least partially again, she realized she could sense the same smell as on Saturday, noticeable but not at all unpleasant. Was she smelling it all this time and just went noseblind after a while? Was it just how this place smelled? Or how its residents smelled? Another question to ask Rick once they have a moment.


    But that was later, and right now she heard someone run downstairs quite excitedly, which perked her curiosity up. After a bit of internal conflict about whether to snooze for just a bit more or get up and investigate.


    Unfortunately her question was answered with an alarm from behind the wall immediately behind her, uncomfortably loud even when muffled. Despite the fact it was muted just a few seconds later, Riley was definitely not falling asleep anymore, mumbling angrily as she threw the thick covers off of herself, chilly air washing away any remaining drowsiness.


    After pulling out some ragged shorts from the bottom drawer she finally got up and walked out of her room before turning towards the stairs, trying to stretch as a door opened right in front of her, hitting her right on the nose.


    Riley staggered with a loud grunt, holding her aching nose, thankful that at least it wasn''t broken, or so she at least thought. It still hurt like a motherfucker and she felt some blood on her lip as she leaned against her door, quietly whining as the pain slowly subsided and she tried to fumble her way back to her bathroom.


    "W-what was- oh my god Riley I''m so sorry are you alright!?" She heard Andrew say out in panic as she stumbled towards the sink, washing her nose with cold water until it stopped bleeding, grabbing a leaf of the toilet paper and stuffing it up the bleeding nostril.


    She was more awake now than ever.


    With another grunt she left her room again, Andrew still panicking a bit, his tail visible behind him and quite bristly.


    "O-oh god Riley I-I''m so sorry I was afraid the a-alarm I forgot to turn off woke you up-"


    "It kinda did." She responded in a deadpan voice, its nasalness only intensifying her unamusedness.


    "I-I''m so sorry..." Andrew sounded like he was about to tear up on her, shaking a bit.


    "It''s just a bruised nose, I''ll be fine, don''t worry. And I at least hope that alarm is turned off now..." She grumbled a bit, annoyed but not really holding any hard feelings against Andrew.


    "Y-you''re still bleeding!"


    "What?" She sensed her nose with her hand, ''ow''-ing a bit as she felt a small cut on the bridge of her nose, her finger barely stained with a tiny bead of the blood.


    "Oh come on it''s just a cut. If you''re gonna panic then just grab me a bandaid or something."


    Andrew nodded shakily and ran back into his room, coming back with a weird looking black bandaid, carefully placing it on Riley''s nose, the glue feeling a bit hot.


    "That feels weird, what kind of bandaid is that?" Riley scrunched her nose a bit at the slight itching, dull pain answering making her regret it.


    "T-the kind for fur..." Andrew quietly responded, still looking afraid, his tail quivering.


    "Makes sense I suppose, just feels a bit itchy. And come on Andrew, it''s not like you deliberately slammed your door into my face, I''m fine." She tried to calm him down, a bit surprised to see him this emotional.


    "A-alright, s-still..."


    Riley rolled her eyes and walked past him towards the stairs. As she neared them, she heard muted clicking and humming noises from behind the work door, guess Ella didn''t have a Christmas break yet. As she slowly walking downstairs, her older brother eventually following as Riley stared at what was happening.


    "What are you doing Timmy?" She asked in confusion, seeing the four year old working around the kitchen, tail weirdly still as he was focused, barely peeking above the counters as he tried to smear butter on a piece of bread, next to a small pile of sandwiches.


    He turned in confusion to face her, butter knife in hand as he answered- "I''m making breakfast!"


    "W-what are you making?" She asked in follow up, noticing Andrew walk down next to her in the corner of her eye.


    "Toast!"


    "Timmy, remember what mom told you about making toast?" Andrew chimed in, looking a bit terrified at the scene.


    "That I have to ask her for help with the toaster!"


    "Exactly, so why are you not doing that?"


    "Because I''m making the sandwiches first and then I''m gonna ask mom for help with the toaster!"


    Riley and Andrew shared a glance, the sister nodding slightly, not able to find the fault in his logic.


    "Alright Timmy, no need to go wake up your mom now, we can help you now." She smiled as the siblings made their way into the kitchen, flipping the switch next to the outlet the toaster was plugged into and opening the lid, stopping as she realized she had no idea how to use this toaster-waffler combo... thing.


    "What happened to your nose?" Timmy asked, tilting his head as he looked up at Riley.


    "A door hit it." She answered literally, noticing Andrew flinch a bit.


    "Why?"


    "Because it was a mean door."


    Timmy processed the answer for a good few moments, eventually accepting it with ''Okay!'' and continuing to make sandwiches.


    She stepped away from the toaster, gesturing towards it to Andrew, who got the clue as she started passing him Timmy''s sandwiches, just brown bread, butter, cheese and some... meat thing, probably chicken.


    They kept working and toasting, Timmy only stopping once he''d used up the entire loaf. Andrew took a small break to turn on the kettle, preparing a cup of coffee.


    "This looks like enough toast to feed a battalion, Jesus." Riley appreciated the massive pile of toast material, looking down at Timmy.


    "What''s a battalion?"


    "A lot of soldiers."


    "Why would soldiers eat our toast?"


    Riley had no idea how to answer, continuing to pass the sandwiches over to Andrew like a human conveyor belt as her brain tried to rev itself into full power again.


    As she tried to process his question, Timmy walked up to the fridge and pulled out some ketchup, as well as another red bottle Riley couldn''t recognize.


    Andrew put a few of the hottest toasts on a plain plate, before taking an egg and... cracking it over them, trying to pour the egg white over the toast and dumping the yolk in the middle. He noticed Riley''s surprised expression and quickly explained itself-


    "That''s how mom likes it, I''ve no idea why either. Mind taking it to her?"


    "Isn''t she working?"


    "Yeah, but it''s not like she doesn''t get hungry in there. Oh I almost forgot-" He got to the kettle just before it would start boiling, preparing the coffee and sliding the cup towards Riley, who quickly grabbed it.


    She slowly balanced her load as she walked upstairs, standing in front of the door, unsure how to get Ella''s attention, eventually knocking on it with her bare foot, unsure how loud she has to get. After a few moments of nothing happening, she tried doing that again, and again, getting no reaction.


    Just as she was getting stuck she heard a loud squeak on the left, the door to the parents'' bedroom opening up and a very groggy Rick walking out, his tail just as disheveled as his hair. He stopped and looked dumbfounded at Riley, several questions coming off without even having to ask them.


    "Timmy woke up god knows when and started making sandwiches for toast."


    "What happened to your nose?" He asked deadpan, blinking slowly as a question finally escaped his lips.


    "A door hit it."


    He answered with a lifted eyebrow, before finally realizing what Riley was trying to do, walking up to her and banging on the door so loudly Riley thought it was gonna fall off its hinges.


    After a few moments it opened inwards, bedraggled Ella looking out with an expression that could kill, before noticing what was happening and taking the breakfast from Riley.


    "O-oh, thank you a lot Riley, just as I like it." She stopped mid thought as she paid Riley a closer look, her mouth opening before she was cut off-


    "A door hit it."


    Ella nodded slowly and walked back into her office, Riley getting a small peek at the dimly lit room, only really spotting a large paper-covered desk and two large monitors side by side. She couldn''t make out anything else before Ella closed the door with, apparently, her tail. Handy.


    "Well, now that Ella has her share it''s time to grab some for ourselves, isn''t it?" Rick chimed in with a chuckle before they both walked down, Riley sniffling a bit, the cold having taken over the one open nostril.


    The two boys were already biting into their toasts as they sat at the table, the rest of the toasts piled up in a large bowl in the middle of the table, the condiments next to them. They said hi to their dad as he and Riley sat down, both grabbing a piece.


    Riley had her first toast without anything on it, the salty cheese already having more flavor than most dinners at the orphanage. She scanned the rest of the table, Andrew not putting anything on his either, Timmy smearing it with ketchup, and Rick putting on a bit of the other, mysterious condiment. She waited until she swallowed her bite, asking offhandedly in Rick''s direction-


    "What''s that?"


    He lifted his brow at her, pointing towards the bottle, Riley''s nod of confirmation making him slide it over to her. She read the writing at the front-


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ''''''


    SRIRACHA HOT CHILLI SAUCE


    TUONG OT SRIRACHA


    ''''''


    Followed up by a whole lot of Chinese writing she had no hope of ever understanding. The limited writing she could understand did perk her curiosity, having never had anything proper spicy. She did pour a bit on the rest of her toast, taking a small bite-


    And regretting it immediately.


    While quite mild in retrospect, the heat hit her tongue instantly, making her yielp quietly as she chewed through, a single tear gathering up in the corner of her eye as she felt her nostril clear up a bit.


    Rick noticed her discomfort, giggling after swallowing his bite as he teased-


    "Lemme guess, never had anything spicy?"


    Riley slowly shook her head, the single tear rolling down her cheek as she kept chewing and eventually swallowed the spicy bite, mouth breathing for a bit to let her tongue calm down...


    Before she took another bite out of the toast, really enjoying the flavor despite the heat that came with it. Besides, she enjoyed actually getting to breathe through her nose again.


    "So, after you''re done with your breakfast Riley, take a look at the furniture we already have in the storage room so that whatever you end up picking fits with it. Of course we could just return those and pick a new desk and bed if they''re really not in your taste. And afterwards we can just head straight to the store, no point in waiting."


    She nodded, speeding up her crunching and not bothering to spice up the other toast she had, starting to quickly down it as she noticed Lily walk downstairs, the brothers waving at her, Riley gathering to courage to join in with a single wave before she continued eating, only noticing the skunk sister putting some ketchup on her piece before Riley got up with her half finished toast and walked upstairs, not wanting to waste any more time.


    She opened the storage room with a crunch of her toast, inspecting the furniture in the middle, the rest of the room filled with a handful of boxes and piles of magazines. The bed was a comfortable bit wider than her orphanage one while still clearly being single. The frame was wooden and quite lean, looking quite lean, with some soft plush on the headboard.


    The desk was clearly from a fitting set, made out of identical looking wood, design as straightforward as can be. Quite a hefty amount of desk space, a few drawers to the side of the leg area, and a small shelf on the bottom of the other side, its purpose a bit unknown.


    She nodded in appreciation as she closed the door, looking to the side as she saw Rick walk back upstairs, expression expecting something.


    "So, you like em?"


    "Yeah, they''re quite alright."


    "Sweet. Anything else before we get going? Andrew''s finishing his toast, so we''ll be ready soon." He smiled at her, stretching a bit as he neared the door to his room.


    "How will we know if the new furniture fits these two?"


    Rick thought for a second before snapping a photo of the bed and the desk with his phone.


    "That''s how."


    "Your phone has a camera?" She asked, a bit dumbfounded.


    He blinked at her in surprise, nodding slowly afterwards.


    "Yeah, all phones nowadays have cameras."


    "I-I see..."


    "Hey, it''s all fine Riley, I don''t think I''d be wrong in thinking you''ve never had a phone?"


    She shook her head, wondering for the longest time why did people have them and what did they do exactly, but she never really had a good chance to find out.


    "That could change..." He teased with a chuckle, stepping into his room and closing the door behind himself. Riley followed suit, putting on her blouse before she realized she left most of the rest downstairs, brushing her hair a bit before heading there, only Timmy and Lily still at the table, latter''s tail freezing briefly as Riley walked into the view.


    Riley flinched at that a bit but quickly pushed herself on, someone yesterday being kind enough to stuff newspapers into her sneakers after she came back, leaving them comfortably dry as she put them on again, before grabbing her mostly dry jacket and the rainbow hat, playing a bit with the bobble as she waited, Timmy interrupting her with-


    "Why are you wearing mom''s hat?"


    "She gave it to me yesterday. Do you like it?" Riley responded cheerfully, giggling as she noticed Timmy''s eyes were glued the colorful bobble.


    "Yeah! It''s Lily''s favorite!"


    Goddammit.


    Riley looked away from them, wordlessly praying Rick and Andrew would show up already and not subject her to more of this as she quietly walked towards the garage door and leaned against the far wall, looking down at the carpeted floor.


    It''s like the universe wanted to spite her by constantly antagonizing Lily.


    Thankfully, Rick showed up soon after, wearing the same outfit he did when she properly met him for the first time back on Thursday, Andrew following him wearing a puffy black jacket and fitting black trousers.


    Riley opened the garage door wordlessly, waiting outside one of the rear seats as they made their way over, all three quickly getting into the car.


    Without another word, Rick pulled onto the main road, turning on the AC and tuning the radio to something pleasant, the two skunks having noticed the slight tension in the air. A few minutes passed before Andrew finally broke the ice, calmly asking-


    "Is something wrong Riley?"


    She tried to take a deep breath, instead only succeeding in taking a long sniff as she spoke-


    "Feels as if I''m constantly pissing Lily off..."


    Father and son shared a quick look before Andrew continued-


    "I really don''t think so, not including her meltdown when she saw you for the first time of course. After that she felt mostly calm, and I advised her to try to just breathe deeply when she sees you, and to try to not suppress or focus on any bad thoughts she might be be thinking when she sees you, and honestly I''d advise the same to you."


    "W-what do you mean?"


    "Acknowledge there''s tension between you two, but don''t try to dwell on it or suppress any thoughts of it, just acknowledge it and let it pass."


    "A-and how do I do something like that!?"


    "Taking a few deep breaths would be a good start." Rick chimed in, following the conversation as he pulled onto the state road.


    Riley stopped herself from barking back a response, opening her mouth a bit and closing her eyes, breathing in and out, letting a bit of the tension out with every exhale. After a few minutes she opened her eyes again, Andrew smiling at her from the other end of the rear seats.


    "Alright, if you feel comfortable with all this, you can try doing something like... like consider the situation between you and Lily, and  whatever thoughts come up, don''t focus on them, don''t kick them out, just let them pass and verbalize them."


    "Ve-verba-what?"


    "Say them out loud. No need to whisper or shout or anything, just try to say them out clearly. Of course, only if you want to, if you''re not comfortable then just read it out loud in your mind. How''s that sound?"


    Riley considered his offer, biting her lip a bit.


    "A-and what will that do?"


    "Once you stop ruminating and focusing on the stressful thoughts, you''ll definitely feel at least a bit more comfortable around her, and can work on changing your conscious response."


    "Alright... I-I''m gonna try..." Riley responded, her voice shaking a bit as she kept breathing.


    "You can do this Riley."- Rick cheered her on. "-and remember, only say them out loud if you''re comfortable with us knowing so that we can advise."


    "Yeah. We''re not gonna interrupt you, so just keep going until you can''t think of anything else and just feel kinda empty."


    She nodded in response, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes, focusing on the situation with Lily and trying to inspect the cloud of thoughts passing through her, without dabbling into any.


    Fuck this was hard.


    It took her a while to stop overly fixating on certain thoughts as she kept breathing, including stopping fixating on the thought of her having not fixating on anything.


    "I-I''m afraid that I hurt Lily in a way s-she''ll never forgive me for." She finally spoke up, Rick turning off the radio, bringing the car to silence aside from the quiet rumble of the engine.


    "I''m afraid that even my sight pisses her off, and that she can''t stand me at all and never will."


    "I''m afraid she won''t ever accept me as a sister because I''m not a skunk."


    "I''m afraid I''m gonna start resenting her for all these, and get so angry one time that I''ll end up hurting her."


    "I''m afraid she is already resenting me like that, and one time will eventually get angry enough to spray me."


    "I''m afraid her resentment will spread to you all..."


    She had to catch and stop herself from going any deeper down this dark path, breathing deeply as her mind cleared up and she opened her eyes, Andrew looking at her with a shy smile and tears in his eyes.


    "I-I''m proud of you sis." He whispered out, reaching out an arm towards her, Riley shakily grabbing it, the funny feeling of his furred fingers gently stroking her palm making her relax a bit.


    "As am I, Riley. It''s really not easy to do something like that, we both know that quite well."


    "W-where did you l-learn something like this?" Her voice was still shaking a bit, Andrew holding her just a bit tighter.


    "Therapy." They both responded near simultaneously, Andrew giggling a bit at the coincidence.


    "You both went to a therapist?"


    "Not at the same time of course, but yes. Ella convinced me to when we were engaged, and it really pulled me out of a dark place a couple of times. As for Andrew, I think it''s his call to tell you if he feels comfortable." Rick responded, keeping his eyes on the road.


    Andrew was silent for a bit, eventually sighing and speaking up-


    "Back in middle school I felt... horrible. About myself as a person, m-myself as a skunk, thought everybody hated me, mostly because I certainly did. I... hurt myself back then, hoping mom and dad wouldn''t notice and worry about me. They did, and they did worry about me, and they ended up recommending me to a therapist."


    "D-did the therapist help?"


    "She probably saved my life. It took... a while, a long while and a lot or work on my and her side until I started feeling... normal about myself and people around me again, even longer until I stopped fearing that people hated me, until after Timmy was born. If not for her and her work I... might have tried ending it."


    It was Riley''s turn to gently stroke Andrew''s hand, wishing she wouldn''t be strapped to the seat so that she could try hugging him in return for once.


    "I-I''m so sorry Andrew..."


    "It''s all fine Riley, I''m more worried whether this wasn''t too intense for you. This was all in the past, and thankfully I''m so much better now."


    "I''m fine, don''t worry, I... know the kind of emotions you were dealing with."


    He looked concerned at her, Rick speaking up-


    "If you want, we can recommend you to the same therapist Riley after the Christmas break."


    "I-I''ll think about it, t-thank you for the offer..."


    "You''re welcome Riley. If you want, we can try talking a bit about the fears you brought up."


    "H-heh, sure, I did speak them out loud after all."


    "Lily... I know it''s definitely not how she''s probably coming off right now to you, but she wouldn''t hurt a fly. And as angry as she might be appearing as towards you, I can guarantee you that most of that anger is turned inwards, angry at herself at how she comes off to you, and at how she made you afraid of her. She doesn''t like being angry at people, or holding grudges or being scary. She''s a very friendly girl on the inside, struggling with her own bitter disappointment, and at the same time with how she appears to someone she ultimately cares about."


    "S-she cares about me?" Riley asked, her eyes tearing up a bit.


    "Of course she does." Andrew chimed in, his voice warm and reassuring. "No matter your species, you''re still a sister she''s been waiting for for so long, one she wants to love, and one she wants to be loved by..."


    She was openly crying at this point, not really considering Lily as someone who wants to know and love her before...


    "And don''t worry, the only one she''s resentful towards is herself, sadly. She hopes, she told me yesterday, she hopes that someday you''ll forgive her for how she reacted." Andrew kept going.


    "O-of course I do forgive her..." Riley whispered out, tears dripping down from her chin.


    "Just like she forgives you for any hard feelings you might be holding towards her." He smiled at her again, fumbling around for a moment before pulling a tissue out of his pocket, handing it off to Riley, who definitely appreciated it, wiping off her tears and blowing her nose as she slowly calmed down again.


    "T-thank you Andrew..."


    "You''re welcome sis."


    "Thank you both for encouraging me t-to go through with this, I... I''m definitely feeling better overall now."


    "We''re glad." Rick chimed in, his voice sounding cheerful.


    "There''s one more thing I wanted to mention, and left it for the end since it''s the most open and shut one." He continued.


    "A-and that is?"


    "Nobody is gonna spray you, I promise you that. Spraying is... kind of taboo among skunks, despite it being one of the things we''re known for."


    Riley snuck a glance to the side, Andrew clearly squirming a bit, looking just a bit uncomfortable.


    "Taboo?"


    "We don''t talk about it, basically. It''s something that you do *only* if you really, really have to, and never in anger or because of something else. I can tell you for sure, that between five of us, not a single one of us ever sprayed another person."


    "Even thinking about doing that just makes me feel awful..." Andrew chimed in.


    "Same, but it''s something we had to clear up eventually anyway, so now I''m at least glad it''s hopefully done and dealt with." Rick responded back.


    Riley surprisingly relaxed at that, one of the small worries that was just hanging around in the background leaving her.


    "Yeah, that''s one of the questions I wanted to ask but couldn''t get myself to answered."


    "Have any more? Now that we''ve cracked the Pandora''s Box of uncomfortableness no point in not going in all the way." Rick responded, Andrew nodding slowly in the corner of Riley''s eye.


    "How do tails feel like?"


    Andrew spurted out his breath, looking at Rick as he tried to move his tail around.


    "Now that''s one hard question." Rick summed up, Riley seeing some of his own tail moving around from behind his chair.


    "I-I have literally no idea how to compare it to something else." Andrew flat up admitted, hoping Rick could figure it out somehow.


    "The closest thing I can figure out is like, somewhere between a very very long finger and an arm, but more sensitive and much, *much* more flexible. And the fur motions are like, a bit like being able to move the tail in another axis, as weird as that sounds."


    "You''re right, it does sound weird as fuck. How do you even control something like that?"


    "You don''t, mostly."


    "What?" Riley was a bit dumbfounded at that, it was her turn to tilt her head.


    "Well, you don''t really consciously control your legs and feet as you walk, right? You just... walk, and it''s much the same with tails as they react to your emotional state and all, and to a lesser extent also ears. Doesn''t mean you can''t move it consciously, but most of the time you don''t really have to. Is that a bit clearer?"


    "Y-yeah, I think so, probably as clear as it can get for someone without a tail, heh."


    "Mhm. Any further questions?"


    "Hmmmm... well, when I first got home I smelled some weird smell and didn''t think much about it, and this morning when I was dealing with a stuffed noise I smelled it again, and realized it''s been around this whole time and I just got used to it or something. What is it?"


    "Ha!" Rick exclaimed, sounding way too happy for him to not be expecting it. "I had a bet with Ella whether you''d notice immediately, she thought that of course not since she''s too used to it. Well, simply put that''s just how skunks smell by themselves. And with five skunks sharing a space for so long it''s obviously gonna get noticeable after a while."


    "I see. Now I''m curious whether other anthros also have smells like that."


    "Of course, hell, so do humans, it''s just that much harder to notice."


    "Huh, that''s... honestly not that surprising."


    "And that''s a very good sign." Rick responded with a tiny hint of pride in his voice, before chuckling to himself and adding-


    "And so is this one!"- As he pointed to the right, the sign reading-


    ''''''


    IKEA


    ?


    1/4 MI.


    ''''''


    The two siblings shared a load groan as Rick pulled into the parking lot, so proud of his pun he kept giggling until they finally parked, ready to face the labyrinth of furniture that awaited ahead.

 Chapter 12: Starry Sky

    After disembarking from the car, the trio made their way through the half filled parking lot towards the main entrance, the sheer scale of the building only now hitting Riley.


    "This place is massive..." She remarked offhandedly, unable to even take the size of the white structure without moving her head to the sides.


    "It''s a furniture store after all, needs to be large to offer any sort of meaningful variety." Rick responded as they stepped through the sliding doors, the gray floor and the raw, uncovered ceiling contrasting greatly with the colorful furniture on display.


    "Alright, so our shopping list is-" Rick pulled out a small sheet of paper, reading off of it as Riley took in the sights-


    "Some drawers and wardrobe to fit the desk and bed we already have, a good chair, some shelves, a nice carpet to cover the floor, choice of paint for the walls, and then basically whatever small things that would add to the room."


    "That''s quite... vague." Riley remarked, having no idea how would they choose anything out of such a massive collection.


    "Well, a good first step is just to find the bedrooms section and look for things of similar color." Andrew chimed in, knowing the path in his head already.


    "Where would that be?"


    "Well, follow me!" He responded with a cheer, his tail waving to the sides as they made their way through the store, Riley having a hard time taking her eyes off the various living rooms and kitchens on display.


    Or from people.


    She could constantly spot people staring at them as they walked, some in curiosity, some looking almost sorry for her, to which she responded with a resentful glare. Judgmental pricks.


    To her disappointment even some other anthros stared at them like that, one feline looking mom even pulling her toddler to the side when he looked up at Ashers passing through.


    Can''t escape the pecking order.


    She tried to shake herself away from the unpleasant realization, just pushing on and once again pretending that they were alone in the shop. Thankfully, soon enough they reached the bedrooms section, quickly finding some bright enough designs that they could fit with the stuff they already had.


    With Riley not really having any stylistic preferences, this part went by quickly enough. A cheap light woodgrain dresser and a matching wardrobe next to it did the trick, easily having more space for clothes between them than she would conceivably ever need.


    Seeing Rick write down their store numbers and leave it at that made Riley raise an eyebrow, Andrew thankfully catching onto it and quickly explaining-


    "Oh, we''re gonna have to assemble them ourselves, we''re not gonna take the ones on display."


    She nodded slowly, having had exactly zero experience in buying furniture herself.


    "Yeah, we only grab boxes with parts and assembly instructions, gonna put them together on Thursday once we''re done painting the room." Rick added in, taking a look around the section to see whether they''ve missed anything.


    "That''s... unusual." She responded, wondering how would they put together something like a wardrobe, taller than even Andrew. Or how would they transport the parts for that matter.


    "That''s IKEA for you." Rick shrugged before asking his son in an apologetic tone- "Andrew, mind going back to grab a cart? Guess we all got caught up and forgot."


    He simply nodded in response and head back in the direction they came from, Rick taking the opportunity to lay down on a nearby bed, his tail laying flat between his legs.


    "So, you mentioned wanting a dark color for the walls, right?" He spoke up, eyes still closed as he enjoyed a moment of downtime.


    "Yeah..." She trailed off, her brain deciding to remind her of all the people looking at them earlier.


    "Something wrong?" He caught on to her turmoil, opening an eye and raising an eyebrow in her direction.


    "All the people staring at us..."


    "Aye." He acknowledged it solemnly, taking a deep breath before continuing- "Sadly, that''s just reality for us. You just get used to it after a while. Fortunately it''s mostly just quiet glances and occasional stares, at least it got a bit better than when I was your age."


    "H-how bad was it?" She asked quietly, the gravity of the discussion hitting her.


    "Well, I didn''t get chased out of anywhere, but I came close a couple times. As well as a handful of loud jeers and the like..." He kept his tone flat, reminiscing the shitty past but not letting it eat him up. "I''m mostly thankful my kids don''t have to put up with that. Or at least, not to the same extent..." He added as he thought of Lily''s situation at school.


    "I''m so sorry..."


    "It''s not your fault Riley, not in the slightest. Focusing on stuff like that too much only leads to bad places, as, as self-defeating as that may sound. Hence why it''s so important for me to make sure our home feels as welcoming as possible, for the respite from all the quiet hostility of the world."


    Riley could only nod quietly, hoping that she hadn''t defiled that welcoming-ness too much, staring at the panel flooring as the thought kept drilling into her. She almost didn''t hear Rick get up behind her before he advised-


    "Breathe deeply Riley." He said softly, standing up a couple feet from her.


    She did so, trying to repeat the exercise in the car, airing the anxious thoughts out, every breath calming her down a bit. After a few moments she turned towards Rick and looked up at him, nodding in appreciation.


    His mouth opened up to speak, but was cut off by Andrew making his way up to them, looking a bit curiously as he announced his presence-


    "Did something happen?"


    "Don''t worry, it''s all fine now." Rick calmed him down, gesturing to Riley to follow them as they made their way through the store, her eyes now firmly focused on the furniture, and not people, as they made their way towards the paint section of the store.


    The absurd number of various chairs on display made her way spin, some in shapes that made Riley wonder if it''s even possible to actually sit down on them.


    She wasn''t prepared on the rainbows of colors, dazzling and stretching from floor to the ceiling.


    "So many colors, holy-"


    "Well, the selection shrinks a fair bit if we just focus on the darker ones, but that''s definitely quite a sight, innit?" Rick cut her short, pushing the cart deeper into the aisle, towards darker shades.


    "You mentioned something about purple, right?"


    "Yeah, but I think I meant something darker than any of those." She responded, her hand pointing towards the various purples and lavenders near them.


    "Hope it''s not black, heh." Andrew chuckled, following up when Riley looked at him with a raised eyebrow-


    "Mom would hate a black room, she''s already only barely tolerated me having chosen dark gray."


    "Because your furniture is also gray, can barely see a thing in there." Rick chimed in to the contrary.


    "I can see all fine in there."


    "Your sight is twenty/twenty, Ella''s isn''t."


    Andrew looked away at the floor in shame from the reminder, Rick continuing.


    "Thankfully Riley''s furniture is gonna be light, so she can choose as dark as she wants. Altho black would be a tad bit weird, agreed on that."


    "No, not black, don''t worry." She responded, taking a look at the dark blues, suddenly getting an idea and walking up to the navy blues.


    "This one looks quite close..." She whispered to herself, taking a look at one particular shade, inspecting it as Rick chimed in-


    "Close to what?"


    "The night sky!" She responded, sounding quite proud of herself at the idea, always wanting to try out sleeping under the stars, fascinated by the prospect of just looking up and seeing uncountable sparkles...


    "Now that''s an awesome idea!" Andrew responded in excitement, adding- "Maybe we can grab some stars as well?"


    "Stars?"


    "Fluorescent ones, so that they could actually glow in the dark! How''s that sound dad?"


    "Sounds wonderful!" Rick seemed to share in his son''s excitement, nodding happily at Riley.


    She grinned at their enthusiasm, grabbing a can of the appropriately named Midnight Blue and placing it in the cart, Rick inspecting the can and grabbing a couple more, seeming to have gotten an idea himself.


    "Andrew, could you take Riley to find a nice office chair for her? I''m gonna grab the stars and some other stuff."


    His son nodded, gesturing towards Riley to follow him to another section of the store as Rick took the cart in the other direction, tail still and expression deep in thought.


    After quickly discarding the idea of trying out the fancy plastic chairs, Riley took a look at one of the metal ones with the wheels underneath, taking a decently comfortable seat, her eyes going wide as she leaned back and so did the back of the chair, Riley flailing for a moment as she thought she was falling off the thing.


    But no, the seat stopped leaning back eventually, the momentum lifting the front wheels off the ground for a second, adding to the freefall sensation before the whole thing steadied itself again, Riley needing to take a moment to make sure she still was on the chair.


    "You look like you saw a ghost or something." Andrew chuckled as he walked up, not having noticed Riley''s brief freakout.


    She leaned in onto the chair and tried to lean back again, and again, the seat gave in.


    "What''s up with this- this weird ass chair?" She responded, a bit calmer but still unnerved at what just happened.


    "It''s so that you can adjust the seat to the best angle, guess it freaked you out a bit?" He responded, adding two and two together.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Y-yeah, s-such a weird design..." She slowly calmed down, sitting back up uncomfortably, looking at him slightly confused.


    "Nah, it''s a standard for office chairs, guess whoever was checking it out earlier forgot to lock it like this-" He knelt and slid in a lever underneath the seat, his tail looking quite funny as it waved above him.


    "Try it out now."


    Riley leaned back, and sure enough, this time it actually provided support, and was rather comfortable. She fiddled with the lever Andrew had just used, locking the seat a bit further back, satisfied with herself until she noticed the other lever, pushing on it and jumping a bit as the chair seat started rising. She hoped she hadn''t broken anything on accident, snapping her hand away from underneath her seat, trying to appear as innocuous as she could.


    "Thanks, now it''s an actual ch-" She stopped in an instant as her leg brushed against the bottom section, rotating the seat a bit. She tried doing that again, and sure enough, the chair did rotate. She kept doing that, realizing she could turn it around all the way, before getting the idea everyone trying an office chair for the first time did, preparing for a takeoff before Andrew grabbed the back of her chair-


    "Ha, I know what you''re thinking about, and lemme stop you right here. They reaaaally don''t like people doing that here, me, Lily *and* Timmy already got an earful for that. At home, sure, but not here."


    She nodded in embarrassment before getting up, catching her balance before going to check another chair, thankfully the back of this one already locked, and really quite comfortable, Riley not expecting the professional looking chair to feel so nice to sit in.


    "Good choice, that''s the one I use." Andrew commended her intuition, taking a seat in a chair on the opposite side of the small aisle, taking a look at her.


    "Well, I''m definitely liking it so far..." She responded, leaning into the comfort of her seat as a doubt from earlier decided to show itself again, prompted by the way he was looking at her. She looked back up at warmly smiling Andrew, before asking a something that made his gently waving tail freeze solid.


    "So, what was the *real* reason you came here with me and Rick?"


    He clearly wasn''t expecting a question like that, his eyes darting away as his smile wilted.


    "I-I told you, it''s c-cause I wanted to help you a-and I enjoy spending time with you!" He was obviously hiding something, Riley''s brows raising a bit as she pressed on-


    "Is that all? I- I really want you to be honest with me Andrew, I''m not gonna think any less of you or of what you''ve done for me." She was as earnest as she could be, not wanting or upset her bro, just for him to tell her the truth.


    He looked startled, lifting his palm to hide his face as he turned his chair further away from her, the fur on his tail bristling a bit.


    "P-p-promise?" He asked quietly, sounding as if he was about to tear up, hearing him sound so sad made her regret her question for a moment before she continued.


    "Of course Andrew, you are my big bro after all." She tried to sound as light hearted as she could, despite his reaction making her internally worry how bad the realization was gonna be.


    He took a few deep breaths as his tail slowly straightened out, slightly damp eyes turning to look at her as the painful words came out-


    "I-I-I''m having so-some feelings towards you I r-really shouldn''t be having..."


    His response only confused her further, before she took a stab at what feelings he was talking about-


    "Y-you find me hot?"


    "Oh no, goodness, no, of course not, I-I meant I''m liking you a bit too much..."


    She nodded slowly as the second option came up, the possibility made more certain by his words-


    "You''re crushing on me?"


    Bingo. He froze briefly yet again, taking a deep breath before nodding slowly.


    "That''s why you came with us?"


    "I-I did w-want to help you, b-but a-also just spend m-more time with you..."


    "I''m... honestly unsure of how to react." She admitted honestly, not sensing any malice or perversion in his words or actions so far that could make her start doubting towards darker undertones.


    "I''m so sorry Riley, I-I thought i-it was gonna blow over s-sooner, I-I don''t want to make you uncomfortable like that..."


    "H-hey, it''s all fine Andrew... It''s not what I expected, not by a long shot, but you are aware that these are feelings you shouldn''t be having, which honestly eases most of my worries."


    He looked back up at her, a slight wobbly smile forming as his eyes tried not to tear up.


    "I-I''m glad, I was a-afraid you''d think of me as s-some sort of a pervert..."


    "Not at all Andrew, not at all." She returned the slight smile, getting up and walking up towards him, thinking it was his turn to get a reassuring hug, extending her arms a bit uncertainly.


    He noticed the gesture with slight surprise and got up, letting her hold him tightly.


    "You''re still the best bro I could have ever wished for Andrew. Even if you''re in a dire need of a girlfriend." She added with a slight giggle, hugging him tighter before letting go, looking up to him once more.


    "T-thank you Riley, a-and again I''m sorry f-for all this, g-guess I do really need a girlfriend, heh..." He slowly calmed down as he sat back down, a bit too heavily for the chair to not squeak from underneath him.


    "Truth be told, I kinda assumed you had one already, you''re genuinely a sweet guy." She complimented him, keeping up her smile as he blushed in response.


    "N-never had the courage to a-ask any out..." He chuckled, his past regrets stinging like a cloud of mosquitoes.


    "I see. I wish I had some solid advice for this stuff, but I haven''t really had any more luck with this than you." She admitted, looking to the side herself.


    "Never had a boyfriend?"


    "Nope, a couple guys at the orphanage did try to ask me out, but they were young and dumb and most of them were lucky they didn''t end up with broken noses for their efforts."


    "Haha, that''s definitely one way to deal with pesky guys, heh... heh..." He chuckled a bit nervously, really hoping that none of his classmates would have a similar idea to deal with him if he ever did decide to vocalize his interest in them.


    "What about girlfriends?" He followed up unexpectedly, the question short circuiting something in Riley''s brain as she could only flatly respond-


    "But... I am a girl."


    "And? There are girls that are into girls, my favorite aunt is one!"


    The realization made Riley''s eyes shoot wide as she processed it.


    "Oh. Ohhhhh..."


    So many more events and feelings suddenly made so, so much more sense in retrospective it almost scared her. She had to stop herself from reminiscing with a solid shake, getting up and looking around trying to suppress the internal realization-


    "Rick''s been gone for a while now, any idea where he might be?"


    Andrew lifted an eyebrow at her as her expression went a bit wild, before getting up together with her, having a look around, pointing into a direction-


    "There he is!"


    Riley tried to squint her eyes as hard as she could, but all she could make out was a small black blob. She thought her eyesight perfect, so the realization she couldn''t see whatever Andrew saw was a bit disconcerting. She was distracted from her doubt as Andrew waved and even jumped in place in Rick''s direction, the black blob slowly approaching, the shopping cart quite a bit fuller than the last time she saw it, a lot of its contents hidden underneath a slightly disheveled blue tarp.


    "There you two are. Picked one already?" Rick asked, straight to the point, Riley walking back to the comfortable chair she sat on and showed Rick its tag.


    "Same as Andrew eh? Guess he did help you after all, it''s one good chair in this price range."


    Oh boy did he now.


    "Yep, same model. See you''ve grabbed some shelves as well?" She noticed the plank-like things sticking out from underneath the tarp, Rick nodding and responding-


    "Just picked them from the same set as the dresser and such, that alright?"


    "Sure. So, what''s left now?"


    "The carpet and some small things, might grab some lunch on our way there."


    "...this place offers lunch?"


    ***


    This place did offer lunch.


    As Riley was taking a bite out of a Swedish meatball in front of her, she looked around the small food court, most other tables taken as well.


    No surprise about that, these things tasted so much better than they had any right to with a name like that.


    "So, enjoying the special?" Rick asked with a small chuckle at how quickly Riley managed to empty her plate.


    "Didn''t know you could make meat like- like this taste actually good."


    "You definitely can, just have to actually cook it first."


    She chuckled at that, taking her paper plate and throwing it in the trash bin, stretching her arms a bit.


    "If you want to Riley, you can already start checking out the carpets, they''re just right down this aisle." Andrew guided her, Riley nodding to the other two as she made her way over, breaking into a brief jog as she scaled the massive corridor, finally ending up at the hundreds and hundreds of carpets.


    Most of them horribly tacky.


    Her expression soured a bit as she went through the dozens upon dozens of patterns that looked like they crawled their way out of the Victorian era, briefly losing hope of finding anything serviceable before one particular pattern presented itself to her, a light bulb going off in her head instantly at how well it fit her earlier night sky idea.


    Relatively uniform dark green, with details that made it looks like a field of grass despite being soft and nice to the touch. Just like actually sleeping outside, haha.


    Having already made her choice, she went around checking the rest of the carpets, trying to find the absolutely worst one of the bunch, succeeding upon spotting the obscenely complex wanna-be Persian rug that when asked what colors it wanted to use, answered with ''All of them.''


    She was giggling at it when Andrew called out-


    "Didn''t think you for the kind of a person to go for Persian rugs." He chuckled to himself, rewarded with Riley sliding her tongue out at him before she responded-


    "Nah, was just trying to find the ugliest thing here I could."


    "That''s... yeah that''s a very good contender for the category, I have to admit. Gives me a headache just looking at it." Rick chimed in, looking almost baffled as he tried to take in the entire mess of the carpet.


    "But anywho, found one you actually unironically enjoy?"


    "Yeah, it''s a bit earlier in, it''s thiiiiiiis one!" She dragged the sentence on as she ran up to the green carpet, pointing at it with a smile.


    "Fits with the night sky, doesn''t it?" She chimed in happily, glad to have found something so genuinely nice and to be able to make a space of her own.


    "It sure does, it''s great!" Rick responded with a wide smile, a fair bit more enthusiastic than Riley expected, not deciding to pay it that much mind as he wrote down its tag.


    "So, that''s basically it unless you need something else." He added, relieved that they got the necessities squared away.


    "A mirror maybe?" She responded a bit uncertain, unable to come up with much else.


    "We have a nice one that would fit great with the dresser, currently busy gathering dust in the basement."


    "In that case I think I''m set!" Riley shared in Rick''s relief, having seen enough furniture to last a lifetime.


    "Great! Andrew, you and Riley can head back to the entrance, I''ll grab the boxes and then we''ll load it all in the car, aight?"


    They nodded, Riley following Andrew''s tail as Rick turned around with his cart, pushing it a bit strenuously.


    "Need some help dad?" Andrew quickly noticed, walking up to Rick with some concern in his voice.


    "Don''t worry, better take Riley back to the entrance-"


    "Riley, just hug the left wall and you''ll get there sooner or later." Andrew interrupted, still wanting to help his dad out as she nodded and headed through the store.


    The dozens of light fixtures almost distracted her from her intended path before she snapped out of her moth-like trance, making her way through a few creepy bathrooms and finally arriving at the main entrance, taking a seat on one of the benches and looking around, walking up to one of the news stands near the main exit, some red logo above it.


    She briefly went through the newspapers on display, having had no luck in finding anything in the more recognizable publications. After putting whatever national rag she checked out back down she reached for something with a lot less budget, with "St. Louis" in the title and browsed it open, expecting to find nothing still, her stint having blown over quietly...


    But it hadn''t.


    ''''''


    13 Pages (UPDATE)


    By: ADAM ROBINSON


    ---


    Following the unexpected call for help received by our redaction office on Friday night, and the unwillingness of Oakwood Child Care Center to comment on the testimonies contained within the thirteen pages sent to our office, we promised to keep the readers updated on the developments of this story.


    Since the Saturday morning we''ve sent four journalists to the Oakwood Child Care Center, and while we couldn''t get any staff to comment on the events that have passed, we''ve noticed the presence of a large amount of police officers on the scene, as well as employees of the St. Louis County and Minnesota State Child Care offices, who both refused to comment.


    Our journalist who''d visited the Oakwood Child Care Center late yesterday, has found it locked up and seemingly completely abandoned, declared as "Condemned" by the Minnesota State Child Care office. The fate of both its pupils and its staff remains unknown, as well as the identity or fate of the initial whistleblower. We await an official statement from the Minnesota State Child Care office or from St. Louis County Child Care office.


    ''''''


    It took Riley a few moments to fully take in the implications of her actions, almost dropping the paper in shock. Oakwood orphanage... Condemned?


    "Riley!" She heard Andrew call out from behind her, a massively loaded cart right behind him, being slowly pushed forward by straining Rick.


    She put the newspaper down and ran up to them, offering to help with pushing the cart, only to be refused by Rick with a shake of his head.


    "Andrew, race ahead to the car and prepare the space for all this, fold the seats back-" He managed to force out a breathless sentence and toss his keys to his son, who nodded in acknowledgment before taking off.


    Riley slowly watched Rick push the overloaded cart forward, helping him out with turns on the slightly bumpy asphalt, adding in some force herself as they had finally made their way back to the car, the trunk and most doors already opened, rightmost back and front seats neatly bent backwards to the point of laying completely flat.


    One after another, Andrew helped Rick in moving the long, slender boxes from the cart into the car, stacking them on top of each other, with a few larger ones going straight into the trunk, as well as the many, many cans of paint, much more than the three they initially packed. She wanted to ask Rick about this but he was more busy, packing in shelves and the rolled up carpet. Riley was kinda baffled as to how exactly did they manage to fit it all in, but they somehow pulled it off, sharing a high five as they both gathered their breaths, Riley proactively taking the cart back into the store.


    After a brief stroll back the car was already closed all over, with only the rear door open, Andrew squished on the middle seat waiting for her, shifting as far as he could to give Riley some space.


    She managed to squeeze herself in and shut the door, seatbelts were right out of the question with how cramped the rear seats were.


    "Everyone in?" Rick asked, finding a tiny viewing spot between the piles of stuff in the trunk, slowly pulling back from the parking spot, the car feeling noticeably more sluggish with all the load.


    Despite being squished so much by the door on the left and Andrew on the right, Riley found this all quite enjoyable, the slow speed of the car and the slight rumbles making her doze off, her head landing on Andrew''s shoulder. She could have sword she heard him giggle before she finally dozed off...

 Chapter 13: Practice

    "Riley?"


    She stirred with a small groan as she opened her eyes, taking in the interior of the car and the garage visible through the windshield.


    "Riley, we''re home."


    After a moment she finally snapped awake and straightened herself out, noticing Andrew giggling as she lifted her head from his shoulder.


    "Enjoyed your nap?"


    "Y-yeah, your shoulder makes for a nice pillow~" She joked with a chuckle as she unbuckled her seatbelt, and opened the door next to her. She noticed muffled music from behind the garage door, like from an instrument?


    "Hello again Riley." Rick snapped her out of her confusion, stepping to the side to let her have access to the trunk.


    "So, my plan is roughly this- Riley can take the smaller things, the buckets of paint and other stuff, and me and Andrew will take the boxes. Sounds alright?"


    Riley quietly nodded, taking two paint cans and walking over to the door to the living room, pressing on the door handle with her elbow and stepping inside.


    "Hey Riley, how did the shopping go?" Ella greeted her from the sofa as she stood up with a slight stretch, including her tail, as Riley made her way past the couch. The soft music she heard was a bit clearer but still muffled, the sounds of a string instrument playing a happy tune making Riley tilt her head as she tried to figure out its source.


    "What''s that sound?" Riley murmured to herself, slowly moving on as she listened in, enjoying the gentle, uplifting tune.


    "Lily is practicing for the Christmas recital at her school. She''s doing quite well, isn''t she?" Ella responded, more than a hint of pride in her voice.


    Riley couldn''t help but agree, nodding with a slight smile, happy that Lily felt alright again.


    "What instrument does she play?" She asked with curiosity in her voice, stepping aside as Rick and Andrew came through with the first long box, quickly carrying it upstairs.


    "A violin, has been for a couple of years now. She''s improved so much over the past few months, she''s gonna knock it out of the park!"


    Riley smiled a bit at Ella''s enthusiasm, a follow-up question pushing through her mind-


    "When''s the recital?"


    "In a week at four. Breakfast, then some relaxing, then we all go cheer her on, and afterwards we have the Christmas dinner."


    "Even me?" Riley asked a bit incredulously.


    "Of course! She''d love to see you cheer her on with the rest of us." Ella responded with a smile and a reassuring smile as Andrew and Rick walked down the stairs back towards the garage, the latter raising an eyebrow at Riley as he walked by, prompting her to get moving.


    After a brief sprint upstairs she walked past Lily''s door where the music was the loudest, making her smile a bit as she pushed on towards the storage room, putting the cans of paint in the far corner before jogging back down, past the other duo already carrying another box.


    After grabbing some more cans of paint and taking them upstairs, she noticed the music had stopped, confused looking Lily peeking from behind her door, eyes going a bit wide as Riley spotted her.


    With a soft smile towards her sister Riley pushed on, the heavy cans feeling like they were digging into her fingers before she set them down, taking a chance to inspect their colors.


    Matte black? Midnight green? What were these for...


    Riley didn''t get too much of a moment to ponder as she heard another box being carried upstairs, slinking out of the room and standing to the side as the furniture parts were deposited inside, quickly running back downstairs to grab the last can of paint and a plastic bag full of other supplies.


    She inspected the bag briefly after she placed it down, the contents not revealing much. Stencils? A small bottle of white paint? Masking tape?


    As another box was placed down, Rick called out to Riley, causing her to get up with a start as her curiosity was noticed.


    "Alright Riley, carry the carpet in here and that''s pretty much everything for you, we''ll take care of the last few boxes and then we''re done as well."


    She nodded and hasted downstairs, happy to hear Lily''s practice resuming, the cheerful tune motivating her on as she tried to pick up the long carpet, surprised by its sheer weight.


    With a huff and a puff she managed to balance it on her shoulder, slowly pushing on, just a teensy bit afraid that the weight would break the wooden floor underneath her as she made her way over to the stairs.


    Every step was a struggle as she had to tilt the carpet so that it wouldn''t bump into the stairs ahead, her palms burning a bit as the material slid through her grasp, having to let go of the carpet so that it wouldn''t pull her with it as it fell behind her.


    "Fuck..." She grunted in exhaustion, not knowing how would she manage lifting the thing up if it didn''t work out the first time.


    "Need some help Riley?" She heard Ella ask as the carpet slid down the stairs, the skunk walking up to her and helping her lift the carpet up with a grunt, the split weight enabling the slight girl to actually carry her share.


    "T-thanks Ella..." She grunted back as they carried it upstairs, Riley utterly exhausted after they set the carpet down to the side of the boxes, catching her breath.


    "I''ve no idea how did Rick expect you to lift all that alone, we barely even did it together..." Ella added, straightening herself as she spotted the devil himself help carry another box up.


    "Oi, sweetie, what''s up with this carpet?" She called out to Rick, a bit of an annoyance in her tone as Riley stepped to the side to give the duo some space.


    "What?" He responded confused, his expression a it concerned as he looked at the exhausted Riley, a look inside the storage room explaining everything-


    "Oh goodness, I-I''m so sorry, I meant the smaller one for your office, not this massive thing..." He sounded apologetic, walking up to Riley with a sorry expression on his face.


    "You alright Riley?"


    "I-I''ll be fine, m-managed to carry it to stairs and it slipped out, E-Ella helped me with the rest of the way..."


    "No wonder, don''t think I could lift this thing upstairs on my own... you sure you alright?"


    "Y-yeah, just my hands h-hurt a bit..." She looked at her palms, pale skin covered with scratches all over, some bleeding a bit.


    "I''m so sorry Riley..." Rick sounded almost heartbroken.


    "Sweetie, go wash them with cold running water and put some peroxide on them, there should be some underneath the sink." Ella stepped in in with a motherly tone, Riley nodding as she walked towards her room past Rick and Andrew, the latter sharing his dad''s expression.


    With a press of her elbow she got back into her temporary room and went straight into the bathroom. Cold water felt so good on the small scratches before it was replaced with a stinging burning, peroxide cauterizing them. As she wiped her hands on the towel, tiny beads of blood staining the white material, she heard someone knock on her door, Ella''s voice quickly following up with-


    "Riley, I got some bandages!"


    She let her in, the determined skunk mom quickly getting to work, wrapping some sterile wrapping around Riley''s hands, securing them neatly.


    "T-thanks for this, Ella..."


    "It''s nothing Riley, don''t worry. How are you feeling aside from that?"


    "Just a fair bit tired, g-guess I could eat something..."


    "We didn''t really make any real lunch today while you three were gone, how do reheated toasts from the morning sound?"


    Riley nodded slightly, Ella giving her a wide smile and extending her arms for a hug. With a slight smile, her daughter leaned towards her and let Ella hold her for a while, the gentle rocking to the sides relaxing Riley more than she thought it would.


    "You stay here for a bit, gather your bearings and all, and I''ll bring you the toasts, alright?" She continued with a cheerful tone as Riley leaned back from the hug, quickly bringing up an objection-


    "You don''t h-have to Ella, I can bring them here m-myself..."


    "But I want to sweetie. You need a moment to rest, and it''s not like I''ll strain myself carrying a plate up one floor." Ella responded with a giggle, laying her hand on Riley''s shoulder before continuing-


    "It''s really fine sweetie, you''re not burdening me, or any of us with anything. Promise." With a reassuring smile she walked out of Riley''s room, the girl taking a seat on her bed and rolling her shoulders.


    She was unused to anyone willing to give her a hand like that, not even in the... slightly better days. She was on her own, and she prepared accordingly, both with her knife and her mind.


    Feeling like this was so weird, with just how everyone seemed to just... care about her. Not as an entry in the database of children to be accounted of, or a mouth to be fed, but as a, as a-


    As a person.


    The realization caused a tear to roll in the corner of her eye before she noticed something that distracted her, a small scrap of paper laid in front of her door, must have been slid underneath it at some point and she just hadn''t noticed earlier.


    She picked it up and took a look at what was written on it, the simple question confusing her.


    ''''''


    How are you?


    ''''''


    The soft tune that kept playing in the background brought her attention to the most likely possibility as to the author of this note, the rounded cursive letters and a tiny heart instead of the dot in the question mark solidifying her guess.


    D-does Lily want to talk with her but is too afraid to speak up directly?


    After grabbing a pen she slowly scribbled down a response, her writing downright minimalistic compared to Lily''s-


    ''''''


    I''m alright, a bit sore. You''re doing great with your practice. I hope you''re not mad I wore your favorite hat.


    ''''''


    Her scribbling was interrupted with a knocking on her door, setting down the scrap of paper on her bed as she got up to take the plate of toasts from Ella.


    "Thanks, Ella."


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Maybe playing with Timmy a bit would help you relax? Everyone else is busy, and Rick is taking a nap."


    She considered Ella''s offer, nodding in response.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "That''d be nice, but doesn''t he need help with the gamepad thing?"


    "Yeah, so that''s why he''s brought out the wooden bricks, dragged the entire box into the play room, hah." Ella smiled in response, closing her eyes and quietly rocking as she listened to Lily''s practice.


    "She''s really doing well, haha..."


    Ella''s smile widened a bit as she nodded, slowly wiggling her finger around in tune with the music as she reached for the door handle and closed Riley''s room, slowly walking downstairs, her steps trying to follow the tune as well.


    Riley opened the door just a bit to let the music in as she ate, wiggling a bit on her bed as she crunched through the toast. She was quickly done with the snack, placing the plate on the dresser, too tired to move her rear downstairs to place it in the dishwasher at the moment.


    She washed her fingers, thankful that none of the butter got on her hands, before placing the peroxide back under the sink, doing a double take as she saw other stuff that was stuffed there. Who needs so much peroxide? Why is this box of baking soda here? Dish soap?


    With a raised brow she closed the small cabinet, shrugging as she grabbed the piece of paper from her bed, sneaking up to Lily''s door and sliding the note under the door before making her way over to the play room, Timmy already busy trying to make a tower out of the small wooden blocks.


    "Wanna play Riley?" He asked with a smile as he looked up, Riley sitting cross legged on the other side of the tower he was building, a mix of letter blocks and smaller wooden pieces combining into the multicolor masterpiece.


    "Sure!" With a slight smile she started building her own tower next to his, trying to balance its weight as she piled the blocks on roughly symmetrically.


    "Why do you have these on your hands?" Timmy spoke up, looking at Riley''s bandaged hands.


    "I hurt them a bit, but it''s all fine."


    "Why?"


    "Why not?" She hoped that Andrew''s trick would work here again.


    "What?"


    She giggled before continuing, managing to get halfway to Timmy''s tower before a fresh addition caused his to collapse right in direction of Riley, a few bricks bouncing off her face with the rest crashing into her lap.


    "Ow." She responded with a slight grimace, rubbing her forehead and nose a bit, one of the bricks having rekindled the dull pain as it bounced off the bridge of her nose.


    "Sorry!" Timmy squeaked as he got up and waded over to her before planting a small smooch right on the tip of her nose.


    She blinked a few times at him as she realized what just happened, asking flatly-


    "Why did you do that?"


    "Mom always kisses my nose when I get an owie and she makes it feel better!"


    An amused smile broke her grimace as she reached up and ruffled his hair with a giggle, the lil kit laughing in turn.


    "Well, thank you for that Timmy!" She replied with a smile, before getting a sly idea to curl her fingers and try to replicate the scritching Ella gave her. She rubbed the skin of Timmy''s scalp with her finger nails, judging by his expression much to his enjoyment.


    His giggles made way over to contented chirls as he walked closer to her yet again to her surprise, before trying to hug her, her sitting position and the bricks on her lap didn''t exactly making it easy.


    "Let''s try this..." She cleared her lap of any debris and turned Timmy around, sitting him down on her legs as he faced the same direction she was, one of her arms holding him close and the other resuming her gentle scritches.


    He kept squirming in her hold, his soft tail trying to wrap itself around her arm, Riley giggling a bit as she felt the wonderfully soft undercoat brushing against her skin, matching Timmy''s soft chirls.


    After a minute or so Riley stopped, stopping her strokes and pulling her arm from around him, letting him out before his tail tugged on her forearm, not strongly enough to pull it back on its own, but enough to be noticeable. With a giggle she wrapped her arm around him once more, adding in the other one and hugging him a bit tighter, smooching the top of his head.


    "Don''t fall asleep on me again, haha." She giggled and decided to prevent that herself, her hands sliding underneath his blouse and starting to gently tickle his sides, the little kit coming alive in an instant as he wiggled and giggled in her embrace, his tail waving happily.


    She let him out after a few moments, helping him stand back up and straightening out his blouse as he stuck his tongue out at her jokingly, Riley repaying him in kind, only now noticing that Lily had stopped her practice at some point.


    "Wanna build some more?" She got up and stretched her limbs, looking down to see Timmy nodding enthusiastically. As she turned around she was sure she caught a tip of a tail sliding into Lily''s room before its door was closed, smiling a bit as she spoke up to Timmy-


    "Know your ABC''s?"


    He responded with a confused ''Eh?'', his head and tail both tilting a bit as Riley clarified-


    "Letters, do you know the letters of the alphabet?"


    "Yeah! A, B, C, D, E-"


    "That''s great! Can you spell my name out with them? I need to do something, will be right back."


    "The toilet is next to the stairs!" He chipped in without being prompted, Riley giggled before explaining-


    "Not that something, heh. Come on and spell my name out and yours with these letter bricks."


    "Okay!" He quickly got to work as Riley walked out of the room, stepping back into hers and reading the updated note-


    ''''''


    It''s my favorite because I like looking at it, not because I like wearing it. Were you afraid that I was mad at you for wearing it? (If yes I''m sorry)


    Thank you Riley, and I hope you''ll feel better soon.


    ''''''


    She flipped the note to the other side, grabbing her pen and quickly scribbling a response-


    ''''''


    Yes, I was, sorry for that. I guess you could say I was afraid that you were mad at me since we met. I don''t blame you if you are.


    And thank you Lily. You''re sweet.


    ''''''


    She walked out and slid the note back under Lily''s door, hearing footsteps and the rustle of paper almost immediately afterwards, making her smile as she walked back into the play room, Timmy concentrated on the letter bricks, his tail waving high behind him.


    "I''m back, how did it go?" She sat down next to him, leaning against the back of the sofa, taking a deep breath and reaching out to ruffle his hair some more, the lil'' kit reacting with a giggle as he showed off his creation-


    R-A-Y-L-I.


    "I did it!" He cheered as Riley took the word in, suddenly very confused as to the pronunciation of her own name.


    "Good job Timmy, you''re close but it''s spelled like this-"


    She rearranged the bricks, grabbing another one until the whole thing spelled out R-I-L-E-Y.


    "Reelay?"


    "No no, Riley. I have no idea why it''s spelled like that."


    "How is ''spelled'' spelled?"


    She blinked her confusion away before reaching for the blocks, spelling out the word in question. Timmy kept asking about more and more words, Riley obliging with each one, correcting his alphabet while she was at it, which somehow included the letter ''K'' twice and no letter ''S''. They went on for a while, four year old''s natural curiosity manifesting in not stopping even as the sun set, Riley having to turn the lights on in the room as she couldn''t make out the letters on the blocks.


    The thing that finally took them out of the mind numbing back and forth was Ella calling out for dinner, Riley turning around to see Lily already walking downstairs, Andrew walking out of his room, his tail a bit frizzled before he noticed his siblings playing with bricks, waving towards them.


    Riley got up and helped Timmy stand up, looking back at him as he reached up and grabbed her hand, wiping the sleepiness from his eyes as he yawned cutely.


    "After dinner, we''re gonna clean up and take the bricks back to your room, alright?" Riley asked with a smile, walking down the corridor with Timmy as he answered with a quiet "Yeah..."


    Adorable sleepy kit.


    With a sniff she felt something very, very nice as they walked downstairs, following her nose as it lead her to-


    Mac and Cheese! And it smelled so amazing! And it looked even better!


    "Wow..." She quietly whispered to herself as she helped Timmy onto his seat, sitting down next to him and putting a hefty portion of the baked macaroni onto her plate, helping her brother with his before she dug in-


    And it tasted even better still!


    She had to stop herself from just forcing the entire portion into her mouth, deliberately slowing down a bit, stabbing the macaronis one at a time as she noticed Rick walking downstairs, wearing a slightly stained white overalls, a respirator on his snout before he pulled it down to his neck.


    The image of a skunk wearing a respirator made her giggle internally a bit as he sat down next to her, Timmy staring at his dad in fascination before asking-


    "What are you wearing dad?"


    "Painter gear, was painting Riley''s room and don''t want to breathe in the fumes."


    "Why not?"


    Riley chuckled at the question, Rick tirelessly explaining-


    "Because they smell bad and make you cough."


    "Okay!"


    With a soft smile Riley returned to her meal, the wonderful taste making her speed up. She was almost halfway done with her portion before she noticed Ella''s amused smile towards her, blushing intensely as she tried to explain herself-


    "S-sorry, just got a bit too excited-"


    "Shhh, all''s well Riley, you just looked like you were eating the best thing you''ve ever had, haha." Ella giggled, Andrew sharing her smile.


    "I mean... it pretty much is, honestly." Riley admitted honestly before stabbing even more macaronis onto her fork, not noticing the surprised looks from the rest of the family, sans Rick.


    "Well, I''m happy to hear that sweetie, but it makes me wonder what did they feed you all with at the Child Care Center..."


    "You don''t want to know. Suffice to say that edibility was optional at times." Riley responded vaguely, seriously not wanting to give family members nausea at the dinner table.


    Ella didn''t respond, a slightly concerned expression on her face as Riley finished her portion, standing up from the table-


    "Thanks for the dinner!"


    And sliding the table into the dishwasher, yawning a bit as she went back upstairs, eager to check out how the painting was goi-


    The door to her room was locked.


    She raised her brow in confusion, trying again. Why would Rick lock the door like this?


    Not being able to do much about it right now, she went back to her room, checking out Lily''s note as she sat back on her bed-


    ''''''


    I''m not mad at you Riley, and I''m so sorry for making you feel that way, and for reacting the way I did on Saturday. I hope you''ll forgive me, sis.


    You''re nice yourself Riley!


    ''''''


    She smiled and wiped the stray tears from her face, finding the last piece of free space on the page and responding-


    ''''''


    Of course I do, sis. How could I not forgive my sweet sister like that?


    Sleep well Lily.


    ''''''


    After getting up and washing her tired face with some cold water she walked back into the corridor, crouching in front of Lily''s door to slid the note in, freezing when she noticed the girl herself standing in front of the stairs, looking at her surprised.


    Riley gulped as she got back up, walking up to Lily with a slightly amused smile and handing the note to her directly, the skunk girl reading it on the spot before smiling up at Riley with glistening eyes, quietly responding-


    "Y-You too, Riley."


    Before heading to her room, older sister sending her off with a slight smile.


    She took a contented breath and leaned against a wall, nodding to Andrew as he passed by, sending her off with a "Sleep well!"


    After few more minutes of trying not to doze off against the wall, she finally saw Rick making his way back up, mask already on his snout as she stood in his way, an inquisitive expression on her face.


    He stood in front of her for a bit, pulling down his respirator and asking, his voice just a bit tired-


    "What''s up Riley?"


    "Why''s the door to my room locked?"


    The question took him aback a bit, the older skunk looking to the sides before responding-


    "So that a curious girl doesn''t accidentally inhale a lungful of paint fumes."


    She lifted her brow in doubt, cursing herself for being too tired to form any concrete objection in spite of Rick''s excuse feeling much too flimsy.


    "Alright, you win this time... what about all the weird stuff underneath the sink in my bathroom?"


    He blinked a couple of times, his brows furrowing.


    "Like what?"


    "So much peroxide, baking soda and the dish soap, if I didn''t know any better I''d have thought I stumbled on some drug lab..."


    After taking a moment to put two and two together Rick erupted into laughter, having to lean against the wall to avoid tumbling onto the floor, Riley''s resolve melting before she broke into giggles herself at his reaction, the large skunk looking hilarious as he laughed so much his tummy started to hurt.


    With the laughter and the resulting ''Ow''s already subsided, Rick took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself before responding-


    "Well that would be one stinking lab, since these are just ingredients for the deskunking formula, haha..."


    Riley blushed in embarrassment, his reaction to her question swiftly explained, before he followed up-


    "Not gonna lie, that one made me think hard for a moment to figure out what you meant, heh. And before you ask, we only keep the ingredients in the bathrooms just in case, we haven''t needed them since Timmy was still running around in diapers."


    "Guess little skunkies can''t control themselves?"


    "Nah, they just get spooked very easily. Thank god for diapers, they''re a godsend for this..." Rick reminisced, a tired smile on his snout.


    "Sounds... odor-able?" Riley grinned at her own pun, Rick groaning loudly as he became a victim of his own weapon.


    "That one is dreadful, I remember when I first used it on Ella she threatened to divorce me on the spot."


    "So you used it some more?"


    "Of course I did, hehe..." Rick laughed quietly at the fond memories, stretching briefly as he looked down at Riley with a warm smile.


    "Anything else Riley?"


    "Nah, don''t worry, you look like you could use some sleep."


    "Oh I will, just need to finish the first coating of paint and then I''ll probably crash on the spot, heh. Sleep well Riley!"


    She waved at him as he walked to and unlocked her room, before stepping inside, Riley not catching anything from the inside.


    "Riley?"


    She heard Ella whisper to her from the stairs, sleeping Timmy in her arms, the sight making Riley smile.


    "Mind cleaning up the blocks? Guess he really enjoyed playing with you, haha..." She giggled quietly, walking past her and carrying her son back into his bedroom, Riley nodding with a smile and walking back to the play room.


    With a handful of yawns she finished cleaning up after their fun, picking up the hefty box of blocks and walking towards Timmy''s bedroom, knocking quietly with her foot before Ella opened the door.


    The inside was filled with a couple other boxes like that, with Legos and toy cars respectively, as well as a small desk with plenty crayons and paper and some modeling clay. Other than that it was mostly regular furniture for clothes and supplies, but the carpet with roads and buildings on it and a bed shaped like a racecar did make Riley smile a fair bit.


    Ella walked back to bed and finished tucking Timmy in, the little kit holding an adorable bunny plushie as his mom smooched him on his little spot.


    "Sleep well sweetie~"


    Riley thought she heard the tiniest grumble in response before walking out of the room, Ella following her.


    "Thanks for the help, back''s not what it once was sadly..."


    "You''re welcome Ella, did he fall asleep at the table?"


    "Yeah, not long after you left. That''s one sure sign he really likes you, he hates falling asleep when having fun, heh."


    Riley smiled at this, Ella responding in kind as she offered another hug for her daughter, Riley accepting and nearly falling asleep in her wonderfully soft embrace.


    "Hehe, don''t doze off yet!" She gently tickled Riley on the neck, her head jerking as she giggled in response, Ella letting go of her.


    "Sleep well sweetie." Skunk mom smiled as she walked towards her bedroom, Riley sending her off with a "Sleep well" of her own before heading back to her own temporary bedroom.


    She was ready to just hit the pillow and crash on the spot before she caught a whiff of her own smell as she was taking off her shirt, groaning as she quickly headed to the bathroom.


    A quick shower later she was actually ready, having taken off her nose bandaid and hand wrappings, sliding her still damp legs under the covers, falling into deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow, not even having the energy to pull the covers all the way over herself.

 Chapter 14: Night Watch

    *knock knock knock*


    Riley stirred groggily, slowly opening her eyes to near complete darkness. The faintest light of the overcast moon and a distant lamp post illuminated the windows, letting her be certain she was indeed awake now. In the middle of the night.


    *knock knock knock*


    With a groan, she slowly pulled her covers to the side, realizing the  reason for her awakening. Her nose was still stuffed and breathing through the mouth felt rough, hopefully it was just a dry throat.


    *knock knock knock*


    After sliding her legs off the soft bed and forcing herself up, she realized she could make the vague outline of furniture and the door. A few moments of fumbling around on the floor to grab her pants later, she headed for the door, interrupting another salvo as she opened it.


    *knock-*


    Outside, from what she could make out, stood Timmy in his pyjamas, clutching his bunny plushie tightly, looking up at her. She could hear quiet whines from him, which made her crouch in front of him as she spoke up-


    "Timmy? What''s up?"


    "R-Riley, can you t-take me to the bathroom?" He sounded terrified by something, and as her eyesight got used got the darkness, she could see his tail was bristled to match.


    She was taken aback by his request, but figured that if he woke her up like that, he had a good reason to ask.


    "Alright, Timmy. Is something wrong?" Riley asked as she got back up, grabbing his free hand, slowly walking out into the corridor, the little kit following her.


    "I-I''m scared..." He whispered back as they walked, gently yanking her hand as they walked next to the stairs, stopping and asking again-


    "C-c-can you turn the lights on?"


    With a nod Riley reached to look around for the light switch, eventually feeling it out to be roughly at eye level with her, obviously outside of Timmy''s reach.


    She groaned loudly as the lights briefly blinded her, clutching her scarred eyes as they got used to the sudden light once more.


    "T-thank you..." His soft voice was brimming with gratitude before he reached over and hugged Riley''s leg, the gentle sensation making her smile, breaking through her slightly pained expression as she crouched down again, gently returning the hug, petting Timmy''s back.


    "Did you have a nightmare Timmy?" She asked as she got back up, extending a hand towards him again, before they made their way to the bathroom door.


    "Yeah..." He responded quietly as Riley reached up to turn on the lights inside the bathroom, pushing the door open.


    "Awwwh. Do you need help with the bathroom?" She responded softly, smiling down at him before he gently shook his head and walked in, Riley closing the door behind him and waiting.


    She closed her eyes and leaned her back against the wall, waiting for Timmy to wrap up his business, having to force her eyes open again, praying to not fall asleep on the poor kit.


    Eventually her pleas were answered as she heard the rush of water, followed by the soft creak of the sink, and then Timmy walking out, reaching his hand back up to her.


    After closing the door to the bathroom and turning off the lights, they slowly made their way back to Timmy''s room, the kit letting out a whine as she reached to turn off the lights in the corridor, Riley getting the message immediately.


    Timmy''s room was dark as well, darker still with his window facing away from the moon. He hid behind her legs with a tiny squeak as she opened the door, before managing to fumble her way to the light switch again, letting them both in.


    He wasted no time in crawling back onto the bed, stopping at the last moment as he turned towards her, eyes pleading as he asked-


    "Riley, c-can you s-stay with me?"


    She didn''t know how to respond, asking for clarification with slurred words-


    "O-okay, b-but how long?"


    Timmy squirmed a bit as he thought it through, slipping back underneath his covers-


    "U-until it''s light outside..."


    Aww darn.


    She sighed, reaching over to ruffle his hair gently, responding-


    "Alright Timmy, just let me go grab a pillow and some covers and I''ll be back, okay?"


    After seeing his enthusiastic nod she walked back into her room, grabbing the biggest pillow and dragging the thick cover behind herself, waddling back towards Timmy''s room and setting up a makeshift bedding next to his own bed, using the covers as both a blanket and a mattress.


    "Lemme turn off the lights in the corridor and I can st-"


    "Nooooo!" He whined, sounding a bit afraid, huddling deeper under his covers.


    "But Timmy, they can''t be on all night like that. I''ll be fine, I promise."


    "P-promise?" His question was genuine, he really was afraid for her.


    "Mhm. I''m a big girl, I can fight off the scary monsters."


    "Alright... but t-take Sniffles, p-please!" He smooched his plushie on its nose and reached it out towards Riley, who couldn''t help but smile as she gently grabbed the small bunny, gently scritching the back of its head.


    "Thank you Timmy." With a nod she walked back out into the corridor, left hand continuing its gentle scritches as she turned off the light, quickly walking back into Timmy''s room and closing the door, almost turning off the light before she realized that it''s probably best to give him his plushie back first.


    "Thank you Sniffles for helping me out there." She said with a small giggle as she passed it back to Timmy, the little skunk answering with a soft, sheepish smile.


    "Ready to sleep Timmy?"


    He nodded strongly as he snuggled under his covers, Riley smiling in the most tired way as she reached out and turned off the lights, quickly laying down and snuggling into her makeshift bed, the tiredness almost claiming her before she heard Timmy whisper again-


    "R-Riley?"


    She turned around in the direction of his bed, forcing her eyes awake as she answered-


    "Yes, Timmy?"


    "C-c-can I hold your hand?"


    With a quiet groan she slid her right arm from under the covers, fumbling around blindly as she reached her hand on top of Timmy''s mattress, searching for him before he managed to grab her hand first.


    In the dark she could feel his paw clearly, the short undercoat on his palm feeling wonderfully soft as it pressed into her fingers, the well trimmed, blunt claws feeling more like tips of a ballpoint pen rather than sharpened tips as they brushed against her digits.


    "Thank you Riley..." She heard his voice fade off as the exhaustion finally claimed the little kit, Riley deciding to not take her hand away as her fingertips brushed through the fur on the back of his paw, outer coat feeling a bit coarser but still pleasant, and with some focus she could even notice the difference between the outer layer and the undercoat.


    So soft...


    With a quiet mutter she dozed off as well, a bit uncomfortable but she''d manage.


    It''s not like she never had to sleep rough.


    ***


    Soft light poured in from the window, Riley groaning and clumsily turning onto her stomach, her face buried into the pillow as she desperately clung to any sleep she could get her hands on.


    Her exposed ears could catch the tiniest echoes of footsteps and sizzling, mind trying to stop herself from focusing on them so that she could hopefully snooze some m-


    *knock knock*


    The knocking wasn''t on Timmy''s door, but she still could hear it clear enough, Ella''s muffled voice following soon afterwards-


    "Riley? Time to get up, breakfast is ready!"


    Fuck this.


    She rolled onto her back and pulled the covers over her head, the bundled up mess covering most of her body well, with the exception of her bare feet, sticking out from inside the cloth burrito.


    A couple more muffled steps made Riley''s ears perk up as they walked up to Timmy''s door, followed by another-


    *knock knock*


    "Timmy? C''mon sweetie, get-" She heard Ella''s cooing stop with a croak of the door, followed by a couple more steps as she walked into the room, keeping quiet.


    Riley kept her breath for a moment as she awaited her saying something, before a far more urgent sensation broke her focus.


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    Her feet were being tickled.


    She flailed briefly under the covers, her mouth trying to latch and cough at the same time, making it sound like she was almost choking as she flung the covers away from here, looking up at endlessly amused Ella.


    "On one hand I want to ask how did you end up sleeping on the floor in Timmy''s room, but on the other hand I think I already know."


    With a groan Riley stretched her neck a bit, her entire back sore as she staggered onto her feet, looking down to see Timmy still fast asleep, a paw still outstretched out towards where she slept.


    "I can imagine it wasn''t the most pleasant experience?" Ella asked, some of the glee in her voice replaced with concern.


    "Covers don''t make for good mattresses, ugh..." Riley responded with a stretch, a pained huff escaping her lips as her back''s complaint only reinforced her comment.


    "I can imagine." Ella walked a bit closer and offered Riley a hug, graciously accepted as her daughter leaned into her, Ella''s paws moving onto her shoulder and applying some pressure in circles.


    Riley had no idea what that sensation was, but was definitely enjoying it, the soreness from the night before melting away under Ella''s touch. After a few more moments she let go, tapping Riley''s shoulder a couple times and helping her stand straight again.


    "Enjoyed the massage?" She followed up with a giggle, grinning gently at Riley''s tired smile.


    She nodded in return, rolling her back a bit until the rest of the aching subsided as Ella walked around her, leaning over Timmy''s bed and smooching the tip of his snout.


    "Timmy, get up~"


    He mumbled a bit and let out a tiny squeak, Ella giggling before she reached down for his neck, tickling it gently, the lil'' kit waking up with a laugh as he squirmed, his eyes opening up to look at his mom as he reached out for a hug.


    Ella giggled a bit as she knelt in front of the bed, reaching in and hugging he little kit, planting another smooch right on his forehead spot, Timmy smooching back in kind with a giggle before speaking up-


    "Good morning mommy!"


    "Good morning sweetie. How did you sleep?"


    Timmy turned towards Riley, letting go of his mom''s hug as he slipped down from his bed, waddling over and wrapping his arms around her legs.


    "He had a nightmare and knocked on my door to help take him to the bathroom, and then asked that I stay with him for the night, so, well, I did." Riley chimed in, smiling as she reached down and scritched the kit''s head.


    Ella smiled proudly at her as her daughter kept scritching Timmy''s head, reaching over to scritch hers in turn, a contented smile filling Riley''s face as she wiggled her head under the good touch.


    "Thank you so much Riley." She smiled warmly and hugged her one more time, reaching down to scritch her son herself.


    After a brief moment of Riley being multi-hugged, Ella chimed up with a happy tone-


    "Now that you''re all awake, time for some breakfast~"


    Before letting go of Riley, walking out of the room and urging the two kids to follow her, Timmy quickly letting go and racing behind his mom, his sister following him with a giggle.


    The moment she stepped out of Timmy''s room she smelled the breakfast being made, not able to place much beyond eggs, but even these were enough to get her tummy rumbling as she stepped downstairs.


    Rick was fixing up some more scrambled eggs in the kitchen, tail gently waving behind him as he fiddled with a wooden spatula. At the table sat Andrew and Lily, former mostly done with his portion. More aromas filled Riley''s nose as she helped Timmy to his seat and sat down herself, cheese and spring onion and garlic butter.


    "Morning Riley, morning Timmy!" Andrew chimed up as he looked up from his plate, Lily nodding with a slight smile at her sister, Riley returning the gentle greeting towards her and their older brother.


    "Hi dad!" The lil'' kit squeaked as Rick walked over to the table, holding the pan full of goodness and sliding the appropriate portions over to the newly awoken kids'' plates.


    "Morning you two sleepy beans. Had a rough night Riley?" Rick asked, noticing the bags under her eyes as she reached for her fork.


    "A bit, but I''m alright." She giggled, reaching over to ruffle Timmy''s hair just a bit before diving into her breakfast, noticing Ella having walked over to the basement, the furthermost door left open.


    After a brief internal shrug she paid it no further mind, digging into the plate, the smooth eggs almost melting in her mouth, the greasy warmth making her feel soft and welcome as she cleaned her portion, stabbing the golden chunks blindly as she closed her eyes.


    "Riley?" She heard Ella call from the other end of the ground floor, holding a pair of ice skates in her paw up high in the air.


    She slid out from under the table, getting up and walking over to the skunk mom, who quickly spoke up-


    "So, these are Andrew''s old ones, size 6. They''ve quite a bit of leeway as far as fitting goes, but I think they should be alright. Care to try them on?"


    Riley nodded and grabbed the battered skates, sitting on a nearby armchair as she slid her foot in, tying the absurdly long laces and getting a feel for the felt insides, smiling as they fit quite well.


    A few moments later she put on the other one, shakily standing up and getting a feel for how the thick skates felt to actually move in.


    "Not used to the weight?" Ella asked knowingly, Riley nodding as she lost her balance and half fell, half sat back down onto the couch.


    "Yeah, it can take a while to get a grip on how to move your legs with these things on, but you do get used to it quite quickly once you''re actually on the ice and moving."


    "Speaking from experience?"


    "Ha! Sit here just for a second and take them off, got something to show you-" Ella responded with a hint of laughter underneath, Riley slowly taking the clunky skates off and waiting for her to come back.


    She spared a glance over at the dinner table, Andrew and Rick already gone, or so she thought at least. She couldn''t quite make it all out with absolute certainty, but the two remaining blobs did look like Timmy and Lily. Kinda.


    "There it is..." Ella muttered triumphantly as she walked out of the basement, holding a slightly tarnished trophy and a large, laminated photo, passing the former to Riley.


    Riley looked at her in surprise as she grabbed the old trophy, turning it around to read the hefty plate at its base-


    ''''''


    CHAMPIONS OF THE ST.LOUIS


    COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL WOMEN''S


    HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP ''91


    ST.JUDE''S HIGH


    * JUDITH ACKINSON


    * ROSALINE MACTARRENS


    * JESSICA SMITH


    * HELENA NELSON


    * MARCELINE ALLEN


    * AMELIE JOHANN


    ''''''


    "See that ''Helena Nelson'' in there? Yeah, that''s me." Ella chuckled a bit, a hint of well deserved pride in her voice as she rotated the large photo towards Riley.


    Six hockey players gathered next to each other on the rink, with a sizable crowd in the back. The quality wasn''t the best, but young Ella was quite easy to make out, smiling widely as she held the trophy up high, a bit of her tail visible from behind her. The rest of the team was composed of a cat, a weasel, a ferret, and two humans, all five with their arms wrapped around each other shoulders, the weasel''s face a bit bloodied.


    The photo was emblazoned with ugly yellow letters in its lower left corner, proudly sporting ''11.17.91''.


    Underneath the photo there was a small handwritten note on the white margin-


    ''''''


    From the left: Mela, Judy, Ella, Jess, Rose, Marcy


    You did great girls, here''s to you all and everything that comes afterwards!


    ~Summer (coach, taking the photo)


    ''''''


    Riley smiled warmly at the memorabilia, passing the photo back as she asked-


    "What happened to the rest of them?"


    "Mela owns a flower shop, Judy went professional and had a decent run in a couple of teams before she retired, Rose is a cook at a fish joint, our coach Summer, well, still is a coach even in her seventies and Jess and Marcy... hah, they married each other." Ella reminisced with a warm smile, looking up at Riley.


    "But I''ve been going on for long enough, go finish your breakfast sweetie while I sharpen this pair, you couldn''t cut bread with these blades at this point." She remarked and tilted her head towards the table, Timmy the only one still left, his tail a bit puffed up.


    Riley nodded and sat back in her chair, cleaning the rest of the now cold eggs as she looked to the side at her brother, groaning a bit as he couldn''t finish his portion.


    "Is something wrong Timmy?"


    "I can''t eat anymore..." He whined quietly, looking up at her.


    "Then don''t, I can finish your portion if you want."


    "But I want to eat it!"


    She rolled her eyes a bit, wrapping up her portion as she offered-


    "How about you place the leftovers in the fridge, and once you''re hungry again we can heat it in the microwave?"


    He thought intensely for a good moment, eventually nodding strongly back at Riley. With a soft smile she grabbed both plates, placing his in the fridge before sliding hers in the dishwasher, managing to just barely find some space for it.


    After climbing back upstairs she went back to her room, putting on some actual clothes instead of just her night shirt and tattered track pants.


    As she wrapped up she reached for the underwear drawer, looking for a pair of thicker socks to make the inside of the skates comfortable. With a grimace she realized she didn''t get any while she was shopping with Rick, groaning as she reached to the bottommost drawer, grabbing an old but mostly hole-less pair of larger woolen ones, pulling the right sock on as she froze in place, feeling a piece of cold metal against the sole of her foot.


    She felt her fists clench and her breathing speed up, knowing exactly what she just felt. Her entire body stiffened as she pulled the sock off and reached into it, pulling out the old bronze coin, holding it in a tight fist, her hand shaking as old, buried emotions threatened to make her snap there and then. With a loud grunt she threw it against the floor with all her strength, the coin ricocheting around for a moment before ending up somewhere she couldn''t see, Riley sitting back on her bed, breathing hoarsely as she slowly calmed down.


    That was long ago. She doesn''t need it anymore.


    She never did.


    With a strong shake she cooled down enough to pull the sock back on, walking into the bathroom and washing her face, old anger flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks, quickly washed away with freezing cold water as she heard someone knock on her door.


    After drying her face off she walked up to the door, opening it to find mostly dressed Rick on the other side-


    "Oh good, you''re already dressed. We''re waiting downstairs for everyone to get ready and then we''re gonna head out, the lake is only ten or so minutes away from here. Grab your normal shoes as well, walking around in skates is very much not a fun experience."


    She nodded and quickly slid her sneakers on, running downstairs to find Lily and Andrew already dressed and waiting, holding their skates in their paws as Riley walked up to them, leaning against the table as Andrew spoke up-


    "Excited to learn how to ice skate?"


    "Sure I suppose, always looked quite fun if a bit painful."


    "Don''t worry, mom''s digging for her old gear, with that on all you''ll have to worry about is falling forward and not backwards. Even then, it''s not as bad as it looks, crashes like that don''t happen too often. His first time skating, Timmy only fell over a couple of times and didn''t even mind that much."


    "It helps he''s half my size." She responded a bit sarcastically, underestimating her skill at not falling onto hard ice.


    "And quarter of your coordination." Lily giggled quietly at this, Riley rolling her eyes before responding with-


    "Fair I guess. Been skating for long?"


    "Since we were Timmy''s age, mom taught us one after the other." Lily nodded in agreement, opening her mouth to speak but deciding otherwise halfway through.


    "What about Rick?" Riley noticed Lily''s air twitch a bit, probably unused to her dad being called by his actual name.


    "Mom taught dad as they dated in college. He told me once he finally fell in love with her when she grabbed him by the paw and just dragged him behind herself as she sped up around the rink, ended up going so fast he couldn''t see anything but her as they slowly slowed down and just held her until the dizziness went away."


    Riley smiled warmly at the old memory, Lily sharing her feelings with a wide grin as Andrew told the story.


    "You must have seen him to believe it, he got so scared he shook like the world was about to collapse around him." Ella giggled as she chimed in, walking out from the basement with a bundle of ice skating gear, Riley walking over.


    Lily giggled at that addition, the sound making Riley smile a bit as Ella pulled out the knee pads, kneeling in front of her daughter as she put them on securely, the safety gear feeling comfortable while still being very stiff.


    "Now the elbow ones..." Ella muttered to herself quietly, tail waving behind her as she strapped Riley up, securing the pads tightly before she stood up, admiring her handiwork.


    "There we go. Give me a moment to grab your skates, they''re in my room now, nice and sharpened." She chimed in before going upstairs, walking past Timmy as he waddled downstairs, holding his tiny skates in his paw, elbows and knees nice and padded.


    He turned towards Riley, taking a closer look at her before asking-


    "Where are your skates Riley?"


    "Your mom has them in her room, she''s gonna bring them down in a bit." She answered calmly, unable to help but smile as she looked at how adorable Timmy looked in all the tiny gear.


    "Why?"


    "Because she needed to sharpen them, they''re old and dull."


    "Why?"


    "Why not?" It was Lily''s turn to short circuit the kit''s mind, giggling loudly as he looked up at her, both head and tail tilted in confusion.


    He opened his mouth to respond, cut off by the sound of Rick walking downstairs, this time fully dressed, an ushanka on his head and a pair of very worn black skates in his hand.


    "Ready to tumble?" He asked with a chuckle towards Riley, the girl sticking out her tongue at him, much to Timmy''s amusement.


    "Darn right I''m ready." She answered with a playful smirk, cracking her knuckles as Ella walked down, a pair of skates in each hand, passing one to Riley with a smile.


    "Everyone ready?" Ella asked as she looked around the family, a wave of nods telling her everything she wanted to know.


    "Then off we go!"

 Chapter 15: Gliding Along

    The cold air was brisk and refreshing, Riley feeling as awake as she got as the whole gang walked outside, Rick locking the door behind them before they crossed the scarcely used road. She was briefly surprised that they didn''t even bother looking to the sides before stepping onto the asphalt, however a realization that in three days she''s been here she couldn''t recall seeing even a single car that wasn''t theirs quelled that doubt.


    On the other side of the road the group formed a line, following Rick as he pushed through the snow-obscured path, Riley wading up to her shins in the stuff as they made their way onto the other side of the field, into the treeline.


    The path was much more visible here, if less relevant, most of the snow resting on top of the tree crown, covering it in a thick layer, leaving the woods below deeply shaded.


    It felt surreal, walking through the darkness only illuminated by a handful of spots where the cover of needles wasn''t thick enough to support snow, blobs of sunlight lighting up the forest floor. They lit up the area nearby, including them as they walked nearby. The kits didn''t bother with following the dirt path anymore with not even an inch of snow to have to wade through, cutting corners through bends and turns.


    Timmy had to be constantly urged on as he tried to play with the beams of light, Riley giggling at the sight as he futilely tried to grasp what was causing them, and take one with him.


    After a few minutes of walking in mostly silence, only interrupted by an occasional giggle, they finally reached a large clearing, a frozen over lake filling most of it. A massive pine provided some shade, the ancient looking tree growing from the top of a small cliff over the water''s edge, the rest of the shore being much flatter and covered with a thin, patchy layer of snow, revealing the frozen sand underneath.


    Lily and Andrew took a knowing look at each other, grinning playfully as they ran up to the edge of the lake, quickly slipping out of their shoes and stepping into their skates. Lily waited in excitement for her older brother, and after he caught up a few moments later, they both looked ready to launch, tails a bit frizzled and waving.


    Riley looked over at them in confusion as she tied the massive laces of her own skates, Ella''s whistle snapping her out of it as the two racers took off, sprinting on top of the thick ice to the other side of the lake. Their tails were just a blur at this speed, but Riley did notice that they kept them mostly still during the dash. Andrew ended up winning by only a split second, at the cost of tripping and planting face first into the snow.


    "I won!" She heard him mumble through the white fluff as he picked himself up, Lily helping him out as Riley watched with a giggle.


    "Riley, you ready sweetie?" Ella called over with a smile, having already put her own pair in the meantime, standing on the ice with her arms crossed.


    She snapped out and stood up from the tree stump, her legs trembling as she tried to balance herself, her skates digging into the sandy shore. Even without the slipperiness of the ice Riley felt her enthusiasm melt, really wishing she wasn''t trying to stand on something as narrow as that.


    Ella got the clue immediately and slid over, reaching her paws towards Riley who immediately grabbed them, trying to stop herself from falling over as the skunk mom gently guided her-


    "Alright, take a moment sweetie, a deep breath, then try to make your stance a bit wider. Lift one of your feet a fair bit, move it a couple inches to the side, and put it down."


    Riley tried to follow her words as closely as she could, the uncertainty of every motion putting her a bit on the edge before she finally gathered the courage to lift her foot a bit. A second and three heartbeats later she''d managed to widen her stance considerably, Ella grinning at her before continuing-


    "There you go. Now try to take a couple of steps forward and step onto the ice, there''s some snow here so it won''t be horribly slippery."


    She nodded with quite a fearful expression, having to support herself on Ella quite a bit as she slowly walked onto the lake, step after a wobbly step. As afraid as she was of falling over earlier, it was nothing in comparison to this, her entire body trembling as she desperately hoped her legs wouldn''t give out from under her.


    "Well done!" Ella chimed in happily as they both were finally on the ice, Riley panicking just a bit at how they kept sliding ever so slowly despite not really moving anymore.


    "Now, bend your knees like I am right now and lean forward juuuust a bit, will help with your balance."


    Riley nodded shakily, leaning forward just enough to feel somewhat more stable, eyes going wide as Ella started gently tugging her forward. She seemed to be slowly gliding backwards without any issue, keeping up her reassuring smile as the two slowly made their way over to the small cliff, the tree roots giving Riley plenty to hold on to in case.


    "Alright, now let go of my paws and try to hold onto one of the tree roots with one p-, I mean hand, while still facing me, sound good?"


    Riley let out a shake to the contrary, even a single moment of having to balance on the knife''s edge like that sounded like a guaranteed crash.


    "You''ll have to trust in your balance eventually Riley. But alright, just let go of one hand and grab onto the roots, and once you''ve got a firm hold and feel steady let go of the other, does that sound better?"


    She answered with a hesitant nod, letting out a panicked whine as she let go of one of the paws, her arm waving like mad to try and keep herself from wobbling out of control. With a concerned look, Ella reached in and grabbed Riley''s wrist, moving it over to the roots which she immediately grabbed, her knuckles going white as she held onto the cold wood with all her strength.


    "Riley?" She asked with a firm but caring tone, the girl closing her eyes as she breathed through her mouth, trying to reign in her panic.


    Riley snapped her eyes open as she felt Ella''s paw press onto her shoulder, pushing her downwards. She opened her mouth out to protest before she was cut off-


    "Riley, knees!"


    She realized she was standing up straight, managing to force her knees to bed as low as they could, realizing with a relieved exhale that it did help a lot, terrified girl looking down at the lightly dusted ice and her own shaking legs.


    Ella gave her a moment to collect herself as she finally felt somewhat in balance, before reaching under her chin and gently pushing her head up until she was looking back at her.


    "Feeling a bit better?" She asked gently, Riley smiling a bit in embarrassment at her own freaking out.


    "Y-yeah, s-sorry-"


    "Shhh, it''s all fine. I should''ve slowed down a bit when I noticed you stressing out. I suppose the lesson zero of this whole thing is- ''You will fall eventually, everyone does, being afraid of it only hampers your own progress.''"


    Riley nodded slowly, the lesson certainly sounding true regardless of how anxious she felt at the sensation of not being in control.


    Can''t threaten a lake with a knife after all.


    "Are you ready to let go of me now?" Ella asked slowly, Riley taking a deep breath before letting go of her grasp, forcing herself to keep her knees bent, managing to balance herself in place.


    "There you go!" She followed up with pride in her voice, herself sliding a few meters back, to the edge of the small tree cliff.


    "Next step, let go of the root you''re holding, and try to balance yourself in place for a bit. Hold your arms at an angle away from your body but don''t move them to the front or back, like this-" Ella demonstrated with herself, holding her arms halfway between having them in a straight line with her shoulders and laying them flat against her sides.


    Riley tried to mimic her pose, realizing she was managing to keep herself up without much effort, smiling nervously at Ella.


    She knew how to stand, now to move on her own.


    "And now gliding, the fun part. Tilt one of your feet like this-" Ella moved her right foot slightly to the back, tilting it at a slight angle and holding it like that.


    The human tried to mimic her the best she could, sliding her foot just a bit to the baaaaAAA!


    With a gasp she realized she slid it back so far she completely lost the grip, completely throwing herself off balance and falling on her right side, managing to at least lower herself down on her knees as far as she could before falling onto the ice, the elbow pad absorbing a lot of the force.


    She honestly expected it to hurt much more, wincing a bit at the impact but not much beyond that. The realization was very welcome, since that was the part she was afraid of the most.


    "Everything alright?" She heard Rick ask, his voice calm and unbothered by her fall, which she honestly appreciated.


    "Y-yeah, guess I had to fall eventually, heh..." With a chuckle, she slowly picked herself up, sliding her skates underneath herself, pushing herself onto the blades with a solid thrust. Afterwards, she gradually lifted herself up by straightening her knees, taking deep breaths as she realized she was getting a hang of it.


    "Remember, slide your foot just a bit back and tilt it so that it won''t slide off like that." Ella reminded, smiling as Riley managed to recover completely on her own.


    Now much more confident, Riley managed to correctly replicate her stance, grinning at her own progress before the skunk mom spoke up-


    "And now push yourself off of it, to the side and not straight back. You got this Riley."


    She nodded and took a deep breath, tensing up and launching herself off, briefly losing her balance before just barely managing to pull her right foot back in line with the left one, taking in what had just happened as she slowly lost her speed, managing to glide over halfway over to Ella with just one push.


    "And now the other foot, keep going!"


    With some mental effort she managed to mirror her movements, reminding herself halfway through to look back up and see Ella backing off just a bit, giving her some space as she shakily slid over.


    "A-a-alright, w-what now?" Riley asked as Ella kept slowly sliding backwards, turning slowly as she kept her eyes on her daughter, a playful smirk sprouting on her snout-


    "Catch me!"


    After the initial moment of surprise Riley realized what was going on, chuckling at Ella''s shenanigans before resuming her glide- right and then left, then right, then another fall, then left and right, corners taken by the sheer force of will and a slight tilt of her body.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Ella kept just out of range, smirk growing into a grin as Riley kept chasing her, lip bit in anticipation as she gained ground on her ever so slowly, every glide feeling less and less chaotic.


    It seemed that the skunk mom was just as into their little chase as Riley, gracefully gliding backwards with her tail waving gently, forgetting to even look behind herself anymore, Riley spotting racing Andrew in the corner of her eye, who together with Lily were right on collision course with them, Riley only managing to force out-


    "Watch out!"


    Ella reacted instantly, stopping on the spot and launching herself forwards at Riley, so much faster than she thought possible for the middle aged skunk as they collided. Ella held Riley tight to not let her fall from the impact as the racing kits zoomed behind her, the annoyed mom shouting towards them-


    "Oi, maybe slow down a bit will you two?"


    The two guilty skunks slowed down in an instant, turning towards Ella with apologetic expressions, both responding nearly at the same time-


    "Sorry mom!"


    She shook her head and rolled her eyes before her annoyed scowl melted into mild amusement as she slid away from Riley, letting her stand on her own once more as she spoke quietly-


    "Well that''s one way to catch me, heh. That''s pretty much all for the bare basics, most of the stuff that comes afterwards is just practice. Which these two have had in abundance, so don''t worry about being slow or anything."


    "Oh don''t worry, I''m certainly not thinking about racing neck in neck with them anytime soon, looks like a prime opportunity to get your face ground into the ice at fifty miles per hour."


    "That''s quite overly dramatic, stuff like that didn''t even happen in our scrims with the boy teams, and lemme tell you they knew how to be fierce."


    "Except you all knew how to land and not break your face."


    "You do too, it''s a natural reflex and not some arcane hockey skill. Even the worst crash I''ve ever seen, which was Lily''s when she was six, all she did was break her nose."


    "Alright..." Riley had no real grounds for a response, having to admit she was unreasonable to herself, despite hating it.


    With a brief shake of her head she looked around to see what the rest of the family was doing, Lily literally running circles around Andrew as they seemed to talk about something, Rick slowly gliding along with Timmy as they held hands.


    "Since you showed off your trophy, guess it''s only fair for me to ask why did you stop with a track record like that?" Riley spoke up and turned back towards Ella, who was busy smiling in Timmy''s and Rick''s direction.


    Ella looked towards her in mild surprise, expression quickly morphing into that of sadness and regret.


    "Well, I hadn''t, at least not initially. Joined the college team, had quite a good run in my first year, and then, well..."


    "Do you need a moment Ella?" Riley asked earnestly, having learned something from Rick thankfully enough.


    "Don''t worry, it''s just something I thought I already had behind me. Guess that reminiscing from before proved that no, I still haven''t put it to rest."


    "Did you have an accident?"


    "Yeah. There was no vest that was quite my size, so I had to wear one a size smaller. Uncomfortable but I managed until then. Guess that one size difference was enough for there to be an unprotected spot on my lower back, and when the puck hit right there during a practice, well... a cracked vertebra."


    "D-darn, I''m so sorry, that sounds awful..."


    "Oh it was, easily the most pain I''ve ever been in in my life. I gave birth to Andrew without anesthetics and even that didn''t even compare to getting my spine whacked like that. Even on all the drugs they gave me it was still miserable."


    Riley nodded slowly, unable to relate but definitely feeling the weight of her words.


    "Guess the only upside was a hefty insurance payout from the college and the fact that Rick would visit me on a daily basis for a month to help me with the physical therapy while I learned to walk again. And cuddle and... do other things, heh..." Riley saw her giggle with a deep blush at that last addition, joining in with a chuckle as she decoded what Ella meant.


    "But all that was almost thirty years ago now, I''m all good now aside from bending over and crouching hurting a bit. And being just a tad bit lazier because of that, hehe."


    Riley smiled warmly at that, relieved to hear that Ella wasn''t dealing with any sort of chronic pain as a result of her accident.


    "Riley!" Her head snapped to the side as Timmy slowly glided over, reaching out towards her.


    She slowly turned and carefully reached her hand out to grab Timmy''s as he slid even closer to her, smiling in tyke excitement as he looked up at her.


    With a glance back towards Ella, who was currently busy being gently held and kissed by Rick, she spoke towards Timmy-


    "Hey, wanna check out what Lily and Andrew are doing?"


    "Yeah! Can we skate?"


    She smiled down at him in return, carefully balancing herself as he kept tugging on her arm, each glide a bit shakier because of that, but also more satisfying when she managed to keep going without crashing.


    That is, at least until a sudden gust of wind blindsided her, making her let go of Timmy as she was thrown off balance, bending her knees as much as she could before toppling over, the second crash quite a bit harsher than the first one, making her ''Ow'' loudly at the dull ache in her side.


    "Riley, are you alright?" She looked up in surprise as Lily slid over to her, crouching a bit as she extended her paw towards her, helping her stand up.


    "Y-yeah, thanks Lily, d-don''t worry, ugh..." She winced at the pain in her side before shaking it off, forcing out a smile towards her sister as Timmy slid over as well, looking up towards her-


    "Lily, can you skate with meeeee?"


    "Sure!" She answered with a giggle and a sly smile, gliding a bit backwards, Riley recognizing the move-


    "If you can catch me!"


    Timmy immediately glided forward at that, Lily sliding just out of his reach, Riley getting a sly idea as she chimed in towards her younger brother-


    "I''ll catch Lily for you!" -and started gliding herself at her sister, the lil'' skunkette briefly surprised before managing to dodge her with a giggle, grinning at them both as she turned around and started skating away, much faster than they could reach even with their speeds combined.


    Nevertheless, they kept gliding on towards her, Riley smiling as she pushed Timmy forwards at every opportunity she had, Lily far too deft to let them even come close. After a couple minutes Timmy finally realized his inadequacy, whining towards his sister with-


    "Hey, that''s not fair!" -and sticking out his tongue at her, grumpily folding his arms.


    "You have Riley to help you!" Lily responded, braking quickly.


    "But she''s slow!"


    Riley couldn''t help but chuckle at his straightforwardness, an idea popping into her mind as she turned in Andrew''s direction, urging him to slide to her with a gesture, sliding as closely as she could before whispering in his ear-


    "Andrew, help Timmy catch Lily!"


    He caught on instantly, grinning back before skating over to the other two siblings, positioning himself behind Lily who still kept bickering with Timmy.


    Riley glided her way back as Andrew sprung to action, speeding up behind Lily and grabbing her by the arms, the surprised girl reacting with a small scream as she was pushed forwards, Andrew braking together with her right in front of the tyke, Timmy realizing it was his moment to act as he leaned in, poking Lily on the tummy before grabbing her hand.


    "Caught you!"


    Lily was almost ready to give Andrew an earful for doing something like that before she realized what it was for, groaning loudly in defeat and holding Timmy''s hand back, starting to glide once again with him in tow, the little skunkie excited at such speed.


    The big brother slid back towards Riley, raising his paw for a high five with a wide smile at their little play, his sister chuckling as she returned it before being thrown off balance by another cold gust, Andrew managing to catch her before she fell over in an impromptu hug.


    Before she could even get a word in edgewise he let her go, her surprised expression turning into a soft smile.


    "Thanks Andrew."


    "You''re welcome sis. Enjoying the skating so far?"


    "Yeah, it''s been alright, tho my feet hurt a fair bit already, ugh."


    He looked at her concerned, calmly responding-


    "Uh oh, that shouldn''t be happening. You probably need better fit-"


    "No, no, don''t worry, this happens even when I''ve just been walking for a while, it''s just normal for me."


    "That makes it even worse if anything. You should probably have your feet checked when we go to the doctor tomorrow, had a human classmate in middle school that complained of something similar and it turned out to be something medical."


    "Fine." She responded quickly, looking away with an irritated expression.


    "What''s wrong Riley?" He shrugged off the biting response and kept the soft, concerned tone.


    She took a deep breath and looked back towards him, feeling bad for snapping back at him.


    "Guess it''s just... I hate feeling like there''s something wrong with me." She admitted with a sigh, both to him and to herself.


    He walked a bit closer, extending his arms for an actual hug and smiling softly, Riley taking the offer and letting herself get held for a moment.


    "Having an issue like that or needing some help at times doesn''t make you a worse person in *any* way, we''re not fighting for survival in a jungle where stuff like that actually matters."


    Not anymore, at least in her case.


    "And I think I''ve had my own share of skating already as well, definitely wouldn''t be opposed to heading back home and grabbing something to eat." He followed up as he let go of her, skating over to his parents.


    She took a look around, spotting Timmy holding onto Lily''s legs, the girl looking a bit flustered as she had to balance herself with her legs essentially tied, Riley slowly gliding over to find out what was going on.


    "Timmy, please let go, I know I went too fast but if you''ll keep holding my legs I can''t take you back to the shore!"


    He whimpered in response, continuing to hold onto his sister as Riley skated over and prodded his shoulder, the lil'' kit turning around to hold onto her leg instead.


    "T-too fast..." He muttered out, Riley looking down at him, stuck between feeling sorry for the tyke and being amused by his silliness.


    "Alright Timmy, just a few more steps and then no more skating, is that okay?" She spoke slowly, her brother calming down enough to take her hand instead of her leg.


    She looked up with a smile, noticing Lily''s guilty expression, feeling sorry at the distress she''d caused her lil'' brother. Riley beckoned her over with a gesture as they all slid over towards the rest of the family, Ella turning towards the fresh arrivals and asking them as a group-


    "Wanna head home?"


    Timmy answered with a shrill ''Yeah!'', the two sisters quietly nodding in agreement soon after.


    The skunk mom nodded firmly at them, tilting her head to signal to the kits to follow her as they walked back onto the coast, finding their shoes and quickly slipping back into them, Riley''s feet letting out a wordless sigh of relief as she slipped them out of the heavy skates, the soft sneakers feeling so much better.


    After a few minutes to locate Timmy''s shoes, which blended in with the snow and the white sand almost too well, the gang started walking back the way they came, the way home taking a fair bit longer due to all the exhaustion, the adults and almost-adult at the front chatting with each other, with Riley and the two kits following in the back.


    As they slowly walked on, Riley glanced over at Lily, noticing that she still kept her ashamed look, the older sister taking a deep breath before walking over to Lily, who immediately noticed with a raised eyebrow.


    "Everything alright Lily?" She spoke up quietly, keeping up a slight smile.


    The smaller skunk thought deeply for a moment, before responding-


    "I was way too fast with Timmy and ended up scaring him a lot, and now I feel rotten because of that..."


    "Why not just apologize to him?"


    Lily looked a bit caught off guard, an embarrassed expression only intensifying.


    Seems like she could use a prod in the right direction.


    "Timmy, can you cmere for a moment?"


    Little kit''s ears perked up at the mention of his name, quickly running towards the two sisters.


    Lily got her cue, and took a deep breath before crouching and speaking up to her brother-


    "H-hey, Timmy, I''m sorry for going so fast and scaring you back there-"


    He cut her off with a soft hug, reaching up to gently pet her hair.


    Riley couldn''t help but coo at the adorable display, reaching down to gently ruffle his hat-covered hair, the lil'' kit giggling as Lily stood back up, looking relieved and just as amused as Riley.


    With a quick glance she realized the front of the group had walked quite a ways off in the meanwhile, tapping Lily and Timmy on the shoulder as she jogged forward, the two skunks catching up to her and the rest of the family as they stepped back onto the white field.


    A couple minutes later they were finally back home, the clearly visible path causing much less trouble the second time around, most of the snow kicked to the sides.


    With a shudder, Riley slipped out of the chilly jacket and shoes, quietly thankful as she saw Rick walk towards the fireplace and start a gentle fire, herself quickly leaping onto the couch, warming her extremities with the ambient warmth.


    Andrew followed her not long after, taking a more direct approach in laying down on the rug right in front of the fireplace, tail sliding just a bit closer to the flames.


    Riley giggled before looking over to the side, seeing Ella and Rick doing something in the kitchen as Lily helped Timmy take his shoes off, lil kit running over the moment he was freed, taking a spot right next to his older brother, Andrew holding him gently as they both warmed up.


    After taking off her own cold clothes, Lily ran up to them, taking a seat on the couch as well, prime areas in front of the fireplace taken up by her brothers, leaving the second best place, next to her sister.


    "Riley?" She spoke up quietly, the older sister smiling back towards her and lifting her brow.


    "T-thank you for that." Her soft voice was dripping with gratitude, Riley feeling honored despite her fairly simple action.


    After a moment, she wordlessly slid a hand behind Lily''s shoulders, her tail feeling wonderfully soft as it brushed her forearm. The younger sister got the message, leaning into Riley and wrapping her arms around her, laying her furry cheek on her shoulder as her older sister pulled her in.


    "You''re welcome Lily."


    Riley leaned into the gentle hug and the soft sofa, the comfy warmth making her drowsy in Lily''s arms.


    By the time the parents arrived with the hot cocoa she was fast asleep, together with her sister next to her and the two boys at the front. With a quiet giggle, Ella poked Rick with her elbow and pointed upstairs, herself first grabbing a couple of thick blankets to cover her napping kids with, before joining her husband in their room, locking the door just in case.


    Guess one thing all the Ashers knew was the importance of a comfy, warm nap in someone else''s arms.

 Chapter 16: And All the Rest

    Riley woke up slowly, stirring underneath her blanket as the sleep''s comfy grip gradually let go of her. After a few minutes of tossing around in the warm, welcoming darkness she finally forced her eyes open, dimly glowing embers in the fireplace catching her attention.


    After taking a glance around the living room, she realized she was alone now, the three kits having since left. There was someone in the kitchen, but she couldn''t quite figure out who it was, and was too drowsy to care much.


    Andrew seems to have had enough courtesy to add his blanket on top of Riley''s, the human girl leaning over and laying down on the entirety of the couch, taking in the ambient warmth as she slowly woke up from her nap, sore legs providing additional motivation to stay in bed.


    With a stretch and a yawn she finally opened her eyes fully, wiping the sleepiness from her eyes before tossing the blankets to the side and sliding her legs off the couch. A few wobbly pushes later, she managed to stand up, walking towards the kitchen, finally making out Ella chopping some cabbage.


    "Slept well?" She asked with a giggle, Riley noticing her tail was quite frizzled but not making much of it, groggily responding-


    "Yeah, I''m alright... need help with dinner?"


    "Don''t worry sweetie, I''m just wrapping this one up, how''s a sour stew sound?"


    "Guess it''s a nice change of pace, heh..." Riley remarked half heartedly, walking over to the sink and washing her face awake with some cold water.


    "Mhm! But that''s tomorrow, today we''re gonna be finishing up the mac and cheese from yesterday. For soooooome reason, I think you won''t mind, heh..."


    Riley blushed a bit, embarrassment from yesterday''s dinner lighting up once more before Ella continued-


    "Oh, don''t worry, nothing to be embarrassed about. There''s some cocoa on the table, cold now but you can reheat it in the microwave."


    After walking back to the table and straining her eyesight, Riley just barely managed to make out the black cup in the dark. Having gently picked it up, she took a sip of the cocoa, and had to stop herself from drinking it all at once, really curious to see how better it could get after heating it.


    As she watched the dark brown cup spin slowly on the glass plate, the hum filling her ears, she took a deep breath through her nose, letting out a quiet moan as she stretched her arms, her lil'' exercise interrupted as she smelled something... stronger in the air. It was not unlike like the previous omnipresent scent she was already used to, but more intense and much more noticeable.


    She was about to ask Ella for an explanation, before the quiet ding of the microwave derailed her train of thought, the groggy girl reaching in and grabbing the quite hot cup before taking a sip.


    The taste of sweet chocolate flowed down her throat, warming up her entire body, any doubts melting away as her shoulders relaxed. A sip turned into a gulp, which then turned into downing the entire cup in one go, Riley feeling downright cuddly from the sweet warmth, a sensation as welcome as much as it was one she was unused to, except maybe in the earliest memo-


    No. No going back there.


    With a soft shake she lowered the cup down, reaching down towards the dishwasher at the sad realization that there was no more sweetness to drink, Ella stopping her on the spot-


    "Oh, the dishwasher just finished before you got up, full of clean dishes right now. Feel free to put the cup in the sink for now, just this one time. Enjoyed the cocoa?"


    Riley nodded with a bit of a guilty smile as she placed the cup inside the ceramic sink, reaching up to fill it with warm water, taking a moment to try and figure out how the weird looking faucet worked. She was used to cheap rubbery ones with separate knobs for hot and cold water, not to... what ever this one was. It had a single handle and that''s it, the girl confused as to how to even turn it on.


    She tried tilting it to the side, which had seemingly no effect. After a moment of confusion, she tried wiggling it around, managing to somehow push it upwards on accident, getting a trickle of water. With some more experimenting, she figured out that she had to tilt it upwards to turn it on.


    After pouring some water into the dirty cup, her hand reached through the water stream to turn the faucet off, which only resulted in her letting out a painful yielp as nearly boiling water splashed on the back of her hand.


    Ella caught on in an instant, yanking the handle all the way to the other side before grabbing Riley''s wrist, pulling it under the running stream of now thankfully freezing cold water, burning and redness slowly subsiding.


    "Shhhh, all''s fine now, sorry for not telling you about the sink earlier. How''s your hand?"


    After a moment of surprise Riley realized what Ella did, thanking her with a slight exhale, speaking up-


    "D-don''t worry, just feels a bit numb..."


    "Hopefully it''s just a slight burn... goddammit, should''ve fixed that thing long ago, we all got used to not turning it all the way right, and got lazy, ugh. I''m so sorry Riley..." Ella looked guilty and angry at herself for letting this happen, despite it being such a minor thing.


    "H-hey, I''m all fine, really. Should''ve asked fir-"


    "Hell no, it''s your house Riley and you deserve to feel good and safe in it, without worrying that a random appliance will scald your hand. You know what, fuck this, tell Rick to bring me my toolbox and I''m gonna get that dealt with right away." She sounded more determined than Riley has ever seen her, anger solidifying into a concrete drive.


    Riley nodded almost turning to walk away before realizing that Ella still held her hand tight under the cold running water, following up a bit quieter-


    "After dealing with the burn. Hold your hand here for a moment and give me a minute-"


    She tossed the chopped cabbage into the cast iron pot and walked deeper into the room, turning on the rest of the lights and entering the white bathroom, walking out a few minutes later with a small tub of some cream.


    After letting Riley cool her hand for a few more minutes and putting the heavy pot into the oven and turning it onto the lowest setting, Ella finally turned off the water, carefully wiping Riley''s hand clean with a paper towel and applying some of the cool cream, the leftover tingling sensation quickly fading.


    "Feels better?"


    Riley nodded, flexing her hand a bit as the moisturizing cream absorbed into her skin.


    "Y-yeah, t-thank you."


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Now go get Rick to bring me my toolbox and try to spare your hand a bit."


    The girl nodded, turning to walk upstairs as she saw Ella empty out the compartment under the sink and throw her sweater onto one of the chairs, looking down at her sink with determination on her face and a white sleeveless shirt on her torso.


    She was about to knock on the parents'' door before catching some racecar noises coming from the play room. She turned to head over there before catching another whiff of the same stronger smell she sniffed next to Ella, two and two slowly coming together before being cut off by Andrew mumbling something loudly in his room, his raised voice noticeable enough to throw Riley off despite being muffled by the door.


    With a brief shake, she head over to the play room, and sure enough, Rick and Timmy were busy racing against Lily, the lil'' kit excited and giddy despite the room only being illuminated by the large TV.


    Dad and son seemed to be winning despite the sister riding an identical car, a sight that made Riley smile at their excitement as she quietly leaned on the back of the cough, spectating the race.


    After Timmy and Rick finally drove through the finish line and the little kit erupted in happy squeaks, Riley walked over to the entrance and turned on the lights, the three previous occupants cringing briefly as their eyes adjusted before turning towards her, Timmy sliding off of Rick''s lap and running up to hug Riley''s legs before she even realized, chuckling at the feeling of being hugged once more.


    "How''d you sleep Riley?" Rick asked calmly, reaching his arms up to stretch with a yawn.


    "I slept well, thanks for the blankets, heh." She smiled at Lily, who responded with a quiet giggle, soft blush filling her cheeks.


    "Oh, that was mom''s idea, heh."


    "Speaking of, she told me to tell you to bring her her toolbox."


    The smile flushed from Rick''s face as he thought through what could''ve caused such a reaction, quickly getting up and jogging towards the stairs, fluffed up tail following him as he abruptly ground to a halt, turning around and dashing into his room.


    Riley didn''t pay that much mind as she walked around to take a seat on the couch, Timmy quickly following up, snuggling between her and Lily. after climbing up.


    She was about to reach out for the gamepad and suggest some races before Rick calling out cut her off-


    "Catch!"


    The blur in the corner of her eye almost made her start punching at the sight before the message was parsed by her brain, Riley just barely catching the small box before it crashed onto her lap, Rick already gone by the time he turned her head towards him to ask what was the purpose of that.


    "What is it?" Timmy asked excitedly as Riley took a look at the small box, turning it around in her hands as she looked for any markings or writing. It was quite heavy, there probably was some metal inside.


    "I''ve no clue..." Riley remarked, lifting the box a bit further up, realizing a part of it could be slid out of the outer packaging, Lily gasping quietly as she realized just what Riley was holding.


    She almost turned over to ask Lily what it was that Rick felt so important to give to her before the smaller box fully slid out, Riley''s surprised expression dimly reflecting in the phone''s screen as she looked down at it, confused for a good long moment before the realization hit her.


    A phone... for her?


    She slowly pulled it out of the box, a pair of earphones and a small black angular object hidden underneath, curious in their own right, but right now only a distant consideration next to the phone.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Riley held it gently in her hand, unsure what to even do with it. That thing was easily worth more than her, the thought making her gulp in anxiety.


    "Why did Riley get a phone?"


    Good question Timmy, good question.


    "Well, I have a phone and she''s older than me, so it''s obvious she deserves one as well." Lily responded, sounding a bit irked by the lil'' kit''s question.


    "But I want a phone too!"


    "We''ve been over this Timmy, both me and Andy got ours when we were nine, and you will as well."


    "But I want one now!" He whined at his sister, folding his arms in grumpiness.


    "You can''t even read." She responded while barely holding back a chuckle at his toddler frustration.


    "Yes I can!" Timmy responded loudly, sounding almost hurt by the accusation.


    Lily rolled her eyes and pulled out her own phone from her pocket, quickly pulling up what looked out like a blank white canvas, writing out in block letters-


    ''''''


    TIMMY IS A


    DUM DUM


    ''''''


    "Alright sport, what did I just write?"


    She brought the phone in front of his eyes, Riley stifling a giggle at the words as Timmy focused as hard as he could, trying to decipher them.


    "Tee... I... Mmmmm... Timmy! Hey, that''s me!" He lit up, Lily genuinely looking impressed as he read on.


    "Is... Ayy... what''s an A?"


    Riley couldn''t hold back any longer, breaking into giggles at what was taking place next to her, Lily eventually joining her as Timmy asked confused-


    "What are you laughing at Riley?"


    "Mmmkhm-n-nothing, keep reading!"


    Timmy looked back at Lily''s phone, lowering his sight a bit and focusing on the second line, mouthing out the letters-


    "Dee... You... Mmm... Dee... You... Mmm..."


    He focused deeply on the letters, his brain firing on all cylinders as he tried to combine them together into words, an eureka moment lighting up his expression before the actual meaning of the letters made him whine angrily-


    "Hey! Mom told you not to call me that!"


    "I''m sorry..." Lily sounded apologetic, taking her phone away and turning away from her brother''s angry gaze.


    Riley noticed his tail puff and bristle out a fair bit, while hers kinda tried to hide itself behind her cowering body. Deciding that she should probably step in to defuse the situation-


    "Hey, Timmy, wanna help me out with my phone?"


    His ears perked up at the question as he turned towards his other sister, leaning up on her thigh towards the phone she was still holding. A moment of thought later he looked up at her, asking curiously-


    "Why do you need help with it?"


    "Well... I''ve never had one, I don''t really know what they do." She responded as truthfully as she could, a bit taken aback by his question.


    "But you''re sixteen!"


    "Fifteen. And what about that?"


    "Why have you never had one?"


    "Because nobody gave me one?"


    "Why didn''t your parents give you one?"


    Riley''s playful grin cracked into a grimace, and she had to place the phone down on her lap as her fists clenched and body shook.


    "Timmy!" Lily cried out at his insensitive question, the lil'' kit looking a bit anxious between Riley''s obvious change in mood and Lily calling him out like that.


    "I''m sorry!" He called out, clearly scared, his shrill voice breaking through Riley''s foul mood before she reached over and pulled him into a gentle hug, calming both him and herself down.


    "Shhh... it''s all fine..." Her voice was a bit raspy as she breathed deeply, her body gradually unclenching.


    "It''s just... my parents were bad people Timmy, alright?" She followed up, eyes closing as she let old grudges slip out of her, not focusing on them.


    "But... why?" He asked in response, sounding almost defeated.


    "I wish I knew." She responded with a whisper, sighing to herself before looking up at Lily, who was no less affected by her outburst despite her age, reaching her arm up and pulling her into the group hug as well.


    "But that''s all in the past now. So, wanna help out with my phone?" Riley asked them both, wiping the grimace off her face with a slight shake, replacing it with a tentative smile.


    Lily nodded eagerly and got up, taking a seat right next to Riley on her other side as she lifted her newly received phone up, staring at it blankly.


    "So, first you''ll have to unlock it, there''s a button on the side right here-" She reached her paw behind the phone, pressing the slight bump on the side of the smooch device.


    The screen momentarily lit up, displaying some text on the dark background-


    ''''''


    ???   | ?? LTE ??47% 8:14PM


    --------------------------


    18th Sept 2019


    8:14PM


    Swipe up to Unlock


    ''''''


    "So, that''s the lock screen. I... take you haven''t used touch screens before?"


    "Or even regular screens for the most part, heh."


    "Hmm... alright then, place one of your fingers down here where the ''Swipe up'' thing is written."


    After considering what did Lily mean by that for a moment, she decided to just press on the text with her thumb, figuring that''s what ''touch screens'' meant.


    "Now just move it up halfway up the screen and then let go."


    Riley slowly slid her thumb upwards, filling up some sort of a bar on the left side of the display, lifting up her thumb once it was filled, the screen changing after what she assumed was unlocking it.


    "There you go, well done Riley." Lily chimed in earnestly as the older sister took a look at the unlocked screen.


    The black background was replaced with the door to her unfinished room, a ''Riley'' name plate near the top identifying the phone''s owner. The bottom of the display was filled with a handful of icons, not unlike what she remembered from the computer class, but obviously different. ''Phone'', ''WhatsApp'', ''Camera'', ''Chrome'', only one of those sounded vaguely recognizable, and it wasn''t the metal.


    "Knowing Dad he''s already put all our numbers onto your phone, press the ''Phone'' one and then press ''Contacts'' near the top."


    Riley was briefly confused by the instructions, but eventually managed to find the relevant button on the screen, bring brought to a list to all the numbers-


    ''''''


    * ..Dad (Rick)


    * ..Mom (Ella)


    * .Andrew


    * .Emergency


    * .Lily


    * Liz Asher


    * Marvin Asher


    * Arthur Nelson


    * Nica Nelson


    * Sophia Nelson


    * Wilma Nelson


    * Kate Saughton


    * Izzy Tate


    ''''''


    "That''s a lot of people I don''t recognize..." Riley remarked offhandedly, having no idea where to even start.


    "Yet!" Lily giggled, checking where there weren''t any more numbers hidden deeper down, before speaking up again-


    "So, the two Ashers that aren''t us are Dad''s parents-" She pointed at Liz and Marvin with a claw, tapping them each to bring up their photos.


    Marvin looked like the coolest grandpa in existence. Aviators, lush silver beard that reached beyond the frame of the photo, hair similarly tied up in a black and white bandana, more of it than she thought it was possible for someone this age. And of course, wide grin stood out on his visibly sun charred face, looking like he''d just finished telling a joke.


    Liz on the other hand was caught giggling on her photo, lifted cheeks and closed eyes straightening out most of her wrinkles. Judging by the choice of the photos, this seemed like a fairly common scenario, Riley unable to help but to crack a slight smile. Tired black skin gave way to a flurry of white curly hair, and aside from a touch of eye shade she was unable to make out any other accessories or makeup.


    "And a fun thing about their photos-" Lily passed her sister''s phone back to her, fumbling with her own for a moment before pulling out a photo. Riley''s suspicions that both of them were taken from the same source, the old couple sitting on the opposite sides of a table at some bar.


    Riley giggled at the realization before bringing her phone back up and asking-


    "What about the rest of these people?"


    "Mom''s side of the family. Arthur and Sophia are her parents, and the rest her sisters."


    Riley went through the names one by one, checking out their photos. The grandparents didn''t have any, neither did Nica, but she was lucky with the other tree.


    Kate looked much like Ella, if a bit leaner, and with her forehead spot replaced by two narrow stripes running in parallel. Riley couldn''t make much beyond that and her making a peace symbol with her paw, the photo was much too low quality.


    Wilma seemed like someone who heard of the concept of a ''punk skunk'' and went all the way with it. Her fur was heavily dyed, a thick purple stripe running from her nose to her hairline, the hair itself dyed in an admittedly cool looking gradient between pink and violet, with a hefty amount of gel added in. Her nose ring made Riley question herself as to why she never even got her ears pierced, piercings like that looking absolutely awesome on her aunt. Along with the nose ring there were a couple of rings on each ear, and one on her left eyebrow.


    However, it was Izzy that really grabbed Riley''s attention. She looked slight and decently tall on the photo, sharing her older sister''s forehead spot and blue eyes. Face shape was also really close to Ella''s, with the only thing that really stood out being, well, the rest of her, covered in lighter brown fur, with the ordinarily white parts being noticeably creamy in color.


    Lily caught on to her sister''s surprise, chiming in-


    "First time seeing a brown skunk?"


    "Y-yeah, I thought you guys only came in black and white."


    "Well that''s most of us, but there are plenty of folks in all the shades of brown as well, all natural. Heck, not even the black and white skunks are pure black and pure white, there''s a lot of slight shades, just hard to see unless you have really good lighting. And sometimes there''s enough variation to make someone really stand out, heh."


    Riley listened closely at the explanation, an obvious follow up question pushing itself onto her tongue-


    "You ever just compare your shade of black with someone else''s?"


    "Heh, plenty times, especially when meeting more distant family and such. Love doing it with younger kits, since they don''t realize there are differences like that unless one of their parents is much lighter in color than the other one. Especially with Timmy when he was-"


    Riley turned to the other side at the mention of her younger brother, the lil'' kit having dozed off right next to her at some point. She cut off Lily with a quiet ''shhh'', reaching in to pick quietly groaning Timmy up, slowly carrying him back onto his bed, doing her best attempt at tucking him in and sliding his plushie next to him before almost closing the door, leaving it ever so slightly ajar to let some light in.


    As she walked out of his room, she noticed Rick going upstairs, carrying four bowls of reheated mac and cheese, smiling knowingly at Riley as he walked over, passing two bowls to her-


    "Take one to Lily, I''ll service the boys. How''s the phone so far?"


    "I... I don''t even know what to say. I-I''ve never gotten something like that from someone..."


    With a soft smile, he spread his arms wide, Riley taking the offer of a hug and holding him tightly, two bowls clanking behind his back.


    "T-thank you so much R-Rick..."


    "You''re welcome Riley. Treat it well and feel free to ask anyone of us for help, except maybe Timmy, heh." He giggled a bit as he let Riley go, the girl blinking away a couple of forming tears before running back to the playroom, laying the two bowls on the table in front of them.


    "Cheers." Lily thanked her softly, grabbing one of the bowls to eat as Riley sat down next to her, managing to unlock it once more, looking at the screen with a bit of a confusion, unsure what else to do with the thing.


    "So-" The younger sister spoke up again after finishing her bite- "The rest of these are WhatsApp, the app we use for messaging each other, feel free to open it and send something to Andrew, or else there''s no way in heck Dad will grab his attention for food."


    Riley opened it with a hesitant tap, a list of recipients showing itself to her, mostly just mirroring her saved numbers. She pressed on Andrew''s likeness, an on-screen keyboard popping up, awaiting a message to write.


    The human girl tilted her head in confusion, unsure how tactful she ought to be, Lily laying down her half-finished bowl and asking for Riley''s phone with a gesture. After receiving the phone from her uncertain sister she tapped up a message blindingly fast, slamming the ''Send'' button before passing it back to Riley who took a look at its contents-


    ''''''


    hey stinktail take off your headphones


    ''''''


    She grimaced at the message she got conned into sending to her brother, gulping and hoping that she could explain it somehow before the door to his room slowly opened to take the bowl of food from Rick, the skunk teen walking over to the play room, confusion on his face before he realized who Riley was sitting next to, sticking his tongue out at his younger sister, who repaid in kind as he head back to his room.


    After letting out a sigh at the situation getting defused, Riley picked her phone up once more and curiously tapped the camera icon. Her tired eyes opened up as she realized she was suddenly looking at her own lap, taking a moment to piece together the fact that it was just the feed from the rear camera, which was confirmed by waving the phone around, getting a sight of the rest of the play room.


    Lily noticed Riley''s discovery, speaking up in excitement-


    "Hey, wanna take a selfie together?"


    A what.


    With a tap on one of the icons the camera seemingly flipped around, the feed now coming from the front of the phone, proudly displaying a live feed of bemused Riley as she struggled to figure it out.


    Her sister helped her position the phone so that it caught them both, Riley tapping a large icon of a camera after they were done tweaking it, the phone confirming what it just did with a click, the recently taken photo popping up on the screen.


    Riley looked like she was off her rockers on something because of her expression, and Lily was caught mid-yawn, the inside of a skunk''s mouth like that becoming another thing that Riley hoped not to witness again.


    With a giggle, her sister stood up, stretching a bit and speaking up- "Guess that''s my cue to get going. Remember to charge it overnight and feel free to explore the rest of the phone, just try not to call anyone on accident, heh."


    She nodded in acknowledgment as Lily turned around and head to her room, the half finished bowl of macaroni in her hands. Riley followed soon after, heading to her room and quickly downing her portion, with nobody else around to make her feel bad for devouring so much food so quickly.


    A few moments later and she was under her covers, light turned off, her pale face illuminated brightly by the screen of her phone, held above her eyes. While she had no idea what the ''Chrome'' thing was, a few moments of experimentation made her realize that it was just another way to access the internet.


    And such, a few moments of experimentation stretched suddenly into a few hours of browsing the vast and unknown digital ocean, Riley''s tired eyes only getting some rest after the battery had run out, the girl not able to be bothered to get up and sort out the charger, sliding the dead phone next to her knife under her pillow as the midnight took her.

 Chapter 17: Checks and Balances

    *knock knock*


    "Riley, get up, breakfast''s ready!"


    Ugh.


    She groaned loudly into her pillow after being knocked out of a way too short sleep, having to prevent herself from immediately falling asleep again by throwing her covers off her bed.


    The morning sun blinded her eyes as she took a glance at the window, forcing her to toss in the opposite direction, which promptly resulted in her rolling off the bed, the fluffy rug thankfully absorbing most of the impact.


    It still hurt, though.


    "Riley, you alright?"


    Ella''s voice brought her out of her confused ache, the girl slowly scrambling onto her feet and pulling her pants on, sneaking her knife into her right pocket before walking up to the door, opening it slowly to find the skunk mom knocking on Timmy''s door, turning towards her as she exited into the corridor-


    "Woah, you look exhausted sweetie."


    "I am exhausted." Riley responded in a deadpan, nasal voice, the cold still refusing to clear itself.


    "Did something happen while you were asleep?"


    "I-I don''t think so..." She omitted the part in which she browsed the internet until her phone finally died at almost three AM.


    "Well, the bags under your eyes certainly tell a different story. But anywho, go grab your breakfast sweetie, we want to get the doctor squared away as early as we can."


    Riley nodded and slumped past her, rubbing her eyes as she walked down the stairs. After returning a wave to Lily and Rick as she stepped into the dining room, she noticed them eating cereal, the family sized box of the stuff as well as a large jug of milk taking the center of the table.


    After taking her usual seat and pouring herself a hefty bowl of cereal, she grabbed the half-empty milk jug and started to pour, sleepiness not letting her realize that a filled bowl would fill much faster. The sleepy girl spilled a sizable amount of the stuff before finally grasping that fact, mouthing out a quiet ''Fuck'' before laying the jug down, shakily getting up to grab paper towels.


    "You alright there Riley?" Rick asked, sounding a tad bit surprised by her sudden clumsiness.


    "Just tired..." She answered, slurring her words a bit as she walked into the kitchen, noticing Lily''s ears perk up at her quiet swear, giggling internally.


    She walked back to the table, holding a handful of paper towels as a sudden voice from behind made her jump-


    "Morning Everyone!"


    After calming her heart and turning around to see a surprised looking Andrew staring at her with his fair share of confusion, she walked back to her seat and wiped the spilled milk from the table, placing the wet bundle next to her bowl, intending to throw it out after finishing with her breakfast.


    What Riley didn''t realize is that some of the milk had dripped from the table and onto the chair, a cold shock going through her body as she sat down on the stain.


    "Got up on the wrong foot Riley?" Her brother followed up, looking at her with some concern as he sat down himself.


    "More like on the wrong hour. What time is it?"


    "Just after eight." Rick chimed in, chuckling as he realized what happened to Riley, the latter giving him a stink eye.


    "Might have spent a bit too long on the phone..." She admitted quietly before crunching on a spoonful of cold cereal, the two siblings sharing their dad''s knowing giggle.


    "Hah, hope you at least plugged it in afterwards." Rick followed up, before wrapping his portion up and placing the bowl into the dishwasher, which seemed to have been emptied at some point last night.


    Riley froze up mid crunch, eyes going wide as she recalled her actions immediately before falling asleep, Lily catching on immediately.


    "Oops." Lily giggled knowingly, recalling from memory how her own first night with a phone went. Riley gave her a quarter hearted glare at her sister''s tease as she struggled to hold back a grin, knowing full that it was her fault on this one.


    "What oops?" Timmy squeaked out, still in his pajamas as he walked downstairs, Ella following him and helping the lil'' kit onto his seat before taking her own, looking quite groggy herself upon a closer glance as she poured the cereal into her bowl.


    After taking a look at Riley, who was currently busy utilizing the entirety of her higher brain functions to correctly aim the spoon into her mouth, Lily decided to fill in for her-


    "Riley forgot to plug her phone in for the night." The sister answered, the guilty party taking a minute to parse her sister''s words before she blushed softly, crunching through her breakfast.


    Ella looked at Lily and then Riley in surprise as she heard that, seemingly the only party not already aware of the gift she''d received from Rick.


    "Is something wrong mom?" Andrew asked, noticing Ella''s surprise.


    "No, nothing, it''s just that dad seemed to imply he meant it as a Christmas present more than anything, so now I''m as confused as everyone else it seems."


    A Christmas present? It took Riley a fair moment to realize what it actually meant, since the orphanage''s idea of a Christmas present was a handful of sweets for lunch and a piece of used clothes, given out almost at random. Of course, it''s not like Riley had never experienced an actual Christm-


    Stop.


    After taking a deep breath and unclenching her hand from the spoon, Riley sped up and soon wrapped up her breakfast, remaining wordless for the rest of the meal. She wasted no time before heading back to her room, changing into a clean pair of pants and looking for the phone case. Her moves became increasingly erratic, Riley only catching herself after letting out an angry grunt at not having found the box for all of one minute.


    This has to fucking stop.


    She couldn''t let herself get ticked off so much at mere mention of her pre-orphanage past, especially considering how easy was to anyone to bring up the subject on accident, or even just something that would lead her in that direction.


    Yes, she had plenty of unspent emotions and feelings about that time, about her mother, but there was no point in lashing out at the Ashers like that.


    They deserve better than that.


    They deserve better than her-


    *knock knock*


    The interruption stopped Riley''s loathing in its tracks, the girl slowly getting up and opening the door, Andrew standing on the other side, asking softly-


    "Everything alright Riley?"


    She was confused at his question, more so since she tried to suppress her outburst at the breakfast table.


    "Why wouldn''t it be?"


    "You have tears in the corners of your eyes and we all just heard you grunt loudly."


    Goddammit. Guess the hole in the floor is bidirectional in this regard.


    "W-well..." She sighed, knowing he''d seen through her, looking up at him in a mixture of embarrassment and inward anger at being caught like that.


    "Wanna talk about it?"


    "I''m... I''m not sure. It''s just something I should have moved past a long time ago, yet every mention of it still ticks me off and I''m afraid I''m scaring y''all with it." Riley admitted truthfully, some of the anger venting out.


    "I see. I''m not gonna pressure you on the specifics of course. Mom and dad chose not to tell us about your history and I''m respecting that, but it does sound like something you should talk about with someone at some point. Not to ''protect us'' from your angrier moments or something silly like that, but for your own sake, so that it''s not as much of a pain to you. Remember what we talked about on Monday?"


    "Y-yeah, I do... it''s just, its something I''ve been dealing with for a while, and I don''t know how much just some talking can do..."


    "A lot, believe me. So, so much, and I think I know who will be the most helpful person to talk to about this."


    "Lemme guess, Rick?" Riley replied quickly, not taking her brother fully seriously.


    "Close. His parents."


    Riley lifted her brow in confusion, the two crusty humans hadn''t struck her as particularly good makeshift therapists in their photos.


    "Why them?"


    "Because they already dealt with that once, with dad."


    Riley was brought back to her interview with Rick, and how just so similar his story was to hers, but so different at parts. And since he seemed to have improved from that, guess Andrew''s words did have some merit.


    "Besides, Gramma Liz worked as a child therapist before she retired, and she was bloody good at that. She... she was the first person I told when I hurt myself."


    She nodded in acknowledgment, the weight of his admission certainly skewing Riley''s opinion on using her grandparents as receptacles of her angst.


    "A-alright..."


    "You don''t have to Riley, of course you don''t, but you are hurting and we can tell."


    She gritted her teeth at this, realizing she''d been nowhere near as unnoticeable as she thought she has.


    "F-fine... I''m sorry."


    "W-what? You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for Riley, you don''t owe anyone an apology for ''daring'' to be in pain, or for struggling with things."


    "I''ve been unnerving everyone constantly..."


    "No you haven''t, that''s flat out not true. You could scare Timmy half to death with a bed cover ghost, and he''s still at his most clingy I''ve seen him while near you. He''s four, and even *he* can tell it''s not him you''re angry at. And so can the rest of us."


    The words ground slowly through her mind as she acknowledged their message, a fist clenching in an internal conflict before Andrew''s gentle hug cut through the Gordian Knot of Riley''s worries like a red-hot knife slicing butter.


    "T-thank you bro." She whispered out softly, returning the hug, managing to stop herself from tearing up as her cheeks dug into the shirt-covered fluff.


    "You''re welcome sis. Best we both start dressing up for the visit at the doc, the quicker that gets dealt with the better."


    She nodded in resolve, a soft smile lighting up her face as she let go of Andrew, who waved off as he went back to his room.


    After quickly dashing to the play room to grab the box with the charger, she focused on trying to figure out how the arcane device worked. One end went to the power socket, that was obvious enough, the issue was other, tiny end.


    She pulled out her phone from under the pillow, inspecting the shiny thing from every direction, trying to find a fitting hole for the wonky shaped peg.


    It took her seven flips of the phone to finally find the wide slot, and five rotations of the micro-USB plug later she got it in without feeling like she''d broke something, the display lighting up with an image of a battery filling up confirming her hopes.


    With a mad dash around the room, she caught up to the other siblings as far as degree of clothing left, running downstairs to grab the jacket and the shoes, otherwise ready to head off.


    Most of the family was already waiting for her, everyone sans Ella and Timmy congregated near the garage door, the groggy girl already feeling sleepy due to the warmth.


    Her eyes were already closing by themselves as she heard a loud whine come from the direction of stairs, half dressed Timmy seemingly trying to run away from Ella.


    With a quick dash Timmy was next to Riley, the scared kit immediately holding onto her leg before she knelt down next to him, asking softly-


    "What happened?"


    "I d-don''t want to get shots!"


    "Sweetie, I told you, you''ve dealt with your shots on our previous visit, there won''t be any more this time." Ella responded, clearly exasperated.


    "B-but what if there are some new ones?" The kit was clearly panicking at the thought, something which Riley would definitely empathize with. Nevertheless, it was important to get them dealt with, and her groggy brain managed to conjure something up-


    "Timmy, you don''t want to get Sniffles sick, right?"


    The little brother stopped wiggling for a moment as he thought deeply through her question, an uncertain answer coming out eventually-


    "N-no..."


    "Then you should take your shots if there are any, so that he won''t get sick from you. And if there will be any shots, how about you sit on my lap and I''ll hold you closely so that it doesn''t hurt?"


    She snuck a passing glance at Ella, who seemed to be a bit surprised but not at all disapproving of her efforts to get the lil'' tyke on board.


    "O-okay..." He gave her one good hug before letting go, running back to an impressed looking Ella as she took him back upstairs, Riley taking a good while to gather enough strength to stand back up.


    She got back to the rest of the gang, all sharing the skunk mom''s impressed expression, looking at Riley as if she''d just reigned a tornado under control.


    Or a four-year-old, same thing.


    "Well that was smooth." Rick admitted, the two siblings nodding slowly in admiration, Riley too tired to realize the significance of what she''d just done, just idly nodding in response.


    A few minutes and two dressed up skunks later, they finally entered the garage, the question of how do you fit six people in a five seat car answered as Andrew took the front seat, Riley squished in the middle of the back between Lily and Ella with Timmy on her lap.


    The drive to the clinic was... honestly, Riley had no idea, having fallen asleep almost the moment Rick turned the engine on. And while she had no real guarantee that a loud argument didn''t take place during her sleep, the fact that she didn''t wake up until they were already at the clinic made that unlikely.


    ***


    "Riley, get up, we''re here!"


    Lily''s squeak shook her out of her brief nap, an incomprehensible grunt escaping her lips as she looked around the by now emptied car and thankfully mostly empty parking lot beyond it.


    After fumbling with the buckle of her seatbelt for a solid way too long, she managed to stagger out of the car into the chill air, quickly following the rest of the family inside.


    She staggered along most of the family as they took seats next to one of the rooms, Rick doing something at the reception before coming back, announcing to Riley-


    "Alright, you''re gonna go in first Riley so that they can fill up a proper medical card for you. If you need anything just call, but I doubt I''ll be needed."


    With a half awake nod she acknowledged his words, or at least she thought she did.


    So tired.


    After forcing herself awake for an admirable three minutes, exhaustion started to claw at her once more, Riley struggling almost violently against it before she was finally granted some respite, a soft female voice calling over from the door-


    "Riley Asher?"


    The last name did make her smile a bit as she slowly got up before walking over to the door, a smiling anthro fox doctor urging her in with a gesture.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Take a seat sweetie. How are you feeling?"


    "Tired." Riley answered honestly, sitting down just a bit too strongly on the chair, losing her balance for a bit.


    "Uh-oh. Has this been going on for a while?"


    "No-no, just slept much less than I should have today."


    "I see. Did something happen?"


    "No, just got a bit caught up on the internet."


    The doctor chuckled knowingly, taking a look at Riley''s patient card before speaking up once more, a pen in her paw-


    "Alright, let''s start with the basics. Please give me your full name Riley."


    After taking a deep breath, managing to dig up her second name from the depths of her memory, too tired to get anxious over it once more, she answered-


    "Riley Mary W-, sorry, Riley Mary Asher."


    "That''s a nice pair of names. Now, your date of birth."


    "Sixteenth January, two thousand four."


    "Current age?"


    "Fifteen, almost sixteen."


    "What gender do you identify as?"


    Riley blinked in confusion, the question making her tilt her head.


    "W-well, I''m a girl..."


    "So, female it is. Have any health issues you''re dealing with right now?"


    "N-no, not to my knowledge."


    "Any allergies?"


    "Again, none to my knowledge."


    "Have you ever been checked for those?"


    "I don''t think so."


    "Alright, we''ll get that squared away some other time. That''s all the questions for now- well, at least all the general ones."


    "W-what do you mean?"


    The doctor sighed deeply, taking a moment to collect herself before going through the more awkward part of the questioning-


    "Have you had your first period already?"


    Oh. That kind of specific questions. Just fucking peachy.


    "Y-yes, I have."


    "How old were you at the time?"


    The question stung a bit as she recalled the scene, immediately disposing of the memory the moment she extracted the relevant tidbit.


    "Eleven."


    "Have you had them regularly in your recollection?"


    "Yes."


    "Alright, that''s good. Don''t worry Riley, it''s a natural thing all girls experience, nothing to be ashamed of. Now, let''s move onto the height and weight."


    She stood up before walking over to a clunky, metal device, gesturing towards it as she said-


    "Riley, take off your shoes and stand on the rubber pad at the base."


    With a nod, she slowly got up, kicking off her sneakers as her blush faded before walking over and standing on the rubber surface, apparently meant for feet.


    The doctor reached over and pulled another metal element down, Riley jumping a bit as she felt it touch the top of her head. The doctor held her gently as she pushed the measure onto her, noting the result down with a slight nod. Afterwards, she reached over to the weird looking scale behind Riley, slowly changing it a bit until the two arms were in balance, adding another note on Riley''s form.


    "Four-eleven and a bit, and ninety three pounds. Looks like a normal weight given your height, if towards the lower end. Been eating well?"


    "Y-yeah, I''ve been eating alright, probably didn''t eat that well before I was adopted, the food at the orphanage wasn''t that good."


    "Orphanage?" The doctor asked curiously, listening intently as she pulled up a small notepad.


    "The one I got adopted from?" Riley was unsure at her curiosity, noticing doctor''s tail start waving gently after she''d asked her question. If hanging around the Ashers has taught her anything, it was how to tell when someone with a tail was interested in something, and her doctor definitely was.


    "Yes, of course, I was just curious about which one it was exactly, since there''s been some worrying news about-"


    "Oakwood Child Care Center?" Riley finished for her, acutely aware of what was the deal with it.


    "Y-yeah. I take that was the one you were adopted from?"


    Riley nodded slowly, awaiting further news on it.


    "I''m unsure of details, but from what I''ve read it was closed recently or something. But that''s neither here nor there, let''s proceed to physical examination, please sit back down on the chair and take off your shirt."


    Some of the color flushed from her face, a hesitant question squeaking out as she desperately hoped for the negative answer-


    "B-b-but I don''t h-have to take m-my bra off, r-right?"


    "Oh no no no, of course not. I just want to listen to your heartbeat and examine your abdomen and back."


    With a relieved sigh, Riley slid out of her jumper and shirt, leaving her top almost completely exposed, the pale teen shuddering a bit at the cold in the room.


    "Good idea, I''m gonna turn up the heat a bit-" The doctor walked over to the thermostat, upping it by a handful of degrees before reaching over for a stethoscope, the one that every single doctor in any media she saw seemed to have.


    "I''m gonna listen to your heart and then lungs, alright?" She asked as she stood over Riley, who nodded in response.


    The cold metal made her jump a bit to the touch, but she calmed herself down quickly, shaking just a bit.


    "Mhm. Mhhm. Take a few deep breaths."


    After taking a moment to shake off the cold, unpleasant sensation, Riley breathed as deeply as she could, the listening part of the stethoscope moving with every breath, her entire front feeling cold.


    "That''s all well, altho your pressure seems a bit high. Now, stand up from the chair and turn away from me."


    The girl obliged, the doctor observing her back for a while before scribbling down another note-


    "Spine straight and all good. You can put your shirt back on."


    Riley wasted no time in doing that, feeling much warmer even with just the thin layer of fabric.


    "Now, let''s take a look at your hearing. Take a seat over there-" She pointed to a soft chair in the corner of the room- "And put the headphones on."


    After sliding her shoes back on Riley took another seat, the thick pair of headphones muffling the background noises to almost nothing, the only thing Riley was able to hear being her own heartbeat.


    "There''s a button on the right armrest. Can you feel it?"


    Her right hand felt something mechanical as she settled in, fingers finding the button in question. After a nod from Riley, she continued-


    "Good. I''m gonna say ''start'', and every time you hear a noise just press the button, does that sound reasonable?"


    "Yeah, I''m ready."


    The doctor walked up to the machine behind her and pushed a button with a soft-spoken ''Start!'', the first ''ding''-like noise ringing a few seconds later, Riley slamming the button under her hand in response.


    A dozen or so more sounds came through, at irregular intervals and with a varying pitch. Riley could have sworn she didn''t actually consciously heard the highest pitched one before pressing the button.


    "That''s it. You can take off the headphones off, fifteen out of fifteen. Your hearing seems to be in perfect condition, so that''s great. Now, time to test sight. Stand up and walk to the wall next to the door, straight against it and look at the letters on the opposite wall."


    Riley''s sudden realization she''d have her eyesight tested made her breath shallow a bit, the girl desperately hoping that she was alright in that regard as she walked up to the wall.


    "Start by reading the rows in their entirety from top to bottom, letter by letter, until you can''t make out the letters from the distance you''re looking at. Don''t worry if the letters get too small to read, it''s normal."


    Riley took a deep breath and focused on the chart, sounding out the rows-


    "C. R, B. T, F, P. S, C... G, O. H, K... D, E, P. D-D, U, Y, F, F, T. Z... O, O..., O, C, D, B, C. I can''t make out anything from the lower ones."


    The doctor scribbled intensely, nodding as Riley finished reading.


    "Alright, come with me into the side room-" The doctor got up and opened the door in the other corner of the room, leading to another, smaller space, quickly lit up with a flick of a light switch.


    "W-what for?" Riley asked, uncertain before following her anyway, the smaller room mostly just housing a couple larger machines.


    "A better vision test so that we can get a more precise result. If you could, sit down on this stool here and rest your chin on this black part there-" The doctor instructed before walking over to the other side of the device, turning it on.


    "S-so it''s not good, is it?" Riley''s heartbeat sped up as her worries were confirmed as she shakily sat down on the pleather stool, sliding it a bit closer to the large machine as she placed her chin on a small rubber pad, two large round holes right in front of her.


    "It''s not 20/20, but it''s hardly horrible. Besides, your sister and mom are doing fine, and I''m quite sure that they both have worse sight than you. Lean your head in, look right into that binocular looking part, and focus on the boat."


    Boat?


    Guess Lily and Ella were doing alright with glasses, but... she wasn''t like that, she had to tend for her-


    Did she? Andrew''s words from yesterday rung through her mind, smothering her panicking lizard brain as her heartbeat calmed down.


    "Riley?"


    "S-sorry, got a bit distracted..." Riley shook her thoughts to the side as she leaned in, resting her face on the rubber rings around the spaces for her eyes to look in through.


    There was what appeared to be a small image of a distant boat in the middle of the sea, her eyes immediately trying to focus on it, the image fluctuating for a good few moments before clearing up, a follow up instruction prodding her out of her focus-


    "Now, focus on the red dot. There will be a small flash of light, and that will be it for the vision test."


    The words confused her for a second before the image of the boat suddenly disappeared, replaced by a single distant red dot. Riley focused as hard as she could, her ears tearing up the tiniest bit from the exertion, but the dot didn''t appear any more foc-


    Ow!


    The sudden flash made her head jerk backwards as it hurt her eyes, the brief pain washing away after a few rapid blinks.


    "There we go, trouble''s over. I hope it wasn''t too harsh on you Riley." The doctor got up, making sure the girl was okay before walking towards the back of the small room, reaching for what looked to be a large metal briefcase and laying it on a nearby table. The insides, to Riley''s surprise, appeared to just be a massive collection of identical looking circular lenses, together with a larger slot for a what looked to be the world''s clunkiest glasses frames.


    After a glance back at the display of the machine Riley had just used, she picked up the clunky frames and picked out two lenses from the dozens in front of her, slotting them into the frames before passing them over to Riley, who was looking at it like a piece of extraterrestial technology.


    "Put ''em on and take a look around. They don''t fully account for astigmatism, but it still should be a massive improvement."


    With a small gulp, she slid the glasses on her nose, the contraption fitting roughly comfortably before she opened her eyes aga-


    Woah.


    She started looking around the room frantically, fascinated by the massive change in her vision. Everything she wasn''t standing right next to gained so much detail it was absurd, she thought she could read the small text from the soap dispenser in the other corner of the room if she tried hard enough.


    The biggest change came with the doctor herself. Of course, she knew that anthros'' coat of fur was just an uncountable number of small hairs, but to see it clearly enough to the point where she actually could make out individual ones with just sight and not touch was something else entirely.


    "I''m guessing from your reaction they work quite well, don''t they?" The doctor chuckled, smiling warmly as she watched Riley look around the room in fascination.


    "Y-yeah, holy sh-sorry..." She barely caught herself at the last moment, the doctor giggling at her slip up before walking over.


    "And the actual glasses will be even better. Lemme fill up the prescription so that you can take it to the optic center nearby before we move on..." She sat back down in front of the machine, reaching down to grab a blank prescription slip, quickly filling it up and handing it over to Riley-


    ''''''


    Dr. Bayley Wickers


    156 Park Rd. Duluth MN


    SPECTACLE PRESCRIPTION ONLY


    _______________________________


    Patient: Riley Asher


    Address: 18 Bright St.


    Grand Lake, MN 55779


    ______________________


    Eye |Sph. |Cyl. |Axis|


    ----+-----+-----+----+


    O.D.|-1.75|+0.50|100 |


    ----+-----+-----+----+


    O.S.|-2.00|-0.75|130 |


    ______________________


    Date of Exam: 19.12.2019


    Expiration Date: 19.12.2021


    ''''''


    The assortment of all the numbers made Riley''s head spin as she parsed through the slip, one part in particular catching her attention-


    "Oh Dee? Oh Ess? What does that part mean?"


    "Oculus Dexter and Oculus Sinister. It''s just Latin for ''Right Eye'' and ''Left Eye'', respectively."


    "Well that sounds... sinister." Riley chuckled, cursing herself for letting such an atrocious pun out.


    The doctor barely held back a chortle at that, smiling as she shook her head, taking a few moments to take a breath before continuing-


    "Alright, that''s it for the eye exam. Give me the glasses back and take a seat back in the main office, on that chair right next to the table. We''re not done yet, next on our list is be a blood pressure test, so roll up your left sleeve to your shoulder."


    Riley nodded, the world returning back to its mostly blurry self as she handed the glasses back and walked back to the main office, eyes squinting just a bit as they got used to the bright light once more.


    A few moments later, the doctor walked back into her office as well, locking the door to the side room behind herself and speaking up-


    "I''m gonna take your blood pressure now, please don''t speak or move until it''s done."


    She slid over a small device with a small rubber pipe leading to an armband attacked to her, the latter promptly strapped onto Riley''s left arm before the device was turned on.


    Riley felt the armband squeezing harder and harder around her, the sensation making her anxious as the squeezing turned slightly painful, her eyes darting around the room before it finally let go, Riley letting out a breath she wasn''t even she was holding as the serpent let go of her arm.


    "Huh. One thirty five over eighty seven, pretty high. Not dangerously high or anything, but still noticeably raised. Are you feeling anxious?"


    "A-a bit, never had my pressure taken like that..."


    "Ah, I see. Should''ve thought of that, my bad. Considering that the pressure is probably alright, you can''t extract that much from a single reading anyway. I''ll note it down and then we''ll move onto the next thing... a blood test."


    The last two words froze the blood in question solid, Riley''s eyes darting up at the doctor in fear.


    The doctor noticed her sudden stillness, a realization lighting up in her mind-


    "You''ve never had your blood taken, right?"


    "N-n-no, b-but I know it involves needles..." Riley''s voice was breathless and raspy, the last word adding further fuel to her anxiety as she realized just how close she was to being stabbed like that...


    "Mhm. I understand it''s something you''re afraid of, but a blood test is very important in your situation, we don''t even know your blood group. Besides that, we have to check your hormones to make sure they''re all in order. Hmm... do you want me to call over your dad?"


    "W-w-what for?"


    "With our younger patients who are afraid of needles, having their parents be with them to hold their hand or have them sit on their parents'' lap helps a lot."


    Riley, meet your own treatment for Timmy. Four years, fifteen, what difference is there after all.


    "A-alright, b-but I''m probably too old to sit on his lap, heh..."


    "Maybe, but even holding your hand will help a lot with the anxiety. Give me a moment-" She walked over to the door to the office, Riley sitting motionless on her chair as the doctor leaned out-


    "Mr. Asher? Please come in."


    Rick walked into the office a few moments later, sounding slightly confused as he asked-


    "Did something happen Riley?"


    "I-I need some h-help with the blood test..."


    She didn''t see his reaction, but thankfully he seemed to get the issue immediately, taking a free chair and sliding it over to Riley''s side, sitting down right next to her and slightly extending a hand for her to hold onto.


    She grasped it in an instant, holding it tightly as she doc asked-


    "So, do you need a moment Riley or do you feel ready?"


    "A-as ready as I-I''ll ever be I guess."


    "That''s good. Let me finish preparation and we''ll be ready to get it over with." She answered, relief in her voice as she grabbed a rubber tourniquet and carefully wrapped it around Riley''s arm, before chiming up-


    "Rest your elbow on the armrest comfortably."


    With a bit of fiddling she managed to rest her arm reasonably well, taking a deep breath as the rustle of single use medical tools being unwrapped became the only sound left in the room.


    "You''re gonna feel a slight prick for a few moments." The doctor continued, softly feeling up the inner side of Riley''s arm as she prepared the syringe.


    "Look away and hold your dad''s hand as tightly as you want."


    Riley took the advice to heart, her eyes closing and her right hand clenching around Rick''s paw so hard she was worried for a moment she''d hurt him-


    Before the thought could even finish, a cold sting in her left arm stilled her mind, the girl not daring to breathe or think for these few moments before the needle was removed from her, a soft breath of relief being interrupted by-


    "Ow."


    She opened her eyes, immediately noticing that her hand was holding Rick''s paw tighter than she thought was even physically possible, immediately letting go of him with an embarrassed chuckle, the skunk dad wasting no time in stretching the aching hand.


    "Well done Riley. I''ll send it off to the lab straight away and the results should be ready in a few hours."


    The girl relaxed on her seat, her body finally unclenching as she slowly rolled her neck and shoulders, brief respite being cut short by some more bad news-


    "Now, we''ll need to catch you up on your shots, since you haven''t had any since you were six."


    Goddammit.


    ***


    Fifteen minutes and one very sore shoulder later, Riley finally left the doctor''s office, Rick and his very pained paw staying behind for his own checkup.


    As she walked out, Ella looked up at her with a slight smile, speaking up-


    "That took a while. Hope everything''s alright?" The skunk mom stretched as she stood up, her back a bit sore from all the waiting in the plastic chair.


    "Yeah, all''s well for now, except for this-" She handed Ella the glasses prescription, who just smiled and cheerfully responded-


    "Hey, that means you get to choose some cool frames for yourself. Don''t worry about the price or anything, my insurance covers all the glasses, so go wild. My checkup will probably start soon, so maybe have Lily help you with it?"


    Riley was happy she wasn''t being a bother in this regard, Lily springing to attention on her own upon being mentioned, seemingly not enjoying the wait any more than her mom was despite having a charged phone with her.


    "There''s even a place with a nice selection of frames in this clinic, just down at the other side. Just show them the prescription and which frame you want, me and Lily are enough of repeat customers to where they''ll handle it on their own." Ella continued, Lily nodding in agreement and tilting her head in the direction of the store as she looked at Riley, who got the clue and slowly walked down the corridor.


    "Alright, is there anything I''m looking for specifically?" Riley asked, completely unsure of anything glasses related.


    "No, not beyond just finding something that sits comfortably on you and looks cool. The lenses are then made somewhere else according to your prescription and put together with the frame you chose, and the actual glasses will be packaged in enough soft stuff to secure a baby and mailed to us."


    Riley nodded as they made their way to the fancy shop, every wall and several stands absolutely filled with frames of all sizes and colors, all the variation making her head spin.


    Fortunately, thicker frames, which constituted a vast majority, were discarded right away. If Riley had to have glasses, then they were gonna look cool and sharp. Brown, round frames definitely fit Ella, but on her they''d just look comical.


    With that in mind, there were really only one or two shelves full of acceptable frames, angular, metal, and narrow. She took her time, going through the selection one after another, eventually stumbling her way on the ones that looked just right. Neither super narrow nor outright rounded, fitting well on her angular face.


    As she took a look in the nearby mirror she noticed the frames weren''t fully black like she thought on the first glance, the small bridge and the ends of the temples colored white.


    It never ends, doesn''t it?


    This time Riley took that observation in stride, finding Lily in the maze of her frames and showing off her find, the younger sister grinning widely as she took Riley''s new look in, wordlessly responding with two thumbs up.


    "I don''t think I''m gonna top these, so what now?"


    "Let''s take them and the prescription over to the counter-" Lily responding, walking towards the human clerk that managed to look even more tired than Riley was.


    Riley quickly followed up, placing the folded frames and the prescription on the counter, Lily cutting her off before she could fumble her way through-


    "Hello, we want to purchase a pair according to this prescription, filed under Helena Asher''s insurance." She spoke with confidence and a fair bit of pride at being the one to introduce her sister to the wonderful world of glasses.


    She was smooth when she wanted to be, goddamn.


    Lily speaking up shook the clerk from his open-eye slumber, the college aged man taking a moment to recall something before responding uncertainly-


    "Her insurance only covers family a-and not friends Lily, you know this."


    Lily''s confident smirk soured in an instant, the lil'' skunk suddenly looking mighty pissed before she spoke up again through her grinding teeth.


    "She. Is. Family."


    The clerk quickly went from uncertain to uncomfortable, rapidly switching his glance from between looking at the two sisters and the display of the monitor on his desk, typing rapidly.


    "I-I-I-I''m sorry, t-there''s n-no R-R-Riley Asher i-in our rec-"


    "Then you better fix those. Understood?" Riley took a slight step away from Lily just in case as she noticed her tail bristle even more so than in their initial meeting, the sight intimidating on a very deep level.


    The clerk apparently thought the same, blood draining from his expression as he shook in place like a dried leaf for a solid few moments before finally answering-


    "Y-y-yes, Miss Asher."


    And taking the slip of paper along with the slick frames into the back room, almost tripping on his feet, much to Riley''s barely held back amusement.


    A few moments later he darted back behind the front desk for just an instant, Riley catching his terrified expression before he cowered back into the back room the very next second.


    The note with the girl''s order didn''t even have time to land on the glass counter before Lily snatched it out of the air, quietly turning away and walking out of the store, her entire body shaking.


    Riley slid right behind her, afraid to even let out a peep as they walked back to the rest of the family. Fortunately, she noticed Lily''s tail slowly return to normal, if still puffed up a teensy bit, a hint of the stronger smell she smelled yesterday tickling her nostrils.


    "Lily, is everything alright?" Rick spoke up with a hint of worry as he looked up at them, the younger sister taking a deep breath before responding-


    "Y-yeah, it''s fine now, just had to deal with a douche behind the counter and got pissed..." She responded with a sigh, taking a moment to focus on returning her tail back to its normal appearance, before suddenly realizing something, turning towards Riley and hugging her tightly.


    "G-God I-I''m so sorry if I scared you Riley..." She muttered to her, Riley sensing just a hint of something wet before returning her hug-


    "Shhh, don''t worry Lily, it''s all right..." Riley gently stroked her back, the younger skunk quickly calming down under her touch.


    "Hell, thanks for sticking up for me there." She followed up, proud of her sweet sister for doing something like that, even if she was taken aback by her abrupt change in demeanor.


    "Y-you''re welcome Riley..." Her voice was much softer and calmer now, with a hint of happiness at being appreciated like that.


    Wish a gentle motion, Riley took her to a pair of nearby free seats, the younger sister leaning on her arm after they sat down, the older one reacting with a smile and seating herself comfortably.


    As adrenaline washed from her system, she felt the tiredness return with a vengeance, unable to resist it now that she was warm and had Lily leaning on her, soon joined by Timmy after he''d changed seats just to be able to lean on her other arm. The addition of their soft tails on her lap sealed her fate, her hands gently stroking them absentmindedly as she dozed off.


    Hopefully Timmy indeed wouldn''t have any shots she''d have to help him with.

 Chapter 18: Checking Out

    For the first time in a while, Riley had the luxury of waking up on her own, her eyes slowly opening to the bright corridors of the clinic, brief glance at the rest of the Ashers revealing two things: That it was apparently Timmy''s turn for the checkup since him and Rick were the ones missing-


    And that the two remaining kits shared in her exhaustion, asleep in their seats, with Ella looking like she wasn''t that far from that fate herself.


    With a stretch and a brief jolt of pain on her left shoulder she was awake once more, stumbling back onto her feet, catching the attention of the one still awake skunks.


    "Feeling better sweetie?" Ella asked, taking a moment to stretch herself, her tail wavering behind her.


    "Y-yeah, guess at least I''m not feeling like death anymore." She answered, her words seemingly pulling Ella a bit closer back into the waking world. She saw her take a groggy look around as well, sighing before sliding out of her jacket, a bit annoyed at getting so sleepy due to all the warmth.


    "Well, I''m happy to hear." She responded with a chuckle, thinking briefly about something before adding-


    "Oh, I think you can go check at the reception for results of your blood test, it was only a very basic one after all."


    She nodded in response, stretching her back before she turned towards the front door of the clinic, catching a glance of a very asleep Andrew. The sight of a large soft skunkie reduced to a slightly curled up snoozing bundle of fur taking up three seats made her stifle a giggle as she walked by.


    Thankfully nobody minded him taking UP more space than strictly necessary, with there being maybe a combined total of a dozen waiting patients aside from the Ashers, and at least four times as many spare seats.


    After walking over to the reception, and catching the tired nurse''s attention by gently knocking on the underside of the desk, Riley spoke up-


    "H-Hi, I wanted to ask about the results of my blood test."


    The nurse nodded in return, typing quickly for a few moments before looking down at her-


    "Date of birth?"


    Riley raised her eyebrow at her, the nurse''s inquiry answered with a question-


    "Why do you need my date of birth?"


    The clerk sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead, the oft-asked question giving her conniptions.


    "Data protection protocol stuff, I think I''ll get an aneurysm if I''ll have to explain it one more time, just please give me your date of birth so we can get it over with..."


    She didn''t expect such honesty from the exasperated nurse, answering back with a hint of an apology in her voice-


    "Sixteenth January, two thousand four. S-sorry for that..."


    The nurse took a deep breath in response as she typed the numbers in, a slightly less tense voice asking once more-


    "Your name?"


    "Riley Ash-"


    "Yeah, we have results. Want them printed or?"


    "Y-yes, printed." Riley was a bit taken aback at the weirdness of the process, not wanting to drag it on for any longer with the questions considering the nurse''s attitude.


    A few seconds of high pitched machine noises later, she got her results, the clerk busy trying to drill a hole through Riley''s skull with her gaze as she scampered off back to the rest of the family.


    After managing to get out of... that, she shrugged off the sensation of being watched and took a look at the sheets of paper in her hands-


    Before realizing she hadn''t the first clue of what she was looking at, dozens of lines of what might as well have been hieroglyphics, with several numbers next to each.


    With a few rapid blinks, she shook the initial shock off, taking a second look at the dense document, trying to make out anything understandable.


    There were a few lines that seemed to have identifying info about her, followed up by one that she could actually understand:


    ''''''


    BLOOD TYPE: B Rh-


    ''''''


    Hope that ''Rh'' thing doesn''t stand for anything bad. Or worse yet, transmissible.


    Further down, in the sea of the different symbols and words, she managed to spot the legend for the mess of numbers. So one column was for actual values, and other two for minimum and maximum values, which she inferred to mean min/max healthy, or acceptable ones.


    Thankfully, most of the rows had the values firmly within the acceptable range, except for something called ''Cortisol'' which was just a bit over the max range, with a plus symbol next to the value. Hopefully she wasn''t sick or anything.


    "Riley?" Ella''s voice took her out of her reading daze, making her realize she''d been standing in the middle of the corridor for the last few minutes like a signpost, busy deciphering the advanced medicalese in her hands.


    With a surprised half groan, half gasp she walked over to the corner from behind which the skunk mom peeked out, happy to see that Timmy''s checkup had finished in the meantime, the family slowly getting itself together, Lily currently prodding Andrew''s nose to wake him up.


    "S-sorry, just got caught up trying to decipher this thing." Riley answered the unspoken question, gently waving the papers in her hand for emphasis.


    Ella chuckled knowingly, suppressing a brief giggle once Lily had finally succeeded in waking her brother up, Timmy trying to help by tickling the bottoms of his shoes.


    "Well, Rick knows this stuff much better than I do, I tend to just glance whether there are any pluses or minuses and call it a day."


    "The only plus I saw was with this ''Cortisol'' thing, hope it''s not anything bad?"


    "Uh-huh." Riley was a bit unsure of Ella''s response, fairly sure she''d caught some concern in it.


    "Well, from what I know it has something to do with stress, so you having an excess of that is probably not unexpected, although I''d still ask him if you''re unsure. Speaking of-"


    Her last words brought Riley''s attention back up from the results in her hands, making her realize that the rest of the sleepy family had finally managed to get over to them.


    "So, everybody ready to head home and have some ice cream?" Ella asked the entire group, Timmy reacting with a loud ''Yay!'' and Rick joining him soon after, the two skunk siblings suppressing yawns in unison as their attempts to add to the cheer backfired.


    Riley had less luck in suppressing her own giggle as they all walked towards the front exit, Timmy managing to sneak up on her before squeaking out-


    "Riley, I didn''t get any shots!"


    She smiled in amusement down at him, reaching down to scritch his head, the sensation making the lil'' kit squirm a bit even through the thick hat.


    "See? Nothing to fear!" Riley kept teasing him as they stepped into the cold parking lot, the girl truly and finally waking up with a slight shudder as a wall of frosty air slammed against her face, along with a couple of snowflakes.


    "Dammit..." Rick muttered out as he took a look upwards, the thick gray clouds filling the sky from horizon to horizon, looking ready to amp the snow equivalent of a light sprinkle up to a full blow bli-


    *BOOOOOOM*


    The rumble of the thunder shook through her body, making her stop in her tracks as the air suddenly felt much colder around her, the entire group speeding up soon afterwards, realizing that a thundersnow was coming, and the less time spent outside in those the better.


    They scrambled into the car in a record time, even Timmy noticeably quiet as they all strapped in, Rick wordlessly pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main road, the tension slowly fading as they drove home.


    "Riley?" The lil'' kit whispered out with a tiniest hint of fear as he slid out a paw towards her, the girl quickly grabbing a hold of it, stroking its back with her thumb.


    "Yes, Timmy?" She quietly responded in kind, turning her face towards him, noting his unsure expression. While the growing blizzard made the inside of the car dim, she still could sense his fur standing on end with her fingertips.


    "...You snore so loudly!"


    Oh, Timmy.


    The entire car erupted into a giggling fit, the previous tension quickly evaporating, even Riley relaxing in her seat as the kit followed up, unsure as to the reason for the family''s reaction-


    "What? Why are you laughing?"


    It certainly didn''t help, only making everyone giggle harder, even Timmy himself giving in after some tickles to his sides from Ella, before being hugged tightly.


    Riley certainly appreciated this release of pressure, despite the revelation making her blush in embarrassment. She leaned over closer to Lily, as they both calmed down, whispering in her ear-


    "Do I?"


    "Yes, you very much do." She whispered back, her giggling reviving in intensity at recalling her unassuming looking sister erupt into snoring so loud even the doctor peeked out from her office at the noise.


    Riley buried her face in her palms with a groan, definitely not expecting something like that to have happened while she was dozing off. Hopefully it was just a one-off thing...


    "Every time?" She asked once more, her hopes swiftly squished with- "Every time."


    Is it possible to die from embarrassment?


    "Look at it from the other side Riley, it was by far the most adorable snoring I''ve ever seen!" Rick added another portion of exasperation onto her plate, her cheeks red enough to act as a street lamp by now.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Now now, cut her some slack Ricky, at least *her* snoring never woke anybody up." Ella cut in, sly snark in her voice as she verbally deflected the teasing assault from her daughter.


    "That was years ago!" He responded immediately, sounding unusually embarrassed as the attention shifted onto him.


    "But the pain of having Lily literally fall asleep face first into a bowl of cereal from exhaustion shall never be forgotten~" Ella followed up, the tone of her voice explicitly jovial as she had to stop herself from giggling at the memory, despite the actual events pissing her off at the time to the point of telling Rick to sleep in the car until he sorts it out.


    Riley heard Lily groan at that for a moment, before the old and mostly faded memory made her chuckle as well, despite her not being than Timmy is now when that happened.


    Afterwards the car slowly mellowed out as they slowly rode home, Riley ended up holding Lily''s paw as well, the sly kit having slid it onto her lap at some point earlier.


    Thankfully for her and her blush, she was spared from falling asleep this time, the role falling on Andrew as he stirred in his dreams. Imagining just what it was that made him wiggle like that made Riley chuckle as they drove home.


    Some of the more interesting possibilities, however, only added further to her blush...


    ***


    Not too long after they were finally back home, the blizzard kindly waiting with the worst of the snowfall until the car was back in the garage, the outside world becoming a wall of white.


    Perfect backdrop for a bowl of ice cream and a cup of hot tea.


    Lily took quite a bit of joy in getting to wake Andrew up again, her preferred method apparently being snapping her fingers on his nose, the larger kit groaning and halfheartedly flailing around as he was rudely awoken.


    Again.


    Before Riley could even slide her shoes off, Timmy was already running around the kitchen, wasting no time in constantly reminding his mom about the ice cream she''d promised.


    After sliding her jacket off, Ella obliged with an exasperated chuckle, reaching down into the freezer and pulling out a large blue box, followed up by grabbing six bowls out of the drawer and laying them out on the counter as Riley approached.


    "Vanilla or strawberry?" The skunk mom asked as she pried the lid off the box, filling up the five bowls with each person''s favorite as she awaited Riley''s answer.


    In all honesty, she didn''t have any better knowledge about her ice cream taste preferences than Ella herself, the last time she remembered having ice cream being...


    The better times.


    "Strawberry." She chose at random, taking a few moments to bite her tongue down afterwards, stopping after sensing something metallic-tasting on her teeth.


    A bit too hard.


    After taking a moment to recall the location of the cups, she poured herself some ice-cold water, the stinging on her tongue ceasing and the tiny trickle of blood easing out into just an aftertaste.


    Ella looked a bit surprised for a moment before being reminded of the tea, grabbing a sizable electric kettle and filling it to the brim before setting it back on its stand. She walked over, pulling out five more cups and a handful of tea bags, one for each cup, with an additional one waiting for Riley to finish her impromptu drink.


    Realization as to why Ella had one bag extra and a cup too few took Riley way too long, the girl sliding over her emptied up with a chuckle, the skunk mom nodding in acknowledgment before throwing the last tea bag into it. With a quiet whistle she reached over for the sugar holder, a precise amount of the white sin going into every cup in turn as she asked once more-


    "How much sugar with your tea sweetie?"


    The question distracted her even from the prickle on her tongue. The orphanage served tea quite often, sweetened seemingly at random between completely bitter and feeling like it was more sugar than water.


    "Uh... enough to make it sweet but not too sweet? Never really had a chance to really dose the sugar myself." She admitted truthfully, Ella nodding in understanding before speaking up-


    "Let''s try two spoonfuls then."


    And adding the mentioned spoonfuls in, white crystals chiming as they bounced off the bottom of the porcelain cup.


    "Oh, if you want you can take the ice cream over to the living room table already, the hungry mouths themselves won''t even lift a paw..." She chuckled with mock contempt, Riley looking over to see the rest of the family sitting comfortably in front of the lightly burning fireplace, watching something on the TV.


    Lazy butts.


    She reached over for the first two bowls and carried them onto the coffee table, noting the family watching some sort of local news station, at least judging by the apparent budget.


    As she walked back to grab the next two, she watched Ella slowly pouring the boiled water into each cup, slowly rocking back and forth, seemingly not spared from the tiredness that took over everyone.


    The news anchor seemed to be talking about the weather, and from what she overheard, it would thankfully improve over the next few days, the ongoing thundersnow in their area estimated to be over by the evening.


    Hopefully.


    By the time she delivered the last batch of ice cream bowls, the programming had shifted to some news about local crime or something, Rick reaching over for the remote before a change in topic caught his, as well as her own attention, snapping them both out of their tired, comfy moods.


    "And now, a very recent development in the unsettling tale of the one Oakwood Child Care C-"


    The anchor was cut short as Rick pressed a button and paused the broadcast, calling over with a slightly trembling voice-


    "Ella?"


    She caught the waver in his voice, quickly placing the last of the tea cups on the table together with a bundle of teaspoons, looking up at the screen after taking her seat, Riley sliding onto the couch herself inbetween Timmy and Lily, the former sliding up to her before Rick resumed the news-


    "-enter, as the Minnesota State Child Care office has released an official statement regarding it just a couple hours ago. To recall the events- Late in the evening last Friday, an unknown person had broken into one of the computers in the office of the Oakwood Child Care Center, scanned several handwritten testimonies of ongoing abuse between the pupils, before sending them to over a dozen recipients, including the St. Louis County Child Care office, the Duluth Police Department, and over six different local news stations, including our own."


    "W-wait, isn''t that the one Riley was-" Andrew asked in confusion, sounding unsettled by the news as he was cut off by Rick just saying ''Yes'', the news report continuing on-


    "Following that, Oakwood Child Care Center has come under close investigation from both the St. Louis County as well as the Minnesota State Child Care offices, with some sources stating that the news of the incident has echoed even into the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Following that, the facility was declared as Condemned on Sunday due to the sheer number of violations found within. The fate of the pupils and the staff was unknown until the Minnesota State Child Care office released their statement on the incident. According to it, over fifteen individuals belonging to the staff of both Oakwood Child Care Center *and* the St. Louis County Child Care office have been charged with Conspiracy to defraud the State and Federal offices, Corruption dating back over ten years, Misspending of Federal funds, Child Abuse through Negligence, and Bribery. Along with them, the offender directly named in the testimony and one of the former pupils of Oakwood Child Care Center, Bruce Tyler, along with three other former pupils, have been charged with Repeated Assault of a Minor, Battery, Extortion, Hate Speech, and in one case, Sexual Assault of a Minor."


    That last bit chilled the blood of everyone in the room, even those too young to properly grasp the impact of the words. Riley caught Andrew looking towards her with obvious anxiety and an unspoken question, the girl wordlessly responding with a shake of her head and a quietly whispered "I''m fine." before the news anchor continued-


    "They are currently being held in St. Louis County Jail, and will be tried as adults due to their age and the severity of their crimes. The rest of the pupils have been spread between over a dozen different Child Care Centers in Minnesota, with the precise information being confidential for the safety of the pupils. Alongside that, all of them will receive proper psychiatric care. All Child Care Centers in St. Louis County will be inspected in a similar manner, over 8 different facilities being suspected of breaking violations and collaborating in the same kind of Corruption that the Oakwood Child Care Center has. As far as the identity of the whistleblower is concerned, the St. Louis Police Department has reported no progress on determining their identity, despite having managed to find their fingerprints on the photocopier located within the office."


    Riley took an internal sigh at not being found, but the fact that they have managed to find her fingerprints was concerning in itself.


    "According to the press statement, the whistleblower has nothing to fear, with the Minnesota State Child Care office not planning to press any charges against them, even mentioning nominating them for the Minnesota State Governor''s Award."


    Riiiiiiight. As if the pencil pushers would ever waste an opportunity for some more litigation.


    Thankfully, the news anchor changed the subject immediately afterwards, Riley leaning back on the couch in response, hundreds of thoughts surging through her mind before being interrupted by an abrupt hug from her right, Lily shaking a bit.


    "H-hey, Lily, I''m fine, don''t worry..." She extended her arms around her in return, gently petting her back as the lil'' skunk shook in her seat, the sheer amount of misery out there making her cry in despair.


    Andrew joined in soon after, sliding in closer and holding his sisters gently, Timmy mimicking him to the best of his ability, unsure of why everyone was so sad all of a sudden, but wanting to hug them since that''s what always helped him.


    Riley closed her eyes, trying to embrace all of her siblings in one massive hug, their love warming her up on the inside, an addition of two more bodies onto the group hug slightly unexpected but definitely welcome.


    It took her a good moment to sort through the warm, fluttering feelings inside her swelling into an unavoidable conclusion, a rarely used word forcing itself onto the forefront of Riley''s mind as she aired it out-


    "I love you all, you know?"


    The hug tightening around her was her initial answer, followed up by every family member whispering "We love you too." one after another, making her tear up just a tiny bi-


    Oh screw it, she cried like a baby.


    For a good few minutes they just sat like that, the group hug slowly rocking to the sides before Lily spoke up with a bit of a quiver in her voice, changing the subject-


    "Riley... do you know who that whistle blowing guy was?"


    Well, duh. It is I.


    "I... I have a good guess. What about them?"


    "A-are they safe now?"


    Riley tried as hard as she could to suppress a smile at that question, eventually forcing out an answer with a smirk-


    "Oh I''m sure. You heard the guy mention being spread all over Minnesota, right? They''re safer than ever."


    A couple miles or so from the orphanage still counted as all over Minnesota, just for clarification.


    And even on a very pragmatic level, it was hard to be any safer than to have five loaded, loving skunks around you.


    "H-hopefully..." Lily remarked, the uncertainty in her voice slowly letting go as the whole family relaxed from the emotional moment, Timmy eventually breaking the ice with a loud squeak-


    "The ice cream is melting!"


    The message was enough to cause the Ashers to slowly disperse back onto their normal seats, the half molten ice cream quickly scooped up into the six hungry mouths with the teaspoons. The tea having cooled off in the meantime to the point where it could be simply chugged straight from the cup, which the kits wasted no time in doing, the parents sighing at their children not even taking time to taste it before they''d emptied their cups.


    The rest the afternoon was rather uneventful, Lily soon heading back to her room and resuming her practice, soft violin music filling the house once more. Andrew mostly sat in his room, and from a glance Riley managed to sneak behind his ajar door, she figured he was just busy playing some game on his computer.


    Rick once more toiled with paint in Riley''s room, his painting gear growing more and more stained with the different colors every time she got a good look at him.


    As for her, she mostly just played with Timmy for a good while, the excitable kit constantly shifting between drawing and playing with modeling clay, Riley proud of her sculpture a human with an apple instead of his head. At least, for the whole thirty seconds before Timmy grabbed it and rolled it into a big ball of reds and oranges mixed together, soon formed into something new altogether.


    Or at least, another wonky shaped racecar.


    As the lil'' kit started getting drowsy on her, she used the downtime to grab her now-charged phone, scouring search engines and local news sites for any details of what happened to Oakwood on top of those stated in the news report.


    She didn''t end up finding much, but the added information that Bruce was looking at twenty years behind bars certainly did lift her mood, just in time for dinner.


    With her phone in front of her, she vacuumed up her portion in just a couple minutes, too absorbed by her search for just one more piece of information. The realization that, indeed, she''d finally dug up all there was to publicly know so far coinciding with another one that she''s been futilely banging her fork in an empty bowl for the last minute and a half.


    After putting the bowl in the dishwasher and all of Timmy''s supplies back into their proper place, she headed for her own shower, catching a whiff of the biting paint fumes as she walked past the door to her WIP room, suddenly agreeing wholeheartedly with Rick''s decision to lock the door while the room wasn''t being worked on.


    Either way, it seems that she would see the end results of Rick''s work tomorrow, at least from what she remembered of the Sunday agenda.


    The thought melted under the hot water of the shower, especially her sore shoulder feeling quite a bit better. All the little stresses of the day had finally caught up to her as she washed her straw hair, feeling so soft with the conditioner applied she had to shake herself from just standing there and running her hands through it over and over.


    God knows she wasn''t feeling like leaving that shower anytime soon, her eyelids suddenly so heavy that even locating the water knobs turned out to be a challenge.


    After... many minutes to finally finish her shower, and many more to finish drying herself off, she leapt into her bed with one swift motion, reaching for her phone and only finding a knife, a realization that she must have left it in Timmy''s room after cleaning one of the last thoughts on her mind before the softness of the mattress dragged her into the unconscious, despite her not even managing to cover herself to any real degree or even turn off the light in the bathroom.


    Irrelevant. Too tired.


    Too soft...

 Chapter 19: Patching Up

    Riley was awake. She had no idea why she was awake, the sun had only just barely started climbing up the horizon, it would be at least a couple hours before it could wake her up with an ocular assault.


    She tried listening for some sort of noise, maybe there was yet another knock on her door which she didn''t hear, or breakfast was called early, or-


    Ow.


    Her internal questioning was brought to a halt as the pain from her shoulder made her wince loudly. While every small movement of the well-shot limb was painful enough to grunt, she was unsure whether this was the culprit either, she would have felt something from it earlier-


    Mhnn.


    Why did she even think it was anything else.


    Of course it is the obvious, as she realized immediately afterwards with an exasperated groan and a fling of her covers to the side, stumbling half blind into the bathroom and slamming the door behind herself.


    A minute later she was done with it, walking back into her room with a shake of her wrists to get all the water off of them, too tired to bother searching for the towels in the dark.


    She was about ready to hop back into her bed and forget any of this had even happened... and then she tripped on something on the floor, the resulting fall resulting in nothing dangerous only because she was too out of it to even tense up, landing on the rug in a rough heap.


    Still, a heap that made touchdown with her left arm, so it still hurt like a motherfucker.


    A loud wince and a couple of tears later, she started stumbling back on her feet, desperate to see what she even tripped on so that she could murder whatever it was-


    A pile of clothes. Dirty clothes. Her clothes.


    After deciding that murdering herself wouldn''t be the best response, she crouched to pick up the messy bundle of clothes. Thankfully they didn''t reek or anything, but she still felt like taking another shower afterwards.


    As she made her way downstairs, every step a tiresome session of probing with her foot until she''d found the next one, she realized she didn''t really have much of an idea of what to do with all those. There was a washing room, at least from what she remembered, but what to do with those afterwards? Stick them directly into the washer and hope it decides to turn on?


    With her exhausted thought process moving at a solid nothing per second, it wasn''t done even by the time she was actually standing in front of the washing room, body waiting for the mind to catch up to her and open the gray door in front of her.


    With a bit of fumbling, she finally made her way in, the utter dark of the small room making her feel up any walls she could reach for the light switch.


    A half minute of not making any real progress later, a sudden flooding of light made her groan as her hands subconsciously flew to cover her eyes. The impulse ignored even the clothes in her arms however, now splashed on her head, arms, and all over the small room, the realization making Riley groan in exasperation before being cut off-


    "Sweetie?"


    The exhausted girl answered with a groan, slowly opening her eyes to find a concerned looking Ella looking at her through the open door, expression mixed with surprise at finding her daughter here in only her underwear at not even six AM.


    "Did something happen Riley?"


    "Ugh... tripped on them and got angry enough to want to just get them out of my room, before I realized I''ve no idea how does washing clothes work here."


    "Oh, just dump them in the red basket here and we''ll sort them out later today. A-are you sure everything''s alright sweetie?"


    "Arm hurts after the shots and I''m about ready to fall asleep standing up. What hour is it even- a-and why are you awake?"


    "H-heh, lemme help you with these then-" Ella crouched with a slightly pained grunt and started picking up all the dirty clothes in her reach, Riley joining her subconsciously soon after, the two girls quickly tossing everything into the massive red basket, barely making a dent in filling it up.


    "O-oh, as for me-" Ella had only now parsed the rest of the question, fumbling a bit with words as they made their way out of the room- "Guess I just wake up at five AM on my own now, too many years of having to check in at five thirty because of the timezone differences for it to not corrupt my own sleep rhythm. And right now it''s... about five forty-ish."


    Riley nodded absentmindedly, her legs carrying her back towards the stairs as the few still awake neurons conjured another question-


    "Why not go back to sleep then..." She remarked, Ella''s voice following her in response as she stayed downstairs, fixing herself some coffee judging by the sounds-


    "Ha. I wish I could anymore..."


    Riley didn''t have much luck processing her response, only managing to get back to her room by the virtue of the biological autopilot in her legs, dozing off the moment her head landed in the vicinity of her pillow.


    ***


    *knock knock*


    "Riley, breakfast!"


    No rest for the wicked.


    Feeling just a bit less horribly tired, she managed to lift herself off her bed, realizing she wasn''t even aware enough to pull some covers on herself before she dropped from exhaustion a few hours ago.


    After taking a moment to flip herself around, she gradually slid out of her bed, her hand looking around on the floor for her pants for a solid few moments before her eyes realized there weren''t any laying around.


    Her groggy mind upped its gear to solve the mystery of her absent clothing... before reminding herself of her anger-inspired cleaning burst, realizing she must have thrown both of her usable pairs of pants into the laundry.


    Which left her with...


    Fuck.


    She reached her hands to her face, fists rubbing the sleepiness away as she considered maybe just wrapping a towel around her waist or some-


    What waist she''s a stick figure.


    With a defeated sigh she reached down to the lowest drawer, digging for a moment before pulling out the old pair of track pants. The shitty fabric barely held itself together after being treated to so many different way-too-cheap brands of cleaning detergents, courtesy of orphanage management.


    She closed her eyes and started pulling them up, the quiet tearing sounds with every move only adding to the itchy, uncomfortable feeling against her skin.


    She took a look down, relieved to see they at least haven''t torn up along the crotch. Knees and thighs however weren''t so lucky, the sheer number of holes putting the jeans of the crustiest punks to shame.


    After taking a moment to get used to the sheer uncomfortableness of it all, she walked out of her room, every step making her watch out for yet more tearing sounds as she descended down the stairs, realizing she was the last one to get up, cursing herself internally for making everyone else catch a good glance of the abomination on her legs.


    "Morning Riley!" Andrew''s cheerful greeting lifted her spirits a bit, the girl waving slowly in return, most of the rest of the family joining in on the gentle waving.


    Except for Timmy who took a couple extra moments to catch up onto the rest of his family, squeaking happily upon seeing her-


    "Hi Riley!"


    She couldn''t help but giggle at his silliness, muttering back as she walked past him towards her seat-


    "Hey Timmy. How''d you sleep?"


    He took a moment to chew through his portion as she sat down on her chair and pulled a couple pancakes onto it before smearing a fair portion of peanut butter onto the topmost one and taking a decent chunk into her mouth, to her immediate regret once Timmy spoke up-


    "Good! Why did you sleep without pants?"


    The impromptu question sent her into an unending coughing fit, the dryness of her throat and meal only adding to its intensity. It took her a couple minutes for it to die down to a point where she could sip on a glass of water graciously provided by Ella, who looked at her with part concern, part amusement, and part understanding.


    After her throat stopped torturing her with increasingly wheezing coughs, she finally had an opportunity to respond to the tyke''s absurd question-


    "Wh-what do you even mean Timmy?"


    She was afraid of how he''d answer, a passing glance at the rest of the family calming her down a bit, with them all looking quite amused at what was taking place.


    With him taking a long while to compose an answer, Riley assumed, or rather hoped, that maybe he didn''t catch her response, and she''d be spared from further embarrassment as she just tried to eat breakf-


    "Your door was open and you were laying on your tummy without pants!"


    Goddammit Timmy.


    Riley took a deep breath as she cut another piece off her pancake, quietly responding-


    "Guess I just was too tired." She answered halfheartedly, just wishing he''d stop asking. On the other hand, maybe at least with focus on that nobody would notice her rags-


    And just like that, her thought process was derailed when she felt a paw on the back of her head, the unexpected feeling making her freeze for a brief second before she realized whose paw it was. With a deep breath, she leaned her head towards Timmy as he lifted his paw up higher, doing his best to scritch his tired sister''s head despite the height difference.


    On top of her tension melting away and the feeling just being pleasant in itself, it did feel good to be taller than someone at least.


    "Do you feel better now?" He asked after a while with a determined voice, still focused on scritching Riley the best his tiny arms could.


    She giggled warmly, prying one of her eyes slightly open as she heard someone get up from the table, catching Andrew''s wide smile before he turned way towards kitchen.


    "Yeah, I do. Thanks Timmy." She sighed as he slowly pulled his paw back, taking a moment to collect herself before repaying him in kind, a brief but intense scritching session sending the lil'' kit into an intense laughing fit before she ruffled his hair and went back to her breakfast, her spirits considerably lifted.


    She almost forgot she was wearing these dreadful things, fortunately they were eager to remind her of themselves with a loud tearing noise as she corrected herself on her seat.


    Goddammit.


    She tried to ignore it and push on with the breakfast, desperately praying to whoever was listening that Timmy wouldn''t bring it up and she would just go on with her day.


    Fortunately for her, he didn''t.


    Less fortunately, however, someone else did.


    "What was that sound?" Lily asked in surprise, Riley cursing her entire existence for leading up to this point.


    "Riley''s pants!" Timmy was more than happy to answer, one of his sisters reacting with a tilt of her head, and the other with running an internal cost-benefit analysis of stabbing her hand with a fork to get out of this mess faster.


    To Riley''s endless gratitude, Lily realized she wasn''t too keen on discussing the subject on the breakfast table and didn''t push the subject any further, soon wrapping up her portion along with Rick.


    Of course, however, the universe wouldn''t be satisfied if Riley wasn''t subjected to even more embarrassment because of her awful pants.


    "What''s wrong with your pants sweetie? Noticed them looking... pretty messed up as you walked up to the table."


    At least Ella didn''t bring it up with literally everyone else around.


    Riley took a deep breath, rubbing her temples for a moment before finally speaking up, admitting to her circumstances-


    "Must''ve thrown both other pairs into the laundry bin, had to dig up these awful things since I didn''t want to parade around with just underwear on."


    Imagining Andrew''s reaction if she did decide to do that made her giggle to herself, her amusement interrupted by Ella asking-


    "Wanna head to the mall to grab you some more clothes then?"


    Riley blinked in confusion, an obvious response forcing itself onto the forefront of her mind-


    "But I''ve already shopped for clothes with Rick on Saturday."


    "Well if you have to dig up those things that make you so obviously uncomfortable, just to have something to put on, then it''s pretty apparent to me you need at least a few pairs more sweetie."


    She mulled through Ella''s response, unable to find anything objective to disagree about, but very much not used to being given so much of... well, anything really, but especially care. She fully expected Ella to just tell her to bear with it until her better pairs of pants are clean, having her go beyond like that was...


    Appreciated. Definitely appreciated.


    So fucking much.


    "I-I see. Y-yeah, sounds like a good idea. Thanks Ella..." She added the last part quietly, taking a moment to compose herself so as to not tear up on the spot.


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Once we''re done with breakfast I''ll give you a pair of mine so that you have something to put on before we h-"


    "Who''s Ella?" Timmy interrupted, looking at them both in confusion as they broke into giggling fits, finishing their portions soon after.


    With that off Riley''s mind, finally, she went upstairs, remembering to recover her phone from Timmy''s room. What she didn''t anticipate was not being able to find it after stepping inside, looking all over the art supplies and the shelves, the phone refusing to make itself apparent.


    A couple minutes of fruitlessly searching later, she decided to take a seat on Timmy''s bed in frustration, thinking deeply about where the lil'' kit might have put it after she went to bed-


    Before laying her hand on it completely on accident as she supported herself on the soft mattress, realizing that the lil'' kit used it after she left it behind. She lifted it up, inspecting it with a bit of a panic, hoping it wouldn''t be discharged aga-


    65%. Thank goodness.


    Which in itself made her curious, what did Timmy do with it so that it didn''t end up completely drained? With a swipe upwards she had her answer, the phone unlocking into YouTube, and more specifically an episode of some cartoon named "Mimi and Nana", paused at the end.


    Guess Timmy figured out how to use her phone just to watch some cartoons before bed. God bless the lil'' kit.


    She got up, Timmy stepping back into his room just as she was about to leave it, managing to dodge the incoming door with a step backwards.


    Won''t get bonked again.


    "Hi Riley! Why are you in my room?" He asked as he looked up at her, the light purple onesie pajamas making him look even more innocent than usual.


    She smiled in amusement, waving her phone in front of him and asking, no anger in her voice-


    "Why did you use my phone?"


    "I wanted to watch Mimi and Nana!"


    Riley chuckled at his straightforward answer, following up-


    "Why didn''t you give it back to me when you saw I forgot to take it?"


    "I didn''t want to wake you up!"


    As if.


    "Right. I''m not mad at you Timmy, but next time please just knock on my door. If I don''t respond it''s whatever, but I''d rather have my phone close to me. Is that okay?"


    Timmy nodded happily, walking up to her and hugging her legs once more, Riley giggling before sitting down and giving the sweet kit a nice long hug, ignoring her pants tearing up some more in protest.


    "Riley..." He spoke up, his sister dreading another comment about her pants before being pleasantly surprised-


    "Can we watch Mimi and Nana together?"


    She ruffled his hair for a bit, smiling at the cute question before answering-


    "Sure, after I''m back from the shop with your mom. How''s that sound?"


    "Okay!" He answered cheerfully, gently nuzzling her before bringing up a question that struck Riley completely out of the left field-


    "Is mom not your mom too?"


    Oh damn.


    "I-I mean, she is I suppose..." She suddenly felt bad about a literal tyke catching that figure of speech, the realization of the self-imposed othering making her feel a bit uneasy.


    "I just need a bit to get used to it, okay?"


    "Okay!" Thankfully, he didn''t catch the change in her expression, hugging her for a bit longer before letting go, running up to his little desk and grabbing some crayons to draw.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    She stood up with a slight smile, heading to the door before the inevitable question came-


    "Why do your pants make this sound?"


    She took a very deep breath, figuring out an answer that would satisfy them both-


    "Because they''re broken pants."


    And left the room, just about ready to go into her temporary one before she saw Ella walk out of her bedroom, holding a pair of what appeared to be jogging pants, urging Riley towards herself with a gesture of her paw.


    "Well these are the best ones I found, unsure what do you think of jogging pants but I doubt anything else of mine won''t just slide down. Suppose we could check Lily''s stuff if even that''s too loose, hopefully some of her stretchier stuff will fit."


    Riley nodded in response, wondering a bit as to how would Ella even fit in these jogging pants. Stretch is one thing, but these would have to get so tense they''d-


    She shook the train of thought off before it went too far, trying to quell the blush on her cheek as she walked into her room, taking off the half tattered bundle of fabric before sliding the jogging pants on, relief washing over her as they did indeed fit her well with barely any stretching.


    Riley noticed something unusual on the small of her back as she took a few steps with the pants on, feeling a slightly padded round hole in the fabric over that area with her hand, apparently held together with a button. Its purpose eluded her for a good moment before the obviousness of the answer made her slap herself at not getting it earlier.


    Silly, it''s for tails.


    With that in mind, she was still a bit confused as to how tail... openings worked in pants for anthros. Was it a one size fits all? Suppose it wouldn''t be too bad with a stretchy material like this, but maybe this was just a model made with deliberately larger hole for species like, well, skunks which were certainly gifted in that regard, but what about species with smaller tails like cats? Would that be uncomfortable?


    And the biggest question of all, how were they called. No way they were just called "tail holes" or something... suggestive like that.


    Whatever, guess she''d ask Ella once they were out shopping.


    Much happier at having something that wasn''t flaking off at the touch on her legs, she put on her jacket and headed downstairs, the sound of Rick grunting in the storage room catching her attention just as she turned towards the stairs.


    Well, Ella wasn''t ready yet so might as well check this out.


    She took a peek into the musty room, the sounds explaining herself with Rick busy laying out many wooden parts for what appeared to be a dresser. She had as little clue about what kind of wood that was as she had about most other things, but it did look quite a bit lighter than whatever wood constituted her current furniture and floor.


    And quite a bit less stuffy.


    A soft giggle from behind her made her snap back to reality, Andrew''s presence acknowledged with her sticking out her tongue.


    "Whattcha spying on?"


    Before she could answer Rick cut her off, having walked up to the door frame in the meanwhile-


    "Oh, I''m just preparing to put the dresser together. Figures that with the paint dry we can just start assembling the furniture while you''re out with Ella, not our first tango with dealing with IKEA stuff. Sound good?"


    Riley nodded in response, most of her questions answered aside from one, more so of a curiosity at this point-


    "What kind of wood is that?"


    She managed to catch him off guard, the skunk dad taking a moment to check if he hadn''t remembered that already before leaning into the room and reading the label off the carton box-


    "Spruce, it seems. Anything you had in mind?"


    "No, just curious. Good luck with this... mess." She added earnestly after taking another look at the multitude of parts splayed out on the floor.


    "Oh, don''t worry, it''s easier than it looks." Andrew chimed in, sounding confident as he walked into the room and took a look at the instruction manual, taking a moment to rotate it around a few times before finally finding the correct side up.


    "Ready to head out?" Ella asked from behind her, dressed up in a comfy sweater and well-fitting jeans.


    Riley nodded in response, sliding her phone into the pocket together with her switchblade, the oddly sized bulge thankfully looking smaller than it was due to the matte fabric.


    After sliding on her sneakers, the realization of how worn they also were making her pause briefly, they went outside only to find Ella''s car covered by a hefty layer of snow.


    The skunk mom groaned at the sight, quickly walking into the garage and pulling out a worn broom, swiping all the white fluff off the top of her car with a few determined moves, followed up by clearing a bit of the parkway in front of it, Riley a bit confused at the halfheartedness of it before Ella let her in and turned on the engine.


    Whatever this car was it definitely wasn''t the Rick''s puny sedan, the engine rumbling loudly to life as they strapped themselves in, the obvious power under the hood making Riley''s eyes go wide in amazement as they drove onto the main road without a single hitch.


    "First time riding something with some actual power in it?" Ella chuckled as she drove, the whole experience feeling quite a bit rougher than using Rick''s car, but at the same time it was obvious they were driving quite a bit faster.


    "Y-yeah, w-what is this thing?" Riley asked with a hint of genuine amazement, pushed deeper into her seat much to Ella''s playful smirk.


    "Chevrolet Impala. Older than me, gonna be fifty in a year and still kicking with all its power. Dad bought it in college and used it all the time, only passing it onto me after most of us moved out. Not much to use it for when the shitty suspension makes driving painful. Besides, I always loved that thing, just feel this-"


    Riley had no chance to even ask what she was supposed to feel before Ella floored on an empty stretch of road, the full power of the chevy making itself apparent. Riley''s eyes went wide at the force pushing her backwards, mouth opening out to voice an objection before a push on the brakes brought the old beast down to a more manageable speed as they neared crossroads.


    The skunk mom chuckled at Riley''s brief shock, slowly taking the turn and keeping her speed low, calming her down with-


    "Don''t worry sweetie, not gonna pull that on you again, as fun as that is, I know better than to ask for a ticket like that."


    Riley nodded in appreciation, relaxing inside the chilly car, seemingly too old to have decent heating.


    "Now, what was that with Timmy saying you slept without pants or something? Did he visit you at night or what?"


    It never ends.


    She groaned before responding, voice exasperated at having to deal with that again and again-


    "I''ve no idea, I think I forgot to close the door to my room before crashing after that thing with laundry at five AM."


    "Ah. Teehee, when you get tired you get really tired, don''t you sweetie?" Ella asked with a smile, the environment around the car slowly becoming more and more populated.


    "Guess I do, heh." Riley chuckled in response, less tense now that she was sure Ella wasn''t mad at her.


    Ella smiled, keeping her eyes on the road as they quickly approached a massive mall, the parking lot looking almost full despite it being a work day.


    At least in theory, Riley adding internally as she realized that both Rick and Ella were on holiday break already, and so was probably the rest of the customers.


    Thankfully, while the parking lot certainly looked completely stacked, there were a handful free spots left, Ella managing to find one quite close to the main entrance.


    As internally happy as Riley was at the initial offer of going shopping, there was one thing she most definitely didn''t anticipicate-


    So, many, people.


    Riley kept herself as close to Ella as she could short of just directly holding her tail for guidance, the mass of humans and anthros alike making her head spin. She tried to focus on the various store signs to distract herself, any chains she did manage to recognize coming off as insufferably posh once she took a glance inside.


    "There we go. We get most of our clothes from here, will just have to ask the attendants for the ones without tail holes."


    Tail holes.


    Really.


    They made their way inside and into the women''s section, Riley wasting no time in searching for the smallest sizes they had in anticipation of the inevitable.


    As she went through a pair after a pair, she realized that the store''s client¨¨le was almost entirely anthros, making her feel a bit weird about staying in there, but at least she had an alibi in Ella taking her here.


    Just in case.


    After a couple minutes of searching for stuff that at least looked like it''d be her size, she managed to lay her hands on a pair of dark jeans so slim that for the first time in her life she was concerned that a piece of clothing would be too small for her.


    Just in case the impossible would indeed happen, she grabbed a couple other pairs of jeans and some track pants with Ella''s help as well, the skunk mom guiding her over to the changing room, Riley facing down a massive pile of pants as she slid her own off.


    She felt a bit uneasy as she realized she was completely defenseless in case, despite the door to her changing room having a sturdy looking lock on it. After scrambling a bit, she pulled the switchblade out of Ella''s borrowed pants, laying it on the edge of the seat juuuust in case.


    With that dealt with, she could start going through the shop finds, most of them just a tad bit too wide in a comfortable way, making her wish she had a belt to try them out with. Thankfully, length wise they reached right up to her ankles, which made most of them viable candidates.


    Of course there were a couple ones that were just flat out too large even for comfort, especially the jeans, which were discarded onto a second pile.


    And now the moment of truth, the absurdly tiny jeans, would they somehow manage to be too small even for her?


    The answer was... disappointing, while they felt a tad bit tight, they still fit well. She still had no idea *why* they existed, but suppose that if she did want to wear something skin tight she had a viable candidate.


    But she didn''t, and the jeans were discarded onto the "nah" pile, the remainder of the pants she brought with her swiftly taken care of. In the end, Riley was left with a pair of dark jeans, sadly without any lighter details on them, a pair of black cordu-something pants, feeling thick enough for any cold she might have to wade through, and yet another pair of track pants, two white stripes running down the outer sides of the sleeves satisfying her needs.


    After swiftly slipping back into the borrowed pants and sliding the switchblade into her right pocket, she walked out of the changing room, a bundle of pants under each arm as she marched towards Ella, stopping as she saw her talking to someone.


    The weasel was a couple inches taller than the skunk mom and judging by her shared love for casual sweaters and comfy jeans, a mom herself. Her copper-colored coat was visibly shorter than that of the Ashers, making her appear smaller than Ella despite being taller than her. The fur was white on her front, the small dark nose marking the separating line in an adorable way, the border visible even on her paws.


    Riley chose not to interrupt them, instead just putting the good pants into the shopping basket and putting the rest back in roughly their correct places, taking a moment to explore the store some more during the downtime.


    While one or two anthros did give her a confused glance as she walked around, most seemed to not mind at all, the girl quickly making her way over to the jackets section, taking a nice look around for a worthy alternative to her current one whenever she had to wash it.


    Most of the jackets were very much not her thing, lightly colored and fluffy, some even glistening under the store lights.


    Bleh.


    Thankfully, after some more searching, she did manage to find a slightly longer black coat higher up the shelf, the slightly rugged appearance definitely appealing to her.


    Especially with the white zipper down the middle.


    There was only one small issue, however, and it was the fact that there was no way in hell for her to actually take it off the rail it was hanging on without suddenly growing stilts from her feet.


    She looked around for something to stand on for a while, all the seats around both taken and attached to the floor. Out of options, and realizing that staring at it, no matter how harshly, won''t make the coat fall down out of its resting spot.


    In desperation she just stood up on her toes and tried to shake the slick coat out of its containment, so focused on her goal that the sudden voice from her side made her jump in surprise, which sadly didn''t help her either-


    "Do you need help?"


    After skipping a couple heartbeats and looking to her side, she saw the source of the voice, a weasel not too dissimilar to the one Ella was talking to, if just a bit taller, and from up close, quite a bit softer.


    She was wearing a brown puffy jacket, looking really quite well on her despite Riley''s usual aversion to them, going together greatly with her coat and light brown eyes, looking a bit confused as she spoke again-


    "Hello?"


    "O-oh, sorry, a-and yeah, guess I could some a hand here, heh..." Riley responded with a blush, looking away embarrassed as the weasel girl helped her bring the coat down, the human girl nodding slightly in appreciation.


    "Th-thank you."


    "No problem. First time here?"


    "Y-yeah, guess I just didn''t want to bother the staff..."


    "Heh, don''t worry, they''re used to being asked for help with the stuff that''s placed stupidly high. And no, don''t worry I''m not one of them, just saw you needed a hand."


    "Well, I could certainly use a foot of height as well." Riley chuckled at her own awful joke, thankfully joined in that by the stranger, who quickly added-


    "Nah, shops just need to sort out their stuff with hanging stuff stupidly high, you''re fine the way you are."


    Riley could''ve sworn she noticed just the tiniest hint of a blush on her cheek, the thought averted by a voice from around the corner-


    "Riley?"


    Shaken out of her brief daze she ran up to the corner of the aisle, waving at Ella who quickly walked up to her, smiling in mild surprise at the weasel girl who''d helped her-


    "Oh, hey there Maddy. Your mom''s looking for you as well, guess neither of you two wanted to accidentally step into some old lady talk, heh."


    "Hello Mrs. Asher!" The newly named Maddy responded with a smile as she glanced between Ella and Riley.


    Ella smiled and nodded in return, inspecting the scene she''d walked into before asking Riley-


    "Did Maddy help you with that coat?"


    Both Riley and Maddy nodded slowly at that with a bit of a blush, trying to look away from each other.


    "Oh, good, they really need to finally sort out the height of some of these, I''m so tired of having to ask an overworked clerk every time there''s something good looking on a higher shelf. Had a chance to put it on Riley?" Ella continued, unaware of the slight tension between the two, Riley quickly taking off her current jacket and handing it over to the skunk mom.


    The new coat fit surprisingly well, reaching halfway down her thighs, having just enough free space inside to fit a fluffy jumper underneath, without the sleeves ending up longer than her arms.


    "How''s it look?" She asked the assembled public, Ella nodding with a smile as Maddy spoke up-


    "It looks great, all warm and snuggly."


    Riley was a bit taken aback by such a positive response, a blush once more sneaking its way up her cheeks before being interrupted by Ella-


    "Yep. Let''s put it in the basket and head to the checkout unless you''re thinking of something else. And you Maddy better find your mom, she''s still looking for you you know."


    Riley quickly slid the coat off, exchanging it with her current jacket before Ella walked off towards the basket, Riley scrambling back into the pleather outfit, Maddy catching her attention once more-


    "So, you''re Riley? Glad to meet ya!" She extended a paw towards her with enthusiasm, quickly returned once Riley was done scrambling back into her jacket, answering with confusion-


    "Wait, you''ve heard of me?"


    "In a way, my mom told me a few days ago that her old friend from high school had adopted a teen named Riley but not much beyond that, and since then I''ve been looking forward to meeting you."


    Riley nodded at her response, two and two adding up internally as she asked-


    "Was your mom on Ella''s hockey team in high school?" The face of the weasel looking slightly familiar from the old photo, despite the absence of blood.


    "Yeah! Well, guess you could say that your mom was on my mom''s team since she was the captain, but yeah! Heh, figured she''d tell you about that sooner or later." Maddy smiled slightly as she answered, the sight making Riley share the smile as she responded-


    "Well, nice to meet you too Maddy. And once again, thanks with that coat."


    "Oh it''s nothing Riley, don''t worry. Say, wanna share phone numbers?"


    "U-uh, sure, if you tell me how, heh..." She quickly pulled her phone up, quickly tapping out of the children''s cartoon that was still opened and navigating over to the contact list, only knowing to proceed as far as pressing the ''New Contact'' button.


    As Maddy started dictating her phone number, Riley managed to tap the text field next to the icon of a mobile phone, the phone fortunately opening up the number keyboard for her to type in, just barely managing to catch up with the phone number before the first digit escaped her short term memory.


    After she was done, Maddy leaned in to take a look, correcting a couple of mistaken digits before clearing her, adding another tidbit a moment later-


    "Oh, if you use full names for contacts then it''s ''Madeline Johnson''. Ready to give your number?"


    Riley tapped the full name in as quickly as she could, unused to the tempo Maddy apparently thought she could type at. After finalizing the contact, she realized she''d no idea what her actual phone number was, looking around a bit confused before the weasel caught on-


    "Oh, if you don''t know your number than just try to call me and I''ll save that."


    With a deep breath to steady herself, she managed to stumble her way back to the call menu, selecting the freshly added Maddy and waiting for something to-


    A cheerful tune chimed from Maddy''s phone before being cut off with a quiet beep, the girl nimbly navigating around her own phone, Riley managing to lean in and spot her contact entry receiving a name of ".Riley Asher" before Maddy slid her phone back into her pocket.


    "Heh, guess by now my mom''s starting to panic about me- take care Riley, hope to chat with ya some more!" Maddy waved goodbye before running off into the shop, Riley taking a moment to snap herself out of her daze before running off towards Ella. As she made her way back over, she spotted a stand with belts, grabbing the smallest black one that didn''t look too stuffy and giving it a quick check to see whether it could even tie anything to her waist before continuing her jog, thankfully managing to find Ella around halfway through the checkout queue and throwing the belt into the basket.


    Apparently, she took some time in the meanwhile to get her the versions of the pants she chose without the... tail holes, the gesture making Riley smile softly as the skunk mom spoke up-


    "So, how''s Maddy?" Ella asked with a smile, Riley looking away with the tiniest blush before responding-


    "She''s alright, glad she gave me a hand with the coat and all."


    Ella lifted her brows just a bit at Riley''s reaction, stifling a tiny smirk, opting unusually for her not to respond, much to the girl''s gratitude.


    A few minutes later they were in the clear, Ella taking a brief seat on a bench before asking-


    "Alright, anything else on your mind, clothes-wise?"


    W-why did she feel the need to add that last caveat...


    "W-well, guess I could use another pair of shoes or two, the sneakers are all I really have right now."


    "Uh-oh, yeah that sounds rough. Another pair of sneakers and some solid winter shoes?"


    Riley nodded, Ella begrudgingly getting up from her brief respite, heading towards a large store with more shoe boxes on display than she''d ever seen in her life up to that point combined.


    Skunk mom left her to her own devices as she took a seat near the entry to the shop, Riley grasping shoe sizing enough to quickly find another pair of black and white sneakers, slightly thicker and better looking than her current ones even at their best, many months ago by now.


    The winter shoes were another matter, most of the shoes her size frustratingly too narrow to feel anywhere near comfortable. A literal dozen attempts later she finally found a pair that didn''t feel like it was crushing her feet in a vice. She grabbed it on the spot despite the light brown appearance not really fitting her tastes.


    After all, what point is there to fancy shoes if they hurt to even wear.


    With her business here done she walked back to the annoyed looking Ella, noting her fur bristling a bit as she asked quietly-


    "I-is something wrong Ella?"


    She snapped back towards her, the annoyance melting into tiredness as she rubbed her forehead before answering-


    "N-no, nothing sweetie, just... ugh, spotted one of the bullies from Lily''s class waltzing around with her friends. Pisses me off just to look at the brat."


    Riley certainly could imagine.


    Imagined she did in fact, a very stupid plan forming in her head, one she couldn''t help but to go for, with all of Lily''s former anxiety towards her lighting up the sudden fire of her motivation.


    "How''s she look like?"


    "That awful lime green jacket, otherwise similar to you, but then again, only a bit, and in ways that don''t matter in the end." Ella responded, seemingly having not sensed any ulterior motives in Riley''s question.


    The skunk mom got up shortly afterwards, realizing that Riley has managed to find the shoes for herself, slowly heading towards the checkout as her daughter brought up another question-


    "What''s her name?"


    "Beatrice I think, or something to that effect. Why do you ask?"


    So that I can beat her face in.


    "I mean, once I end going to school I''m gonna share it with Lily and Andrew and it''s probably good to keep shitty people like that in mind."


    Ella nodded slowly at that, thankfully not seeing through her words with all her exhaustion.


    Riley kept quiet after that, quickly going through the far less cramped check out, Ella asking her once more as they walked out of the store, her voice clearly tired-


    "So, need to patch up your wardrobe on any other fronts sweetie?"


    "No, don''t think so, I''ve got shirts and underwear plenty. Guess that''s all for now."


    "Thank goodness." The exhausted skunk mom slipped out, turning towards the front entrance and quietly adding-


    "Let''s get home, god I need a nap..."


    Riley nodded, walking with her until the parking lot was in sight through the glass doors before speaking up-


    "Uh, I think I need to use the bathroom, m-mind taking the shoes to the car as well? I''ll catch up to you at the car after I''m done."


    Please work please work please work pl-


    "Using an old woman like that, have you no shame-" Ella responded with a chuckle, her words clearly joking as she took the shoe boxes from Riley and guided her-


    "The bathrooms are down this corridor, just look at the signs on the walls. Haste!"


    Riley smiled and turned around, quickly marching deeper into the building, speeding up into a light jog as she looked around for a girl with a lime jacket. While she was well aware now that her eyesight was shite, at least she could still make out colors.


    A minute or so later she''d finally spotted her sitting at a cafeteria table of some fast food place, surrounded by a couple other equally obnoxious looking tweens, one Riley could have sworn she saw her hair glitter even from a distance.


    She pulled on her hood and thought through the plan of attack as she sat down on a nearby bench. While walking up to them and just socking the brat on her cheek would be the most satisfying outcome, she wasn''t exactly looking forward to being apprehended by some mall cops.


    She had to be a bit stealthier, catching her on her-


    Her planning was cut short as she spotted Beatrice heading to the bathrooms in the corner of her eye, definitely not willing to waste a perfect opportunity like that as she followed her in.


    Adrenaline surged through her as she waited outside her stall, outside of the field of view of the only camera in the bathroom, hands giddy.


    A flush of water later the wench finally walked out of her stall, the lime jacket even more hideous up close. Same extended to the rest of the brat, while she definitely had more or less Riley''s height and figure, everything was way opposite, from the overuse of glitter makeup, to her pixie cut being over the top perfect and almost definitely treated with hair spray.


    As opposed to the only honorable hair management method, safety scissors you smuggled out of the play room.


    And these shining red fake nails, ugh.


    "Beatrice?" She caught her attention, the girl looking annoyed by someone daring to interrupt her like that, before the emotion was replaced by confusion-


    "Who are you?" She squeaked out, taking a look at Riley, the similarities in appearance unnerving her.


    Riley took a deep breath and eyed her down, right hand curling up into a fist as she calmly responded with a modified version of her original idea-


    "Anthros say hi."


    And landed the meatiest hook she''d ever managed in her lifetime, the tween stumbling and falling right onto the floor, thankfully not slamming her head into the tiles.


    As proud as Riley was of her handiwork, she knew better than to stick around, pulling her hood back on and quickly walked out of the bathroom and into the crowds as Beatrice''s confused whimpers at anyone daring to attack her like this turned into wailing since, oh right, it hurt quite badly.


    Fortunately, by the time she heard her babyish cries really get loud she was already in the middle of the crowd, massaging her aching right hand with her left, the job well done making her grin widely to nobody in particular as she sped up towards the front entrance.


    The grin refused to wash itself from her even as she stepped outside into the cold, managing to just barely recall the rough location of Ella''s car, aided by the skunk mom herself standing outside, looking for her in slight exasperation.


    "I''m afraid to ask what did you even do in there for it to take that long..." She remarked with the tiniest hint of annoyance as she sat back in the car, Riley dashing up to the other front door before she slid in herself.


    "It takes a while, you know?" She answered, biting on her tongue to suppress her glee, which the tired Ella thankfully didn''t notice.


    "Not for me it doesn''t. But anyway, let''s finally get home, could definitely use a cup of tea and a nap myself, this mall always makes me feel like shit..." She remarked as she turned on the engine and pulled out of their parking spot, taking just a bit longer than usual to finally find the exit onto the main road.


    Just by a minute or two.


    As they drove away from the mall, Riley''s grin wavered a bit as she considered what might the consequences be for that... assuming they''d catch her, which would be quite tricky given she hid her face from the camera, did it outside one''s sight and was someone utterly unknown to Bea-bitch or whatever her name was. And even beyond all that, she did the right thing and that''s what matters here.


    Even if her hand hurt afterwards, joining her left shoulder.


    Ow.

 Chapter 20: Lets Have a Talk

    The ride home was a blur of black asphalt and white snow as the adrenaline took its time to wash out of Riley''s system, the girl too excitable to remember much of anything, especially with Ella too tired to engage in much of any small talk anymore.


    Riley was the first to get out of the car after they''d parked, quickly opening the back doors and grabbing the handful of bags and boxes, before closing the door with a shove of her hips and heading towards the front door.


    Ella took a moment to catch up, scrambling out of the driver''s seat with a yawn and locking the car up, slowly walking up to the front door as she raised an eyebrow at Riley-


    "What''s got you so excited?"


    "O-oh, nothing, just, uh, having all these new things to try out!"


    Riley was a bad bluff.


    Fortunately for her, Ella was an even worse spotter of bluffs when tired.


    "Remember to cut the price tags off, Lily''s has had her own share of parading in new clothes she got only to realize she was now worth ten bucks." She chuckled as she opened the front door, letting them both in.


    The house was... quiet, too quiet. No muffled sounds of Lily practicing, no ambiance of Timmy playing, be it with video games or with wooden bricks.


    Only finally hearing the sound of wood grinding against wood, along with the quiet grunts of Rick and Andrew moving the furniture around, a wordless tension leaving Riley as she headed towards the stairs, Ella staying downstairs with a stretch before walking up to the kettle.


    Upstairs, the area between her new room and the storage room was a bit of a mess, the doors of both rooms stuck open, with the soft carpet rolled up and silver taped to prevent it from rolling back. The message of ''Under construction'' was clear enough, even if it prevented Riley from reaching her current room.


    She decided to, at least for now, place the shopping in front of the work room before she slowly walked up, only wanting to get a glance of her-


    "Oh, hey Riley, stay back for now!" Andrew''s soft if noticeably strained voice took her out of her little adventure, the big skunk''s back slowly waddling out of the storage room, obviously exerting quite a bit.


    She took a few steps back as she watched the scene, Andrew grunting as he slowly turned, the full sight of a desk being carried on its short side coming into view as he and Rick made progress. The latter followed shortly, adding his own share of strained noises as they lifted the desk through the narrow corridor.


    A half a minute or so later they''d managed to carry it over to her new room, Riley catching a glance of Rick''s changed outfit, the dad skunk going down to basics with just a white sleeveless shirt, a few sweaty spots on its back included, along with a well-worn featureless shorts and wonderfully mismatched thick winter boots.


    The outfit of champions.


    Not really able to do much else, Riley just stood and watched for a bit, listening to the sounds of what must have been the two rotating the desk back to its correct orientation, followed by the light thud of the piece of furniture finally standing down on the carpet.


    Few adjustments later they left the room, stretching their arms and heading back into the storage, Rick barely managing to catch Riley in his peripheral vision, turning towards her-


    "Hey Riley. Guess until we''re done you can stay in Timmy''s room, just try to keep quiet since he''s taking a nap. And afterwards... well, we need to talk."


    While the contents of his words were fairly mundane, the sad, almost... regretful tone combined with the addition at the end made Riley''s hair stand on end, the girl gulping as she quietly nodded and walked up to Timmy''s room. Rick''s reaction with a similarly sad nod certainly didn''t make her feel any better, doubts starting to coil around her mind as she stepped into the lil'' kit''s room.


    If there''s one time she really wished he was around to say his silly things and distract her, it was now.


    But he wasn''t, snuggled and snoozing up on top of his covers, still in his day clothes and with his tail wrapped around his tummy.


    Riley quietly closed the door behind her, sliding her shoes off as she sat down against a wall, arms wrapped around her legs as she just... waited.


    She had the phone in her pocket of course, and in a pinch even the art supplies in Timmy''s room, but the quickly growing anxiety made her feel too chained for any of that.


    The feeling was dreadful, in a way she never remembered feeling before. Of course she''s been scolded before at the orphanage, many, many times, but every time she just took it in stride, spitting at the staff as they turned away, done with their monologues.


    After all, what could they even do to her. You need to have something you can take away from someone to be able to punish them in any real capacity, and the kids there already had pretty much nothing.


    But this was different, and not just because of the possibility of punishment. It was something deeper than that, something utterly absent in her life before this past week.


    Respect.


    When you''re treated like a number that just has to be fed and which should shut up and ideally just stay alive in its room, it''s hard to respect anyone around you, be it the other inmates or the jailers.


    But here... here it was completely different, Rick wasn''t just some detached pencil pusher, he was an actual person like her, someone who had gone through his share of awful events, someone who understood.


    Someone whom she respected.


    Someone who respected her.


    And seeing him, someone who''d grown so important to her in such a short time, just so disappointed and defeated felt worse, so, so much worse than even during any of orphanage''s half-baked attempts at corporeal punishments.


    But, why was he so down, why was he so sad with her, he couldn''t have-


    Or maybe? She had no idea how, but... maybe he did know what she did and was disappointed because of that?


    But that made no sense! He knew his daughter, his real daughter was being bullied at school by these wastes of skin, h-how could he be disappointed at her for doing some justice!?


    The train of thought made her breathing raspy, sadness in her system being replaced by anger, anger that made her hands clamp into tight fists, anger at, at-


    Feeling betrayed. She thought Rick better than those moralistic pieces of shit, the ones that said that violence is never the answer and who punished both the bullies and the bullied for getting into fights.


    How could he, h-how could he do something like that...


    No!


    She let out a loud grunt, rubbing her palms into her forehead as she tried to snap herself out of this, of psyching herself up like this because of something she could only fantasize about right now.


    For all she knew, he was angry because of something completely different and not because of what''d happened earlier, a-and would never know-


    No, not angry. She''s never seen him angry. He was disappointed, in a way she did remember seeing before.


    Back in their follow-up interview.


    Except now it stung so much more, her emotion-wracked body curling up even tighter at the almost physical pain in her chest, unused to feeling bad about herself.


    At least, not like that. Not when there was an actual reason to feel bad.


    *knock knock*


    The quiet sound caught her attention, providing at least enough motivation for her to pick herself back up onto her feet as the door was slowly opened. Rick leaned in, his distraught expression looking almost a bit pained as he looked down at Riley, her own emotional struggle more than apparent on her face and shirt in front of the wet spots.


    "Riley, are you alright?" He asked quietly, some of the earlier sadness replaced with concern as he walked in and extended a paw towards her, Riley managing to stand up without his help.


    "I-I guess..." She whispered back, unsure what to even say at this point.


    Was there even anything she could say that would make this any better?


    "I''m not angry at you Riley, and I''m sorry if I came off that way. But I believe we do need to have a talk."


    She nodded shakily, taking a while to gather the courage to even look up at him.


    "Wanna have it in the large bedroom? Your room is pretty much ready by now, Andrew is just adding in some finishing touches right now, but I don''t want for your first experience in it to be this sour."


    Riley nodded once more, seeing his point and leaving the sleeping kit alone, the carpet in the corridor since unrolled back to its normal appearance, if needing just a bit more straightening.


    She didn''t even bother taking a look into her new room despite the door being open, not feeling like spoiling the surprise to herself in her present state.


    As they walked into her now-former room, Rick closed the door behind her and took a seat on the edge of the bed, gently patting a spot a foot or so away from him.


    Riley stayed quiet as she sat down, her slight body shaking in anticipation, just waiting for the trap to spring, for him to start scolding her roughly.


    Instead, he just asked a question, his tone having gotten calmer-


    "Why did you do it?"


    He obviously knew.


    She sat in silence for what felt like half an hour, quaking quietly as the mess of her mind tried to formulate her earlier anger into a succinct response-


    "Because she deserved it." Her voice was quiet, some of her former tension seeping through the words.


    "What did you think doing that would accomplish?"


    The follow up took her from the left field, her brain going blank for a good while as she tried to rationalize her righteous anger-


    "I did it to make her stop bullying Lily!" She snapped back, emotions driving her wild between fury and defeat, making her leer at Rick.


    "From her perspective, she was just punched by a girl she has no idea about, without any idea why." He responded calmly, taking a moment to compose himself before following up-


    "Violence, and more generally punishment like that as a whole, can only work if you know what you''re being punished for and have the ability to fully comprehend the impact of the actions you''re being punished for. She filled neither of those criteria. And even if she did, pain is an awful teacher of anything productive. It teaches resentment and avoidance, and nothing that actually helps the punished party improve."


    Riley mulled over the words, Rick''s cooling tone struggling violently against her kneejerk anger, the latter making her mutter out to her own immediate regret-


    "I thought you weren''t like these, these limp-dicked pencil pushers who treat the bullied kid throwing a punch worse than the actual bully!"


    She saw his calm expression jolt into a grimace for just a moment, the sight making her feel that much worse before he responded-


    "I... know who you mean, even if I wouldn''t exactly use your choice of adjectives here.


    "I''m not like these people, and I know exactly who you mean, the kind of book abiding bastards that admonish violence in all forms and think that a bullied kid should just talk it out with his bully. But even then, pain, violence are tools, if not for teaching then for self-defense. Even when used as a deterrent, it''s not gonna be anywhere near as effective unless the two conditions I mentioned are met. An activist in a black bloc rattling up a fascist something proper is one thing, where the fash knows well what it wants and what it stands for. A girl from nowhere smacking a kid that for the most part, has no real idea why do her parents dislike anthros so much but just knows she should follow their footsteps, for no apparent reason, is another thing entirely."


    His words felt like they were melting through her brain, unused to someone who wasn''t just a wanna be ''pacifist'' for his own convenience, but for an actual reason she had a hard time arguing, even in the safety of her own head.


    "What you did was bad not because punching is bad, or because standing up for your siblings is bad, but because it''s ultimately pointless and will do nothing in the long term. Beatrice isn''t gonna suddenly change because she now has one fewer milk teeth, where as something like a therapy session where you try to pick at her own reasoning would be much more effective in the long run. Of course, I''m not expecting you to have given her a therapeutic session in the bathroom of a mall, especially since you do have a very valid reason for despising her." He chuckled a bit at his own joke, the thoughtful expression warming up into a soft smile.


    "A therapeutic session... like the one you''re giving me right now?" Riley asked, suppressing her own tiny smirk at the realization, and then another one as she saw him nod slightly.


    "Besides, even if I did want to punish you, I can''t exactly think of a reason how would I go about doing it without being infinitely more cruel than the action I would be punishing you for." He admitted plainly, chuckling a bit before shaking it off with a few rapid blinks, and bringing up a question once more-


    "So, with that in mind, why did you do it? Beyond the surface level reason of wanting her to stop bullying Lily?"


    "S-surface level?" Riley responded in confusion, unsure what was Rick trying to imply here.


    "While that''s the reason you told me about, is it really why you went and did it?"


    "W-why would it not be that?" She was lost, having no idea what he was going on about, or how would he even know about her considerations before she went and did it.


    "Because that''s not how people work. As sensible as we all want to think we are, so many of our actions are based on emotions more than on rational thought. There''s nothing inherently wrong with that, not any more than there is with society as a whole- but it''s something we all have to keep in mind, lest we start thinking of ourselves as more rational than we actually are. So, with that in mind, what do you think led you to doing it, what did you feel as you did it?"


    She wasn''t expecting this question, especially after his earlier lesson, making her look up at him with a surprised expression, a question slipping out of her mouth, her voice hushed and at a loss-


    "W-why are you asking me that?"


    "Because as good as it feels for me to go on with my moralizing, I know from experience that sorting through your emotions will be much more effective, and after our little session back on our way to IKEA, so probably do you." He responded plainly, looking at her with a slight smirk.


    "Y-yeah, point taken..." Riley couldn''t help but admit defeat, focusing on trying to recall what she felt before going through with her punch, the action proving to be surprisingly difficult, with emotions having noticeably colorized the recent past.


    "W-we, me and Ella were shopping for some shoes, after I came back to her I-I remember her being annoyed since she thought she saw one of Lily''s bullies, so I asked her for some details a-and her name." She recalled uncertainly, the surprising difficulty of the mental process making her face grimace.


    "Do you remember what you felt when she told you that?"


    "I... f-felt motivated, I thought I finally had a chance f-for..."


    "Revenge. A chance for revenge." Riley finally answered, the sudden clarity stilling her racing thoughts at the realization.


    Rick nodded quietly, asking with a hint of curiosity-


    "Revenge for what?"


    "F-for making Lily be afraid of me because of her bullying, I-I think." Removed from the immediate scene, she realized just how, how selfish that motivation was.


    "Did you think that it would help with anything?"


    "I... I don''t know. I wanted to get back at her, more than anything..."


    "Back at her? How did she hurt you?" Rick knew his question was leading, right towards where he wanted Riley to go.


    "W-when I-I saw how L-Lily was afraid of me, a-and there was n-nothing I could do... i-it hurt." Riley admitted, the feelings she recalled making her tear up slightly once more.


    "And you were angry at Beatrice since you felt that she was the one ultimately responsible for it?"


    She nodded slowly, the words making sense of her angry jumble of thoughts.


    "Angry because of how powerless Lily''s rejection made you feel?"


    She nodded much more vigorously this time, two small trickles freely flowing down her cheeks.


    "Angry because you felt like you could finally get back at someone for inflicting all that pain to you?"


    She shut her eyes tight, face crunching up from the struggle and the tears, body shaking a bit as Rick brought his monologue into its conclusion-


    "Revenge tastes sweet, at least initially, but it contributes nothing in the end. There''s the initial rush, you finally showed them how angry you were, but give it a few hours, days, and it fades into nothing, and the original anger is still there after all. All it does in the end is only bring more pain."


    Riley didn''t even have time to interrupt him before he continued-


    "I was once your age Riley, and in your situation. I''m well aware of how badly powerlessness hurts after you''re finally given some control of your life for the first time, and I should have done more to help you process this pain back when it hurt the most. I didn''t, and I''m horribly sorry for that."


    He slid over quietly, wordlessly extending his arms towards her, Riley not hesitating even for a moment before leaning in and hugging him as tightly as she could, her hold shaking as she cried the emotions out of her, slowly cooling off as he held her tightly.


    They sat like that for a long while, Rick giving Riley all the time she needed, reaching down to slowly pet her back as he rested his head on hers.


    "I-I... t-thank you so much Rick..." She forced out between sniffles, holding onto him tighter still as he softly answered-


    "It''s all fine Riley. You made a mistake, but we all do. The important thing is to learn from it moving on, dwelling on them won''t help anyone." His voice was soft and warm, words followed up by him giving her a small smooch on the top of her head.


    She nodded as she cried into his chest, the forgiving words dissolving any remaining worries she held, the tears finally ceasing before she let go, a large wet spot on Rick''s shirt a silent witness of the emotional exchange.


    "Now... there''s something I''d like you to do Riley, to sort of close this sour part out." His voice made his head jerk up, the girl nodding as she listened intently.


    "Mind talking to Lily about this? She was a bit distraught once she heard the news and is probably a bit afraid and could use your presence there."


    Riley got up quickly, the determination to right the wrongs lighting her up despite the previous sorrow. Just as she neared the door, however, one last question popped onto her mind, and she knew that if she didn''t ask it there and then, the question wouldn''t let go of her-


    "J-just one thing... h-how did you know?"


    He chuckled, an amused smile sliding onto his face as he explained-


    "Social media. News spreads really fast nowadays, even between friend groups, and Lily heard about it not even five minutes after the fact, her phone wouldn''t stop buzzing. And then she added two and two, figured out that there is only one person she knew of that fit the criteria of looking like Beatrice, being at the mall at the time and having a motivation to do something like that. And then she told me, and then you admitted to it."


    Fucking phones.


    Riley nodded and sighed at the answer, the perceived utility of the phones quickly increasing in her view, despite not really having any idea what ''Social media'' were.


    "Now, go help Lily sweetie. She needs you most of anyone right now." He gently urged her on with a smile, the determined teen dashing out of the room and running up to Lily''s before gently knocking on her door and taking a deep breath.


    Fortunately, she didn''t have to wait for too long, her sister quickly opening the door, expression shifting from concern to surprise as she looked up at Riley, opening her mouth to talk before being cut off with a tight hug from her sister.


    Riley held her as closely as she could, feeling her go from the brief shock as her fur stood on its end, to comfort, the tween reaching her arms around her older sister in return and holding her as closely as she could herself, sniffling a bit as she relaxed in her hold.


    "I''m here Lily. I''m so sorry..." Riley whispered softly as she leaned her head down and nuzzled the top of skunk''s head with her forehead, calming down both her sis and herself.


    "Riley, I-I''m fine, I promise..." She heard Lily mutter out, still sounding a bit concerned, less for herself and more for her sister, before she went on-


    "B-but, are you alright!? D-did anyone catch you?"


    "Well, if they did I wouldn''t be here now, would I?" Riley chuckled a bit as she gently let go of Lily, giving her a half step of space.


    "Y-yeah, b-but what about t-the cameras? W-what if they''ll find out you did it?" The kit sounded a fair bit panicky, her concern for her sister making Riley crack a slight smile as she tried to calm her down.


    "I did it away from cameras and didn''t show my face around. Besides, it''s just a punch, I doubt anyone aside from what''s-her-face''s parents would be too keen on bothering with just a single punch."


    "W-well, you did manage to knock out a tooth..."


    Riley couldn''t help but laugh at that, the addition providing her with some well-deserved opportunity to relax, her shoulders loosening.


    "Ha, had no idea I could hit that hard. Did she say anything?"


    "No, I saw it on a post by her friend, from what it says you just stood in the bathroom, waited for her to pass by, said something she can''t remember and hit hard before running away."


    "I mean... that wasn''t the original plan, but yeah, pretty much." She chuckled, trying to minimize the glee in her voice.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Lily nodded before something popped up, making her speak up once more-


    "B-but, won''t you be going to the same school as me and Andrew? W-what if you stumble upon her there?"


    Riley considered the inevitable possibility for a while, eventually concluding-


    "Well, if she stops being a bully, then maybe I''ll say sorry. Iiiiif not, heh..." She chuckled, her sister noting the humor in her response but wanting her to be more serious-


    "Riley, please!"


    "Don''t worry, I won''t punch her again or anything. What I will do is go find you, hold you under my arm, and make it clear to her that if she lays a hand on you once more, I will do the same to her. Maybe even get another tooth out of it." Riley responded, as serious as she got despite the quip at the end.


    Lily thought through her response for a moment, nodding slowly before running up to Riley and hugging her once more, the older sister smiling in response as she held the kit.


    "Doing it the way I did might have been a mistake, but I still mean it- I''m not letting anyone hurt you."


    "T-thank you Riley..." Lily muttered quietly, her hold on her sister growing stronger, Riley petting her back and hair.


    Riley wasn''t gonna let anybody stop her from being the best sister Lily could have.


    "You''re welcome Lily. I love you."


    "I-I love you too Riley, a-and won''t let anybody hurt you either!" The kit responded with confidence as she let go of her sister, a slightly teary expression filling with determination.


    Riley was ready to respond, before a very welcome squeaking noise from behind cut her off-


    "Hi Riley! You''re back!" Timmy said, running up to her and replacing Lily as he hugged her legs.


    "Hey Timmy. Had a good nap?" She turned towards him with a small chuckle, leaning down to stroke his hair some, much to his elation.


    "Yeah! Can we watch Mimi and Nana now?" He asked happily, Riley having forgotten about the show with all that''s happened since she left, but definitely didn''t want to let him down-


    "Sure. Say..." She turned towards Lily, who realized her intent but didn''t manage to word out something to the contrary before the fell words filled the room- "...wanna watch with us Lily?"


    Lily knew, there and then, that she was done for, and that Timmy wouldn''t even let her breathe until he''d get her to come along, a sigh of amusement mixed with mild frustration leaving her mouth before she responded, knowing better than trying to oppose the torna- four year old-


    "Okay... in the play room or where?"


    "Play room!" The kit responded happily before running out the room, Lily desperately trying to appear annoyed, not able however to suppress a warm smile at her situation, knowing she could use a breather like that.


    "Can I take that ''I love you'' back?" Lily asked jokingly, breaking into laugh immediately afterwards, Riley joining her, finding her reaction to being dragged along hilarious.


    "Nope~" The older sister chimed out, taking a deep breath before walking out the room, a devilish idea popping in her mind making her almost break into more laughter as she quickly dashed down the corridor. Timmy was already excited and waiting on the play room couch, Riley turning on the lights as she realized how dark outside it was getting already before she leaned in and asked the kit-


    "Hey, Timmy, how about you ask Andrew to join us too?"


    He let out an excited gasp and slid off the couch, tail waving comically behind him as he ran up to his older brother''s room and started banging on it, Lily having to suppress a burst of laughter as she realized what was going on.


    It took a few moments for Andrew to come out of hiding, the unsuspecting big brother crouching in front of Timmy as he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, before being swiftly cut off-


    "Andrew wanna watch with us!?"


    Riley saw the procession of his emotions in detail, from the initial surprise, to realization as he took a look into the corridor, both of his sisters staring him down in amusement, to defeat as he was just as familiar with the tyke''s insistence. The end result was a quiet sigh followed by a warm smile, the big bro ruffling Timmy''s hair as he stood up and walked out of his room, curtly answering-


    "Sure! Whatcha watchin''?"


    "Mimi and Nana!" Timmy answered, running past Riley back into the play room and scrambling once more onto the couch, the older brother reaching with a relieved sigh, happy that at least he was dragged into a group watching of an actually good cartoon.


    Riley took a glance back at the gathered siblings, shooting them both a wide grin before following Timmy in, leaping onto the couch right next to him, before a realization struck her-


    Wait, how were they actually gonna watch it? Is it on air right now? Is it some more of this wonky internet thing?


    The situation didn''t clear itself as the other siblings sat down, Lily leaning on Andrew''s shoulder as Timmy reached up to the TV remote and turned the flat screen display on, Riley staring confused with her mouth slightly agape as the tyke continued to navigate around weird menus.


    Her confusion only deepened as she saw some familiar icons on the screen, recalling seeing them in her exploration of her phone. What were they doing here, on a TV? Why were these menus so familiar?


    Why was there an onscreen keyboard all of a sudden?


    She just stared in amazement as Timmy started slowly typing out the name of the show, the... site? suggesting the full name just after the first letter which he promptly ignored, typing out the name in full despite the assistance provided.


    Was this a website? Was the TV just... connected on the internet like that? the mere idea made Riley very confused as to the reason for adding a feature like that, before she mentally groaned, about to watch one after all.


    With some more effort Timmy managed to navigate to the show''s official page, selecting the most recent episode that wasn''t displayed as seen and playing it, the site automatically switching to fullscreen. The chime of the opening tune caught the attention of the two other siblings, making them slide their phones back into their pockets and focus on the TV, Timmy laying the remote back on the table as he snuggled up to Riley, who pet him softly with a smile as she looked up.


    The opening sequence showed a lil'' purple skunk girl in a light pink dress, looking around confused as the background shifted behind her without her changing her expression, from an airport, to the inside of a plane, to another airport, then a car, and finally an inside of what was presumably her room, painted in a muted mint green. It all looked just a bit too large, some of the details looking jagged and unwelcoming, the entirety coming off just a bit concerning.


    Soon after however, both the music and the creepiness of the surroundings faded away as another character ran into the frame and hugged the skunk girl tightly, a cream-colored rabbit boy. Afterwards, both her and the environment looked much less frightened, the girl quickly returning the hug with a smile.


    Afterwards, a couple of adult characters walked into the scene from the same side, their appearance suggesting they were the rabbit boy''s parents. They walked behind the hugging pair, reaching down to stroke their hair, Riley only now noticing that the mom character was holding a wrapped-up baby in her arm, another cream rabbit.


    The show''s logo then slid in from the top, the names of the two main characters thankfully colorcoded. ''Mimi'' was colored in the same shade as the rabbit boy, and even if she didn''t catch that, the two floppy ears coming off the dots over the ''i''s would certainly give her a clue. Similarly, ''Nana'' had the same lilac tone as the skunk girl with a large bushy tail coming off the last ''a''.


    Underneath, the episode''s title appeared, spelling out:


    "S6E7: Let''s have a talk"


    As cute as it was, it certainly left Riley still fairly confused, the girl taking an opportunity to slide the phone out of her pocket as Timmy''s eyes were glued to the screen, bringing up the search engine  and typing in the show''s name, scrolling down a bit until she found the Wikipedia entry, having quickly realized the site''s usefulness during her first internet binge back on Monday.


    ''''''


    Mimi and Nana (TV Series)


    _________


    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    Not to be confused with its source material, "¤³¤ó¤Ë¤Á¤Ï¡¢¥Ê¥Ê£¡" (Literal meaning "Hello, Nana!", published in the US in 1996 as "Mimi welcomes Nana") (1995 Book)


    Mimi and Nana (¥ß¥ß¤È¥Ê¥Ê Mimitonana) is a Japanese-American educational television series, developed jointly in cooperation between Fuji Television Network, Inc., Nickelodeon[1], and the author of the original book, Hayashi Tsuyoshi. It premiered-


    ''''''


    Christ that''s a lot of fluff, where''s the actual premise!?


    She scrolled down the page, missing a large chunk of the opening scene as she scanned the dense contents, eventually managing to find the part she was looking for-


    ''''''


    Mimi is a 5-year-old hare whose world is turned around by the arrival of his newly adopted sister, 4-year-old skunk named Nana. He is initially confused and has difficulty adapting to a completely new person in the house, especially as Nana barely speaks English (Japanese in the Japanese version), her native language being Spanish (English in the Japanese version)[16].


    With the help and advice from his parents and the kindergarten teacher, Miss Roberts (Miss Ono in the Japanese version), Mimi is determined to welcome his new sister as well as he can, playing with and teaching English to her (Japanese in the Japanese version), as well as taking her outside to the nearby playground (along with his parents) and introducing her to his friends, and in later seasons, kindergarten classmates.


    ''''''


    Huh. With that in mind the opening did make much more sense, the unusual premise making her look back up from her phone, now genuinely interested in the show.


    The action seeming to be taking place in a kindergarten, the frame focused on Nana as she was sitting cross-legged near a pile of dolls, happily playing with them before one of the other kids ran up to her, loudly asking her something she couldn''t quite understand, her tail subconsciously wrapping around her as she slowly shook her head, muttering out-


    "D-don''t understand..."


    The other kid repeated his question, sounding more annoyed despite the lack of understanding, only the initial "Can-" clear through his muttering. Nana gulped at still being unable to grasp his question, clearly growing afraid, shaking her head once more and clutching her doll tightly.


    After another failure, her classmate was clearly upset, saying something else before running off towards the kindergarten teacher, the action making Nana''s eyes go wide as she realized she was in trouble. She quickly got up and looked around with panicked eyes, whimpering as she was unable to locate Mimi. After a moment she took off into a random direction away from the teacher, whimpering in fear as she tried to hide, eventually taking a seat at one of the drawing tables. Her tail was scuttled between her legs as she looked around once more before reaching out and grabbing a hat from a nearby box, a rainbow propeller cap looking comical despite the seriousness of the situation.


    With her disguise in place and the doll moved onto her lap, she grabbed a small sheet of paper from the pile in the middle of the table, picking a few crayons up with the other paw, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm down.


    Lily distracted her with an offhand comment, Riley moving her eyes off the screen for the first time in a few minutes, taking a moment to blink them a few times as she listened to her sister-


    "I still can''t believe this is made in Flash."


    What is Flash?


    "What is Flash?" Riley asked quietly as she leaned towards her sister, Andrew intercepting the question as he answered-


    "Program used to make animations and cartoons. It has an, uh, a bad reputation since it was used for a lot of shows that were just... awful." He admitted plainly, Lily chuckling as she cut in-


    "You still watched them all the time."


    "I was young and stupid and didn''t have any tastes! Besides, so did you when you were little." Andrew''s voice squeaked a bit as he defended himself, Lily following in kind-


    "Because I watched them on your lap! I had no choice there!"


    Before Andrew could respond with anything, Timmy cut both of them off with a loud ''Shhhhhh!'', the three siblings blushing in embarrassment as they turned back towards the screen.


    Nana was looking a bit distraught as she faced one of the other kids sitting at her desk, different from before and looking much less annoyed, more so confused at Nana''s reaction, the cat girl asking-


    "Nana? Why are you scared?"


    She took a deep breath as she looked up from her unfinished crayola drawing, thinking through her words for a moment before answering, her voice still afraid-


    "M-m- I don''t understand..."


    The cat girl looked at her in confusion, brows furrowing before she realized something with a small gasp, pointing directly at the brown crayon Nana was holding, repeating the question Riley assumed was asked earlier when she wasn''t looking-


    "Can I have the brown crayon?"


    The words came through clear this time, but Nana was still unsure as to the intent, the scene then shifting to a first-person view from Nana''s perspective. Colors became muted as the cat girl''s question manifested as a sentence written in crayon, suspended in the air in front of her. Her surroundings seemed to be slowed down significantly as the skunk girl kept changing focus between different words, trying to parse several words she knew into something coherent.


    "Puedes..." She muttered as ''Can I'' lit up, that word she knew well by now.


    "Tener..." This time the word ''have'' came into focus, Nana gasping quietly as she started figuring it out-


    "El lapiz de color..." ''crayon'' lit up this time, the three already highlighted parts sliding downwards from the rest of the sentence as they moved together, resulting in ''Puedes tener [the brown] el lapiz.''. Nana then moved the question mark downwards as well, Riley giggling as she noticed a small inverted one also appear at the start of the makeshift sentence as the cartoon kit gasped at the realization that her playmate just wanted to have the crayon.


    There was still one unanswered question however, and Nana quickly took another piece of paper before drawing a small brown blob in one of its corners, tapping it with her claw as she asked the cat girl back-


    "Brown?"


    The latter was briefly confused at the question before she noticed Nana tapping the color blob, responding with vigorous nods as she remembered Miss Roberts telling them that Nana may not know certain words they knew, and that they shouldn''t get angry at her for not understanding something.


    "?Hurra!" The kit squeaked internally at her progress, internally connecting the word ''brown'' to preexisting ''marron'', her voice relieved and full of joy.


    And then she realized she still haven''t given the crayon to her classmate, reaching over and passing it quickly to her with a quiet-


    "Sorry!"


    The cat girl giggled as she took the crayon, smiling and chiming back-


    "Hehe, thank you Nana!"


    "?De nada!" The skunk girl responded, unsure yet how to say it in English, but by now most of her class was thankfully aware of what it meant, much to Nana''s relief.


    Afterwards they both drew some more, Nana about to reach out and ask for the brown crayon back, the teacher cutting her off as she announced to the class-


    "Alright everybody, time for recess!"


    Ohh, she knew that one, quickly standing up from the table and racing towards the large doors to the outside together with the rest of the kids, the camera lingering on her unfinished drawing of her and the cat girl holding hands for a moment before following the kindergarten class outside.


    As Nana raced towards the pavement part on the far end of the fenced space and all the pieces of chalk scattered on it, she stopped in place as she noticed Mimi climbing into the sandbox, the girl wasting no time in changing her course towards him, hopping in herself as she hugged him tightly.


    This was the first time Riley got a clear look at how Nana looked from behind, looking a fair bit confused as she analyzed her coloration. Pastel colors were expected for a children''s cartoon of course, but she thought they''d at least keep the skunk stripes, Nana''s entire back being filled with the lighter shade, white being replaced with a lighter shade of lilac. Not just that, her entire tail was this white-replacement color, which was neither true of the striped skunks, as Riley now knew well from experience, or of spotted ones, as Ella told her on Saturday.


    Guess just another question to ask-


    Wait a moment, she had this magical internet thingamajig to aid her.


    She pulled her phone up once more, still on the show''s Wikipedia article, scrolling down the page to find an explanation for that-


    ''''''


    * Nana


    Nana is a four (five as of S2E7[20]) year old Hooded Skunk with a love of drawing, dancing, and playing with cloth dolls, especially with Mimi. While initially afraid to do much in her new home as she only has a tenuous grasp on what is going on, Mimi''s warmth does bring her over and she starts playing with him, drawing a lot in her spare time and wanting to help in the kitchen, and once she''s not as much intimidated by her, playing with Lulu. While Nana''s past isn''t explicitly brought up at any point in the show, some of her background drawings and behavior when anxious has led fans to speculate that her biological parents have been physically abusive towards her in the past, along with potentially being drug addicts[citation needed].


    ''''''


    Despite Riley''s answer being given out in the very first sentence, she couldn''t help but to keep reading on, the realization that Nana was adopted at age 4, suggesting something bad had happened to her parents so early in her life made Riley gulp as she fought against stray tears forcing themselves onto her.


    She... had gone through something like that herself, but thankfully at a much later time in her life. Even then, her biological mother might have as well died many years-


    No. Not now.


    She forced her hands to unclench, scrolling upwards to distract herself from the bitter strand of thought, tapping the link for the ''Hooded Skunk'' page, taking a deep breath as the page loaded. The last thing she wanted right now was to scare Timmy again.


    She had her answer as soon as the page image loaded, the entire fluffy back of the model being pure white, all the way down to the base of the tail, itself also completely white and looking quite a bit relatively larger compared to the three skunky tails next to Riley.


    Damn, that''s neat.


    Her attention was brought back to the cartoon with a louder sound, Nana busy drawing something on the sidewalk, Riley guessing it was herself, as a loud call caught her attention, the same kid she couldn''t understand earlier trying to talk to her again, once more incomprehensible.


    Nana was instantly on edge once more, Riley more than understanding of her response as she decided to just drop the chalk and run away, the other kid reaching a hand towards her only to have it sadly drop down to his side, a quiet sniffling heard before the camera caught up with the skunk girl, busy trying to hide in the sandbox.


    She scooted back towards Mimi, making sand castles with him for the remainder of the recess, tail between legs.


    As the class made their way back into the large classroom, Nana jumped a bit as she felt a tap on her shoulder, looking up to see Miss Roberts looking down at her with a slight smile as she asked quietly-


    "Nana, can we talk?"


    She heard the phrase enough in the past to where she knew what it meant, but it didn''t make her any less afraid as she spotted the same boy she couldn''t understand standing behind the teacher.


    She didn''t really have a choice, slowly following along as the teacher took her to a small secluded corner, the other kid staying behind the standing cork boards separating the quieter area from the rest of the busy play room. Miss Roberts quickly arranged hers and one of the smaller chairs to face each other, taking a seat and welcoming Nana to join her, the skunk girl trembling a bit as she sat down.


    "Hello Nana. How are you feeling?"


    The last word was still quite fresh in her memory in this context, Nana taking a moment to respond quietly-


    "S-Scared..."


    The teacher nodded at that, sliding off her chair and wordlessly offering the skunk girl a hug, Nana graciously accepting it as her trembling ceased.


    "What scared you Nana?" The teacher continued as she held her pupil, gently petting her back as she waited for the answer-


    Nana pointed at the cork board behind which the boy stood, whispering out-


    "H-him."


    Miss Roberts continued her petting, asking once more without a change in tone-


    "What did Lucas do that scared you Nana?"


    It took a moment for the skunk girl to put her fears into the limited words she knew, eventually coming up with-


    "I don''t understand him and he get angry and walked to you."


    "I see sweetie. You got scared because he got angry at you?"


    Nana nodded, holding closer onto her with a quiet meep before the teacher continued-


    "Lucas was angry because he thought you didn''t want to understand him."


    Nana parsed the answer for a moment in confusion, coming up with-


    "D-didn''t want to understand him?"


    "Mhm. Speaking is hard for Lucas, and he wanted to play with you Nana. He got angry and talked to me, and then I told him that English is hard for you too."


    Nana felt a sting at that, Lucas'' reaction suddenly much more understandable. After all, she would be frustrated too if she thought that someone was deliberately doing something like that to her...


    "Then on recess Lucas wanted to say sorry and got sad when you walked away."


    "I''m sorry..." The girl uttered out, feeling bad at her reactions towards him, trying to blink away the stray tears.


    "Can you say that to Lucas Nana?" The teacher asked, Nana nodding in response as she let go of her, taking a moment to gather her courage before walking out of the quiet space and up to Lucas, who looked at her slightly surprised before she spoke up quietly-


    "Lucas, I''m sorry..."


    The boy took a moment to formulate a response, speaking very slowly, with Nana fortunately able to understand him this time despite the slight slurring-


    "It''s f-fine Nana."


    She was happy to hear he wasn''t mad at her, and even happier as he extended his arms towards her, Nana walking up closer and hugging him gently, the prior tension melting away as they made amends in the most kindergartenly way.


    They let go of each other after a few moments, Nana looking behind herself to find Miss Roberts smiling and nodding down at them both.


    "D-do you w-w-wanna play now?" She looked back at Lucas as he carefully spoke out, smiling herself and answering with a cheerful ''Yeah!'' before he ran back to the dolls, Nana following him as the camera stayed back with quietly laughing Miss Roberts as the scene faded to black.


    "Now that''s way better than awful SpongeBob knockoffs, isn''t it Andy?" Lily chuckled as she found another opportunity to tease her brother about it, Andrew managing to not take the bait as he responded-


    "Yeah, it is! That''s why I''m glad Timmy is watching these and not what you watched at his age, that way he''ll avoid your brain rot~"


    Riley chuckled out loud at Andrew''s deflection, taking a sigh as she pulled Timmy closer to her, leaning down to nuzzle the top of his head, thinking the show already over.


    "Riley, letters!" The lil'' tyke squeaked in response, gently pushing her head away from him as his older sister struggled to understand what he meant by that before she looked up at the TV.


    The environment had shifted back to the apartment Riley assumed to be the titular duo''s house, especially with them both sitting on the couch in their pajamas together with their parents. Nana was sandwiched between the two grown up rabbits, with the baby Lulu sitting on the dad''s lap, looking around curiously.


    Riley noticed a window behind the couch showing the silhouettes of several other tall apartment buildings in the background against the backdrop of the late evening sky.


    "Hello everybody!" The mom said, waving softly at the camera with the kids following her afterwards, causing it to lose focus for a bit before the image corrected itself and she continued-


    "Tonight, we''ll be taking a look at a letter sent to us by..." She reached over to the small stand next to the couch, picking up her phone and reading out from it-


    "By Timmy from Minnesota, four years old, with the help from his mom!"


    All the siblings reacted differently at the realization, Riley''s eyes going wide, Lily shouting out a ''What!?'', Andrew chuckling warmly, and Timmy sliding off the couch with a loud gasp of excitement, running off into the corridor before any of the siblings could stop him. Lily had enough awareness to reach for the remote and pause the episode, reversing it to just before Timmy was name dropped, realizing why he''d left them so suddenly.


    Riley was about to ask what was this about before the situation cleared itself, surprised looking Rick being half dragged, half led into the play room, looking at the rest of his kids in a bit of a daze before the kit ran off once more, presumably to get his other parent.


    As the skunk dad continued to look around, Riley saw him open his mouth for a moment, presumably to ask what was going on, before he decided he''d rather learn the Timmy way.


    Ella looked like she''d literally just been dragged out of bed, which judging by her earlier exhaustion was far from improbable. She looked around sheepishly as the lil'' kit scrambled back onto the couch, Lily getting her cue to let the episode play again. Ella reacted with a slurred ''Wait what'' to Timmy being mentioned, and from what Riley had glanced, Rick shared her quiet but still surprised response.


    The rabbit mom cleared her throat before reading out the start of his letter- "Hi Mimi and Nana and Mom and Dad and Lulu!" -before breaking out into a soft chuckle, the entire family sans the baby Lulu taking a moment to wave at the camera some more, Mimi by far the most excited.


    "My parents told me a week ago that they''re adopting us a new sister, her name is Riley and she''s sixteen years old. I''m happy and excited, but also worried because she''s so much older than me and I don''t know if she will talk to me or play with me. Dad told us she''s gonna come home to us next week, and I want her to like me. What can I do to make her like me? Signed, Timmy."


    Riley sat there for a long while, her mouth open in surprise for a moment before she felt the emotions swell in her, pulling her little brother onto her lap and hugging him tightly, cooing happily as she tried to hold back happy tears, her reaction interrupted by the show''s Mom answering-


    "Well, Timmy, we''re so happy to hear you''re gonna have a new sister! We know how exciting it can be, but also how scary, especially since she is much older than you and you don''t know her well yet. And while she might not end up having the same hobbies or playing the same games as you, she''s still just a person like any other, and just like you, in the end, she just wants to be cared for and appreciated like you or me. As long as she feels that from you, you both will definitely figure something out that you can do together, sooner or later. Thank you for your letter Timmy, and best of luck to you and Riley!"


    By the time the show''s Mom had finished answering Timmy''s letter, Riley was buried underneath five hugs, her own arms wrapped around Timmy who''d twisted around to hug her in the meantime, Lily having leaned over to hold them both, Andrew taking the long way around and joining in on the hug from the other side, and the parents awkwardly leaning in over the couch to try to embrace them all.


    They took their time as the show rolled its credits, the whole family united together in a very furry, very loving group hug, Riley feeling so warm inside she just wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl.


    Fortunately, Timmy knew just what to say to avoid this lasting forever, quietly asking-


    "Can we watch some more?"


    After the big ball of floof had dispersed, Rick quietly left the scene, with his wife realizing how late it was and dashing downstairs to reheat the leftovers of yesterday''s dinner. Lily excused herself by saying she had to practice some more for her recital, Timmy accepting the reasoning especially since it provided them with some nice background music as the other three kept watching, going through two other episodes before being called down for dinner. Riley had to shake her little brother from his grogginess as she took him downstairs, Ella having served the sour stew from yesterday.


    The tasty meal went down just as well the second time, Andrew realizing that the lil'' tyke wasn''t gonna stay up for much longer, slinking back into his room unnoticed. After waiting for Timmy to finish his portion, Riley took him back up to the play room, watching the rest of the episode with him, the sleepy kit having dozed off in her lap by the time the mail segment rolled around.


    Riley was lucky to catch Ella as she carried him to his room, the skunk mom changing Timmy into his pajamas before she tucked him in into his bed, giving her daughter a good long hug after she''d told her of Timmy''s letter getting featured on the show.


    After turning off the TV and the light in the game room, Riley headed back into her room, stepping into the large bedroom on accident before correcting herself, smiling widely as she realized that the finished room proudly carried her name on the door, like the rest of the kids'' rooms.


    One of them, hehe.


    After taking a deep breath Riley closed her eyes before she pushed on the handle and stepped in, keeping them shut until she''d closed the door behind herself, leftover paint fumes tingling her nose as she took a look-


    Stars. There were stars on the ceiling. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of tiny white dots lit up the fake sky, concentrated mostly into a dense stripe that ran diagonally across the ceiling, not unlike the milky way once you were far enough away from the cities to see it.


    Re-reading through the book full of the pictures of night sky was one of the few things she actually enjoyed doing back at the orphanage, at least until she''d memorized it.


    After the initial impact of the decorations softened a bit, Riley reached for the switch, a lamp on each side of the painted milky way lighting up, the warm light filling the room, Riley gasping as she realized the full extent of Rick''s paintjob.


    All the small fluorescent dots did indeed combine together into a galaxy, stretching long across the sky, its ends fading away on the walls of the room.


    What was probably even more surprising, because of the sheer amount of effort it must have taken, was the treeline painted at around her waist level, loads of dark green and black silhouettes standing out against the night sky, the purpose of both the paints and the stencils suddenly much clearer.


    That''s why Rick had worked so long into the night on this...


    Riley teared up a bit as she inspected the light furniture, the wood doing a good job at blending in with the darkness when the lights were out, but sticking out with light shining on it, most likely much to Ella''s enjoyment.


    A wide desk, a comfortably compact bed, enough drawers to hold her entire wardrobe, and just in case, another wardrobe standing near the window, with plenty of coat hangers inside, ready to-


    Wait, what was her coat doing here? Did Rick...


    She walked back to the drawers and took a look inside, and indeed, all of her stuff was already there. One for trousers, one for tops, one for underwear, and the bottommost one for her orphanage stuff.


    A brief confusion over what happened to all the cards was answered as she took a look up at the shelf above the desk, proudly displaying all the good mementos.


    She had to take a seat on the bed as she looked at all the wonderful details within, noticing more and more as she looked around. A snowglobe of a winter cabin, not too dissimilar of the Asher''s house on the dresser, a small model flying saucer hanging from the ceiling in one of the corners, the moon painted with the same fluorescent pain above her desk...


    This was all so much, and none of it necessary. For all she really needed she could have very well stayed in the large bedroom forever, but as she recalled Ella''s words-


    "Not many things are necessary sweetie, but we want to make you feel appreciated and cared for."


    Well they''ve sure as hell succeeded at that, Riley unable to hold back a teary grin as she took all their care in, jumping a bit as the creaky door let out some noise, the girl noticing Rick smiling at her softly as she took in the sight of her room, before getting up and running up towards him.


    While she was at loss of words that could appropriately express her gratitude for him, for all the Ashers, for all they''ve done for her... She did have something that would do the trick, the force of her sudden hug making the large skunk stagger with a chuckle before he returned it wordlessly.


    "I-I don''t even know what to say..." She admitted with a whisper, Rick slowly petting her back as he answered with a chuckle-


    "There''s no need to say anything Riley. I just hope you''ll enjoy using your new room as much as I enjoyed designing it, haha." His voice soft and reassuring, his daughter more than sure that he wasn''t saying it just to make her feel nice.


    "S-still... T-thank you so much Rick. For- for all of this."


    "You''re welcome Riley. You''re more than welcome. And now, heh... we both could use some well-deserved rest, doncha think?"


    She let go before nodding intensely, all the emotions of the day definitely having their impact on her, the girl realizing just how tired she was after all that, a loud yawn escaping her before she could stifle it.


    Rick chuckled at that, taking a deep breath before smiling one more time, nodding towards Riley as he sent her off-


    "Sleep well sweetie, and enjoy your room!"


    Before leaving her alone, Riley only having enough willpower left to plug the charger into the socket next to her bed and the phone into the charger, shedding the outer layers of clothing and hanging them on her chair before finally slipping under the covers.


    And having to get back up immediately afterwards as she realized she forgot to turn off the lights, an exhausted grunt escaping her lips as she forced herself back onto her feet, just to collapse back in bed a few seconds later.


    The starry sky wasn''t any less impressive the second time around, Riley abstaining from touching her phone, instead deciding to focus on all the shiny dots up above. Their uncountable number almost hypnotizing, making her doze off soon after, the stars watching over her as she slept away all the day''s happenings, readying up for tomorrow, whatever may come.


    Whatever, and whoever.

 Chapter 21: What Goes Around...

    Soft...


    Riley tossed gently in her bed, rolling onto her side as the faintest strands of consciousness started to force themselves onto her mind.


    Bad brain, bad.


    Bet it isn''t even that late and you''re just trying to get me out of bed.


    Have you no shame.


    With a soft groan she cuddled tighter underneath the wonderfully plush covers, bundling up tightly against the cool wall to shield herself from the rest of the world.


    World cold and hard.


    Bed warm and soft.


    It''s only simple math.


    As much as her tired brain wanted to stop itself from waking her, each fevered thought only served to drive the wrench of awareness deeper into the cogs of the machine of dreams.


    Too much fancy wording, not enough mental silence to try and fall asleep for just a bit lon-


    *BOOOOOOOOOOM*


    Well fuck that.


    The sudden roar of thunder made her abandon any hopes of getting some more sleep, Riley forcing the covers off her face to at least try to figure out what happened.


    Followed by strangling whichever natural force that dared force her awake like that.


    Her new room looked... weird. Riley could just barely make out the brighter dots on the ceiling, but only just. It was dark, weirdly dark, not like during sunrise, but closer to-


    *BOOOOOOOOOOOM*


    Of course.


    Riley groaned at her slow brain, craning her head towards the window, unsurprised to spot the glowing gray clouds on the other side, along with the uncountable number of rivulets of rain on the outer pane. She only now realized she''s been subconsciously muting out the pitter-patter of the ongoing thunderstorm, the serenely quiet bedroom suddenly becoming that much noisier.


    After cursing her ears for refusing to mute out the noise for the second time, she figured out she''d rather be somewhere else, the waning comfort of her bed quickly growing much less enjoyable with how off-putting the outside scenery was.


    With a grunt she slid off her bed, quickly putting on some homely clothes and grabbing her phone, taking one last look around to see whether she''d forgotten anything before walking out into the corridor, surprised to see the lights being on already.


    To her glee, she realized she wasn''t the only one who got pulled out of bed by the sudden thunder, the door to Timmy''s room opening as he slowly walked out, smiling and dashing up to Riley once he saw her.


    "Hi Riley!" He squeaked out in relief as he held her legs once more, more than likely spooked by the sudden noise and the shade in his room, judging by his tail.


    "Good morning Timmy. Hope that thunder didn''t scare you too hard." She leaned in and ruffled his hair, appreciating their little ritual more and more with each go.


    "A, a bit..." The kit obviously didn''t want to admit to almost peeing himself because of the rumbling combined with how dark it suddenly was, just happy his big sister was now here.


    "Awwh. Don''t worry, let''s get downstairs and see if anybody else is awake, alright?" She responded softly, reaching down to grab his paw as they turned towards the stairs, her question answered as she saw the downstairs light spilling onto the staircase.


    Timmy rushed ahead, gasping in happiness once he turned the corner as they descended, Riley too surprised to ask what happened, only leaning over the hand rail to make sure the kit hasn''t hurt himself before going down further herself, soon realizing what made him so suddenly excited.


    Sitting at the dinner table, along with Ella sipping on her coffee, were Rick''s parents. Marvin had apparently shed his bandana at some point between the photo on her phone being taken and now, revealing a surprising amount of silver hair reaching all the way down to his shoulders, Riley slightly envious.


    By the time Riley had scaled the rest of the stairs, the kit was already scrambling onto his grandparents'' laps, Liz having helped him onto hers, holding him tightly with one hand as the other scritched Timmy behind the ears, the excitable four year old being reduced into a blob of smiling fluff as he relaxed under her touch.


    "Who''s the cute pea, who''s the cute pea?" She couldn''t help but smile at the adorable display in front of her, the gran''s holding hand adding its own tickles to the mix, Timmy flailing a bit as he couldn''t stop giggling, Liz and Ella sharing Riley''s growing smile as the teasing went on.


    She didn''t really want to interrupt the show taking place in front of her, leaning against one of the pillars as she stared at them unseen.


    At least for an entire four seconds until Marvin finally spotted her.


    "Riley, hello there!" His warm voice bellowed out, the rest of the adults immediately catching her as she tried to hide in plain sight, the embarrassed teen forced to join them at the table, waving a bit uncertainly.


    As she took her seat next to Ella, Marvin extended his hand towards her, Riley a bit surprised but returning the gesture nonetheless as he introduced himself-


    "So nice to meet you Riley, we''ve been looking forward to it for so long- but don''t let me get ahead of myself- Timmy what was my name again?" He barreled out in one continuous stream of words, the kit having managed to catch the verbal ball he''d been thrown despite the ongoing tickling and giggling-


    "Grandpa Marvin!" He squeaked out, rewarded with the namedropped grandparent reaching in to stroke behind his other ear, the tyke in utter bliss.


    Riley chuckled at the cute interaction, shaking his hand-


    "Nice to meet you Marvin. And you must be Liz?" She turned to the other grandparent, who briefly stopped her teasing of her youngest grandson as she looked up at Riley with a large, warm smile, extending a hand herself.


    "Indeed sweetie. We''re so happy to finally be able to pay you a visit Riley, how are you feeling?" She spoke so much slower than her husband, her tone relaxed despite the adorable chaos taking place on her lap, Riley quickly fixing up a response-


    "I''m alright Liz, thankfully got some actual decent sleep despite this mess going on outside- and speaking of, how did you two get here so early?"


    She chuckled at her granddaughter''s question, continuing her teasing as Marvin cut in once more-


    "When you get close to the third digit you start falling asleep earlier and earlier, while also waking up earlier and earlier. You become the anti-teen."


    Riley and Ella chuckled at the joke, Timmy just tilting his head in confusion before another tickling motion brought him back into quiet giggles as Marvin went on-


    "Most days we''re both awake by five, and just decided today to not delay the ride, ''specially with that ugly storm outside. And good on us, the sky crashed down not even ten minutes after we got into the car, the nasty thing."


    Riley nodded in response, another rumble crashing from outside cutting her off as she thought of a follow up, Ella taking a sigh and excusing herself as she got up towards the kitchen.


    "Doubt the rest of the snoozing butts are gonna stay asleep for much longer with this going on outside, gonna fix us up some hot toast. Anyone want something to drink?"


    "Milk!" Timmy managed to squeak out in between giggles, his mom nodding in acknowledgment as she headed off, taking several things out of the fridge. Riley''s attention was dragged back into the discussion as Marvin asked her a question, his voice having softened a bit-


    "So, how''s getting used to your new place going Riley?"


    "It''s been going well, at the beginning there were some... kinks to work out, but I''m quite sure I''m past them now." She spoke slowly as she recalled the initial tension between her and Lily, and how it had since thankfully dispersed.


    "That''s great to hear!" He smiled widely at that, the presence of all his teeth surprising her a bit as he went on-


    "Sure much faster than it took Ricky, haha." He chuckled warmly as he reminisced, Riley unwilling to let that mention go without digging into it further-


    "Whattcha mean? Was Rick worse in this regard than me?"


    Both grandparents laughed softly at her oblivious question, a flood of hilarious memories surging onto their minds as they quickly calmed down, Liz answering with barely held back giggle-


    "Like you wouldn''t believe. Spent the first three days or so locked up in his room, didn''t even trust us with making food initially."


    Riley noticed that Timmy has since slid off his grandma''s lap, dashing off to help his mom out with toast, the girl''s attention snapping back as Marvin couldn''t waste such a wonderful chance for a quip-


    "Neither do I with you at the pots, Ricky was more than right to fear your quiches!"


    "Ex-cu-se me, at least *I''ve* been getting better at it while your meals get blander and blander every year!"


    "Because your metric for blandness is how much salt and sugar the thing has! There are other flavors you know?"


    "The wrong ones maybe!"


    "Rick didn''t trust you with food?" Riley finally brought up the elephant in the room, confused as to how her easy-going parent might have pulled something like that.


    The grandparents stopped their quipping at the serious questions, turning back towards her as Liz answered-


    "Aye. We didn''t exactly have the benefit of the doubt Rick did with you, all he knew was that we were just a couple of strange humans taking in an anthro for god knows what reason. Understandable he was less than completely trusting of us, in amusing and... less-so ways."


    Riley mulled over the answer, remembering how hostile she was towards Rick before he told her of his own past, wondering how did the Ashers deal with that, especially since he used to carry a knife as well.


    "Can''t imagine how much longer it would''ve taken me to open up if he hadn''t told me his own story, yeah... wait, in the amusing ways?" She caught the unusual choice of words, Marvin chuckling and speaking up for his wife-


    "Well, certainly amusing in hindsight at least. Since Ricky didn''t  trust us to not poison him, he snuck into the kitchen at night to actually eat something, after all can''t feed on paranoia. That is, until Liz got woken up by the noise one night and found him panicking as he tried to put the pots back into the drawer, both just staring at each other for a while." He was clearly only barely holding back a giggle at the absurdity of the situation, Liz taking the torch as she continued-


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "Indeed, and then I just asked him- ''Richard, what are you doing in the kitchen at two AM?''. And that was the precise moment I learned that anthros blush too, it took him a solid minute or so just to fumble together some excuse that he was hungry. So, I went and made him a bowl of cereal as he just stared in embarrassment, and thankfully the situation put some pressure on him to actually start eating what Marvin cooked."


    Riley couldn''t help but giggle, for all her silly paranoia at least she didn''t expect the people who went through all the trouble of adopting her to just go and poison her like that.


    Wait...


    "Richard?" She flat out asked, the name sounding so off despite it just being a natural long version of ''Rick''.


    Both of Rick''s parents chuckled at her realization, bursting into louder laughter as they looked towards the stairway, the devil himself having just stepped downstairs, quite disheveled.


    "Hi mom, hi dad." He greeted them quietly, voice still noticeably groggy.


    "Hello there, Richard." Liz answered, Riley barely holding back a laugh herself at Rick''s reaction to that name, his face scrunching up behind his palms as he let out an embarrassed groan.


    "Mooooooom, that was almost three decades ago!" He tried to defend himself, slowly waddling over and taking another seat at the table.


    "Yes Richard. And?" His parents only had a bit more luck hiding their giggles than Riley, Rick himself looking towards Riley with an expression of ''help me out of this''.


    Fortunately, she was a merciful daughter, at least taking their attention off teasing their son, at least directly.


    "Why Richard? Never heard him use that."


    "We sure did! As chill as he is now, you wouldn''t believe how stuck up he was at the beginning, outright asking us to use ''Richard'' instead of ''Rick'', ain''t I right Richard?" Marvin chimed in, looking Rick down with sparks of glee in his eyes.


    Well that backfired.


    The victim only groaned again, face buried in his paws as he reluctantly nodded, sliding them down enough to show his exasperated expression.


    "Now, tell Riley what the first piece of clothing you bought was!" His dad kept piling on the embarrassment, Rick almost looking like he was willing to smash his head onto the table just to not have to listen any more, before taking a breath and uttering out-


    "A shitty two-piece suit that didn''t fit me in the slightest and which I just looked like a dumbass in." Fortunately, at least some of the tension left him as he admitted it to Riley, Liz quickly delving into her bag and laying out a thick photo album on the table, paging over to the relevant photo. It showed a much younger Rick standing straight with an absolute mess of a dress suit weirdly tapered over him, almost looking like it was deliberately arranged just to make him look dumb.


    "Oh Jesus. That looks..." Riley could only start muttering out, unable to find a word that adequately expressed just how wrong of an idea that suit was.


    "Awful?" Rick suggested, reaching over to the photo album and shifting pages ahead.


    "Yeah, about that if not stronger." She responded offhandedly, leaning in as she tried to figure out what Rick was navigating towards in the photo album, before he elucidated her-


    "Thankfully, the next suit I bought was much, much better-" He chuckled as he slid it in front of Riley, who couldn''t resist a smile as she looked at his and Ella''s wedding photo, both quite a bit younger and quite a bit leaner, and definitely that much cuter as a result. Plus, he actually had a well fitted suit this time.


    "Aww. Have any more cute photos?" She asked sheepishly, deep inside preferring the sweet stuff over the schadenfreude, even if just to not have to wonder what kind of embarrassing things would Rick bring up with her kids in her time.


    Assuming she''d have them, of course.


    "This entire thing''s just the sweet ones, go wild." Rick slid it over towards her, his parents chuckling as they saw her dig into the padded album, quietly shifting their chairs over to get a good look.


    She flipped the photos backwards closer to the beginning of the aged album, smiling at the black and white photos of much, MUCH younger Marvin and Liz enjoying each other, be it just on the couch, out at the beach, or having dinner at a nice place.


    Afterwards the photos gained some color and both lovers some years, the next few photos being still just them two, occasionally with some people that must''ve been friends, before one in particular caught her eye, of Marvin holding a canine anthro woman tightly, Riley raising her eyebrow before Rick chimed in-


    "That''s dad''s sister, sweet aunt Mary. Has he told you about her yet?"


    "Nah, I haven''t..." Marvin answered, tone of his voice suddenly much less enthused about it.


    "Did... did something happen to her?" Riley asked cautiously, realizing that the subject was suddenly much more serious.


    "Oh no no, she''s still around and kicking, it''s not that..." Her grandfather quickly quelled her most obvious fear before explaining it in some more detail-


    "It''s just... while she was adopted, it wasn''t like with you or Ricky, it wasn''t an act of love, and it showed with how the rest of my family treated her afterwards."


    The explanation only made Riley more curious, but she was still unsure whether she wasn''t prying into too private of a subject.


    "Sorry to keep that on but, not like me and Rick in what way?"


    "Oh sweetie don''t be sorry, you more than deserve to know, it''s just... some rough memories with that." Marvin responded earnestly, Liz laying a hand on his shoulder as he gathered strength to continue-


    "We found Mary sleeping on the doorstep of our synanogue one night, her parents kicked her out for... agh, doesn''t matter, and she needed some cover from rain. Nobody was sure what to do with her afterwards, obviously everyone knew that just throwing her out would be certain death for her, but neither did anyone really want to care for her that or god forbid take her in."


    He must''ve glanced at Riley''s confused expression, answering her before she could even ask-


    "Because she was anthro, pure and simple. They were... worse times. Fortunately my mother, bless her heart, managed to convince my father to take her in at least temporarily. But it wasn''t for love, it was just to appease their consciences, and show just how good of people they were, ugh. Hypocrites, the lot of them." He snarled into the ether, Riley only having more questions.


    "Was she treated badly?"


    "Slept under the stairs, mostly just fed with leftovers, not allowed to go out or make friends or pretty much anything else. Probably would''ve been treated better at an actual homeless shelter had they taken in anthros at the time. And then when I left that family, I took Mary with me, we lived together for a while until she got on her legs and could start, you know, living."


    Riley nodded as she chewed on the statement, feeling Rick''s arm wrap on her shoulders as she went on, voice quiet and focused-


    "Why''d you leave?"


    He chuckled at that, but it definitely wasn''t a chuckle of amusement, as much as her having finally noticed the most important bit of the puzzle.


    "Well, because Liz, more than anything." He smiled a bit as he pulled her in closer, his wife holding him gently as he clarified-


    "Suffice to say that my family wasn''t any more keen on black people than it was on anthros, and when they found out I was with Liz, they as- no, ordered me to stop. Of course I didn''t, just grabbed my car, grabbed Liz, grabbed Mary, and just left that horrid place, haven''t even thought of looking back at it since, and swore to myself that I would be better than my father, in every way there can be."


    Riley''s face lit up a bit as she realized the relevant implication, asking-


    "Including even with adoption?"


    Both of the grandparents chuckled this time, thankfully happily and not anxiously.


    "Aye! Mary suggested that all the way back as a joke, but the idea just refused to leave my mind, and once me and Liz had some money saved up I brought it up and, well, she agreed! And three months later, Ricky was already under our roof, and two months later still we took this!" He pulled the album closer to himself and went forwards by a handful of pages, the photo of both grandparents hugging the clearly embarrassed Rick from the sides making Riley''s heart melt.


    "He was still quite stuck up by that time, but finishing high school and meeting Ella helped with that plenty." Liz chimed in, Riley reaching an arm around Rick in return as she saw him crack a smile at that, the other grandparent shifting over to the next page.


    "Awwwwww..." She cooed at the image of Rick being kissed on his cheek by Ella, his expression making it clear he hadn''t been expecting it one bit, but was nonetheless one very happy skunk.


    "Our first kiss, haha..." The skunk mom herself added, not wasting the opportunity to repeat the scene there and then, piling on one more smooch onto Rick''s tally as she slid a large plate full of toast onto the table together with a glass of milk, Timmy having since rematerialized right next to Riley''s chair, his sister pulling him onto her lap as they went through the photos.


    There was the wedding photo again, and then one with Ella looking happier than Riley had ever seen her before in her wedding gown, four other skunkies hugging her from the sides, presumably her sisters, with the two youngest, apparently Wilma and Izzy, looking to be only around Riley''s and Lily''s age respectively.


    To her surprise Timmy didn''t start barreling out questions, presumably having seen these photos at some point earlier, just smiling widely as he grabbed a piece of toast and stared at the sweet photos.


    The next few photos were more of the wedding, one particularly adorable one was of Izzy on Ella''s lap, being held just like Riley was holding Timmy right now, only with much more blushing.


    "Aww, Izzy, always a snugglebug. Hopefully I can get her to visit with her baby sometime soon, lil'' snowflake definitely got the snuggling from her." Ella chimed in, sliding her chair as close as she could, Riley''s side of the table hopelessly cramped by now.


    Riley was briefly confused as to how could you possibly refer to a skunk as a snowflake before the last two missing voices called out from the stairs, the two sleepy siblings running up to hug their grandparents, Andrew in particular quietly moaning as Liz teased his ear, the sweet giant almost melting.


    "Well good morning to you two too!" Marvin chuckled happily, pulling them both into a gentle hug as he got out of the chair, ruffling the two sleepyheads'' hair.


    "Hey Gran, hey Marv!" Lily called out happily as she enjoyed the group hug, gasping in excitement as she saw the photo album already busted out onto the table, scrambling over to grab a chair for herself and join in on the reminiscing, reminding Riley to grab one of the toasts as she took one herself.


    "Sorry it''s been a while sweeties since the last time, so many things popped up between then and now, but that''s all been dealt with, and now..." Liz spoke softly as she kept teasing Andrew, other hand reaching into her sizable handbag and pulling out a handful of the smaller bags of the peanut butter candy, passing one to each sibling, the skunk ones having accepted the gift much more enthusiastically.


    The last sibling standing didn''t waste any time in looking around for a chair, Marvin giving him his own, everyone else too excited by the photo album and the sweet gifts to notice him quietly vanishing as he walked upstairs.


    Except for Riley that is, interest mixed with growing concern being dashed as her attention was dragged back towards the photos, the adorable sight of exhausted Ella on the hospital bed, tightly holding a wrapped bundle that could''ve only been Andrew melting her resolve to find out what her grandparent was doing.


    The sweet photo was followed by a couple other of the same scene, this time the bonding pair being embraced by a wonderfully happy looking Rick, both parents smooching the tiny Andrew on the forehead, and then each other in the next photo.


    "You used to be so adorable before you became a twerp." Lily remarked towards Andrew, the rest of the table giggling as he responded-


    "So were you, and then you learned how to speak..."


    "Cmon kits, let''s ease with bickering just this one time." Ella added, already hearing plenty of these types of exchanges day in, day out.


    "Fiiiiiine..." They both said nearly simultaneously, making Riley giggle as Liz went through the pages, now a bit older Andrew trying his best to learn to walk, looking wobbly but determined. The addition of the grandparents made it even sweeter, each holding one hand as they provided support.


    Riley was almost too busy smiling to notice the slight buzzing in her pocket, grabbing her phone and quietly unlocking it, a message immediately visible:


    ''''''


    WhatsApp


    _________


    Marvin Asher: hey Riley, can you come upstairs into the large bedroom for a moment?


    ''''''


    That only added fuel to the fire of her doubts as she excused herself and followed him upstairs into what used to be her temporary bedroom, the grandparent already waiting as he sat on the bed, having apparently moved a chair over so that he could face from his position.


    "Ah, there you are Riley, how are you feeling?" He asked happily as she stepped in and looked around confused, a bit unsure as she responded-


    "I''m- I''m alright I suppose, but what''s all this for?"


    "Straight to the point, aincha?" He chuckled, taking a deep breath as he seemed to recall something before shaking it off, his warm smile spreading a bit wider as he answered, his voice reassuring-


    "Well, mostly because we wanted to talk with you in private. Liz will be making her way here soon as well."


    "But... what for? You were comfortable talking about serious things downstairs with your family and such."


    "Oh it''s not for our sake, it''s for yours and the other kids''."


    "That sounds... intimidating." She admitted, nevertheless deciding to take a seat, after all, should things go south she had, well, her skunk family to fall back on.


    "Oh I''m sorry for that, it really wasn''t my intent even if it came off that way." He sounded genuinely apologetic, extending an arm towards her which Riley then took, thankful that at least he was willing to admit to that.


    "We really just want to talk with you about something we talked with Rick as well not long after we adopted him all these years ago, and which ended up helping him out so, so much in the end."


    She nodded, figuring that if there was someone to go over something so important it with would be the people who already had to do it once.


    "I see. Well, what is it then?"


    Marvin took a deep breath, sliding a hand into his pocket and pulling something small out, Riley''s brief confusion being quickly replaced with shock that made her freeze as she saw what the thing was.


    An old bronze coin.


    "Where did you find that!?" She forced out, eyes going wide as she saw the token of so much misery in his hand, her grandfather quickly clasping his hand shut after seeing Riley''s reaction to the coin.


    Which only strengthened his resolve to get this talk started with.


    "Spotted it under the bed as I was plugging the hole, just for privacy you know." He explained, Riley''s eyes darting to where the hole was, seeing it filled up with a large, old cork.


    She was definitely less comfortable now, the weird old man having cut off the only surefire way for her to cry for help in case.


    "Wh-what the fuck is this all about!?" She raised her voice in slight panic, readying herself to spring up from her chair at any moment, hand already fiddling with her switchblade in her pocket.


    He took a moment to think his words through, not wanting to piss off his already annoyed granddaughter even further.


    "I''m sorry for starting this off on the wrong foot. If you''d prefer I can take the cork out and even leave the door open so that you feel safer."


    Riley''s anxiety faded quite a bit at the honest sounding words, the girl taking a moment as she answered with a noticeable nod of her head. Marvin smiled as he reached down to pull the plug out, the sound of warm laughter from the living floor calming the girl down further still.


    "Alright, thank you for that and sorry for being a bit jumpy, just... what''s the point of all this? Can you just tell me why you dragged me in here, wanted all this privacy, and brought out that coin?" Her voice was calmer now but just as firm as she observed her grandfather''s reaction.


    He nodded at that, closing his eyes as he collected his thoughts before airing them out, his voice calmest she heard him be.


    Despite its contents definitely not making Riley any calmer.


    "Riley, we want to talk about your biological mom."

 Chapter 22: ...Comes Around

    The question sure came out of left field.


    Most of the leftover anger in Riley''s system was quickly replaced with confusion and befuddlement, the girl''s slightly venomous response expressing all she could think of in response-


    "What is there even to talk about?"


    "Plenty."


    Riley''s head snapped towards the door as the other grandparent announced herself, thankfully leaving the door slightly open behind herself as she slowly walked up to the bed and took a seat next to her husband, smiling warmly up at Riley.


    "Why haven''t you asked Rick to give you my papers if you really are that curious?" She responded indignantly, definitely not looking forwards to digging all the old stuff back up from the recesses of her mind.


    "Oh we asked, and he gave it to us, and we gave it a good read and then did some... independent investigation on top. Suffice to say we know a good chunk of your story, more so than even Ricky." Marvin answered calmly, the later addition putting Riley slightly on edge.


    "Then this all makes even less sense!" Riley was on her wits'' end, having no idea why her grandparents would dig that old can of worms back up, *especially* since they already supposedly knew all about it.


    Liz took a deep breath, slowly stringing together a sentence, already opening her mouth to respond as her husband cut her off-


    "Well, the most straightforward reason is that we eventually had to have this talk with Rick, and from what he''s told us so far, we think that you need it even more than he did back then."


    Riley was about ready to snap back at that, the other grandparent answering the question she was about to bark out with quite a few nasty words.


    "What Marvin meant by this talk is, it''s not about just looking back at what objectively happened, leave that for cops and their ilk. The real point of our talk with Ricky all these years ago, and with you right now, is to go over how do you feel about all these memories, and about your mother."


    The in-depth answer certainly defused her most imminent hostility, but she was still on edge, attempting to solve the entire discussion with a single quip-


    "Well I don''t like thinking about them, don''t like being reminded of them, and hate her to the point that if I knew where she was buried I''d go there and piss on her grave, how''s that sound? Can we go now and pretend this didn''t happen?"


    Much to Riley''s surprise both grandparents chuckled heartily at that, her angry determination unprepared for such a... unbothered kind of a response, the image of Rick not even flinching as she brought out her knife in their interview coming to mind.


    "W-w-what''s so funny?"


    "Hah, I remember Ricky getting so pissed off when we started this talk that his tail looked like a feather duster, and you certainly look close even without fur." Marvin answered, sighing at the memory as Liz pushed the conversation forwards-


    "Oh yes, Ricky didn''t enjoy that whole thing one bit, even if did help him a lot in the end."


    "H-how did it help him?" Riley brought up the elephant in the room, Liz smirking happily before answering-


    "He was able to let go."


    "O-of what?"


    "His past, his father, the reasons he couldn''t grow as close to us as he wanted to, because every time he tried to think of us as parents all that came up was his father and he mentally only pushed himself further away." Liz spoke unusually firmly for her, making Riley gulp as she chewed on her words.


    "You know what I''m talking about Riley, don''t you?"


    She felt like a gust of freezing air had blown not just onto her but through her body, innards freezing as the appropriate words struggled to make themselves apparent to her mind.


    "R-R-Rick told you, hasn''t he?"


    "No, not Rick. Andrew did send us a message, but we were well aware that something like this would very well be an issue regardless." Marvin cut in, not letting Riley even mull on his response as Liz continued-


    "Of course Riley, it''s all up to you. As much as it may seem like we got it all figured out, it''s you who matters here sweetie. Just say a word, and we can just all head back downstairs and forget all this happened."


    The girl nodded slightly, figuring out how to respond as she stared at the ground, whispering out after a few good moments-


    "W-what do you want me t-to do?"


    "Feel better with yourself, come to terms with what happened, get rid of the demons that threaten to send you into an anxious fit under any pretense, no matter how flimsy. But right now? Take a nice, long breath sweetie." The grandma continued, reaching into her bag of holding and pulling out a small water bottle, passing it over to Riley who took it with a small nod, downing half of it in just few gulps.


    She gripped the bottle tightly as she tried to steady herself, deep breaths gradually slowing down, the plastic squeaking pathetically in her hand as it flexed in her hand. the girl eventually gathering the strength to look back up at her grandparents, nodding firmly to tell them to proceed with whatever they had in mind.


    "Are you ready sweetie?" Liz asked softly, her voice slow and deliberate, giving Riley a clear out just in case.


    Riley was... afraid, definitely afraid. Every bone in her body screamed at her to get out of that room, to not bother, to just try to pretend her past wasn''t a thing-


    But for what? Only to scare Timmy some more every time he asks an innocent question? To not even be able to conceive of Rick and Ella as parents?


    To hate her own reflection because she looked just like her mother?


    "Yes, I am." She felt a sudden push of determination as she forced the words out, the grandparents smiling in admiration before Liz slid just a bit closer towards her granddaughter and starting the whole shebang-


    "I''m so glad to hear Riley. What we want you to do now is to try reach mentally as far back in the past as you can recall, and tell us how it makes you feel. Is that alright?"


    Riley nodded before the impact of her decision really hit her, a string wrapping around her brain as she realized what was her oldest memory, and just how much she didn''t want to remember it.


    That was the point though, wasn''t it?


    To finally force her to remember.


    "I-i-it has to d-do with that coin..." She managed to stammer out, breathing shallowing further still as Marvin pulled it back out of his pocket and held it out towards Riley, the girl taking a moment to try to take the deepest breath she could before grabbing it blindly, cold metal feeling scalding hot as she was forced to examine it once more.


    ''''''


    TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE


    UNITY  SERVICE


    V


    RECOVERY


    ''''''


    ''''''


    GOD


    GRANT ME THE


    SERENITY TO ACCEPT


    THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE


    COURAGE TO CHANGE


    THE THINGS I CAN


    AND WISDOM TO KNOW


    THE DIFFERENCE


    ''''''


    "I... I think I was four at the time. M-my m-mom came to p-pick me up from the kindergarten, she looked so, so happy, even told me she got us ice cream and that she had something to show me. W-when we got home..." Riley''s knuckles whitened at how hard she was clenching her fists, a handful of tears having already made its way down her chin before she snapped out-


    "This hurts!" Her voice was already panicking, why did she agree to all this, what good could even come of it all!?


    "I know it does Riley. Why do you think it hurts so much?" Liz asked calmly, her granddaughter too preoccupied to notice her own eyes starting to glisten.


    "I-I don''t know... it just does." Riley answered to the best of her ability, voice going from anxious to defeated.


    "S-should I continue?"


    "If you feel like you can, then yes, please sweetie."


    She nodded in response, a couple of small whimpers escaping her as she pushed on-


    "When we got home... she, she knelt in front of me and showed me this- this coin. She told me that- that she loved me so much, th-that she''s not who she once was, and she did it all for..."


    Riley''s face clenched shut, throat shutting as she tried and failed to push the word out, bitter tears watering the fabric of her shirt as any attempts to speak only turned into sobbing gasps.


    "She d-did it for me..."


    She kept weeping, a dam somewhere inside breaking into a flood of tears, a vivid image springing into her mind from behind it.


    ***


    Their apartment was small, downright tiny, just a single large room with a small separate bathroom and one of the corners serving as a tiny kitchen with just as tiny of a fridge, so that the sweet baby girl could open it for herself without an issue.


    The sizable couch in the middle unfolded into a wide bed, plenty enough for them both. She remembered loving laying down in the evening, snuggling under the massive covers even as she waited for her mom to finish dealing with the adult stuff and the thick notepad she wrote down all her expenses in.


    And then, just as she was about to fall asleep, her sweet mommy would join her, hugging her gently and telling her that she loved her, and Riley would hug her back, and tell her that she loved her too before dozing off.


    And then she would wake up to her mom''s voice, eat some sweet yogurt as she got up, mom would help her put her clothes on and just... just hold her on her lap for a few minutes while they waited for the right time to head out, then walk in half darkness to her kindergarten, where her mom would always kiss her on the forehead before saying


    bye bye...


    ***


    Riley wasn''t sure for just how long she sat there, her face buried in her empty hand, just... crying. Letting it all out. Every tear she had to suppress in the past at the ancient memory was now flooding out of her all at once, heart-wrenching sobs slowly giving way to quiet whimpers as she got herself back under control.


    She breathed hoarsely, eyes still clenched shut before flinging open upon feeling something touch her knee, finding it to be a small pack of tissues. She took it from Marvin, whispering out a quiet ''thank you'' as she collected herself, thoroughly using up a couple of them before she could finally honestly say-


    "A-alright, I... I can continue now."


    "Don''t push yourself too hard sweetie. Take as long as you need." Liz gently reminded with a nod and a soft smile, Riley acknowledging it with a quick bob of her head before pushing herself on anyway.


    "Then she gave me this coin, t-told me to have it remind me that she..."


    A couple more tissues later...


    "That she will never stop loving me, n-no matter what happens." Riley finally forced the words out, the words that have long since rotted and grown putrid in the depths of her mind, the words that, despite all that happened afterwards, all the pain Riley experienced from her mother, were more than genuine at the time.


    "And then... then we sat down together on our couch and had a lot of ice cream together and snuggled, and that-that''s about it I think..."


    Riley felt... relieved, in a way she hasn''t ever remembered feeling. Every time she tried to explore the old memory on her own it only resulted in it getting buried deeper and deeper, the mental scar growing more and more gangrenous every time, to the point where it just hurt even to acknowledge its existence.


    "What flavor was the ice cream?" Marvin asked abruptly, Riley''s mind going blank at the impromptu question for a moment before answer showed itself, clear as day.


    "Strawberry... it was always strawberry, hehe..." She smiled faintly at the realization, every time she chose anything to do with fruit it was always strawberry, despite not even remembering ever having one.


    Maybe she just liked the color red? Who knows.


    "How did you feel at the time?" Liz brought the subject back to the main course, Riley nodding as she gathered thoughts.


    "I-I was just happy, I think. Happy because my mom was happy, because she brought ice cream, because she said she loved me and gave me a funny looking coin. I remember now putting it in a sock so that I wouldn''t lose it. And then when I found it in one, I just would put it in another."


    The grandma nodded, taking a breath before going on-


    "And how do you feel right now, having recalled all that?"


    "It hurt, a lot, but now... it-it doesn''t, at least not as much as it did when I was crying like a baby, heh." Riley chuckled at how silly she must have looked back there, a moment of glee at her own expense cut off immediately after-


    "How do you feel about your mother?"


    Riley''s eyes went wide at the question, the bubbling paradox threatening to blow her skull open. Just half an hour ago she would be barking out words of hate, and she still wanted to even now, but she just... couldn''t. Not with what she''d just seen, the memory grinding at her brain with how little sense it all made.


    How could her mother have ever loved her with what followed?


    "I... I don''t know. It j-just makes no sense..." She whispered out, Liz stepping in with a guiding question-


    "Why does it make no sense?"


    And so the stitching in her mind started to come loose, memories untangling and tearing themselves apart upon a gentle touch.


    It took a while for her to sort out the thoughts, eventually figuring out that going in the chronological order would probably shed the most light on it all.


    Light that she once dreaded beyond words, that only ever brought more and more pain, but which now, she felt, could finally get rid of it, old gashes finally cleansed and treated.


    "I- I don''t know, but... c-can I just go through m-my memories as they come t-to hopefully make it clearer?" She asked uncertain as to how her change of plan would affect the whole therapeutic session.


    "Of course sweetie. You know best how to dig through all your memories, all I can do is to gently steer you in a direction that I think will help you out the most." Liz answered softly, smiling at her reassuringly.


    "H-heh, is being a therapist just st-steering people like that?" Riley asked, appreciating her grandma''s openness, feeling better enough to the point where she could take another sip of water.


    "As Liz told me one time, it''s half listening and half being a private investigator, except digging into your thoughts and not who your wife slept with." Marvin chimed in with a chuckle, Riley responding in kind before taking a deep breath, silencing herself as she tried to recall the next thing.


    The memories that came after were much less developed, just snippets of more of their apartment, mom doing mom things, more snuggling... she still must have been four or five at the time...


    Before the calls came.


    The first one made her flinch at how clear it was, how vividly she remembered it all, her mom looking horrified as she picked up her phone, herself getting spooked as she could just barely hear raised voices and see her mom starting to tear up and weep, and how despite all her hugging, it didn''t seem to help...


    How scared she was, and how scared she became.


    "I remember s-somebody calling m-my mom, and it made her scared and cry, and n-nothing I could do helped. And then there w-were more of those calls, and my mom c-cried more and more..."


    Liz nodded, her expression deep in thought before she prodded to push the story on-


    "Do you remember who was it that kept calling your mom and made her cry?"


    "N-n-no, I don''t, she w-wouldn''t tell me, d-don''t know why..." Riley shook as she tried desperately to uncover that tidbit, to find out who kept hurting the only person she held dear at the time...


    "What happened then?"


    "She-she kept getting the calls, and got sadder and sadder, t-then... one day she just c-came home and cried, and cried, and wouldn''t s-stop..." She only barely held back the tears of her own at she recalled that day, the day it all started to fall apart.


    "How old were you at that time, if you can remember?" Liz''s voice was a fair bit less warm at the moment, as if focused on trying to put together a puzzle, while still trying to keep Riley on the right course.


    "I-I think I w-was six..." She whispered out, catching onto her grandma''s insistence, curiosity further growing in her.


    Liz nodded quietly, pulling out a small, but very thoroughly used notepad and flipped onto one of the latter pages, taking a breath before asking Riley in a quiet, somber voice-


    "We did some digging on our own and... we think we''re quite sure who it was that kept calling your mom."


    Riley''s eyes went wide at that, boiling wrath overtaking the cold sadness; she wanted to know, she wanted to find these people and carve them up into pieces and to keep stabbing until her switchblade gave its last.


    "Who was it!?" She almost shouted, body starting to shake in anger, she needed to know, she *had* to know.


    To know who had broken her mother like that.


    Marvin stepped in, any remains of his jovial exterior gone as he slowly muttered out-


    "They were your mom''s parents. Has she ever told you about them?"


    Riley couldn''t help but breathe very, very shallowly for a good moment as the revelation set in, anger evaporating whenever she tried to grasp it.


    "N-no, a-all that she ever told me, m-many years later i-is that they w-weren''t the kind of people I-I''d like... W-wait, are they alive!? Why didn''t they take me in when-"


    "They disowned your mother when they kicked her out of their house, and then you once they learned of your existence. They were contacted for taking you in but never responded after repeated requests, and so the social workers were forced to put you in Oakwood." Liz explained calmly, bolstering herself for the inevitable follow up.


    Riley was aghast at that, pieces of past confusion coming together, fully assembling the gruesome picture.


    "W-why would t-they do that?" She could only whisper out this much, her throat clenching up, barely even letting her breathe.


    "It''s never easy to tell things like that for certain, but... we dug up some things about them belonging to a fundamentalist Mormon sect, and disowning children like that does tend to happen there."


    "H-h-how do you know it was them!?" Nothing made any sense anymore, how could t-they do something like that, a-and keep making their daughter''s life such a hell.


    "We found archived court documents of a case involving your mother, and it was to put a restraining order on her parents to stop them from calling her any further." Liz answered matter-of-factly, definitely filling up some blank spots in Riley''s perception of all that had happened.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "A-and how d-d-did it go?"


    "She lost the case, *supposedly* because of lack of evidence, but in reality, it''s something else entirely. Your biological grandfather wasn''t just an important person in his local, fucked up community... but also a deputy sheriff. And if there''s one thing you can be sure of about cops, is that when push comes to shove, they''ll inevitably stand behind one another no matter what, especially behind people like your grandfather." Marvin added his part, the swear adding some well needed reality to the awful things Riley was hearing.


    "But... why were they calling her, why wouldn''t they stop, w-why were they hurting her like that!?" Riley asked in desperation, her voice cracking as the tears refused to be contained anymore, at how pointless it all was, all that suffering...


    "As for that we can only speculate. But given the kind of people they are, and what your mother told the court- I think I have a good idea, based on my own experience with victims of abuse like that." Liz answered the best she could, despite it still not being enough.


    "W-wh-what is it?"


    "She likely didn''t just start being abused like that out of nowhere, it was an ongoing cycle that dated to all the way back when she was little herself. We will never know what went behind their doors, or what exactly they said to her time and time again. But what I''m near certain of is that they kept degrading her, telling her how worthless she was, and how much she was hurting you by being herself."


    "But she wasn''t, n-not back then!" Riley shouted in protest as tears flew down her face, arguing against a force ten years beyond her reach.


    "Indeed she wasn''t. And what I''m similarly sure of- they were doing it to keep her controlled, not letting her move past them, keeping her emotionally chained to them as they kept piling on the abuse. I''ve seen that sort of thing... far too often during my practice." Liz was almost whispering at the end, emotions getting the better of her as she shared in Riley''s anger over all the pain cruelty like that had caused, all the untold misery.


    All for what?


    "B-but why...?" The girl was barely audible, the impact of all the pain her mother had gone through stilling her thoughts under the weight of the horrid truth.


    "I wish I had an answer sweetie. In therapy, you have to learn quickly to suppress the ''why''s like that, that don''t lead to anything productive. I can think of fifteen different reasons as to why your mom''s parents would want to keep her miserable, but even if I had a way to tell, it wouldn''t lead to anything. It wouldn''t make it all hurt any less than it does."


    Riley couldn''t help but to cry at the explanation, so desperately wanting for it all to make sense somehow, wanting answers concrete to the point where they could explain everything-


    But there weren''t any, there was only more pain. Pain as Riley, for the first time in ages was getting closer to how her mother actually was as a person-


    But it was too late now.


    "I-I-is that w-why she started t-taking?" She eventually managed to squeak out, her voice not unlike that of a broken squeaky toy.


    "In all likelihood, yes." Liz''s response was as gentle as it was final, yet another piece of the awful puzzle coming together.


    These memories she could remember without even trying to, how scared she was as she saw syringes and needles laying around, her mom sitting on the couch, unresponsive. How her initial fear turned into dread as it kept happening and happening, often after the calls, and how it started happening more and more often.


    How their house looked more and more dirty and scary, mom wouldn''t even clean it anymore. She would stop buying small things, like ice cream, an occasional small toy. And then bigger things, like food even, Riley being able to remember having to shake her awake just so that they could have something, anything to eat.


    How mom had even stopped smiling and holding her, or even looking at her.


    Too ashamed of falling down into the pit to even look at her daughter, evading pain from her parents abuse turning into trying to tune out her own pain, at how much she''d failed herself,


    At how much she''d failed Riley.


    "Self-destructive addictions like that are sadly all too common with abuse victims, especially with relapsing."


    "R-relapsing?" The girl stammered out, having no idea what Liz was talking about.


    "That coin you have, it''s a commemorative one used in certain branches of Alcoholics Anonymous and related organizations, to celebrate how long has someone endured in their sobriety. The one your mom has is a five-year coin." Marvin explained slowly, gears turning in Riley''s mind as she realized that her mother not only used to be an addict at an earlier point in her life-


    But that she stopped right about the time she would have realized she was pregnant with her.


    She quit for her.


    "But w-why would s-she, s-start again after a-already quitting once!?" It was all so confusing in a horrid way, her mind coiling around itself as it struggled to find a rational answer, to explain it all away.


    "Because quitting any addition is so horribly, awfully hard. Even with alcohol, people who quit don''t ever drink it again even in socially acceptable settings, because of how easy is to get ensnared again. Quitting isn''t a one and done thing, it''s a continuous process that drains you and which you have to constantly focus on, since any lapse can easily lead to a relapse. It requires strength, and when you''re already exhausted by the abuse coming from your parents, without being able to get any relief even through legal action... it becomes that much more attractive, promising to block out the pain, and you are too weak to say no." Liz spoke somberly, thankful to whoever was watching over her that she wasn''t speaking from her own direct experience.


    "It takes a lot of strength to constantly fight back against that while dealing with trying to straighten out your life and taking care of a young child, more strength than what any person should be expected to show and to keep up."


    Riley could only nod in acknowledgment as her frail body shook, unable to even imagine just what her mother was dealing with at the time.


    "And once you''re already tumbling downwards it''s hard to stop, even when it leads to you being evicted and relocated to a trailer."


    She could only nod slowly as the sobs gripped her body, her every hateful thought towards her mother, for being just another worthless junkie, for doing her own abuse once Riley had frustrated her, for being such a failure that her inaction led them to be moved into a rundown trailer- she felt them all turn around, each feeling like it was stabbing her heart, making her want so, so much to, to just


    Say she was sorry.


    But it was too late.


    It was too much, all too much, Riley''s sobbing turning into full blown weeping as she buried her face into her palms, each sorrowful whine stinging more and more as she realized how badly she''d missed her chance to make amends, to apologize for all the mean things she said to her,


    To hold her mom one last time.


    To say goodbye.


    The last thing she said to her mom... she couldn''t even recall. Near the end, they almost didn''t talk at all, Riley deciding to spend most of her free time outside, away from her, especially after managing to sneak out some of her money and grabbing a switchblade from a local rundown fair, the kind where legality of sold products was only a minute concern.


    The last memory of her was her coming home one day from school, only to find her mom splayed out in her bed. She didn''t remember how she felt, or if she even felt anything at all when she tried to feel her pulse and couldn''t sense anything. Anything at all.


    What followed after... she didn''t remember almost anything of it. She tried ignoring it, to avoid thinking of it all, just tried to push on normally.


    Then the next thing she remembered she woke up at Oakwood, just another kid in the pit, not even bothering to move a muscle all day.


    No point in that.


    Sorrow slowly turned to anxiety, her mind starting to race as she realized she couldn''t even remember her, her face. She tried to focus on the happy memories, but no matter how hard she inspected the old recording, nothing came out, no relief, nothing. Just as she realized that her mom wasn''t a monster, was she now really deprived of even being able to remember her face, her smile?


    "I-I can''t remember her..." She slowly whimpered out, despair seizing her mind, the fear beyond words at having finally forgotten her, just a bit too soon...


    "Riley?" Her grandma''s voice took her out of her fear just for a moment as she looked up, noticing her holding a small photo frame, smaller than Riley''s hand even. She quickly grabbed it, flipping it around as she tried to see what-


    There she was.


    Her mom, sitting on a simple school chair, with toddler Riley on her lap, both of them looking just, just so happy...


    She finally remembered her face, a bit angular but still rounded, straw colored hair tied into a ponytail behind, hazel eyes just like Riley''s...


    Her face as she would want to be remembered, when her life was finally working out, she got her sweet little Riley into a nursery, found a job, finally could rent out an actual apartment of their own...


    Back when she could look at her daughter with pride at what she''s accomplished, despite everything, and hold her in her arms, back when she wasn''t so consumed with shame that she couldn''t even bear to look at herself.


    "Th-thank you s-so much... h-how did you f-f-find this?" Riley whispered out, tears of happiness mixing into the mess already present on her face as she held the framed photo as gently as she could, so at to not make it fade away.


    "Took some digging, gotta admit, we ended up contacting every nursery, preschool and kindergarten around where you lived, asking them whether they ever had you as a pupil, since we''re now your legal grandparents and all. We did eventually manage to stumble upon your old teacher, and she had all the class and pupil photos archived, then sent yours our way once we told her what had happened." Marvin went through their process, Riley''s grip shaking a bit as she tried her hardest to stop herself from holding on even harder.


    "I... I can''t thank you enough..." Riley whispered out in between small sobs, gently holding the old photo to her chest, tears waning a bit as she calmed down.


    "You''re more than welcome sweetie. There''s... one other thing we found, but we should probably take you to a special place before we give it to you." Liz responded gently, the phrasing perking Riley''s interest up a bit despite her confusion.


    "W-what kind of a sp-special place?" She stammered out, unsure as to why would her grandparents just take her out somewhere at random like that, but trusting her judgment much more so than she did when they started this whole thing.


    The grandparents took a look at each other, thinking through whether to tell her what they were planning exactly, Marvin nodding at Liz after a good moment, who turned back towards Riley as she answered-


    "Riley, we want to take you to your mother''s grave."


    ***


    Riley agreed immediately, of course, and a few moments later they were already in the grandparents'' car, making their way from the small local road onto the highway.


    Thankfully, as they talked, the storm gave them a reprieve, sky mostly clearing up as they drove.


    In her focus over this new chance she forgot to even really pay attention to the rest of the family as they quickly walked out, Marvin calling something out to calm them all down as she noticed concerned glances in the corner of her eyes.


    Her face reddened by all the crying was probably not looking too encouraging.


    But that, all that, could be dealt with in a bit.


    Right now they were finally pulling back onto the smaller roads, Liz following the GPS'' directions as she slowly drove, the trio eventually reaching their destination, parking the car in front of an open metal gate, a small label on its top-


    ''''''


    UNION CEMETERY


    ''''''


    They left the car wordlessly, Marvin taking a brief moment to grab a small plastic bag from the trunk of the car before they all went deeper into the eerily quiet area.


    The many headstones felt like they were all watching them as they walked, following the directions Liz had written down on a scrap of paper. Watched them in judgment, the ornate granite masterworks probably costing more each than what Riley had ever seen at once.


    It took a while for the few rich graves to start turning into many, many less rich ones, massive slabs of exquisite materials replaced by tiny stone headstones, many of them quite ancient, and all of them only having the bare minimum needed, just a small stone and a dirt mound in front.


    Judging from the appearance of most of them, it''s not like anyone looked after them anymore, and it certainly extended to Riley''s mother''s grave once they''d finally found it.


    It looked even more miserable than the rest of the row it was a part of, the city not even willing to pay for a tiny stone headstone, a wooden cross instead sticking out of the ground at an angle, a small black metal plate attached to its center, with white, shaky writing-


    ''''''


    In Memory Of


    BRIDGETTE WILLIAMS


    10.22.1982-02.17.2016


    Rest in Peace


    ''''''


    The whole grave looked awful, some of the wood in the cross already having started rotting, not to mention how haplessly it was stuck into the ground, and judging by the mess around the base, had to be stuck back in after falling out several times, nobody willing to put in the effort to finally do it right.


    The sight made Riley''s blood boil when she saw just how bad of a shape it was in, the girl walking in between the dirt mounds towards the cross, if nobody would take care of it then she w-


    "Riley, grab these first!" Liz called out to her gently, the contents of her message confusing, the girl having expected them to tell her to stop or something-


    And not to give her the tools...


    She took the pair of thick rubber gloves and a small metal shovel from Marvin, crouching behind the worn down cross as she figured out how to go around affixing it better.


    Well that''s easy enough, just dig a deeper hole.


    She put the shovel on the grass next to her, the slowly setting sun thankfully still shining brightly enough for her to see where to grip the cross to properly pull it-


    That was way too easy. All she had to do was just lift the thing, it didn''t feel firm at all.


    Her turn to correct that.


    With a grunt she moved the wooden cross over onto the grass, noticing how the hole couldn''t have been deeper than half a foot or so, before kneeling down behind the hole, grabbing the sturdy shovel and starting to dig. First, she got rid the grass and dirt from around the hole itself, discarding it onto her side, before she widened the loose dirt hole enough to where she could deepen it.


    In her focus she didn''t even notice all the mud accumulating on her legs and arms, focused on doing her mom right, at least this one time.


    Finally, after deepening the hole to around the length of her forearm, she walked over and lifted the wooden cross once more, exhaustion making carrying it back to the hole much harder of a task than pulling it out, the girl managing to stick the base back in only barely, and having no idea how would she fill the hole back up while still keeping it-


    The grandparents answered her question before she even asked it, walking over and holding the sides firmly, nodding at her in encouragement as she quickly got the message and started to fill the hole back in, the excess dirt spread around the grass with a few kicks.


    After making sure that this time it wouldn''t come loose on its own, Riley finally got back up, knees complaining about all the couching as she made her way back in front of the grave, finally satisfied now that the shoddy grave site looked like at least,


    There was someone who cared.


    Riley slid off her gloves and passed them back to Marvin, taking in the sight, unsure what to do now before she reminded herself of Liz''s words-


    "What was that last thing you found that you wanted to show me here?" She asked, some of the hot determination in her voice freezing as she wondered what it was that would necessitate standing right in front of her mothers resting place.


    Liz took a deep breath before reaching into her purse once more, carefully pulling out an old, yellowed-out envelope, the dry paper creaking under her touch as she spoke-


    "It was found under the table in your trailer, and then taken in as police evidence, and just forgotten about afterwards, despite it being obvious she wanted you to read it." She pulled out a handwritten letter out of the envelope, gently passing it to Riley who took it shakily, the description already putting her on edge.


    ''''''


    I''m sorry.


    After I woke up after that party, I was just confused, confused and afraid. I just wanted to head home, but there was no home to come back to, there was only the trailer.


    When I first realized something was wrong with me, all the nausea and heartburns, I was scared, I was so scared.


    I didn''t know what would I do if I was pregnant. I wasn''t ready, not in the slightest, that trailer was no place for a baby, my life, awful as it was, wasn''t ready to take on any further responsibility.


    But then you showed up anyway.


    I was so lost, but when the reality settled in that I would have someone who depended on me with all her life.


    And I didn''t want to fail you.


    I didn''t want to do to you what my parents did to me.


    It all hurt, hurt so awfully, it was like the worst flu I ever had to deal with, all the pain I ran away from catching up to me. It took almost a month before I could finally get out of bed without the cravings making it impossible to do anything.


    I managed to find a shady job in a local grocery, paid little but it was enough, since at least it was something I could start saving up.


    And so I did, pushing on even into the 8th month, only finally stopping when I couldn''t even walk all the way there.


    I had nobody, I just stockpiled some water and cheap food, got a clean blanket, and just waited, waited for almost three weeks. I couldn''t call an ambulance, I just wouldn''t be able to afford it all.


    All I could hope for was that it would all go without any complications.


    And thankfully, thank fucking god it did.


    The first few hours, few days, were so unreal. When I felt you squirm in my arms for the first time, trying to hold onto me, so small and defenseless, I knew I couldn''t go back.


    I couldn''t hurt you like that. Not then, not ever.


    Riley was a name I got from my middle school friend. Out of everyone in there she was the only one who gave me some benefit of the doubt and actually talked to me.


    I lost contact with her after I was kicked out, I still hope she''s still out there somewhere and is hanging on.


    You were such a beautiful baby girl. Every time I felt like it was all too much, like I just wasn''t able to push on any more, you were right there, looking up at me with so much pure love in your sweet little eyes, I knew I had to push on.


    To do it for you.


    You were only a few months old before I went back to that awful grocery place, and as awful as trying to work there was while pregnant, doing so with a very young child was even worse. All the pain and soreness, constantly having to feed you and calm you down while still being figuratively whipped around.


    Fortunately, it''s hard to stop pushing yourself when you have your motivation next to you at all times.


    I kept going for almost a year and a half, carrying you everywhere I went, not wanting anything to happen to you.


    Afterwards, I had finally enough saved up to where I could try to rent some sort of an apartment, settled on the cheapest studio in the area, thankfully they didn''t want any detailed background checks on me.


    I had enough saved up for a year at least, but I knew I had to keep moving, keep pushing on to not fall behind, to not end back at the trailer.


    Some small local place ended up taking me in as a waiter after I told them my situation, and while the pay still wasn''t anything special, it was enough for me to at least subsist on, and it thankfully included benefits.


    Of course I couldn''t wait tables with you walking around, and managed to find a small local nursery that would take you in.


    For the first time in my life I was on my own two legs.


    And I could watch my baby girl grow up before my very own eyes. You were so talkative, just loved to keep babbling on and on, only taking a break when sleeping or eating.


    It was the sweetest thing in the world, and all the pain, all the worries, you made it all worth it.


    I wish I was stronger. I wish I could have just put down the phone when it inevitably ended up being my father, to just finally cut myself off from them.


    But I couldn''t.


    I''m so sorry.


    When you were just a small bundle of blond hair poking out of your blanket I promised you, I promised myself, that I wouldn''t ever hurt you, that I loved you too much for that.


    But I failed.


    I saw the pain in your eyes, sadder and sadder every time you caught me taking again, until I had to take just to stop feeling awful about taking.


    I''m so sorry.


    I know you hate me now Riley. You have every right to, I promised you the world, I promised to protect you, to not hurt you just like I had been hurt myself.


    And I failed so horribly at all of those.


    Child services sent me a letter. They want to take you away from me


    The pain is too much now


    I dont think I can take it anymore


    I wish I could turn back the clock to stop myself from falling apart


    But its too late now


    There''s nothing I could say to make up for all the pain you have and will go through


    I wish I could just hold you one last time and just tell you I love you I always have and Im just so fucking sorry


    I will always love you Riley


    Im so sorry


    ''''''


    By the time she was done with the letter, Riley was already kneeling in front of the grave, weeping so bitterly that she had to take the old letter away from herself to not damage it. Liz carefully took it back as her granddaughter let out all the pent-up rage, slamming and punching the dirt mound as hard as she could, her fists hurting.


    And all that was left was loss.


    She couldn''t keep punching anymore, lying face down on the small mound and trying to hold it tightly, knowing full well how insane she looked with the freezing mud on her face.


    But she just wanted to hold her mom one more time.


    Riley couldn''t hold anything back anymore, almost screaming into the dirt as all the old emotions left her, all the loss and pain and fear and love and longing wetting the dirt under her head even more so than it already was.


    "I''m so sorry..." Was all she could sob out as all her pent up emotions were boiling over, the girl only hoping her mom could still hear her, somehow, anyhow.


    She just kept shaking and weeping for a good few minutes, nausea rolling through her as her thoughts raced at a blinding speed. Afterwards, they finally slowed down as the tears started to fade, until she just laid there, focusing in expectant silence, saying her goodbyes in the only way she knew.


    "I-I love you mom, a-and I always will..." She eventually whispered out, her voice breathless.


    It took her longer than she wanted to know to finally get herself back up from the grass and look down at the now slightly disheveled grave, looking down at it in confusion, suddenly so... empty.


    "W-what now?" She asked nobody in particular, so utterly drained she couldn''t even think anymore.


    "Well, what I did with my folks was lighting a candle, a quiet prayer, and then just saying goodbye, and that I wouldn''t forget them." Liz answered softly, reaching a hand around Riley''s shoulders as she passed her a small red lantern with the other one, followed up by a matchbox.


    "Sh-should I do that then?" Riley asked, unsure of anything right now.


    "If you want to. It''s you who knows how you want to grieve the most." Her words didn''t clear up much of anything, but she knew she wanted to do... something, at least.


    With a half step she crouched once more in front of the grave, numb hands taking a while to fiddle with the lid before she finally got it open.


    One match, two matches, three... there we go. The candle''s wick finally caught fire, Riley pushing the used match into the loose dirt nearby before twisting the lid shut, the soft, warm flame lighting up the quickly darkening graveyard, the only candle in the immediate vicinity.


    Riley slowly pushed herself back onto her feet, feeling how numb they were at the cold, her determination having shielded her from it until now.


    "I-I don''t know h-how to pray..." She slowly whispered out, the gentle light drawing her attention to itself.


    "There''s no one way to pray. You could try to just quietly thank her for all the good moments you had with her, and say that you won''t ever forget her."


    Riley nodded in the deepening dark, closing her eyes as she thought as loud out as she could.


    Thank you mom.


    For everything.


    I will never forget you, I promise.


    One more tear had managed to sneak its way onto her cheek despite the girl feeling like she couldn''t cry anymore, even if she wanted to.


    She opened her eyes and took a long look at the light in front of her, a bit like a lone star, flickering and winking at her as she breathed deeply, mulling through the last words before deciding to just go with the most direct way, managing to stabilize herself to the point where she could clearly speak once more.


    "Mom... goodbye. I''ll never stop loving you."


    She closed her eyes and awaited... something. She had no idea what and if anything would even happen, but wanted to take her time, just in case.


    After hearing one of the nearby trees rustle softly, she took it as a good sign, taking a few more breaths before turning back to Liz.


    "I... I think I''m ready to go now."


    Her grandma slowly nodded as she lifted up an arm for Riley to hold on to, Riley gently grabbing it as they both started making their way back towards the car, emptiness making it hard to think for the girl.


    Liz took a moment to grab some more tissues and help Riley at least wipe all the dirt from her face, the exhausted girl too out of it to notice the issue before speaking up-


    "W-what now?"


    "Now? Well, you hopefully let the memory of your mom go, and now that you have, it will be easier to accept yourself as a part of your new family. Plus, less painful memories to experience."


    "W-will I forget her?"


    "Of course not. Letting go and forgetting are two separate things. You aren''t gonna forget her, you will just finally come to terms with the fact that she''s gone and have a hopefully clearer picture of her now."


    "Y-yeah... I-I think I do..." Riley answered sheepishly as they neared the car, Marvin already waiting for them as he leaned on one of the front doors.


    They scrambled into the car soon after, the girl taking a good few moments to realize that something didn''t add up.


    "H-how did you get here so fast Marvin?" She asked hazily as Liz turned on the engine, the grandpa chuckling loudly as he answered-


    "Oh, just Ricky wouldn''t stop messaging and pestering about you, and I''ve spent the last half hour just telling him over and over again that you''re fine and that we took you to your old mom''s grave."


    Riley chuckled slowly at that, her body not able to stand up to the soft rumbling of the car as it drove, the sheer exhaustion of today quickly knocking her out before they had even made it onto the highway.


    ***


    "Riley?"


    The soft voice had reached something deep in her, the girl struggling for a moment before opening her eyes.


    She had been moved onto the living room couch while asleep and had at least the dirty jacket and shoes taken off from her, that much she could make out in the faint light.


    "Riley, are you awake?"


    She twisted her head towards the source of the voice, a very tired and thankfully relieved Rick smiling at her softly as he got up from the armchair.


    "Y-yeah, think so... w-what time is it?"


    He chuckled softly, reaching down a paw towards her as she lifted herself off the couch, still just so, so tired as she got up.


    "Half to eleven. You must be so exhausted Riley, and it''s probably best if you head to your own bed now, will probably be more comfortable than this, heh."


    "Wh-what happened?" She muttered uncertainly, noticing the massive passage of time, and the absence of everyone else around.


    "You passed out while driving back from the cemetery and we moved you onto the couch here. My folks told me what happened, I told Ella and just told the kids you went to visit the grave of your old mom. How are you feeling now?"


    "I... I don''t know. Just, just so tired mostly, and, and kinda relieved I think."


    "Heh, about how I felt after that talk as well. I''m so proud of you Riley." Rick spoke slowly and warmly, evidently exhausted himself.


    "T-thanks... c-can we visit it at some point too?"


    He chuckled quietly, wrapping an arm around her.


    "Of course Riley. I hope you were able to sort it all out."


    "Y-yeah..."


    After finally making it to the staircase, Riley turned around, not wasting a moment before reaching to hug Rick as tightly as she could herself.


    "T-thank you so much for everything... dad."


    He slowly pet her back as she held him, quietly answering-


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Now go get some sleep, okay?"


    She nodded half asleep, slowly climbing her way up the steps, thankfully not noticing the handful of tears rolling down Rick''s cheek.


    An indeterminate amount of time later she was finally back in her room, not even bothering to turn the lights on as she slid off her dirty pants and climbed into bed, the stars filling up her view up as she quickly dozed off, tiredness taking a hold of her once more.


    What she didn''t notice in her exhaustion, was the addition of the framed photo on her dresser, along with a another, the coin proudly displayed in between them.

 Chapter 23: Cleanup

    Riley slept for... she wasn''t really sure, especially if she were to include the exhaustion nap as they were driving back home yesterday.


    One moment she just realized she was awake, the soft, muted tune of Lily practicing her violin providing her with something to focus on as she slowly stirred back into awareness.


    Wait.


    Lily practicing her violin.


    Which she didn''t do before breakfast.


    Which meant it was after breakfast.


    ...


    Fuck.


    With a loud groan Riley tossed the covers aside as hard as she could- which in her half-asleep didn''t amount to much beyond a couple feet.


    After taking an ungodly amount of force to pry her eyes open her suspicions were confirmed- it was way past morning, with the winter sun already up high, filling her room with cold, white light.


    A few worm-like motions later, she had managed to slide herself off the bed, eventually standing up right and straightening her back, still aching after her couch nap.


    As she slid off her shirt to change into something less dirty, she managed a whiff of herself, realizing she hadn''t showered in... three days.


    The realization she probably stunk the most out of a household of skunks did force out a bizarre half-chuckle, half-exasperated groan out of her, which combined to a sound not unlike an old man whining.


    Or dying.


    She begrudgingly put the dirty shirt back on so that she''d have something on her to get over to the bathroom, the convenience of having one attached to her room missed dearly.


    A pile of cleaner stuff in her hands later she was about ready to head out before she noticed a pair of framed photos on her dresser which definitely hadn''t been there before.


    One was the photo of her and her late mom she saw yesterday, displayed proudly for everyone to see, Riley having to stop herself from tearing up at the sight once more.


    What was more interesting however was the second photo standing next to it, one she hasn''t seen before. It was... wait, it was her mom. Definitely her but younger, couldn''t have been older than Riley is now, and aside from sporting actually well-kept pigtails instead of her own incoherent mess of a hairstyle, she was so, so similar. A happy realization affirmed with a glance at the mirror that stood next to the photo.


    She was wearing what must''ve been some school''s uniform, looking so much more professional and stuffier than anyone Riley would willingly approach within ten feet of. Remarkably she didn''t seem to mind much, smiling softly at the camera, the brick and grass background hinting the photo may have been taken at the back of a school.


    Riley dumped the clothes on the chair, grabbing the photo to inspect it closer, holding it softly as she realized she could pull it out of the frame, turning the slick photo around and finding a short note hidden on the other side-


    ''''''


    Bridgette Williams


    Bday: 10.22


    The forever misunderstood one, fuck her parents


    Wish I could convince my parents to help her somehow


    05.22.01    ~ Riley H.


    ''''''


    Guess this was the other Riley her mom mentioned in her letter.


    The present Riley wondered whether she could ask her grandparents to help her contact the past Riley, after all she was the only one that talked to her mom...


    Yeah, she could. But that comes later, and right now she reeked.


    She slid the photo back into its frame and grabbed the pile of clothes, planning her dash to the other end of the long corridor as she opened the door with her elbow.


    And as usual, her desire to remain unseen was dashed once more.


    "Hey Riley!" Timmy''s squeak rung from the other end of the corridor, followed up by the sound of socks on carpet as he ran over and hugged her legs, the poor girl paralyzed once more.


    "Morning Timmy, c-could you let go for now? I need to take a shower but afterwards we can hug for as long as you want, is that alright?" She answered with a hint of exasperation, unable to respond with the clothes in her arms, or even to see the lil'' kit with her vision all blocked.


    "Why do you need to take a shower?" The question was as interesting for him as it was baffling for her, the big sister eventually responding with-


    "Because I stink." Riley''s response was as deadpan as she was able to deliver with her face buried into many layers of clothes.


    "Hehe, Riley stinks!" The tyke sounded like he''d just invented comedy.


    Of course.


    "Ya ya ya, I sure stink, now can I go to the bathroom so that I don''t stink anymore?"


    "But why are you taking a shower so early?" Timmy answered as he thankfully let go of her.


    "Because stink doesn''t wait." She trailed off as she dashed towards the bathroom, managing to slide herself in before the lil'' brother could respond.


    One layer of sweaty clothes less she was already inside the large bathtub, confused by how these things are used in the first place as she turned on the hot water.


    As her joints and muscles relaxed, the tiny girl unable to fill up the entire length of the tub even when laying down on her back, she realized something with a glance at the shelves with shower gels and such.


    She left her human ones in the bathroom of the large bedroom, forcing her to have to borrow someone else''s.


    Eeney, Meeney, Miney, this one.


    Reddish pink bottle, a lot of colorful, large letters and pictures of pastel-colored cartoon anthros made it clear that it could only be Timmy''s shower gel. Hopefully he wouldn''t mind...


    She grabbed the large pink bottle, pouring some of its contents on her hand, shuddering immediately as the slimy, reeking substance touched her skin, its consistency not unlike snot.


    And it felt even worse as she tried to lather herself with it, the chemicals stinging a bit, their faint aroma making her nose turn in disgust as she tried to get it over with as fast as she could. Thankfully it did at least clean grime and after bubbling up it no longer felt... as horrible.


    Still, Riley felt so much better after finally getting rid of the slime as she rinsed herself off, moving onto her tangled, matted hair.


    Fortunately, the shampoo she''d grabbed was usable with all hair, her fingers lathering her blonde hair, feeling it become less and less greasy with every motion, much to her sanity.


    The fewer things she had to be anxious about with regards to her appearance the better.


    An application of conditioner later she was finally free to rinse thoroughly and wrap it all up, getting rid of the leftover gel that still stuck to her. Do all anthros have to put up with that stuff?


    All grievances with the shower were more than made up for with the fluffy towel she wrapped herself with, just enjoying how soft it was for a while before she dried herself thoroughly, a new, fresh set of clothes making her feel just so much more comfortable overall.


    With a puff of vapor in her wake, she finally left the bathroom, any concerns over how late it might have been dissolving themselves once she heard Lily''s tune as she made her way back into her bedroom.


    She was still left with a handful of dirty clothes, very dirty judging by her yesterday jeans, knees and shins positively caked in dried mud.


    Guess she was a bit more... dramatic with her grieving than her tattered memory could recall.


    She could barely remember anything that had happened yesterday, but with another glance at her mom''s photo, the aftermath of it was definitely appreciated, so, so much.


    And today, she was really hungry.


    Riley grabbed her phone and knife from her yesterday''s pants, confirming that it was just after eleven. The resulting question of ''how did she sleep what must have been sixteen hours total between the nap and the actual rest'' left forever unanswered.


    With all else out of the way, she was finally off to the races, dirty clothes carried under her arm to be deposited in the laundry room first and foremost.


    The dining table thankfully had one set left over for her, a couple of what must have been hard boiled eggs next to a piece of toast with something green on it.


    What was more interesting is that while there wasn''t anybody around, the door to the basement was open and there were a handful of boxes around, some Christmas decorations sprawled on the couch.


    She moved her breakfast around the table so that she could watch whatever it was that was happening around the basement, cracking her eggs and grabbing a bite of the toast, the green stuff tasting... buttery. Roughly.


    Halfway through her cold but still really tasty meal, she saw Rick and Andrew drag another box out of the basement, seemingly the last one with them closing the door behind themselves before setting the cardboard container down.


    Riley kept observing quietly, slowly eating her belated breakfast as they pulled something large, flat, and judging by their movements, really heavy out of it, setting it down on the floor before taking out the rest of the things, too distant to really make out, the whole scene given a serene soundtrack with Lily''s practice.


    "Good morning sweetie, are you feeling better today?"


    So serene she hadn''t even noticed Ella making her way downstairs before she was literally standing right next to the table, sudden appearance making her jump just a tiny bit.


    "O-oh, good morning! And yeah, I do, hard to overstate just how much even." Riley responded with a sigh, calming herself down as she smiled up at Ella, warm appreciation filling her features.


    "I''m so glad to hear Riley. Not gonna lie, it was just a bit scary to see you three just storm out of the house like that, especially since we overheard some of your... conversation." Her mom admitted, Riley suddenly feeling much more embarrassed about it.


    "O-oh... how bad was it?" Riley asked as she looked away from Ella, now really regretting her request to have the cork pulled out yesterday.


    "Yeah, we could hear you getting angry occasionally, and while I somewhat understood how bad something like that must''ve felt to go through, I''m not sure the kits did, had to calm Lily down a bit once you three had left. And you returning asleep with mud all over certainly didn''t help in making it look less gruesome, haha."


    "Oh... yeah, that. I really hope they weren''t all scared..."


    "Don''t worry sweetie, Marv has a knack for making up cover stories, you just slipped on the wet mud and fell over and was a bit hurting and tired. Which... not that far from the truth now eh?" Ella chuckled at the last addition, Riley not able to disagree at that, thinking of a small quip of her own before a gentle embrace stopped that, skunk mom holding her softly.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "And, well, he told me and Rick the true story and... I''m so sorry Riley." She quietly whispered as she held the sitting Riley, who quickly turned around to hold her back, as tightly as she could from this position.


    "It''s all fine now, I promise. Yeah, it did hurt a lot, but I do feel so much lighter afterwards, like I was carrying a heavy bag all along and it''s finally gone now." Riley tried to verbalize how she felt about it all with the benefit of hindsight, taking a deep breath to really feel the weight gone from her conscience.


    "I can only imagine. I cried like a baby on granny''s burial, but this is just... so much sadder." Ella kept her quiet voice, having to herself focus on not tearing up at the story.


    Again, at least.


    Riley nodded at that, her hug only tightening.


    "Yeah. But I''m finally past all that and can finally just... appreciate her for the mom she tried her hardest to be, and you for the mom you are... mom." She responded similarly quietly, smiling widely at her addition, and at Ella''s reaction-


    "Oh cmere you!" She squeaked happily at Riley''s words, surprisingly managing to lift Riley off the chair she was sitting on as she held her daughter tightly, only setting her back down on her feet once her back started complaining.


    Riley couldn''t help but to laugh at her gesture, her standing position letting her hold Ella even closer, all the warmth of fur and her sweater making it all feel so... welcoming and caring, a-and-


    Like she felt with her old mom.


    Both girls shed a couple of tears at their embrace, opening their eyes in unison once they felt a third person join their extended hug, Andrew''s overjoyed smile only lighting up Riley''s mood even further.


    "H-heh, hey Andrew." Riley slowly muttered out, the combined pile of three bodies slowly rocking back and forth to Lily''s music.


    "Good morning Riley! I see you''re feeling better?" He asked in his usual soft voice, further deepening his gentle hug, leaning in to nuzzle the top of Riley''s head, the sensation definitely enjoyable if ticklish.


    "So, so much better. Sorry for giving y''all a scare yesterday, heh."


    She almost choked with laughter as both mother and son tried to ''Shhhh'' her simultaneously, all three breaking into giggles as they let go of their warm hugs.


    "But yeah, don''t sweat it sweetie, we were confused for a bit but it''s all alright now. Guess you could still show yourself to Lily and Timmy so that they see you''re bac-"


    Speak of the devil.


    "Hey Riley do you still stink!?" Timmy squeaked as he ran up to her and held her legs, managing to somehow stealth his way downstairs in the meantime, the addition of the lil'' tyke making her giggle loudly for almost a minute straight as she scritched him before crouching and giving him a long, close hug.


    "Nope, took a shower!" She answered cheerfully, petting him some more as he took a deep sniff, his expression growing a bit surprised as he smelled something... weird.


    "You smell weird." He flatly admitted, Riley rising a brow in response, sniffing herself all she can, but only catching a tiny hint of the leftover chemical tang of the kit''s shower gel.


    "No I don''t." She responded triumphantly, her smirk fading once the skunk mom herself walked up closer to give her a sniff, her expression deeply confused at what she''d smelt.


    "You showered, right?" She asked, tone of her voice inquisitive as her brain ran on all cylinders, Riley more than confused at what was happening around her.


    "Y-yeah, I just said so. Forgot to take my shower gel from the bathroom in the large bedroom so I just had to use Timmy''s." Riley slowly muttered, eyes going wide at the skunks'' reactions, Andrew joining the other two as his nose twitched at the faint smell.


    "Timmy''s... wait, how did the bottle look like?" Ella suddenly realized what must have happened, suppressing a chuckle as she awaited the confirmation from Riley.


    "Reddish, large colored letters, some cartoon characters... what did I do this time?"


    "Well, you did use a Timmy''s shower gel- but it''s his descenting one we''d use a lot while he was much younger, I knew I remembered this smell but couldn''t quite place it until now." She giggled as she recalled the many, many times she''d have to wash Timmy with it, poor baby being quite a scaredy kit when younger, much to the suffering of everyone else''s noses.


    "Oh." Riley couldn''t help but to just flatly acknowledge, having absolutely no idea how she should react at any of this, the whole situation so far off any experience she ever had.


    "So, should I wash again or something?"


    "Oh no, no need to, it will weather away in a bit, just best to sort out your shower supplies as soon as you''re done with the breakfast so that it won''t happen again. And so that you don''t smell like a burnt tire again, teehee."


    "Why haven''t you had your breakfast yet?" Timmy asked in confusion as he looked up at her, the girl sitting back down on the chair and quickly resuming the meal. Internally she was profusely thanking the curious kit for impromptu-questioning their way away from the awkward subject not wanting to subject herself to even a moment more of it.


    Andrew turned towards stairs with a muted chuckle at his sister''s predicament only to be cut off as Rick finally spoke up, walking up to the table-


    "Oh don''t worry Riley, you''re far from the first person that made that mistake, hehe." His chuckle made the poor Andrew blush in embarrassment as he recalled making the same ''mistake'' many, many times back when he was much more insecure.


    Except his were deliberate to an extent.


    "So, after you wrap up your breakfast and sort out the shower stuff, we''re gonna head out to grab the Christmas tree now that I got all the measurements, wanna get some fresh air and help us look?" Her dad turned towards Riley, the girl nodding strongly as she chewed on the hard-boiled egg, definitely wanting an opportunity to weather the smell of her mistake away.


    "Sweet. Afterwards it''ll be time for everyone to help decorating the tree- so Timmy, while we''re gone, you''ll get to prepare all the baubles and ornaments and lights and garlands-"


    "What are gar-ga-garliclands?" The kit asked with a tilt of this head, Riley not breaking into giggles only because her mouth was full of avocado toast.


    "Long things we wrap around the tree, the paper rings, the ''shiny strings'' as you called when you were younger, this kind of stuff."


    "Shiny strings!" He recalled happily, wiggling in place in excitement as Riley wrapped up her meal, really hoping that Timmy wouldn''t just be left alone to deal with the glass bubbles...


    "Aww, remember when you were just one and a bit and liked the glittering ones so much you just wrapped yourself with them and just rolled on the ground as I sorted the other decorations out, have a photo of that tucked in there somewhere." Ella reminisced with happy nostalgia in her voice, reaching down to scritch her lil'' kit some more.


    Riley giggled at the mental image as she put the plate into the dishwasher, dashing back upstairs and relocating her shower supplies to the shared bathroom, taking a moment to actually take a closer look at the bottle she''d mistakenly used-


    ''''''


    Schwarzkopf


    Scent-off


    Kids!


    No discoloration


    Skin and fur friendly


    Eliminates all smell


    Gentle formula


    ''''''


    She hoped that at least the first point wouldn''t be as bullshit as the other three, her eyes rolling so hard at the advertising nonsense she was afraid she''s accidentally roll them onto the back of her head.


    With that dealt with she quickly dashed back into her room, changing into some outside clothes, grabbing the thick cordu-something pair and slipping neatly into it, her legs wasting no time in starting to cook themselves in the indoor heat, urging her to change faster.


    A couple minutes later she was dressed up and ready, dashing out of her room only to find that Andrew was just entering his, unzipping her jacket at the realization she''d have to wait a while.


    Riley was about to just head downstairs and wait on the couch as she realized that she still hasn''t spoken with Lily today, wanting to relieve the kit''s doubts as she walked up to her door and knocked quietly, her practice immediately ceasing.


    She couldn''t even get a word in edgewise before Lily hugged her as tight as her tween body could, all her strength managing to squeeze the air out of her, Riley choking for a moment before hugging her back, definitely appreciating how concerned she must have been.


    "R-Riley oh my god a-are you okay!?" Lily muttered out as her body shook, older sister petting the back of her head as she answered-


    "Yeah, I am. I feel... better now, I''m so sorry for scaring you all back there." She answered apologetically, continuing to pet the kit''s back.


    "W-what happened? D-dad told us that you were visiting your old mom''s grave and I was scared t-that something bad happened to you..."


    "Well, I did visit her grave, and said my goodbyes." Riley recalling slowly, trying to mute the still vivid memories and stop them from making her sad by proxy.


    "B-but why? I thought you said she was a bad person?"


    "I was wrong Lily. I was so, so wrong, and our grandparents helped me finally realize that. It did hurt, a lot, but I''m happy it did, and I''m happy that my memory of her is no longer so awful."


    "You''re happy it hurt?" Lily whispered out in confusion, the concept refusing to make sense to her.


    "Think of it like, like shots. They hurt and you don''t want to take them, but after you''re done with them, you''re happy you did since you don''t get sick." Riley tried to explain the emotional maelstrom she''s been through the best she could, her wording deliberately hiding the sheer amount of pain.


    Nobody would want to take shots if the needle was the size of your finger.


    "I-I see... s-so your old mom was g-good?" She followed up, trying to make secondhand sense of it all.


    "She... yeah, she was a good person, and tried her best to make me happy." Riley had to focus on not tearing up as she slowly conveyed what she''d learned, the sheer impact of it all still threatening to send her into sobs.


    "It''s just... her own parents weren''t good people and kept hurting her and it all was just too hard for her, if that makes sense."


    "Your mom''s parents hurt her?" Lily asked in clarification, Riley''s grip tightening a bit as she remembered what Liz told her.


    "Yes, they did, they hurt her a lot. But they''re not important anymore, and I''m just happy I got to say goodbye to my old mom, and that I finally remember how she looked, and how happy I was with her."


    Lily took a while to come up with a response, loads of questions swirling inside the scared kit''s mind as she held tightly onto her sister.


    "H-Happier than you are with us?" The crassness of kit''s question clearly evaded her, Riley''s brain going into overtime trying to answer it reasonably well.


    "I don''t think I can compare it, I was so young back then. But I know that if given a choice between you all and her I would just kick down the table and grab both her and you, since I love you all just so much~" Riley answered with a tight hug, petting some more as she felt Lily tear up just a bit at her kind words.


    Damn it feels good to be so smooth.


    "I-I see... h-how did she look like?" Lily asked with a whisper as she wiped her tears into the sleeve of her jumper, a lightbulb lighting up in Riley''s mind as she dashed to her room with a parting-


    "Oh, I''ve a photo now, just wait a second!"


    And a second later she was indeed back, holding the framed photo towards Lily, the kit smiling wider as she inspected the picture, asking for clarification-


    "So... that little one is you?"


    "Yep! I must have been what, two, maybe three back then."


    "She looks so similar to you..."


    "Oh, she was. And now, after all, I''m happy I got so much of her looks." Riley answered with a beaming smile before her head darted to the side, Andrew having finally finished dressing up.


    He wordlessly walked over to check out whatever it was his sisters were sneakily talking about, a sly expression melting into a wide, just a tad bit teary smile as he saw what was on the image, pulling both Lily and Riley into a quiet group hug, neither objecting.


    Afterwards he pushed on towards downstairs, Riley ready to put the photo back and follow him before a question from Lily caught her off guard-


    "Riley... can I do something with the photo while you''re gone?"


    "Something l-like what?" Riley was definitely uncertain at this, not wanting to risk one of the only images she had left.


    "Just want to scan it and do some digital touch-ups if you don''t mind..."


    "Scan it? A-alright then, just be careful, alright?" Riley asking the question primarily to just reassure herself that her sister wouldn''t deliberately damage it like that.


    "I will, promise promise!" Lily answered in an instant, gently taking the photo and holding it like a baby as her sister smiled down at her.


    "So... good luck with whatever your plan is?" Riley chuckled as she joined Rick and Andrew downstairs, the three quickly making their way back into the car once more.


    While Riley Asher had more questions about her body than answers pretty much constantly, the mystery of why was it so easy for her to keep falling asleep despite already having a decent night''s rest was seemingly destined to forever remain unsolved. Though, as much as the warmth of the car''s heating and the engine''s rumbling were pushing her towards another nap, it wouldn''t be the time for that yet, as signaled by the buzzing in her pocket.


    ''''''


    WhatsApp


    _________


    Madeline Johnson: morning Riley, how are you doing?


    ''''''


    Well this is random.


    As nice and... cute as Maddy was, Riley wasn''t sure why would she just message her out of the blue like that, especially with something so... small-talky?


    The mystery wouldn''t leave her on its own, Riley knew herself enough to be sure on that, so a few fumbled attempts later, she managed to dig into the menu to compose a message in return, quickly tapping out-


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: Im good , did Something happen?


    ''''''


    With a response written, she was ready to slide the phone back into her pocket and give in to the car''s comfort- at least before she felt it buzz in her hand once more, not half a minute later.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Glad to hear Riley, and it''s really nothing big, was just thinking if you''d want to check out some stuff at the mall after the xmas rush dies down?


    Madeline Johnson: Or maybe meet up sometime before that


    ''''''


    Riley blinked in confusion after reading the message, the request not really making much of a sense-


    Unless...


    She felt her cheeks blush something fierce as she considered the possibility she hadn''t thought of before, an unsure smile wobbling like mad on her lips as she kept repeating the message over and over to herself, trying to find the right words as fast as her overheating brain would let her. The girl quickly realized she had absolutely no idea what to write though, unsure even if this was actually anything more than just Maddy being bored and wanting someone to help with shopping or just hang out.


    It was time to use Riley''s famous subtlety to find out.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: is this A date?


    ''''''


    Nobody said it was famous for good reasons.


    Her heart rate felt like it was somewhere in the upper three-digit range, seemingly gaining yet another digit as the answer came through almost as soon as she''d set the phone down again.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: ...maybe.


    Madeline Johnson: So, interested or not?


    ''''''


    Maybe yes or maybe n- nobody would respond ''maybe'' if they meant ''hell no'', of course it was ''maybe yes''.


    Riley''s entire body squirmed as she quickly mashed out a response, a sudden grin refusing to wash itself from her face.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: yes yes yes


    ''''''


    This time, the response was too quick for the overexcited girl to even distract herself before it''d arrived.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: YUS


    Madeline Johnson: When would you be available?


    Riley Asher: i thnk we''ll be busy putting up the xmas tree today, so maybe tomorrow?


    Madeline Johnson: Aren''t yall gonna be knee deep in christmas preparations?


    Riley Asher: not sure


    Riley Asher: well, if so you could come help us if you wNt


    ''''''


    Riley immediately bit her tongue at that, realizing how badly that came off the very instant after she''d pressed the send button, wincing after she heard her phone buzz afterwards, her heart sinking as she slowly slid the phone back into her pocket, not quite having the heart to face the consequences of her blunder, especially with the drowsiness that kept nibbling at her.


    And with the immediate distraction of her phone gone, she was out before she could even worry too much more, dozing off to the comfy rumble of the car, especially when contrasted to the cold white of the outside world.

 Chapter 24: And Then Some

    Riley had a reason to be proud- it was the second time in a row she''d managed to wake up without any person''s help.


    The speed bump Rick drove into was sufficient on its own, the girl muttering incomprehensibly for a moment as her shocked brain struggled to catch up to her mouth.


    "You alright there Riley?" Rick asked with concern as he heard her gibberish, his daughter realizing where she was before speaking up, just a bit cranky at her nap being so violently interrupted-


    "N-now I am. Hope at least we''re close now..."


    "In fact, we''re here!" He responded with a chuckle as the car slowed to a halt, taking a spot in the small, makeshift parking lot, individual spots differentiated by precisely nothing.


    "O-oh." She wasn''t gonna say no to the convenience, unstrapping herself before slinking out into the cold and to her total lack of surprise, very snow filled air.


    After Rick had locked the car, Riley followed him and Andrew into the fenced field, a handful of humans and anthros alike strolling through the selection of many, many trees of various sizes and shapes.


    How do you even choose any single one?


    "What are we looking for anyway?" She asked absentmindedly, baffled by what must''ve been literal hundreds of trees leaning on the fences and laying on the ground, piled up awkwardly.


    Rick quickly pulled out his phone and looked at the note he''d made of the dimensions-


    "So, about Andrew''s height, and about as thick at the base as... hmm... half the length of your hand, roughly."


    Imperial units were one thing, but this was on another level.


    "Well that''s... exact." Riley responded with a deadpan voice, stepping up to the nearest tree on display.


    "I mean, there isn''t any real need for super specific dimensions, we''re not exactly lacking in space. It''s more so just so that the base isn''t too wide so that I won''t have to saw it down to fit, which just takes forever. Happened last year, and by the time I was finally done with it. Timmy was already asleep and upset we''d decorated without him." Dad answered plainly as she''d leaned in to inspect one of the trees in detail, having forgotten the one small tiny detail with conifers before a couple stings on the palm of her hand reminded her.


    The prickling wasn''t particularly painful, but she still had no idea how to go about it all when she couldn''t even hold the-


    "Riley?"


    Mention of her name made her snap her head back towards Andrew, taking a moment to notice the pair of very soft looking gloves he was offering to her, grabbing them with a slight blush at his generous gesture.


    "Let''s just go looking around individually, if anyone finds anything good just shoot the other two a message." Rick sent them off before turning around to take a closer look at some silvery spruces. Well, at least silvery in parts that weren''t covered up by snow.


    With a nod at his message, she jogged towards the far end of the enclosed field, going through the trees one by one as she tried to find the closest one to Rick''s guidance.


    As she went through the green-white mass one by one, the sheer intensity of the fresh, clean smell took her off guard, confirmed to be coming from all the trees with a brief sniff.


    Even with the size he gave in mind there were just so, so many viable candidates, even with all the different species in mind, Riley having precisely no idea which one she should-


    "Whattcha looking for?"


    The gruff voice caught her off guard, making her jump before turning around, the unimpressed older man looking down at her in almost boredom, lazily smoking a cigarette.


    "Y''alright in there?" He asked the same flat inflection, his expression so stiff and unmoving it almost looking glued on.


    "Y-yeah, I-I''m good. Uhh, I''m looking for a tree about this high-" She placed her hand roughly a foot above the top of her head- "And with a narrower trunk if possible."


    "Any special considerations?" He followed up in an instant, the whole process so ingrained in his mind he could do it asleep.


    "Uh... a young child?"


    With the shallowest nod Riley had ever seen he turned around, urging her to follow him with a gesture, walking over to a particular bundle of trees and lifting one up with his bare hand.


    "Nordmann fir, soft needles and all."


    The tree was definitely one of the tallest, almost bizarrely so considering how narrow its trunk was. On top of that it looked quite dense and bottom heavy, but sure enough it fit the requested size, and smelled quite nice to boot, Riley holding it after the seller had passed it to her.


    "I guess it looks ni-"


    Her attempt at small talk was cut off as the salesman was distracted by a woman walking up to him and taking him towards one of the other trees a few feet away, presumably to purchase it.


    Something about her appearance felt... a bit familiar. Brownish gray fur, soft and fluffy from what she could see, a large tail following her, same color as the rest of it aside from...


    A couple of lighter, almost cream stripes.


    She bit the tip of the right glove after passing the tree to her left, pulling the hand out of it and reaching into her pocket for her phone, managing to recall how to unlock and navigate to the address book, going through all the less familiar names with the photos attached, something on the back of her head tingling as she searched for-


    ''''''


    * Izzy Tate


    ''''''


    Riley knew she had seen her before! Wait, wasn''t she Ella''s youngest sister as well?


    Her excitement waned a bit as she realized that she didn''t really have an idea what to do with that fact, especially as she was rooted to the ground by proxy.


    She was about to fumble her way into writing a message to Andrew and Rick before the former made his way up to her, taking an impressed look at the tree in her hand as he spoke-


    "This one looks quite nice! Much better than anything I''ve found, want me to help you carry it to dad?"


    "Y-yeah, I''d appreciate it and all, but... is it just me or does that woman look familiar?" Riley responded as she leaned in to pick the front of the tree up, carrying it relatively effortlessly with Andrew''s aid.


    "Who do you-" He was about to respond before he spotted her too as they walked right past her, wasting no time in moving the weight of the tree into one arm as the other rose up to wave-


    "Hi aunt Izzy!" He greeted her happily, the woman in question turning around with a smile, able to recognize that sweet voice anywhere.


    "Andrew! Hey there sweetie, so nice to run into you!" She walked up to him and gave him a gentle hug, forcing their little convoy to stop in place, making Riley turn around to give her newly named aunt a closer look.


    Or rather, she would have if something on her back didn''t catch her attention first, the sight baffling as she struggled to make out the white on white-


    And then the baby turned its head towards her, small pinkish eyes and nosey finally giving something for Riley to focus on as she involuntarily smiled back, able to make out more of the baby skunk''s head with the white earsies sticking out on Izzy''s coffee fur.


    Well, it was most definitely a skunk... and also seemed to be entirely white, the contradiction not sprouting in Riley''s consciousness until-


    "And you must be Riley!" Izzy''s voice broke her train of thought as she realized that her aunt had turned towards her, amusement seeping into her smile.


    "Y-yeah, uh... aunt Izzy?" Riley responded uncertainly, not entirely sure whether she would be all friendly or not.


    "Oh don''t worry sweetie, Izzy is enough, Andy is just a worrybug." She answered with a chuckle before leaning in and giving Riley a gentle hug, her puffy jacket making it a very soft one, only interrupted with a high pitched squeak coming from behind her, Andrew giving off a long ''aww'' in the softest voice she ever heard him use, and that''s saying something.


    Her aunt quickly let her go in response, reaching a hand behind herself to pet the baby''s head, her reward being some more squeaking noises.


    "Aww, someone woke up from her nap~" Izzy giggled to herself, unzipping her jacket and fiddling with something underneath before the girl on her back was rotated over to her front, only her white head sticking out after her mom had zipped her shirt back up.


    Sticking out and looking curiously at Riley.


    "Aurora, say hi to Riley, she''s your cousin!"


    The resulting baby cooing was probably a greeting in some language out there, but no matter which one, it was utterly adorable in all of them.


    "Izzy, goodness it''s been a while!" Rick''s introduction caught her off guard, the girl almost dropping the tree she was still holding as her dad walked out from behind her and hugged his sister-in-law.


    "Sure it has Ricky, so glad I ran into you three! Unless you pull a Timmy out of your pocket, teehee."


    "Don''t worry, it''s just us. Is Nick here  with you or did he sent you out shopping with a baby to take care of?" Rick asked with a smirk, Izzy rolling her eyes as she responded-


    "He''s on a business trip, but the whole Christmas tree thing was my idea anyways, wanted to surprise him when he gets back."


    "That''s so sweet!" Andrew chimed in, much to the two adults'' joy at his earnestness.


    "Thank you Andy. Now, if you''re so concerned Ricky, I''ll gladly use help with carrying that tree around, heh." Izzy smirked and tilted her head towards the one laying nearby, chuckling quietly at his defeated sigh.


    "Uh... we''ve been carrying this one for the past ten minutes and my arms would really appreciate if you''d let us know if this one''s gonna be alright." Riley cut in towards Rick, his flushed reaction making the other three gathered skunks giggle as he walked up and helped Riley with the load, quickly adding-


    "O-oh, my bad, yeah this one''s gonna be great." Riley could''ve sworn she saw him blush after he grabbed the tree, quickly looking around for the salesman, who seemed to not have moved an inch from where he was left off, currently busy lighting up another cigarette.


    With both adults paying for their trees and Rick gracefully being pushed into helping carry both trees, one on his own, the group made their way towards the parking lot, trunk of the Asher''s car opening up soon after.


    However, with the tree''s size, both front and back seats had to be lowered to accommodate it, and all the branches made squeezing two people into the back row... difficult.


    Rick inspected the back seats in detail, trying to figure out how he''d squeeze two people into a one-man-shaped hole before Izzy walked over and took a small glance at the situation, offhandedly suggesting-


    "I can give someone a lift if needed, unless one of you two really enjoys taking the ride in the trunk." She giggled in the direction of the kids, the two exchanging a quick glance before Riley spoke up first, cutting off the timid skunk.


    "Sure if it''s not an issue."


    "Then it''s settled! C''mere Riley, want the front seat or the middle one in the back next to Aurora?" Izzy quickly split off towards her own car, a small sedan with a comically large baby seat in the back.


    "I can take the back one." She quickly decided, looking away from her aunt to hide her slight smile at getting to sit next to the baby before Rick''s loud grunting cut her quiet appreciation off. Riley turned around to see him pushing the smaller tree into Izzy''s car, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead after he''d finally finished.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Much appreciated Ricky. Just gonna wait for you to get going and I''ll just tail you for a while." She responded with gratitude in her voice as her brother-in-law nodded affirmatively before heading back to his own car, Riley''s aunt turning towards her afterwards and tilting her head towards the driver side back door.


    With some acrobatics and abusing her tiny stature, Riley managed to slide her away around the baby throne, her seatbelt clicking in affirmation as Izzy helped her baby girl out of her carrier, tiny onesie-clad legsies wiggling around before being sat down.


    Riley wondered where did Aurora''s tail go before Izzy helped position it into the opening in the seat, the white plume ending up on her own lap, wiggling a bit as the little one was firmly strapped in, squeaking and buckling a bit as her mom scritched the top of her head before strapping herself in.


    For a good moment, all three just sat in silence, Izzy presumably waiting for the two Ashers to get going before starting the engine, Riley taking a moment to lean in closer to Aurora''s seat- only to reel back a bit as her nose bumped into the baby''s wet snout, the other girl having seemingly had the same idea.


    Her aunt burst into quiet laughter at managing to catch that, Riley giggling and blushing a bit in response as Izzy spoke up with a chuckle-


    "Guess both of you are just so curious about the other, teehee."


    Seemingly unbothered by the nose bump a moment ago, the little Aurora was peeking out of her seat, head tilting to the sides as she stared at Riley, a small smile from the latter rewarded with a bubbly squeak from the baby, the girl futilely trying to reach her with her pawsies.


    "Y-yeah, would be lying if I said there are some things I aren''t curious about- oh gosh these noises are just so cute~" Riley cut herself off at hearing Aurora''s squeak, gently reaching over with her hand to pet the girl''s head just a bit, the action answered with soft coos and some more all-body wiggling.


    "Lemme just get out of this parking and I''ll answer the most obvious one..." Izzy quickly chipped in, turning the engine on and managing to squeeze her way out of the block of cars, turning around in a bit of a free space before following Rick out, letting out a breath of relief as she got to explaining-


    "Well, all white is just because of albinism, and not because of natural color like me. Aside from that and reddish eyes there aren''t any ill effects for her, but she''s definitely gonna need glasses. Anything else you had in mind?" Riley''s aunt answered calmly, repeating something she had to explain many times before, thankfully having still not grown to hate it.


    "Hmm... anything I should not do?"


    "Hah, she''s not gonna go off at random, so far it''s only happened once when I accidentally dropped and shattered a glass, suffice to say all the cleanup was definitely fun after that one. Besides that, uh... she likes being held up to a point after which she can''t stand it, hugging people at random and having her tummy pet, and doesn''t really like laying on her back or loud noises. That''s all I can recall of the top of my head, but with how vocal she is she''ll definitely let you know, haha." Izzy giggled a bit as Aurora confirmed her last point, letting out a long squeak after somehow managing to wiggle herself into reaching over and grabbing Riley''s nose, the human not really minding, more so surprised she''d been so focused to not notice the baby''s arm reaching towards her.


    "Uh, could you turn her right side on that seat? She likes rotating like that, and it,s the seat''s fault she even can squirm herself that way, but it''s still quite unsafe."


    Riley quickly nodded and reached over, Aurora complaining a bit with gruffer squeaks as she was forced back in the proper position, before some scritching to the top of her head helped her relax and sit back down.


    "Thank you sweetie. So, my turn now, how''s it living in a skunk house eh?" Her tone was thankfully relaxed, Riley not catching any signs the question was meant to catch her off guard or anything.


    "Soft and snuggly, also the food''s much better." The human girl answered her with a smirk, Izzy laughing a fair bit in response, half relieved, and half amused.


    "Well, glad to hear that! Wish I had half the cooking skill Ella has, her cakes were always so sweet, mmmmm... Anywho, how''s Lily doing?"


    "She''s doing great! Been practicing for her recital, and is definitely enjoying her new sister after all, ha."


    Riley caught her aunt smiling widely in the back mirror for a moment before she responded-


    "I''m so happy to hear. Hope you''re enjoying her as much as she''s enjoying you, she''s a sweetheart. Haven''t been over there in a year, can''t wait to see how''s Timmy grown before I have to get home."


    "Well, we''ll be decorating the tree after we''re back, you''re more than welcome to stay!" Riley responded to her aunt''s... aunti-ness, feeling comfortable enough as a family member to suggest something like that on her own.


    "Ya think? Hmm..." Izzy sounded like she was actually considering her nephew''s offer, a soft squeak next to her urging Riley to add-


    "Well since you''ve said you haven''t been over in a year, doesn''t that mean that Aurora hasn''t seen her other cousins yet?"


    She briefly caught her aunt''s surprised expression in the rear-view mirror, looking away with a slight blush as she noticed that Izzy took a glance back at her in the mirror, followed up with a giggle from the driver''s seat-


    "You''re right, nothing to get embarrassed about! Was just surprised you''d caught that, hadn''t realized it myself." She genuinely sounded enthused about this much to Riley''s relief, some of the fresh excitement rubbing off on the baby girl herself, Aurora reminding everyone of her existence with a loud squeak followed by a good few seconds of constant babbling, Riley just stunned at hearing that all of a sudden, eventually managing to ask-


    "Is she... trying to speak?"


    "In all honesty, I''ve no clue. She is at the age where she''s trying to imitate talking but doesn''t really know any words, and sometimes just goes into these rambles when she''s all excited." Izzy answered with happiness in her voice, smiling at her daughter''s adorable antics before something popped up-


    "Oh, there should be an opened bag of puffs on the floor to your right, feel free to have some and pass one over to Aurora."


    Sure enough, after shifting her leg Riley did find the bag and the puffs inside it, grabbing a handful of the crunchy treats and taking a bite out of one, more surprised than she had any right to be at the fact that it tasted like a woodchip.


    With a hint of salt.


    Maybe.


    Still, she passed one over to the baby girl, her action rewarded with an excited giggle-like series of squeaks as Aurora kicked her legsies in excitement before grabbing the puff in both paws and eventually managing to stick it in her mouth. Only took half a dozen tries or so.


    "Does she actually like them?" Riley asked, crunching some more on the treat despite the lack of any real flavor.


    "Seems so at least! These ones were the only ones left in the grocer when I went to grab some, normally I get her the strawberry flavored ones. Even then they''re not exactly the richest food there is in flavor, there isn''t exactly many things safe to give to kits with just a handful of teeth."


    "I-I see, sorry."


    "Oh don''t worry sweetie, they''re just corn puffs I bought for eighty cents, it''s not like I''m attached to them. Still... mind passing a couple over?" Her aunt asked, reaching one paw behind her seat in an expectant way, Riley wasting no time in passing over the rest of the ones she had on her lap.


    Before reaching over to grab some more since as bland as they were, they were still fun to crunch on.


    Nom nom nom.


    As all three girls crunched on, the ride gradually quieted out, Riley spending her time between leaning towards the tree to sniff its wintry smell and scritching Aurora, the girl eventually realizing she could scritch her cousin in return as well.


    Or at least try to a bit painfully, but it was much too adorable for Riley to mind as she leaned on her baby seat.


    With nothing else to do at the time, Riley subconsciously reached for her phone again, reminding herself of the apparent blunder she had committed earlier that day exactly one moment too late, now forced to witness the consequences of her actions-


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Well we''re finishing our prep today so I could do that


    Madeline Johnson: Haven''t chatted with Andy or Lily in a while, your parents are great and I don''t think I''ve met Timmy yet aside from in passing


    Madeline Johnson: I''m down!


    Madeline Johnson: Riley?


    Madeline Johnson: You here?


    ''''''


    Oh shit.


    It seems that her ill-thought idea had not just not backfired, but it did the reverse of backfiring, downright frontfiring right in front of her eyes.


    Hopefully Maddy''d still be interested even if she''d had briefly ghosted her by falling asleep in there.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: yes yes sorry dozed off in car


    Riley Asher: And yeah so am i !


    Madeline Johnson: Aww, cute


    ''''''


    Oh gosh she called her cute.


    Any rational part of Riley looking outside in would be baffled as to why would such a simple adjective, one that she normally didn''t like being applied to her no less, would make her heart feel so fluttery all of a sudden... but the Riley in the moment didn''t care, just going along with it.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: thank yu


    Riley Asher: do you need pick up?


    Madeline Johnson: Nah, my mom can give me a lift, it''s no big deal


    Madeline Johnson: Any specific hour you''re thinking of?


    Riley Asher: probably early how does 1 1 sound


    Madeline Johnson: Sounds good!


    Madeline Johnson: See ya tomorrow Riley, excited to hang out with you~ <3


    ''''''


    A heart!


    Riley had to stop herself from squealing in excitement as she slid the phone into her pocket, her breath slowly calming down after the brief exchange as she felt her heart keep on thumping, the change in her behaviour enough for Aurora to squeak out excitedly at the human a couple times and try to reach her pawsies towards her face a couple time, succeeding in making them giggle and squirm at the affection.


    Eventually though, even that eventually calmed down, together with Riley''s excited heartbeat, the teen about ready to check out for the rest of the ride before a quiet hum caught her attention, Izzy sounding out an unusual tune, unlike anything Riley had heard before, hoping she''d get to hear the words-


    "Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist, keep on loving, keep on fighting, and hold on, and hoooold on, hold on for your life..."


    Well there they were.


    "What song is that?" The human girl muttered out, catching Izzy a bit off guard before she responded-


    "Can''t recall on the spot, Wilma gave me this one album for my birthday a year ago and since then it''s just been stuck in my head. It''s definitely her kind of song, quite sad but still uplifting."


    "Hmm... sorry to ask but Wilma''s the, uh... punk one, right?" Riley cursed herself for having to ask, but genuinely couldn''t recall on the spot, having distinctively remembered a very punky photo in her address book, but unable to connect it to any specific name.


    "Oh yeah, she''s been into that kind of music since I was Timmy''s age. Took me to a concert one time and I thought I was gonna go deaf, but she absolutely loved it, I think it even had this song too."


    "That sounds, hell, that sounds cool. Always wanted to see what it''s like to be at a concert like that and, well... have piercings like she has..." Riley reluctantly admitted, the punk skunk''s dye job and piercings being the coolest things in the world to the edgy teen.


    "Aww, I''m sure she''ll help you with that if you ever want to check them out and actually be willing to go through with it, everyone''s wowed before they realize it''s their own nose or brow that would have to be pierced." Izzy cackled as she reminded herself of her sister''s complaints, booze making the drunk punk skunk slip out sometimes much more than she should have.


    "I''d love to at least have the nose and ear ones, more extreme ones sound... unpleasant." The last word made the teen''s cheek burn ablaze with embarrassment, her internet surfing definitely leading her to find a handful of photos showcasing some... more out there piercings, eliciting everything from a raised brow of wanting to see more to a loud yielp before the page was immediately closed right after, the second-hand pain enough to make the girl forcefully jerk away from her phone.


    Why the fuck would anyone do that to themselves.


    "Ha, I know what you mean. Still, some peeps are into that stuff, and Wilma''s piercings definitely helped her get through some of the rougher times with her body image." Her aunt added, her tone noticeably quieter this time, making Riley hope she hasn''t stepped into some serious stuff on accident.


    "I-if you don''t mind answering, what do you mean by rougher times?" She asked, curiosity struggling with not wanting to be extremely crass.


    "Well, suffice to say she hasn''t always liked her body and it took us all a long time to figure out why, thankfully aunt Liz eventually suggested a therapist and the mystery solved itself, and god did she do a one eighty with some years." Izzy''s brief grimace quickly straightened itself as the sentence went on, remembering seeing her sweet sister finally happy with herself for the first time making her tear up even now.


    "O-oh. Well I''m definitely happy she''s gotten better!" Riley responded awkwardly, having had no idea what kind of issue her aunt was referencing, feeling a bit confused as to how a therapist could deal with something so serious-sounding.


    Then again talking did help her in finally being able to look herself in the mirror and not want to recoil upon seeing her mother staring back at her, so who knows.


    At this point she was about ready to believe that some therapist out there can casually split mountains in half by talking with them very hard.


    "As am I Riley, as am I. Should try to convince her to visit you guys at some point, you two feel like you''d have a lot to chat about."


    "Yeah. Now... sorry if I''m prying too hard at a family secret or something but- what was that mystery you mentioned that a therapist helped with?"


    "Nah, don''t worry, my fault for mentioning it if anything, then again she''s not really secretive about it, the opposite even, out and proud. Especially when she''s drunk and some wanker starts shouting slurs at her." Remembering the initially harrowing memory of her sister being called these words was and the eventual followup of her literally having to hold Wilma back from kicking the guy any harder than she already had did make her smile quite a bit.


    Especially since she did sneak in a kick of her own afterwards.


    Piece of shit had it coming.


    "So... what is it?" Riley''s confusion wasn''t helped one bit, but the scene her aunt had offhandedly mentioned certainly did sent her mind wandering.


    "Oh, my bad. Well, she''s trans, that''s the long and short of it. Guess someone up there really wanted us to be the five sisters after all, despite having thrown us a curveball."


    Riley had no idea how to really respond to that, keeping quiet so as to not embarrass herself. She''d heard the word a couple times before but didn''t know what it meant, deciding to just acknowledge the reveal with a quiet nod, and maybe ask the aunt in question some more if she did decide to show up eventually.


    Well...


    She did have her number after all...


    Riley slid the phone out of her pocket and navigated over to the address book, tapping on Wilma''s entry and then on ''Compose Message''.


    She had absolutely no idea what to say to her beyond the simple fact she''d really wanted to meet her at some point.


    Maybe that would work?


    ''''''


    To: Wilma Nelson


    Hi Aunt Wilma i''m Riley and I was curious if you Could visit sometime soon


    ''''''


    Writing on this thing was unnecessarily complicated.


    She took a deep breath and pressed ''Send'', hoping that the message would still get across despite her awful writing style.


    As she slid her phone back into her pocket, Riley did catch a glimpse of some familiar surroundings outside. They were getting very close now.


    Just in time as Aurora had quickly started growing grumpy all of a sudden, flailing weakly about with clearly unhappily sounding squeaks, Riley''s attempt to cheer the baby up with pets only rewarded with the poor girl breaking into crying, sounding only a bit different than that of a human baby, and just as ear-hurting.


    "Awww, I think someone needs her diaper changed. Riley, how close are we to- oh there it is, thank goodness!" Izzy gasped in relief, parking her car on the side of the small local road, just past the Ashers'' house, quickly getting herself out before taking Aurora, her loud crying thankfully lowering in intensity to just an occasional anxious sob as her mom held her tightly.


    "Mhm, definitely her diaper."


    Riley scrambled out of the car as fast as she could so Izzy could tend to her baby hastily, the aunt quickly grabbing her bag before locking the door and jogging towards the front of the house, leaving Riley just sorta there on her own for a while, in front of the car.


    After gathering her bearings and feeling a bit less awful about making a baby cry, she followed her aunt inside, realizing she was the literal last person inside, the entire ground floor brimming with activity.


    Izzy seemed to be changing Aurora in the bathroom, Ella and Lily utterly surprised by the arrival of their sister and aunt respectively all of a sudden, especially with Izzy having immediately raced into the bathroom with a crying baby in her arms.


    What Riley soon realized, however, was that she wasn''t the only family member that decided to visit in the meantime, a dark, roughly skunk-shaped blur also looking surprised at the bathroom door before noticing Riley just standing there in the entrance, a soft voice speaking up with a chuckle-


    "Does this count as sometime soon?"

 Chapter 25: Christmas Cheer

    Riley felt that at least half of everyone gathered wanted to ask what was going on, only for them all to be interrupted by Izzy finally walking out of the bathroom, holding a much happier Aurora to her chest.


    "Thank goodness we were already close, hah... Wilma?" Baby mom spoke with relief in her voice, replaced with utmost confusion as she noticed her older sister in the living room, or at least the one she didn''t expect to see.


    Fortunately, someone was brave enough to break the confusion.


    "Aunt Izzy! *GASP* Aunt Wilma!" Timmy''s overjoyed squeaks filled the air as he stepped down from the last stair, looking confused for a moment, unsure which aunt to squeeze first, eventually deciding on dragging the coffee colored skunk towards the darker one, grabbing one leg of each and holding them together.


    Resulting in the opportunity for the world''s most adorable three-legged race, which sadly wasn''t taken advantage of.


    Aurora added her part, wiggling in Izzy''s grasp and making excited squeaks at all the surprise in the room, wanting to just go and see everyone around...


    "I''m... gonna make tea then." Ella eventually forced out, most of her confusion replaced with an amused smile, both at the arrival of another sister and Timmy''s reaction to them both.


    "Mint if you don''t mind!" Wilma called out before sliding onto the couch, tapping a spot for everyone else to join in, including twisting her head to glance at Riley and making a ''c''mere'' motion with it, the girl following suit with a slightly uncertain smile.


    By the time she''d finally taken a seat of her own, the couch had already descended into chatter, Riley deciding to mostly just take in the sights for now, and there were definitely some wonderful ones.


    Wilma had picked up Timmy up onto her lap, holding him tightly with one arm as the other was wrapped around her sister, seemingly wanting to create the cuddliest, densest bundle of floof in the world.


    Aurora was let free of Izzy''s hold, laying down across her mom''s and Lily''s lap, chirrling quietly as she looked around, trying to climb her way up Lily''s front, her cousin securing the onesie-clad snowflake with her arm.


    Riley was there, too.


    She mostly just resigned to looking at the scene with a smile, reaching a hand over to scritch Aurora''s head, the baby squeaking loudly in response and turning towards Riley. The kit definitely had a way of testing Lily''s stability as she started walking on the two sisters'' thighs, eventually ending up standing shakily on the older one''s lap, facing her as she supported her tiny, white body on Riley''s shoulders.


    Aurora then proceeded to smile as widely as a baby could, and all was good in the world.


    Riley carefully reached around Aurora, pulling her a bit closer with one arm as the second navigated to the snowflake''s head, petting her gently much to both girls'' enjoyment, Riley''s being derived largely from watching the baby''s tail wave around erratically in happiness.


    Hearing Lily''s excited squeak only added to the wonder as Aurora leaned in closer towards Riley, the bigger girl giving the smaller one a smooch right on the nosey with a giggle, breaking out into soft laughter as the smaller one tried to respond in kind, ending up licking Riley on most of her nose and lips.


    "Oh my goodness she''s so adorable teeheehee!" Andrew''s excited giggling filled the air as he leaned in from behind the couch, finally done with helping Rick attach the tree to the base.


    Aurora was keen on adding to that image, raising her pawsies towards him with a soft squeak as she saw him emerge from behind the couch, Riley getting the message and lifting her as far up as she could before she was taken by the girl''s older brother, who wasted no time in holding the snowflake closely and smooching the top of her head.


    And judging by all her cute noises, she was definitely enjoying all the attention, constantly wanting to move between all the different adults as Rick finished his part as well, freeing him up to hold the baby for a while.


    The craze about the snowflake was eventually interrupted with Ella walking over holding a couple of steaming hot cups in each paw, all the varied teas filling the air with warm, comfy aromas.


    The two aunts took a moment to pause their chatter to sip on the freshly brewed drinks, Timmy slipping down from his seat in boredom unnoticed. At least not until five seconds later when he started climbing up onto Riley''s lap, his older sister holding him tightly as she decided to try and taste the-


    A-aaaaaa too hot, way too hot. Tongue burns aaaaaa-


    "Riley, who is that baby that dad is holding?" The lil'' kit asked innocently, the girl taking a moment to set the cup down before petting his hair and answering-


    "Her name''s Aurora, she''s aunt Izzy''s daughter Timmy. Wanna hold her?"


    "Y-yeah!" He answered in excitement, wiggling in his seat as Riley craned her head around towards Rick who was still holding the white bab, gesturing towards him to pass her back over, the girl having gone quieter since the last time, looking a bit upset.


    "Awwh, what happened?" Riley asked with a whisper as she held Aurora closely, the baby letting out quiet whines and trying to struggle her way out of her hold.


    Unsure whether she hadn''t unknowingly screwed something up, she turned over towards the baby mom to ask what''s wrong, who was already leaning over to grab her..


    "Awww sweetie, too hot for you?" Izzy cooed quietly as she took Aurora''s onesie off after laying the girl down on her back, the tiny kit struggling in response for a moment before feeling some cooler air on her fur, now prancing around only in her diaper and a baby blue romper... or was it also a onesie?


    Who the heck is responsible for naming these things and why can''t they figure out which is which?


    With the source of the grumpiness quickly shoved into Izzy''s bag, the snowflake tried sliding off her mom''s lap, Wilma quickly reaching a paw over to make sure she won''t lose her balance.


    "Hehe, I think she wants to go for a walk!" Baby mom spoke up cheerfully as she helped Aurora get out from between the table and the couch, Timmy racing over to help before Riley could even get a word in edgewise.


    Not to be outdone, Lily joined in immediately afterwards by leaping over the back of the couch, both grabbing one paw as the little explorer walked around the ground floor, her wittle white tail waving constantly behind her as she realized her interest in walls, pillars, chairs, trash cans, and the legs of her two helpers.


    As Riley kept following Aurora''s little adventure, the two aunts'' must''ve switched places, Wilma suddenly manifesting next to her with Izzy a bit further away, the brownish skunk currently busy hugging Andrew who took a seat next to her.


    "She''s just the sweetest lil'' kit, isn''t she?" Wilma remarked with a smile before smiling down at Riley, wordlessly offering to wrap an arm around her niece, accepted with a slightly uncertain nod.


    "So, what''d make you ask me to come over?" She asked curiously, giggling as she reminded herself seeing that message pop up all of a sudden as she was hugging Lily.


    "N-nothing, j-just was talking with a-aunt Izzy a-and she mentioned you a-and I-I-I like how you look..." The teen looked away in sheer embarrassment, squirming in her seat at all her reasons, including those unspoken.


    "Aww, loving the punk look eh? Used to rock a bright pink mohawk a few years back, but sadly as accepting as my current employer is, mohawks are a bit too much even for them. Thankfully, kids love a well dyed pixie just as well, and the piercings just grab their attention so much."


    "M-mohawk? ...kids?" Riley was only a bit less confused, the aunt grabbing her phone with a chuckle and scrolling down the image album, stopping abruptly as she noticed something her niece haven''t. She pulled the phone much closer to her, outside of Riley''s sight and found the photo in question, tapping on it and showing only the thing she wanted to and not... many, many other things.


    She was standing on the outskirts of small crowd in some dark place, some background faces visibly groaning at her use of flash. That hair was... it was indeed something, a row of hair-spikes standing straight up, each one a different color of the rainbow.


    What was almost more interesting was her aunt''s swollen eye and a small trickle of blood making the way down her chin, Riley about to ask before Wilma answered for her-


    "Oh don''t worry about that eye, the guy who groped me in the first place ended up in casts, ha." She reminisced triumphantly, cracking her knuckles for emphasis.


    "O-oh... s-sorry that happened t-to you..." Riley remarked quietly at the gravity of the things mentioned, Wilma holding her tighter and gently scritching her air.


    "It''s all fine sweetie, thankfully I had backup and good reflexes to throw the first hit so that creep definitely didn''t end up unharmed, even if he did get off a punch on me before going down." Her aunt answered, remarkably unphased by the whole topic.


    "I see... d-does stuff like that happen often?"


    "Nah, nowhere as much as you''d think. Been to dozens of concerts and raves, and stuff like that happened what, twice? Plus, I''ve always had someone with me so even if you''re worried about that just go with a group, much more fun that way overall I''d say."


    Riley acknowledged with a slow nod, turning towards her aunt and looking up at her, finally bringing up the courage to ask about the elephant in the room, her voice wavering-


    "H-how do you get these piercings?"


    "At tattoo shops, most of them also do piercings. Have had this nose ring forever, somehow managed to beg my parents into it for my 17th birthday." Wilma admitted with a chuckle, Ella bursting into giggles at the memory as she finally had the chance to sit down with a tea of her own.


    "''Beg'' is an apt word, you''ve been asking for it since you were fifteen!"


    "Only took them a year and a half to see the error of their ways!"


    "More like, to them to finally get so fed up they''re rather just have you do it than have you keep asking for one more week, heh." Izzy cut in, smiling at the memory of overjoyed Wilma after she was finally, FINALLY allowed to have her piercings.


    "Persistence is a virtue sis!" Wilma snapped back, giggling as she recalled how that initial piercing turned into three, then four, then six, then... eight... teehee.


    The brief conversation gave Riley an idea, the girl turning slowly towards Ella, lips twisting into a slightly nefarious expression before beginning for a question-


    "Sure, as long as aunt Wilma helps you choose what and where, aight?" The skunk mom answered without Riley even having to ask, her daughter''s blush lighting her cheeks on fire as she looked away from the assorted adults, everyone else sharing a giggle at her expense.


    "Oh don''t worry Riley, I''d love to help you out with those if you really want to get one done sometime." Wilma held her tightly with a chuckle, Riley''s embarrassment melting away with her earnest words and soft hug, the girl nuzzling her aunt''s arm in return.


    A dull thud followed by a loud squeak from behind the couch broke up some of the tension, everyone turning around to take a look, only to find Aurora climbing on top of Timmy and playing with his face, the boy looking up at all the amused glances with a quiet expression of ''please help''.


    Lily, of course, was almost rolling on the ground in quiet laughter, getting visibly redder from all the breathless giggles.


    "Oh goodness, Timmy are you alright?" Izzy asked with a giggle, getting up from the couch to help the two older kits out with the tiniest one, the excitable baby protesting a bit as she was lifted up from her older cousin, wanting to play some more with his nose.


    After getting over the loss of someone to play with, Aurora wasted no time in snuggling up closer to her mom, excited squeaks giving way to high pitched chirls, the tiny bab appearing even tinier as she wrapped herself with her tail, all the fun making her more than a bit sleepy.


    "Awwww..." Wilma whispered quietly, gently hugging her sister and reaching her paw over to stroke her cheek, Riley trying to stretch herself and hold them both, her valiant, if unsuccessful, efforts rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from both aunts.


    "So, how about we try to start decorating while Aurora takes a nap?" Rick quietly chimed in, most gathered reacting with a nod as Izzy got up, gently holding the sleeping Aurora in her arms, looking for somewhere to lay the babe in for the time being.


    "Oh, we have our old carrier in the basement. You can detach the basket and just have the cradle, want me to go grab it?" Ella whispered out as she got up from her armchair, finishing her tea with a sip, Rick getting the cue to head into the basement and turn the lights on, and to grab some wood for the fireplace from the breaker room.


    Izzy considered the offer for a while before nodding strongly, her oldest sister smiling in return as she gestured Riley to follow her, the daughter getting up as Rick lit the fireplace, the flames filling the room up with a festive glow.


    Riley curiously stepped into the basement stairway, the small concrete room looking very, very bare if at least dry. The stairs themselves filled up most of it, thankfully fenced off, with the remaining space being taken up by the electrical boxes and a stash of dry timber for the fireplace.


    With Rick''s help, the light in the basement proper had already been turned on, the mystery of how would that be an issue in the first place answered with the realization that the only light switch for the basement was... in the basement itself. At the bottom of a dark, concrete staircase.


    "W-when was this house built anyway?" Riley quipped as she followed Ella downstairs, having to keep herself four or so steps back just to not get caught in her mom''s tail.


    "Hmm, haven''t looked at the original schematics in ages, if memory serves eighteen eighties? Eighties or nineties. Either case, it''s really old, and yeah, some parts like the basement wiring are... awful, no two ways about it." Ella responded knowingly as the two stepped into the large concrete room, most of it filled with many cardboard boxes.


    Aside from that, there were plenty of old magazines, a handful of old toys, a broken bike, the baby carrier they were looking for, cobwebs, a bit of fungus...


    Wait, was that...


    Riley slid her way past the boxes, reaching into one of the dark corridors and finally grabbing the black pleather-covered foam, grunting loudly as it all refused to budge. Some leverage against one of the boxes later it finally moved just a bit, metal grinding against concrete as she slid the metal base from under another box, the tiny girl almost falling backwards once she managed to dislodge her find.


    "Riley, could you-" Ella turned around to get some help with the awful locking mechanism on the carrier, her eyes going wide at a sight she hadn''t seen since, well, since Timmy was born.


    Standing by her daughter''s side was a freestanding boxing bag in near pristine condition, aside from all the dust and a bit of rust.


    "Well that''s one hell of a find..." Her mom summed up succinctly, some awkward memories associated with that one expressed in an uncertain smirk as she looked at Riley, who seemed to be overjoyed at finding a punching bag.


    "Yeah! Wait, is something wrong with it?" Riley caught onto Ella''s uncertainty, raising a confused eyebrow as the skunk mom took a breath before explaining-


    "Not really I guess. Andrew had asked for it for his thirteenth birthday when he was feeling all insecure, and suffice to say having something so intimidating he just wasn''t into didn''t help any. Thank goodness he''s past that now, ahh." Ella summed it up with a sigh, Riley nodding in uneasy acknowledgment before asking-


    "So, s-should I leave it here?"


    "Well, depends on what you wanna do with it. Are you into boxing?"


    "Not as much as a sport, but used to practice some punches for self-defense a lot since the orphanage had an old punching bag in the courtyard. It was a fun way to pass the time at least." Riley answered, providing Ella with a tiny presentation as she went through a bit of her practice routine, the standing bag feeling quite different from her hanging one, but still was perfectly usable.


    "I see. Ha, doubt you''re gonna need it much, but sure, feel free to grab it, just don''t drag the base on the ground since it''s gonna wake Aurora up, aight?" Her mom chuckled and smiled, Riley nodding happily at her go ahead-


    "And first, help me with this stupid thing, god how did I hate dealing with this carrier..." Ella grumbled in the direction of the inanimate object, Riley walking to its other side as her mom instructed her-


    "See this orange round thing on the side? Press on it with your thumb as hard as you can, it will give in eventually, it''s just really stubborn..." She grimaced and pushed onto the hidden button, Riley joining in with a loud grunt as she realized just how absurdly difficult the orange decal was to press in, old springs having gone even stiffer with disuse.


    Riley was about to give out and change her hand, her thumb aching from how hard she had to push on the stubborn button. Just as she was about to catch a breath, the whole thing finally popped with a loud clang, the metal frame being left behind as Riley grabbed the bedding part, Ella walking over to give her daughter a brief hug for her efforts.


    "Thank you so much sweetie, god that thing is such a pain. I''m gonna carry it up. if you need help with that bag just walk up and tell me, alright? Or better yet..." Ella almost cut herself off as she quickly scaled the stairs back up, Riley barely able to pick the bag up from where it was standing on her own. She was confused for a good minute before Rick ran downstairs, blinking his own confusion out before chuckling at the sight and rushing up to help pick up the bottom part of the standing bag.


    Even with more than half of the weight taken off of her, the bag still felt like it was made out of cast iron, the single flight of stairs being enough to have made Riley''s forehead glisten with exhaustion before they settled it down on one of the rugs in the living room, Riley needing most of a minute to get a hold on her racing breath.


    "W-why did you bring... that back up?" Andrew''s timid, slightly scared voice shook Riley out of her brief daze, the girl lifting herself up to triumphantly respond-


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Ha, for my own use! Altho now I''m curious as to how did it end up in there in the first place, heh..." She chuckled jokingly, her brother''s embarrassed expression making her regret that soon after.


    "Oh dear, this old thing. Andrew, you alright in there?" Wilma asked softly, reaching over and holding him closely, the soft skunk taking a moment to mutter out-


    "Y-yeah, I-I''m alright, j-just... god I was dumb back then, wasn''t I?" He chuckled softly, lack of conviction in his voice making Riley walk over and add her own hug to the mix, her big brother pulling her in.


    "Naw, you were still the smart cookie you were now, just really obsessed with very, very shitty ideas of what a guy should be, and chained with so, so many doubts about yourself and your body." The punk aunt answered slowly, reaching up to ruffle his long hair a bit.


    He remained quiet for a bit, pulling both Riley and Wilma into a tight squish and taking a deep breath before responding-


    "I-I suppose, j-just... it still sometimes feels like I''m not manly enough, a-and too weak.." He quietly admitted, Riley holding him even tighter before speaking up-


    "That not true in the slightest Andy. And even if, you''re still the sweetest guy your age I''ve ever met, so if it''s that or muscles I''d gladly take you being a supportive, kind brother." She spoke as earnestly as she could, adding some more hair ruffling of her own, much to her brother''s blush.


    "What Riley said, plus, all these shitty wannabe guy standards you see around are unrealistic for most folks anyway. Stuff like six packs or endurance training are stupidly hard to get to and more importantly, to keep at them, and provide no real benefit some much more basic exercise doesn''t. Hell, look at your dad, he''s never seen a six pack in his life and never will, does that make him less of a sweet guy?" Wilma continued, her example, making all gathered chuckle a bit, which increased to a burst of group laughter once Rick responded with mockingly annoyed ''Oi!'' at being made such an example of.


    "I''m trying to be body positive here Ricky, can''t help that you''re just the best example of fitness not mattering for being a good person around!" She tried justifying herself some more, amusement seeping into her voice at all the teasing aimed at her in-law, the victim himself looking mostly unphased save for a noticeable blush on his cheeks.


    "So yeah bro, don''t worry about any nonsense about how a guy has to look to be a ''real man'' or whatever. In my experience the guys most obsessed with that tended to be, well... assholes." Riley summed up, smiling widely as Andrew pulled her into a very tight hug, nuzzling the top of her head for a moment.


    "T-thank you both so much, I-I''ll try to remember all that, heh..."


    "Don''t sweat it Andy, these shitty standards are hard to get out of your head precisely because you just see them everywhere and it sucks, so feel free to shoot me a message if you need another pep talk, ha!" Wilma chuckled a bit too loudly, three ''Shhhh!''s silencing her simultaneously as her two sisters and niece watched over the sleeping Aurora.


    "Sorry!" She whispered right after with a bit of a giggle which Riley shared, the two girls giving Andrew some more space, after not wasting yet another chance to ruffle his long hair up a bit.


    And then a bit more.


    After Riley finally got up from the edge of the couch she took a look around, glancing on the still barren tree, quietly asking Rick-


    "Weren''t we supposed to start dressing it up?"


    "I mean... well, yeah." Rick looked up from her and cleared his throat a bit, speaking quietly but very clearly-


    "Alright everybody, wanna finally get the tree dressup going?"


    Within seconds all the kits were standing in front of the barren tree in excitement, Timmy looking to have suddenly shed any tiredness he might have had.


    Oh, and Wilma snuck her way in there too.


    Rick walked over to the sprawled out boxes, Timmy somehow managing to overtake him in just these few moments, his dad chuckling as they took out the several long, neatly-wrapped strings of Christmas lights, each kit and kit-spirited adult getting their own garland to wrap around the tree, of course one at a time.


    The second lil''est kit in the room wasted no time, Rick having to dash over to help him not accidentally break anything and stop the excitable boy from creating an accidental fire hazard. The two managed to wrap the length of the garland neatly around the lowest third of the tree, Timmy impatiently waiting for his lights to be turned on before letting out a heartbroken squeak when he learned he''d have to wait for everyone to do their part first.


    He then proceeded to pretend to be grumpy for the entire seven seconds it took for Lily to start dealing with her part, the experienced Christmas garland weaver managing to wrap the large old-timey lights around the tree neatly, leaving enough slack for the plug to reach the floor.


    Riley for the most part just followed Lily''s lead, initially intending to wrap her lights around the top of the tree. However, the reminder to leave some slack for the plug to reach the floor, and realization that she somehow got the longest garland out of everyone made her change tactics. She decided instead to try and wrap all the lights in a spiral all the way down the tree, managing to neatly exhaust its length, with Andrew helping her out a bit before starting with his own chain.


    His was quite a bit shorter, but also with a loooong length of cable without any lights on it, obviously intended more so for higher up spots, neatly wrapped in a loose swirl around the top half of the tree, leaving Wilma to go wild with her last bundle, largely wrapping her lights in a loose spiral, Timmy holding her legs in excitement as he waited for all the lights to come on.


    Rick inspected the lights all around the tree and gave the group a thumbs up, grabbing a lengthy extension cord and plugging all the lights one by one before sliding the master plug into one of the wall sockets and flipping on the integrated power sw-


    And then the kitchen lights went out, leaving the fireplace as the only source of light in the ground floor all of a sudden, everyone just mostly confused, with the exception of an afraid Timmy, wasting no time in grabbing Riley''s lower extremities, and Rick who just let out an exasperated groan and took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, muttering an annoyed-


    "Wrong socket, this wiring is gonna be the death of me..." as he unplugged the combined plug before sliding it into the socket next over, turning the attached switch off and heading to the basement stair room, a handful of metallic clangs ringing out before the kitchen lights turned back on with a loud buzzing noise, the kits letting out a collective breath of relief, with Timmy''s part being the loudest of course, a happy call of ''Thank you daddy!'' sending giggles around the room.


    Rick quickly made his way back towards the wall socket, taking a deep breath before toggling the switch on once more, the combined happy squeaks of six skunkos and one human letting him know it worked out this time.


    The dimly lit room turned into a tiny rave from all the lights shining at once, Timmy gasping wide before running a bit further away from the group to get the full look at the shining tree, taking in all the different colors of the lights.


    His own were the basic four color lights, shining brightly around the bottom of the tree, almost like a pair of glowing pants. If one''s pants were part blue, part green, part yellow and part red, and constantly alternated between the different colors of course.


    Riley suddenly wanted to see these pants.


    The middle of the tree was bathed in all the different patterns, the rows Riley recognized as having been laid by Lily shining between yellow and purple, and between red and green, the individual lights almost appearing to twinkle.


    Andrew''s lights, large, old and probably running very hot, were a stereotypically festive combination of red, green and white lights, the tiny bulbs trying their hardest not to suddenly catch on fire.


    The other two garlands were the most confusing ones, Riley recognizing her own set and trying to figure out it was supposed to be, each individual light alternating between a bright white and a dark purple, so dim it might have been-


    Black. Black and white.


    It never ends.


    And at this point, she didn''t want it to ever end, acknowledging it with a slight chuckle as she focused on Wilma''s lights, something seeming... off.


    It was just another basic four-color set not unlike Timmy''s, but something was wrong with the lights, making them glow so much brighter than they were supposed to, or at least so Riley thought; So bright that the green and yellow were indistinguishable, both appearing at almost identical shades of white, with red and blue being bleached out into pink and an almost baby blue-ish shade, the coincidence making Wilma giggle loudly as she sat down next to Timmy, hugging him as they both admired the light show.


    "You like it Timmy?" Riley asked with a giggle as she joined them on the thick rug, the kit wiggling in excitement for a moment before managing to finally force out a ''Yes!''.


    Cue both his older sister and aunt hugging him tightly at his adorableness, the kit breaking out of the snugglefest the instant shiny strings were busted out of the boxes. One by one, the kits wrapped the tree up to the brim, both in the store-bought shining colored garlands, and the homemade chains of what appeared to be an infinite number of circles cut out of colored paper.


    Realizing they were a fair bit to the side of the action, Riley slid a bit closer to her aunt, the question that has been eating her up for a while deciding that the cozy gathering was the ideal moment to bring it up...


    "A-aunt Wilma?" She asked quietly, the older skunk giving her a tight hug in response.


    "Yes Riley?" Her tone was soft and hazy, the festive atmosphere having definitely gotten to her as well.


    She couldn''t just ask her like that, desperately searching for a different subject to bring up now that she finally started talking to her aunt, a simple one coming to mind as a distraction-


    "Wh-what''s the coolest concert you''ve been to?" Riley whispered, Wilma giggling in response as she recalled a couple events in particular-


    "There was one Death Grips show I managed to sneak my way into, and caught MC Ride throwing himself on top of the audience while continuing to rap, followed up by like a dozen random people trying their luck as well, of which maybe four got actually caught overall. Was fun to be a part of that before security threw me out, and then got even more fun when me and a few random guys threw security out and went back in."


    Riley giggled at the unexpected twist, sliding a bit closer still as they both enjoyed her memory, Wilma chuckling some more as she continued-


    "Not the most hardcore thing I took a part in, altho that one wasn''t even a concert or rave or anything, just something I stumbled on almost on accident."


    "Oh? W-what do you mean?"


    "Eh... suffice to say that a band of fashy human supremacists was throwing a party and I helped crash it." Wilma looked away in contemplation, not wanting to ruin the mood with going too in-depth into the triumphant memory.


    "...crash it?" Riley asked in confusion at the particular wording, leaning her head a bit closer as he listened on intently.


    "You know, with a stick. Wrapped in a trans flag." Her aunt burst into quiet chuckling, wrapping her arm around her niece as she just took a moment to take in the tree being decorated.


    But then there was that word again, Riley shifting her attention back over to the tree, herself Timmy diligently figuring out the best branch to hand a large silver bulb on, eventually deciding on the highest one he could reach.


    She squirmed a bit in her seat, having no idea how to bring up the subject at all, especially since her talk with Izzy kinda painted it as this very, very important thing...


    "Is something wrong Riley?" Wilma asked quietly, noticing her niece''s change in demeanor, unsure as to what could''ve caused it. Still, she wanted her to feel good, reaching a paw over and gently stroking her hair.


    Riley relaxed a bit at the gentle touch, a series of quiet ''um...''s and ''hmm...''s giving the aunt more of an idea of what was going on, making her chuckle and help guide her niece along-


    "Was there something you wanted to ask me?"


    The girl gulped on the spot at being seen through like that, looking around in confusion as to how did she figure it out, her reaction telling Wilma everything she needed to know.


    "Awww, don''t worry Riley I don''t bite, without consent that is. Just tell me what''s been plaguing you, you''ll feel better." She encouraged her niece on, ruffling her hair some more as she focused on trying to compose an answer, figuring out she''d already been seen through anyway and just hail mary-ing it.


    "So... a-aunt Izzy told me you were trans and I... d-don''t know what that means...?" Riley tensed up subconsciously, hoping that however Wilma would react it wouldn''t be anything-


    *petpet*


    Riley blinked a couple times and looked at Wilma in surprise, the latter''s face contorted as she was barely holding back a burst of loud laughter, eventually just deciding to pull her niece into a tight hug and quietly giggle her amusement out before answering.


    "O-ohh dearie, shoulda said it was that from the get go, it''s something I get asked quite a bit and while answering it gets a bit tedious sometimes, especially to assholes that think they know better than me, I''ll definitely explain it to you all you want, heh. So, whattcha wanna know?" Her aunt spoke cheerfully, one paw continuing to stroke Riley''s hair. After smiling at Andrew lifting Timmy up to help him hang a bauble on one of the higher up branches the girl managed to sort out her thoughts, responding softly-


    "W-well, I-I don''t really know anything, all I recall from what aunt Izzy told me is that you didn''t like your body or something but, well, that doesn''t tell me much..." If Riley spoke any quieter she''d be miming out the sounds, Wilma answering with a handful of scritches behind her ears before slowly going into it-


    "So, someone is trans when they''re born as one gender, grow up with everyone thinking they''re that gender, but they''re not actually. It causes them a lot of grief since they know they''re not who everyone keeps saying they are, but people keep treating them as if they actually are that wrong gender. So, in my case, born as a boy, everyone thought I was a boy growing up, then puberty hit and I realized something was wrong and there was something really wrong with me. I was all sad and confused before aunt Liz recommended me a gender issues therapist, and well, we needed only a couple sessions to really figure it out, and then when I tried of think of myself as a girl it just... clicked. It felt natural, it just felt, you know, right. And then I asked my sisters and parents to call me a she and not a he, changed my name and it all just kept clicking, it felt as natural as possible. And then came stuff like hormones to help with making my body look girlier and such, but it''s not the case for every trans person of course. It''s just what worked for me, and what helped me change from feeling like I was trapped in this ugly fleshy thing to just... liking it. I actually started liking my body after a while, and Christ it was such a massive change."


    Riley kept nodding as she took her aunt''s lecture in, processing its contents and trying to make sense of it all, inevitable questions springing up-


    "So... you grew up as a boy?" She asked quietly, sliding closer into her aunt''s embrace, hoping to keep this little conversation private.


    "Yep. My parents thought I was a boy, my sisters thought I was a boy, hell even I for the longest time thought I was a boy, despite really, really not liking that fact. Lemme tell you- I was one miserable kid."


    "H-how did your family react?"


    "Well, they were confused to all hell at the beginning, and as was I, but it''s like... my folks clearly didn''t *get it* to put it that way, I''m unsure whether they do even now- but they did realize that being a girl made me so, so much happier than pretending to be a boy ever could, and were very supportive from that angle. As for my sisters, heh..." She chuckled quietly and smiled warmly, sneaking a glance to the side towards Ella, who was currently busy freaking out over Timmy handling anything more fragile than a brick, before looking back at Riley.


    "They, I was so happy when they just... accepted me from the get-go. It just felt so, so good when we could just go for a group hug and I didn''t feel like the odd one out, that we finally were the five Nelson girls and all. Especially Izzy, I remember her helping me stylize the short hair I had back then and just drowning me in all various accessories and all, and it just felt so, god it felt good." She teared up just a bit as she held onto Riley, glancing up towards Izzy, the younger sister responding with a smiling nod.


    The girl noticed the sweet change in demeanor, reaching over and hugging her aunt herself, trying to thank her for the impromptu lecture with some head scritches of her own.


    "H-ahha, ohh Riley, how are you doing?" Wilma asked quietly, stretching a bit as she took a look at the tree itself, now shining and beaming even more.


    "I-I''m good aunt Wilma. T-thank you so much for all that..." Riley answered with a soft smile and a much less soft grunt as she pushed herself back up, staggering for a moment before her aunt stabilized her with a paw on her shoulder as she got up herself.


    "You''re welcome Riley, don''t worry. Guess if you''re still confused then the one big lesson out of it all is just... call people how they want to be called, if you do that you''re already most of the way there, aight?"


    "Y-yeah!" Riley answered a bit too cheerfully, catching Rick''s attention and a slight smile as he realized they''ve been quietly conspiring together for a while, Wilma rewarding his realization with sticking her tongue out.


    "We''ve saved some decorations for you, wanna put them on?" Rick asked with a tilt of his head, suggesting this was the kind of a question with only one acceptable answer.


    Riley stepped ahead and nodded, grabbing a couple of large baubles from the small bag, walking around the tree as she searched for a less utilized area, managing to hang a couple near the top, and another one right at the bottom, glistening in the glow of all the combined lights.


    "Riley, Riley, please put the star on!" Timmy''s alarmed squeak took her out of her relaxed decorating, a quick surprised glance confirming the fact that the top of the tree was still barren, the star presumably in her bag.


    "Timmy, you know what dad told you, star goes on last, right?" Ella asked with a soft shake of her head, the lil'' kit groaning and quietly whining-


    "But Riley is so slooooow!"


    The sister in question couldn''t help but burst into a chuckle-like laughter upon hearing that, taking a moment to calm her belly down from all the aching before another noise interrupted her thoughts-


    Seems Aurora woke back up.


    "Oh dear, guess someone woke up from her nap~" Izzy giggled as she picked her out of her bedding, the baby looking around in confusion for a while before the shining Christmas tree caught all her attention, excited squeaks letting everyone know about it as she reached her pawsies towards the tree.


    "Mhm, the Christmas tree is almost ready. Tomorrow we''ll decorate our own, alright?" Baby mom asked rhetorically as she passed her baby over to Ella, the eldest sister having a better idea of the ancient question of ''how close can you hold a baby to a Christmas tree without risking the safety of either''.


    Still, Riley didn''t want to waste any more time than she needed, a quick glance at her phone confirming it was already way into the evening, both aunts probably could use an excuse to finally be able to head home.


    She dashed up to the rest of the decorations, hanging a few angels up high on the tree, and a few more giftbox-shaped ornaments lower down, with most of the rest ending up wherever there was a spare spot, except for one wooden decoration of a gingerbread man, Riley having a fiendish idea as she asked her mom-


    "How about Aurora tries hanging one of them?" She waved the wooden decoration in the air, Ella thinking for a moment before gently grabbing it from her and placing it in Aurora''s pawsie, before lifting the girl up so that she was at an eye level with a relatively free branch.


    Of course, the completely expected ended up happening, the baby deciding that the wooden gingerbread man must taste just as good as the real thing, biting on it with a handful of baby cooing.


    Aside from Timmy who couldn''t bear to see a decoration get wasted like that, everyone else reacted with a various mix of ''awww''s and laughter.


    With that out of the way, and the baby Aurora having gained one more thing to chew on to aid with the teething, Riley reached into the nearly empty bag and pulled out the hefty metal eight armed star, the glistening gold-like plating slightly tarnished, revealing the brass underneath.


    "That''s one hefty star, whoah..." It must''ve easily weighted at least a pound or two, Riley definitely wondering whether it wouldn''t snap the poor tree under its mass.


    "Yep. Got it from our grandma when I first moved out, always loved how it shined with the light of a fireplace..." Ella reminisced, Riley smiling a bit as she realized a far more urgent issue.


    Namely that she was too short.


    Again.


    "H-how am I gonna reach over the-eeEEEEEEERE!?" She briefly freaked out as she felt someone grab her by her waist and lift her up by at least a couple feet, giving just barely enough reach to stick the star on, mission accomplished with an exhausted gasp from both her and Andrew.


    "Jeez that scared me, would it hurt to give a warning or something?" She asked halfheartedly, most of the sudden panic having already weathered away into surprised amusement.


    "But where''s the fun in that?" Rick answered for Andrew, both boys breaking into a slight chuckle before joining the rest of the family in looking up at the finished tree, how it glowed and glistened wonderfully all over...


    Heck, even Aurora took a break from trying to chew on wood and squeaked excitedly at the sight of the shining star.


    "Well, that''s a job well done everyone." Rick summed it up shortly, cleaning up all the now emptied boxes into one small pile as to not take up as much space.


    "Yeah..." Riley couldn''t help but to respond flatly, the sight just... beautiful. She wanted to sit there and wait for someone to maybe drop off something under here, or even just to enjoy the warm glow of the fireplace combined with the shining colors of the Christmas tree, it just all felt so, so inviting...


    She felt really, really welcome.


    "Now... thanks for the tea and for a chance to help with this sweet thing, but I think it''s time for me to get moving, don''t know about you Izzy." Wilma spoke with a yawn as she walked up to Rick and exchanged a friendly hug, before doing the same to Riley, holding theirs for just a bit longer before continuing with the rest of the family, Timmy in particular squeaking in happiness as she knelt down to hug him, letting him marvel at her dye-job for just a bit longer.


    "Yeah, goodness it''s late... Still, I''m so, so happy I got to see you all sweeties, and have a very, very merry Christmas!" Izzy joined in, exchanging her share of the hugs with everyone gathered before grabbing Aurora back, the wittle skunko''s eyes still fixated on the shining star.


    Riley ran up to the both aunts as they headed for the main door, pulling them together into a gentle hug, both reacting with warm giggles at the gesture, and each with her own share of pets and scritches.


    "I-I''m so happy to have met you three, hehe..." The girl chuckled out with a blush, both aunts smiling down at her with Aurora not wasting a prime opportunity to coo some more herself.


    "You''re welcome Riley, was fun finally meeting you as well, heh. If you need anything, don''t hesitate to give me a call, aight?" Wilma spoke up, the visibly exhausted Izzy mostly just ''yeah''-ing along by now.


    She was about to let them leave before a final mystery forced itself onto her mind.


    "There''s one last thing I wanted to ask you aunt Wilma, you mentioned something about kids with your current employer?" The question was a bit impromptu, but she knew that if she didn''t take care of it now it would never stop torturing her.


    "Ahha, well, I work at a preschool! May not look like it, but the dyes and piercings are just about the coolest thing in the world for the three year olds I work with, they absolutely love it." She chuckled at Riley bringing it up all of a sudden, but was happy to respond nonetheless.


    "T-thank you. So... um... until next time!" After taking way too long to finally come up with a proper goodbye for her aunts, Riley let them out to the salvo of the rest of the family saying goodbye, both aunts getting into their cars and slowly heading off soon after, the winter having thankfully spared them from any further snowfall.


    After locking the door back up, Riley realized how... suddenly empty she felt. Is that just how a relative leaving feels?


    And more importantly, what now?


    "What''s for dinner?" Timmy broke up the uneasy silence, the family only now realizing they''ve missed their usual dinner time by... almost two hours.


    Seemingly unbothered, Ella quickly walked up to the fridge and pulled something out from the freezer- a family sized bag of a frozen mix of chicken and broccoli, kept since time immemorial in case of apocalypse, or just not having any dinner to serve that day.


    And it was finally its time to shine.


    ***


    That dinner sucked.


    As simple as the mix was to prepare, the taste was closer to cardboard with mushy green... stuff on it than to any actual dinner. Still, it was the emergency dinner for a reason, and both parents made it very apparent that tomorrow they''ll make up for all that and then some.


    Which Riley didn''t know whether to interpret as a threat or not in her exhausted state, her brain eventually deciding on ''not'' as she stepped back into her room.


    And once more, the stars provided her guidance as she was too lazy to go back to the door to turn on the lights, managing to roughly stumble her way out of her clothes and fall roughly on top of her bed, pulling her covers over her, being the last thing she managed to accomplish as all the fun and excitement of the day finally took their toll-


    And then she plugged her phone in. Making the covers the second last thing she managed to accomplish as all the fun and excitement of the day finally took their toll on her, the exhausted teen not standing even a lick of a chance against the warm embrace of a nice set of thick covers.


    And the promise of getting to help bake gingerbread cookies tomorrow.


    She loved gingerbread cookies.

 Chapter 26: Cooking Up

    *knock knock*


    "Riley, breakfast is ready!"


    And for the first time presumably ever, Riley managed to get out of bed quickly... ish...


    Still, she rolled off her bed in record time, and that''s progress, even if it took her a while to stand up afterwards.


    Why must gravity be so cruel.


    After scrambling herself into an approximately upright shape and putting on an reasonable amount of clothes, Riley was finally ready to face the cruel reality that awaited her outside her room-


    Or rather she would have been, had she managed to catch anything more than the tail end of Ella''s tail as she walked back downstairs, message about Riley being late unintentionally successfully delivered.


    Guess now that she was already late nobody would care much if she showed up one quick bathroom break later.


    A quick dash later, Riley was already rinsing face with colder and colder water, trying to force herself awake-er with one method she knew of.


    Sadly, all it did was make her feel cold and want to snuggle under the covers some more.


    After maxing out the cold water knob and not making any further progress, she gave up on the whole prospect, only finally finding her success when she straightened her posture out before reaching for the towel, a handful of freezing drops sliding past the collar of her shirt doing wonders as far as brute force awakening went.


    Many, many towel pats and regrets later, she was finally neither asleep nor freezing, a feat achieved only by two thirds of the world, roughly.


    After doing her business and flushing the toilet, thankfully remembering to change the water knobs back to something more reasonable than a frostbite simulator before washing her hands, Riley was finally ready to join everyone else at the breakfast, and then-


    Right, there was supposed to be all this cooking today. And Maddy coming over.


    As Riley was about to take the first step downstairs, she felt a sudden buzzing in her pocket, quickly determining it was her phone by the process of elimination.


    Unless her switchblade had some features she was grossly unaware of.


    She quickly reached down and brought her phone in front of herself, screen curiously already lit up, making her worry she had forgotten to turn it off before going to bed before something much more relevant caught her attention-


    ''''''


    WhatsApp


    _________


    Madeline Johnson: Morning Riley!


    ''''''


    Well this was a pleasant thing to wake up to.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: morning!


    Madeline Johnson: Still down to hang out today?


    Riley Asher: yeah!


    Madeline Johnson: :grin:


    Madeline Johnson: Perfect, we''re gonna be heading out then, should be there around 11


    Riley Asher: see you then :  )


    ''''''


    She wasn''t good with technology.


    With that little exchange having succeeded at warming her heart up, the noises downstairs reminded her of the more immediate issue, the girl cursing herself for letting something delay her even more, leaping down the stairs-


    Only to find the table nearly empty, save for Andrew and Ella slowly enjoying their cereal breakfast- or at least trying to, judging by their expressions.


    "Good morning Riley!" The older brother greeted her with a smile, a hint of confusion in his voice before he went back to his bowl, Ella halfheartedly waving in Riley''s direction as the girl sat down in her seat, looking at them two with utmost confusion.


    "H-hey, uh... where is everyone else?" She asked uncertainly, rising her eyebrow at the visible strain of the two present skunks.


    "Heh, guess you really did sleep through it all..." Ella chuckled, Riley''s grasp on the situation not growing any clearer until she continued-


    "The chicken we had yesterday? Shoulda checked the expiration date, pretty much everyone''s stomachs complained badly about that one- did you really not hear or feel anything?" Her mom asked once more, sounding genuinely surprised, even impressed a bit.


    "N-no, it tasted awfully and all but guess I''m just used to meat of this... grade." Riley answered with a chuckle, Ella catching her vibe as Andrew just sat there mostly confused.


    "Well, hope the rest won''t be gone all day, didn''t you mention cooking and all?" The girl continued, Andrew answering with a ''Mhm'' before the skunk mom gave a more comprehensive answer-


    "Yup. Don''t worry they''re gonna be alright, or at least I think so, while it did screw with their sleep, the actual food poisoning was thankfully mild enough. And even then, it''s not like we bother with a turkey, most of the load can be split just between us three in the worst case."


    Riley nodded softly as she finished preparing her cereal, crunching through a couple of big spoonfuls before another question caught her.


    "So... what *do* you make for Christmas?" She asked flatly, only remembering turkeys and chickens and a lot of... unappealing looking mashed potatoes from most of the advertisements around this time of the year.


    "Heh, as far as the main meal goes? Unsure if it even has a name; it was some recipe that Marvin got many many years ago from a neighbor as a Christmas meal and has served it since, and Rick picked it up from him. It''s basically just fried cod with shredded veggies and fried taters, definitely much less hassle than bothering with an entire turkey or chicken or whatever, heh. Besides that there''s veggie salad, a cake or three and of course, cookies." Ella went over the stuff she could recall on the spot, some corners of the over fifteen-year tradition murky until she actually started cooking, at which point it all became routine and obvious.


    "Sounds great, never had an actually well-prepared fish before so it''ll be fun to try out." Riley replied with a smirk, quickly going through her portion, suddenly more and more excited to help.


    "Ha, and getting to help in making it will only make it taste better still." Andrew chimed in with a giggle, getting up with his empty bowl afterwards and depositing it in the dishwasher, unusually enough not following it up with dashing back to his room, seemingly waiting for something.


    Or rather, someones to finish their breakfast.


    With the two ladies at the table wrapping their portions at roughly the same time, he reached into one of the lower cupboards and pulled a large plastic bag of... many, many veggies, mostly potatoes and some carrots and... white carrots, whatever their name was.


    "So, ready to start working on tomorrow''s dinner?" Ella asked with anticipation in her voice after they both dealt with their bowls, Riley nodding quickly only to be offered a potato peeler and a small knife.


    "Eight or so taters should be enough for now, Andy will take care of shredding. Afterwards just cut them into small slices, I''ll be over here getting the fish ready."


    ***


    Cooking was all fun until you get to be on the potato peeling duty.


    Suffice to say Riley didn''t exactly have much experience with either potatoes or their peelers, progress slow and frustrating, especially as the lil'' bastards kept slipping out of her hand.


    After managing to go through... three of them she decided to take a small break and check whether Maddy had texted her afterwards-


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: En route! How''re you feeling by the by?


    ''''''


    She was just about ready to start typing a response before being interrupted-


    "Riley?"


    Andrew''s comment caught her off guard, making her cheeks light up with an embarrassed blush as she hurriedly slid the phone back into her pocket and went back to working through the potatoes, somehow managing to end up even clumsier than before.


    "Riley, did something happen?" He asked again, concern clear on his face, forcing his sister to at least try to come up with an excuse-


    "O-oh, n-no no, j-just... f-feeling warm all of a sudden, is all."


    "Just as you checked a message from Maddy?" He asked with a small smirk, Riley looking away as she quietly went back to work.


    With the promise of getting to respond back to Maddy, the rest of the peeling went by surprisingly quickly, followed up by a quick rinse and cutting the things into thin slices to be fried, the task graciously taken by Andrew before Ella could even choose anyone.


    With Riley temporarily not having anything else to do, she sure as hell wasn''t gonna waste the opportunity, only encouraged by a knowing wink from her brother as she hid behind one of the pillars and tapped as fast as her fingers would let her.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: i''m fine, rest of the fam is rough


    Madeline Johnson: Uh oh, what happened?


    Riley Asher: had to have some frozen stuff for dinner and it was bad


    Madeline Johnson: Oh dear, you think we should maybe meet up some other time?


    Riley Asher: well if anything were gonna need help even more


    Madeline Johnson: Point taken


    Madeline Johnson: Well then, if I''m gonna be helping out then at least I want dibs on the seat next to you~


    Riley Asher: you got it >3


    ''''''


    Riley had to stop herself from giggling in excitement as she slid the phone into her pocket, her breath slowly calming down after the brief exchange. The smell of something mighty delicious sizzling on the pans only adding to her feeling so, so good; all of her shaking a bit as she rode down the excitement-


    "Riley, why are you so happy?" Timmy''s squeak brought her out of her daze, the girl reacting to the tyke''s sudden appearance with a quiet yielp as she tried to think of another excuse.


    "U-uh, n-no reason, promise!"


    Not even the literal four-year-old bought that excuse, the kit managing to pull off the world''s most adorable doubtful expression as he continued-


    "You''re never happy without a reason like that!"


    Thanks for reminding me Timmy.


    "U-ugh, aren''t you hungry? You still haven''t eaten breakfast after all!"


    If deception fails, try diversion.


    "Nu-uh." He squeaked softly as he dashed the rest of the way over and hugged her legs, the girl smiling at his adorable greeting and crouching down to give him more of a proper hug.


    "Alright... promise to not tell anyone?" She asked with a whisper, hoping the sounds of food being seared on the pans would mask her reveal.


    "Yeah!" He answered loudly, tail shaking a bit as he caught himself, following up with a whispered- ''Yeah!''.


    Riley couldn''t help but to take a deep breath and hug him tighter still, god the one thing the kit would probably never get is boring.


    Or not-adorable.


    "Maddy''s gonna be coming over for a date soon!" She muttered out as quietly as she could despite her excitement, just getting to say these words out quiet making her relapse in blushing and giggling.


    For a moment she waited for him to respond to her news, having at least three or so ideas as to how the tyke could react-


    "Who''s Maddy?"


    And this was none of them.


    "Uh... mom''s friend''s daughter, my age. And she''s cute..." Riley forgot to cut herself off at that last point, covering her mouth with a loud slap as the universe decided to give her some musical backdrop, Lily''s upstairs practice starting with a slow, almost romantic sounding piece.


    "Do you like her?" Timmy asked inquisitively, leaning in closer as he caught on to his sister''s embarrassment.


    Sure as hell I do.


    "Y-yeah, she''s n-nice..." She quietly whispered out, the all too familiar blush forcing itself onto her face once more.


    "Does she like youuuuuu?" He tried to be as teasing as he could, only making her want to fall through the floor some more.


    "I-I-I t-th-think so..."


    "Yay!" Timmy forgot to keep quiet once more, shuffling noises in the kitchen stopping a bit as his joyous squeak caught them off guard, Riley worrying about her cheeks suddenly catching fire.


    How could she get out of this mes-


    "Hey there Timmy! Wanna help make cookies with Riley?" Ella threw her a verbal rope, grabbing the tyke''s attention as he ran up to her, Riley taking the moment to excuse herself into the bathroom until she''d calm down at least.


    Cold water therapy was as ineffective at waking her up as it was at calming her down, the girl just taking her time and breathing slowly, encouraged by the livelier piece of Lily''s practice.


    Alright. No more embarrassment.


    With a deep breath she headed back to the living room, walking out the bathroom just in time to see a car pull over onto their driveway out the window, a bit of a smile creeping up onto her face as she watched Maddy get out of the car and dash over to the front door, herself walking up to open it shortly after the ring of the doorbell filled the room, Andrew and Ella looking at the door confused as Riley opened it.


    "Good morning!" Maddy''s chipper voice filled the room as she stepped in, Riley''s smile refusing to wash- at least until her mom spoke up-


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Morning Maddy, did something happen?"


    It was at this moment when Riley realized the fatal flaw of her little plan, entirely on her this time, or rather her inaction.


    "D-did you forget to tell them Riley?"


    The human teen''s face was this close to just catching on fire from embarrassment as she facepalmed at her little oopsie, only able to nod slowly as she grumbled into her hand.


    "Ugh... Maddy wanted to meet up and I suggested today and forgot to tell you all with all the family meetup and all..."


    Fortunately, out of the two possibilities, Ella reacted with amusement, breaking into soft laughter, relaxing the atmosphere in the room even if she definitely did not help with her daughter''s embarrassment, Riley about ready to collapse underground at that particular moment.


    "Oh well, happens~. Just be warned Maddy, we''re gonna be doing a lot of cooking today so there won''t be a lot of opportunities to chat one on one."


    "Oh don''t worry Mrs. Asher, Riley told me, I''m glad to help."


    "Calling Maddy to help with splitting the load, eh Riley?"


    Mooooooooommmmm...


    "Well, it''s not like I didn''t agree to it to begin with, teehee."


    The couple pats on the back from Maddy definitely helped with breaking through the worst of her blush, especially with Ella being satisfied enough with the response to get back to her own part of cooking, letting Riley slip off to the side and catch her breath while Maddy took off her jacket.


    "Hey Maddy, been a while!" Andrew greeting their guest made Riley realize she hadn''t done that properly yet herself, making her wait until the weasel girl was done with all that before turning to face her, holding a hand out-


    "H-hey, I''m glad you came!"


    Maddy''s amused reaction didn''t help with her burning up, but she eventually went and finally returned the hand, giving it a firm shake, much firmer than Riley''s own shaking one at the moment.


    "As am I~ it''s nice to see you again Riley."


    Embarrassment gave way to a different kind of blush at Maddy''s words, Riley chuckling and looking away as she let go of her paw.


    "So! What''s on the cooking agenda then?" Maddy was motivated to give her best now that she''d been inadvertently roped in, taking a look at the table in hope of figuring out the answer of her own.


    "Cookies!" Timmy answered excitedly as he scrambled up onto a chair, just in time for Ella to place down a hefty... device, Riley having never seen, let alone used, anything similar.


    "Gingerbread cookies to be precise. Simple enough, and more hands will help with rolling the dough and cutting the shapes out."


    With all the ingredients being set out, Riley and Maddy could slide up to the dining table, Ella pointing to the scribbled down recipe laying down next to the giant mixing bowl-


    "So first the flour, soda, ginger and cinnamon, sift them through this-" She pointed to the sizable sifter stuffed away in the corner of the table- "Then add butter and start mixing and slowly add in the sugar-" Tapping a half empty bag of brown sugar- "And while that''s going on beat the egg and honey together, add to the mix and keep mixing until it starts clumping together, then just knead until it''s nice and smooth, put the film on and put in the fridge for a bit."


    "Why the fridge?" Riley asked a bit uncertainly, the step sounding abrupt.


    "It needs to dry out a bit before cooking, helps the texture and all, it''s just something like half hour. Besides, it''s not like you''ll be left waiting, there are enough ingredients for four batches in here, so it''s just one after another, and by the time the last is done the first will be done cooling and will be ready to cut the cookies out of." Ella explained slowly, gently reaching over to scritch both the kids next to her before heading off, leaving Riley an even brighter blush as she heard Maddy giggle at that bit of affection from next to her.


    She still had no idea what the clunky thing was though, turning over to Timmy-


    "W-what is this thing?" Riley asked sheepishly, poking the machine cautiously, as if dealing with an armed bomb, Maddy ready to respond before the tyke cut her off-


    "Food pros-prots-prosessosor!" He eventually figured the unfamiliar word out, or at least assumed he did, smiling up at his big sister cheerfully.


    "D-do you mean ''processor''?"


    "Yes, prossessossor!"


    Got it.


    "So... how do we use it?"


    "I don''t know! Mom just presses the buttons on it!"


    "I mean, yeah that''s mostly it, just add the ingredients and press the buttons, simple by design." Maddy chimed in, reaching over for the recipe and taking a look herself.


    This thing has like a dozen buttons though!


    Oh wait there''s text above them.


    "Mix... so does this one-" She managed to eventually make out the tiny text, the mixing blade things inside the clear bowl springing to life, spinning almost dangerously fast.


    With another press of a button the whirling died down, Riley taking a breath before reaching over for the ingredients and getting the appropriate portions, taking some agency over the mess she''s been thrown into-


    "Alright Timmy, can you hold the sieve while I add the stuff in?" She said with determination in her voice, passing the sieve over to him before noticing the kit''s grumpy reaction.


    "B-but I wanted to add the things..." He muttered out quietly, sounding almost betrayed.


    Aw darn.


    "Hey Timmy, alright, you can add the ingredients in after I help you with the portions, okay?" Riley tried to placate him, the tyke sounding for a moment like he was on the verge of tears before his face lit up with a smile as he leaned in for a hug, his action acknowledged by Maddy with a quiet ''awwww''.


    "Yaaaaay!"


    Riley giggled quietly as she reached for the sieve, positioning it over the center of the bowl before another realization interrupted them, the unseen issue of Timmy barely being able to see the surface of the table solved by passing his lil'' booster seat to him and helping him in. The kit almost spilled the flour in excitement before Riley caught him, giving them both a moment to calm down before kicking it off properly, Timmy the most focused she''d even seen him as he tried to aim all the powders at the sieve, adding them in one by one.


    After letting out a wordless thank you for the kit managing to stay focused for the entire endeavor, she took off the lid of the mixer part of the food processor by the force of sheer trial and failure, eventually figuring out it was twisted on as opposed to anything more... reasonable.


    All the while, Maddy got to working on the other part of the recipe, ratioing the honey and grabbing a couple eggs before beginning to crack them open, Timmy spotting her in the middle of the act and chiming in-


    "Oh oh can I add an egg too?"


    The weasel girl giggled in response before passing the bowl of the honey and egg mixture towards him with Riley''s help, the kit excitedly reaching over to grab an egg before holding it almost comically gently, moving it over the bowl before flatly asking-


    "How do I crack it?"


    Both the girls blinked at him a bit dumbfounded, Maddy speaking up gently to instruct him before Riley could, her own experience with eggs limited to when she was working as a dishwasher, occasionally having brief stints in the kitchen when someone was absent.


    "Tap the side of it against the edge of the bowl and then pull the sides apart."


    He gently moved the egg over to the the bowl, Riley biting her lip as she hoped the kit wouldn''t just shatter the egg in excite-


    *bap*


    Before tapping it tenderly, the barely loaded container barely even nudging in response.


    "Use a bit more force Timmy, don''t have to be so gentle." She unexpectedly encouraged him on, the boy needing a couple more attempts with slowly increasing force before he finally made a tiny crack on the surface of the egg, looking almost distraught over it.


    "I broke it..."


    Did he... not know how cracking eggs works?


    "Oh sweetie, that''s how cracking eggs works, you break the shell and get the stuff inside." Maddy explained patiently, both her and Riley trying and failing to suppress finding the whole situation just a bit... hilarious.


    "B-but mom was sad when I broke an egg!" He was panicking a bit, his fur rising a bit before Riley leaned in and gave him a hug.


    "But I''m not sad, and we need to break eggs here for cookies. You didn''t do anything wrong, okie?" Having to placate the four-year-old over a cracked egg was not one of the things Riley expected to be included in cooking, but now as she felt him slowly calm down in her embrace, she definitely appreciated the addition.


    "S-so... b-break the egg?" He processed the realization best he could, Riley having a slight giggle as she answered-


    "Yeah, go ahead and break it, just carefully so that the shell doesn''t get into the bowl, alright?"


    "O-okie. Thank you Riley!" Timmy hugged her one more time, the sister smooching him on his forehead spot as he picked up the egg again, continuing to tap it against the side of the bowl as the cracks kept growing, Riley intervening when it got wide enough-


    "Alright, now grab the two halves of the egg and pull them apart, okay?" She instructed calmly, eyes going wide as the kit forgot about the necessity of the bowl underneath, Maddy just barely managing to save Riley''s pants by sliding the bowl underneath the egg just as he was cracking it.


    Riley gave him a bit of an exasperated glare as she sighed out in relief before turning over to the weasel girl with a thankful look, seeing her blush a bit herself in return, the kit managing to completely avoid it at all, not noticing his mistake seemingly at all while reaching for the honey.


    Why were neither of them surprised at that.


    "Timmy, you almost cracked the egg onto my lap, can you take care next time?" Riley chided him gently, the kit freezing in place as he added two and two together, resulting in an apologetic hug and a smooch on his head in response before they continued on, Maddy joining in to lightly ruffle his hair much to his joy as she cut him off before he could add too much of the good stuff-


    "And I already added the honey sweetie, we don''t need to add any more."


    "Oh, okay. What now?"


    "I''m gonna mix the eggs and honey, I think you need the powders and mix them in the processor together with some butter before we add my mix- I think you already sieved them all, right?" Maddy answered, reaching for a spoon to mix her part while keeping watch on the remainder of the table.


    Riley glanced over inside that bowl, spotting four different colors, and after checking that that part of the recipe had four ingredients, gave everyone a thumbs up.


    "Yep, so now we add them to the machine and see what happens."


    With bowl-ful of mixed powders added in and the twisty lid reapplied, the mixture was ready for mixing, Riley letting Timmy do the honors by telling him which button to press- or at least that''s what she would have done had he not slammed the button before she even had the chance to open her mouth.


    It was only then they all realized realized that the processor''s mixing bowl still had an opening to add more ingredients through, by the virtue of some of the powdery mix managing to spray out through it, dusting the table and giving the air a ginger aroma before Riley reached in in panic and covered the opening with her palm, hoping that the butter would help with all this-


    "Uhh, Timmy, can you cut this butter in four pieces and pass one over?" Riley pointed at the direly needed ingredient with her free hand, the kit only reacting with a tilt of his head before squeaking back-


    "How?"


    C''mon kid you have claws taped to your fingers, how hard''s a block of butter to tear apart.


    "G-go and ask mom for a butter knife, quickly!" Riley had to keep her eyes from rolling as she instructed the kit, slicing the butter in pieces herself after the tool was supplied, wrapping and all, remembering to at least tear the plasticy paper off before throwing the pieces in one by one, the powdery mix thankfully dying down afterwards.


    And it even still smelled of ginger and cinnamon, making the atmosphere that much more pleasant as the trio worked on, Timmy passing his sister the butter pieces one by one.


    With that done and the honey mixture mixed together, Riley was about ready to pour it into the mixer, realizing at the last minute they still haven''t added in the sugar.


    "Alright Timmy, now pour in a cup of sugar- just slowly, okay?" She added the latter bit after seeing him almost swing the cup in excitement, Timmy interpreting her instruction as intending for him to move in slow motion as a whole, moving the cup over more sluggishly than she thought was even possible for the overly excitable ball of fluff.


    And then he just dumped the whole thing in anyway, both teens too busy laughing to be disappointed.


    With an exasperated shake, Riley poured the smooth mix in, the whole concoction quickly taking the expected texture, the girl turning off the mixer after Ella walked over to check up on their progress, giggling that they''ve been running the mixer for almost twenty minutes now.


    The entire trio took their part with kneading the dough, Timmy''s part understandably smaller as Riley just tore off a fist sized piece for him before splitting the rest in half between herself in Maddy, the dough taking surprisingly more force before yielding than she expected.


    A few minutes and a good shared forearm exercise later, they were was done with their portions, the three balls of dough getting mixed together and put into a separate clean bowl, before being slid it into the fridge in triumph, a realization dawning on Riley soon after.


    Namely, that they''d have to do all this three times over again.


    "Are you sure you''re alright with this Maddy?"


    "Oh why wouldn''t I be, it''s been fun so far."


    With the reassurance supplied, Riley took her seat again, reaching for the ingredients before overhearing the second part of that sentence, Maddy having silently muttered it out-


    "Plus you''re cute when you get into it all."


    Oh my.


    ***


    Cooking was hard, even when her heart was fluttering throughout.


    Riley''s forearms ached lightly by the time they wrapped the last bowl up and got to cleaning up the table a bit, a handful of emptied bags landing in the trash bin, with the non-empty ones going back to their cupboards.


    A short break to stretch their wrists and legs before starting the actual cookie cutting and baking was agreed upon by the baking duo, overruling Timmy''s perpetually excited eagerness. After getting up, Riley peeked back into the kitchen much to the still excited kit''s complaints, taking a deep sniff at all the sweet smells, vanilla from Ella''s corner of the kitchen and peanut butter from Andrew, both ovens already occupied as they were wrapping up with their own cakes.


    Still, vanilla was that much more intense, Riley''s nose leading her in towards her mom''s elaborate setup, an oven tray with a layer of brown pastry, wild and waving, currently being covered with a thick layer of the vanilla scented cream, the sight enough to make Riley hungry for it. Another identical-looking layer was taking its time in the oven, her question as to where would the cookies go answered as the skunk mom pulled it out, passing the tray over onto a small pile, covering the freshly applied layer of cream with the newly baked pastry before dusting the whole cake with a very generous layer of fine sugar before sliding it into the fridge.


    And chuckling a fair bit at Riley just staring at the whole process like that before heading over to turn the lights on, the sun outside having already started its hasty descent.


    "So, guess our cakes are done, these trays there will be for the cookies as you keep stamping them out, we''re gonna get the veggie salad over with in the meant-" Ella picked the pile of trays and placed it on a couple of chairs next to the younger siblings'' table, Riley reaching into the fridge to pull out the first bowl of dough as they both noticed Rick''s sudden arrival downstairs, the skunk dad looking like he''d been caught with his paw in the cookie jar.


    Not that far from the truth in the end.


    "Well, well, well..." Ella started menacingly, tapping her foot expectantly as her husband shrunk under her gaze, opening his mouth to try to justify sleeping for so long, before realizing he was the literal last person up, his wife none too happy about it.


    "Hmm... you know what. Dad can take the veggie salad on his own while the rest of us makes cookies, how''s that sound Andy?" She asked with a sharp smirk, Andy barely holding back laughter as Rick nodded slightly as if he just got a beating.


    Riley was sorry for him until realizing his absence was probably the reason she had to bother with the potatoes, and then she suddenly wasn''t anymore.


    Still, he didn''t look that bothered by his punishment in the end, already busy peeling veggies with his sleeves pulled up by the time she took another glance over, Ella already having rolled the dough into a thin enough layer and Andrew having prepared all the cutters and cookie toppings, as well as the simple egg wash, spreading the former around the table for everyone to enjoy.


    "Heh, your mom takes no shit doesn''t she?" Maddy whispered over to Riley as she sat down while all the tools were being handed out, the human teen nodding in amusement before taking a cutter of her own.


    The two kids and their guest were given most of the cookie cutting duty, Ella preferring to paint on the glaze with a small brush and Andrew decorate them with toppings before laying them out on the baking trays.


    The agreement was reached pretty much wordlessly by the virtue of both Riley and Timmy being too excited let anyone else stamp the dough, and Maddy being too amused by Riley''s unexpected eagerness not to join in.


    As they went through the large brown sheet of dough, Riley got the chance to take a look at all the different cutters the family had gathered. Some were obviously normal and generic, a heart, a five-armed star, a crescent moon, then there were a few plastic Christmas-y ones, a Christmas tree, a shooting star, a gingerbread man-


    And then there were the ones she just didn''t get by the sheer outline initially, with some additional cutting bits on the inside of the shape, one S-shaped in particular making her rise her eyebrow before she actually cut a cookie with it, the realization as obvious as it was adorable.


    It was a striped skunk''s tail, the internal cutters clearly delineating the individual stripes, Ella only glazing and Andrew only pouring the rainbow sprinkles into the stripes confirming her guess, making her smile that much wider.


    And of course it wouldn''t be right if only the stripies got their tails'' in, Riley quickly stumbling upon the cutters that looked much more like the spotties'' tails Ella told her about, with just the white tip, and then yet another one, slightly bigger and deliberately frizzled-looking, it being all one shape reminding her of the hooded skunks she saw back on Thursday, the different details being definitely appreciated, even if she didn''t have a tail of her own to wave around.


    The cookie making went by rather quickly and quietly, everyone too focused on their respective parts to chit chat much, Andrew painting all the different shapes with the various topping, from sprinkles to crushed nuts to just a touch of some more peanut butter, each creation wilder than the last.


    Though, despite the busywork, Riley and Maddy found some time to gradually slide over closer to each other, their chairs touching by the end of it all, the two girls almost as close to each other as possible without one taking a seat on the other''s lap.


    And so the day faded into the evening, the girls leaving most of the last portion of the dough for Timmy, his excitement refusing to wane despite the monotony of it all, much to their own amusement, especially since they got to just kinda lean on each other for a few minutes afterwards, the act more comfy than either of them would admit.


    After getting up to straighten her legs and noticing Rick still knee deep in grating steamed veggies and hard-boiled eggs, Riley made her way over to the two ovens, pulling out a couple of finished trays of cookies and having to suppress herself from grabbing one for her-


    Scratch that, trying to suppress herself from grabbing one and failing.


    And then another.


    And then a couple more for Maddy.


    God they were so much better than she hoped for, even if they still burned her tongue a bit.


    Just as she was about to reach over to steal the third one away, a loud knock on the door interrupted her, as well as everybody else, even Lily who''d abruptly stopped her practice in surprise.


    With everyone else still a bit dazed after being broken out of the monotony of their actions, it fell on Riley to head up to the door and open it, a winter-clad mailman holding a small package and a form to fill-


    "Uh, Riley Asher?"

 Chapter 27: Seeing Things

    Before she could even ask what was up with this package, the mailman was long gone, not burdened with the all-day cooking daze that held its grip firmly over the Ashers, including poor Riley that still stood in front of an opened door, package in one hand and a couple cookies in the other, only finally driven to close it by a chilly gust sneaking its way inside.


    "What did you get!?" Timmy''s cheerful squeak broke the shared silence, the adults getting back to their cooking tasks as she tried to investigate the box in her hands, setting the down the cookies in front of Maddy as she took a seat at the table, getting to the package afterwards.


    It was definitely on the smaller side, only a bit larger than the box she got her phone in, hard cardboard only covered by several wrappings of adhesive tape, a ''FRAGILE'' sticker, all four of them, and another one with what looked to be actual delivery details scribbled on it-


    ''''''


    CLAR-LUX MN FACILITY


    3971 Quebec Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55427


    ---


    RILEY ASHER


    18 Bright St. Grand Lake, MN 55779


    ''''''


    Well that told her precisely nothing.


    "I''ve... no idea. Guess there''s no way like opening it to find out, eh." Riley remarked curiously, getting back up to grab a knife before carefully cutting through all the adhesive tape that held the whole thing together, soon cracking the mystery enough to be able to open-


    ...foam peanuts?


    A couple of them had spilled out with the excited way she''d opened the box, leaving her dumbstruck as she processed the unfamiliar packing material, eventually deciding to set the box down on the table, sliding all the cooking tools away from its spot, both Maddy and Timmy trying to peek what it contained while Riley crouched down to gather the few stray peanuts.


    Soft. They almost looked like the corn puffs that aunt Izzy had for lil'' Aurora, but a quick taste test later proved they definitely did not taste the same, Maddy heroically managing to hold in her giggling at the sight.


    How do you manage to have less flavor than corn puffs?


    Whatever the answer to this pressing question was, it could definitely wait until after Riley figured out what the deal was with this package.


    With the escaped foam peanuts back in their cardboard prison, Riley had a chance to slide her hand inside the mass, managing to eventually pull out the actual contents of the mysterious box-


    A black rounded... case? It had hinges on one side, so it definitely opened out some way, what about-


    Huh, didn''t think they''d be here so soon.


    With more care than Riley had exerted ever since she held Aurora on the day prior, she lifted up the black framed glasses and inspected them in detail.


    Sure enough, the sweet, slim black and white frame was just the one they''d chosen all the way back at the store, making her smile a bit as she inspected the actual lenses, the wonkily shaped pieces of glass raising her eyebrows in doubt as to how would that even work as she tried finally putting them on-


    W-well, this didn''t look too different for Riley as she inspected her hands or the box, maybe the lenses weren''t fit that well or whatever-


    And with a look around the kitchen that illusion vanished immediately, the furniture that looked in focus and detailed up close managed to stay detailed further away, Riley''s mouth slowly opening in awe as she realized just how... focused everything looked. Everywhere.


    An impressed whistle made her look over in Maddy''s direction, spotting more detail in her fur and clothes even from up close- though a soft, amused smile that crept onto her face was definitely not hard to spot to begin with.


    "These look great~"


    Riley looked away with an embarrassed blush, letting her notice Rick''s tail as he chopped some more veggies, all the little motions of each tuft of fur, the barely noticeable idle waving, the... sheer amount of gray hairs she could now see downright stunning. If she tried hard enough, she could probably count every single one of them up.


    "Riley, why are you wearing glasses?" Timmy asked with a tilt of his head, making Riley gasp quietly once she''d turned towards him and... just could see him in detail instead of the roughly skunk-shaped blur he used to become outside her arms'' reach.


    His lil'' forehead spot looked even more adorable at a distance.


    Timmy''s excited squeak drew everyone else''s eyes to her, Riley blushing from all the attention before even more was piled on as Lily made her way downstairs before letting out an excited gasp upon seeing Riley''s cool specs.


    "They''re here! Oh, hey Maddy!" Lily shouted excitedly before running up to her sister and almost tackle-hugging her, taking care to keep her head down so as to not slam it into the glasses.


    Surprise at Lily''s enthusiasm gave way to gentle amusement as Riley held her, slowly petting her back before moving her hand to scritch the excited girl''s head, savoring the brief moment of closeness.


    Before their dad''s dumbfounded question snapped Riley out of the moment, that is-


    "Where did you get these from?" He asked as he blinked his confusion away, walking a bit closer and smiling softly as he made out the pattern on the frames, reaching in to scritch Riley some himself as she tried to respond-


    "Got a pres-mmmn-prescription at the checkup and grabbed it when you were cooking i-inside-eeemmnn-goodness this feels good..." She let out a bit more than she wanted to, the resulting blush making her want to bury her now bespeckled face in Lily''s hair, the scent of her strawberry shampoo calming.


    Thankfully Rick didn''t feel like egging Riley on, chuckling softly as he turned back to wrap up the veggie salad, Lily letting her go as she took a closer look at the frames, her sister''s attention being drawn to the excited tyke that had made his way up to her, holding her legs as he squeaked again-


    "Can I see them Riley!?"


    Of course you can you silly skunk.


    She giggled loudly as she crouched down in front of him, sliding them off to show the frames to the lil'' kit, eyes cringing at all the blurriness they now saw everywhere they looked.


    He grabbed them out of her hands and tried to put the glasses on, the feat difficult with his smaller size, Riley rushing in to prevent him from damaging the lenses as she carefully slid the frames onto his earsies, Timmy taking a sweeping look around the room as his sister held them to his head.


    "I can''t see anything!" He complained, letting out a quiet ''wow'' as he tried to look at the lights, Riley only imagining the dance of sparkles that must''ve caught his attention.


    "Because your eyes are all fine and don''t need them, heh." She took them off his head and turned them around, presenting the frames for him to take a closer look. Apparently, he didn''t quite notice the meaning of the pattern, just summing it up with ''Cool!'' before turning-back towards the table just as the two older skunks were cleaning it up, all the cookies stamped out and ready for baking.


    With the glasses firmly back on their owners'' nose, she stood up, helping to take care of the last few trays of cookies before washing them one by one, only glancing at Rick calmly carrying the massive pot full of salad outside and coming back without it, two and two coming together at an agonizingly slow pace before Riley finally realized the intention of his action.


    Why bother with freezers if the Minnesota winter did the job splendidly on its own.


    Though, while Rick might not have wanted to egg Riley''s reaction to being scritched on, Maddy did definitely not have the same courtesy, waiting until Riley sat back down next to her before slowly reaching an arm around her and pulling her in, with Riley''s resulting freeze being used as an opportunity to get some more scritches on her herself.


    Riley by herself was already cute- a blushing Riley with dorky glasses was on a whole other level, especially as she started gradually relaxing against her, and leaning even closer.


    They just ended up chilling like that for a while, the human teen slowly reaching her own arm back around the weasel one, their hearts somehow beating in harmony as they ran at a mile a minute- at least until the cooking duty ended up calling in, the two having to disentangle as the cleanup began.


    Soon after, all that had to be put away was, cookies have been spread between several plastic containers that were then taped shut, locked up securely for the incoming days, save for a small bowl of them that is, placed on the living room table as the ginger wonders finished cooling down.


    Guess it''ll just be an extended session of everyone sneaking their way downstairs to grab one, one after the other, innit?


    Or at least so Riley thought before a sudden yet familiar revelation filled the room, Timmy''s squeak bringing everyone to a pause.


    "Mooooom, what''s for dinner?"


    They had no dinner.


    Again.


    Everyone took a look at Ella, her kids getting a rare opportunity to see her actually flustered, the decision weighing her down after what had happened yesterday, her eyes jumping between everyone gathered.


    Uncertainty in her expression turned into mock anger as she tried to contain a smile from blooming when she noticed Rick barely holding back a shit-eating grin at her misfortune himself, thankful to not be the butt of the joke at least this one time.


    After a couple moments of the wordless exchange Ella finally gave in, looking over everyone gathered and reluctantly pulling out her phone, asking rhetorically-


    "Pizza?"


    ***


    A quick call later and the food was on its way, Rick''s triumphant moment ending when Ella gestured for him to stay downstairs and pay for the meal as she excused herself.


    Maddy ended up not asking for anything due to having dinner at home and not wanting to cut into Ashers''- though if the push came to shove she would''ve absolutely nabbed a slice from Riley and teased her about it.


    The rest of the family had made their way towards the living room, Timmy snuggling against Riley as the kits watched the local news, their sheer boredom only interrupted by the occasional pair of paws trying to grab a cookie at the same time, Lily and Andrew dueling fiercely over it.


    At least until Riley grabbed the quickly emptying bowl and placed it on one of the armchairs, wanting to at least leave some for her parents.


    Not to mention herself, Timmy and Maddy, the latter getting in on it right away and taking a couple for herself.


    With Lily''s disappointed groan at their source of gingerbread goodness gone and Riley''s quiet giggle as she passed one over to Timmy, the scene had mostly calmed down, Andrew''s soft, loud yawn only underlining everyone''s shared exhaustion.


    The warmth of the burning fireplace coupled with the wonderfully shining lights behind them made the atmosphere just as comfy and homely as it was festive, Riley feeling her body relax against Timmy from one side and Maddy from the other some more, their guest not wasting the opportunity to pull her into a hug again- and this time, Riley responded somewhat, trying to snuggle inconspicuously some more.


    Gosh she was soft, and cute, and knew how to fluster her just like and made her heart flutter... *yawn*...


    Just as Rilay wondered whether they''d even manage to hang on until the pizza gets delivered, the yawner himself climbed out of the couch, stretching as he leaned in to ask Timmy-


    "Hey sport, wanna play King of Tokyo?"


    King of wh-


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Yes yes yes!" He squeaked happily as he stood up and looked up towards Andrew, his tail wiggling happily.


    Guess there''s no better way of waking everyone up than through waking Timmy up.


    "Sweet! I''m gonna go and grab it, Riley, Lily, Maddy, wanna play with us?" The big bro looked over the scene, younger sister answering with an unclear groan as the older one responded unsurely-


    "Guess I can, but I''ve never heard of it before."


    "Oh don''t worry it''s simple, I mean if Timmy loves it then it''s not gonna be rocket science or anything. What about you Maddy?" Andrew chuckled and scritched the kit''s head, Riley smiling as she held her overjoyed brother tightly, angling her head slightly further away than usual to make sure the glasses were safe, his squeaks a music to her ears.


    "Nah, I''m good I think, plus I should probably get moving in not too long I think, it''s getting quite late..."


    As Andrew took off upstairs, Timmy gradually calmed down, and Riley''s heart sank a bit at the awareness that Maddy would be leaving soon, the kits'' attention was dragged back towards the news anchor as the subject changed to something a bit less irrelevant.


    "As Christmas approaches us fast, let''s take a look back at the county-wide preparations for the celebrations, starting with the postal service! United States Postal Service employees did their best at helping all the little ones write and deliver their letters to Santa, with an estimated total of almost a thousand letters addressed to him going through the hands of St. Louis County Postal Service employees this season."


    Riley paid less than half mind to the actual broadcast, slowly stroking Maddy''s tail before her attention was snapped out of unconsciousness with an extremely alarmed sounding question-


    "Riley, have you sent a letter to Santa already!?" Timmy sounded almost anxious, the sudden shift in tone spooking the girl a bit.


    "No, I don''t th-"


    "*GASP*! You have to do it Riley or he won''t visit!" The kit was squeaking as if the fate of the world itself was at stake, an uncertain smile sliding onto Riley''s face before she realized he was completely serious about this.


    So was she at his age probably.


    "But isn''t it too late already? Christmas Eve is tomorrow." She asked uncertainly, wanting to slither her way out of an awkward letter writ-


    "I don''t know!" His squeaks sounded so sad they made her heart hurt as she heard it, not exactly leaving herself much of a choice if she didn''t want him to tear up on the spot-


    "Alright, how about I write a letter and then we try to deliver it to the post office!" She brought up in panic, not having much of an idea on how to do either.


    Fortunately, it was enough to turn the kit''s despair into motivation, Timmy sliding off Riley''s side and squeaking at her to follow him, his sister wondering what did she just get herself into as they raced upstairs into his room, a glance back at Maddy showing her struggling not to break out into laughter.


    Timmy quickly scoured through his drawers, pulling out a large letter page with a Christmas-y pattern, much more intricate than the kind she was used to seeing, as a border around the area intended for writing, wide-ruled paper with what looked like half an inch between each line.


    Followed up by a couple of crayons and a lone pencil, Riley grabbing the later as she sat down on the tiny chair of his lil'' desk.


    "So, what do I write?" She asked unsurely, hand hovering idly above the page as her brain refused to provide her with any worthwhile ideas.


    "You ask Santa nicely for the presents and thank him!" Timmy responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, his sister chuckling in response as she brought the pencil to the p-


    "Wait, I can''t watch you or it won''t work!" He squeaked in realization before turning away and covering up his eyes, even his tail wrapping around his waist as Riley got to writing, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as her idea for a present fueled her writing arm.


    ''''''


    Dear Santa


    Thank you for being there for us,


    you sound like a cool guy.


    I''ve no clue what present I would


    even want, I''m definitely not used


    to any of this, but if there''s one


    thing I wanna ask for it''s that I


    can stay with the Ashers forever.


    All of them, I don''t think I could


    take it if I lost them or something


    happened to them. Rick and Ella


    are the parents I used to ask you


    for, many years ago, Andrew is the


    big bro I never knew I wanted so


    much, Timmy is the sweetest kit in


    the world and if something happened


    to Lily I feel my heart would break.


    So please, let me stay with them forever.


    Signed, Riley Asher


    ''''''


    With a few swift blinks and sliding her glasses off for a moment to wipe the couple errant tears with a sleeve of her shirt, Riley thankfully managed to avoid signing the letter in another way, folding the page in half as she spoke-


    "Alright Timmy, I wrote it!" She forced an excited tone out of herself, leftover tears taken care of by the kit had turned back towards her before yanking the letter out of her hand and racing off, his sister baffled before giving chase out of his room, glasses keeping her only a bit slower than usual.


    Fortunately, it wasn''t a particularly long chase, Timmy stopping abruptly to knock on Ella''s office as Riley just stared at him dumbfounded before the office''s owner opened the door and peeked out, sounding sleepy and relaxed as she asked-


    "What''s up sweetie? What''s this thing you''re holding?"


    "Mom, Riley forgot to write her letter to Santa earlier but now she did, can you give us a letter and a stamp?" Timmy barreled off in record time, both girls taking a moment to process and parse his inquiry. Riley sniffed as she thought she smelled something... weirdly familiar before Ella cut her off-


    "...Alright. How are you planning to send it?" Her tone was almost dreamy as she slid her chair back into the room, lighting the small desk lamp for a moment as she went through the drawers, pulling out a couple of stamps and an envelope before passing them to the kit who managed to come up with an response in the meantime-


    "Mom, can you help drive us to the post office so we can send it?"


    Riley had to hold back a snicker as she saw Ella''s expression change in real time at the realization of what she got herself into, paws reaching up to rub her temples as she took a deep sigh before responding-


    "Alright, the post office isn''t that far from here. Want to come along with me Riley?" Her tone sounded like she was simultaneously groaning and speaking, her daughter nodding slowly in response, not wanting to leave her alone with the unexpected baggage like that, something else popping up in the meantime-


    "Oh, and we probably could get Maddy back home while at it if that''s alright."


    Ella nodded firmly, standing up to stretch before starting to give out commands-


    "So, go prepare the letter Timmy while we put something on, not like we''re gonna do much outside the car but I''d still rather we have shoes on. Riley, go get ready too." Ella rolled her shoulders as she headed towards her bedroom, Riley standing there dumbfounded for half a moment before Timmy dashed off into his room, his sister following suit to put on something more substantial.


    Just a jacket and a pair of worn sneakers, it''s not like she was about to sprint in the middle of a blizzard or something.


    With that dealt with, she quickly dashed down the stairs and waved to catch Maddy''s attention, the weasel girl picking herself up off of the couch and walking up to her-


    "What''s up Riley?"


    "Uh... long story, but we''re gonna be delivering a letter to the post office and I figured that would also be a good opportunity to drive you back home."


    "That''s convenient, I was about to text my mom, hah. When are you heading out?"


    "Uh, now."


    "Got it."


    Maddy wasted no time putting her jacket back on as Riley overheard a conversation from the above floor-


    "Alright, gimme the letter sweetie and we can get going." Ella chuckled, her voice noticeably tired as she sent Timmy off with the briefest of head scritches as she turned to head downstairs, the kit grabbing her paw in protest as he half shouted, half asked-


    "Can I come too!?"


    Well no way he wasn''t with that attitude.


    His mom eyed him down for just a moment before conceding defeat with a sigh, answering slowly with-


    "Just grab a jacket and a hat sweetie, it''s still cold even in the car." -As she walked down the stairs, tail a bit puffed up as it glided behind her.


    Riley grabbed the letter from the lil'' kit as he scaled the stairs and followed suit, silencing Rick''s visible confusion on her way by waving the crudely written ''SANTA'' in front of him, message gotten seemingly immediately with a quiet chuckle before he helped Timmy with grabbing his lil'' jacket from the clothes hook before they all stepped out.


    Moments later they were in Ella''s car, skunk mom not even bothering to wipe off the slight layer of snow from the recently started snowfall before starting the engine and setting the wipers to full power as she pulled out onto the road.


    With Timmy in his booster seat, Maddy was sadly relegated to the middle seat in the back- though she couldn''t say she minded one bit, reaching to hold Riley''s hand in the dark, the teen''s resulting blush obscured as she held it back, leaning over on the taller girl.


    "Thanks for the ride Mrs. Asher."


    "You''re welcome Maddy, you''re all still living at that place next to the old preschool right?"


    "Mhm!"


    The ride went by awkwardly quietly afterwards, Riley too afraid she and Timmy had upset her mom with all this nonsense to speak up. She decided to just stare out the car window into the snow-covered darkness while covertly snuggling against Maddy, occasionally wiping her glasses as her breath fogged them before Ella chuckled and spoke up herself-


    "Now that I''m thinking, how''d you get Riley to write a letter Timmy?" There was still tiredness in her voice, but thankfully it had turned into the cheery kind.


    Riley took a quiet sigh of relief at there being no frustration in Ella''s voice as Timmy happily responded-


    "News lady talked about letters to Santa and I asked Riley if she wrote hers and I really wanted her to write a letter so that she didn''t get forgetted by Santa!"


    Ella reacted with quiet, jolly laughter, not unlike the kind the big man they were sending this letter to in the first place was known for.


    "Well, thank you for doing that sweetie." She giggled quietly as she pulled into the parking lot right in front of the local post office-


    And finding it closed for the night, just a few minutes late.


    Skunk mom just sighed in disappointment as Timmy let out a distraught ''oh no...'', him and Riley getting out of the car to examine closer, sadly not finding anything.


    "Oh well, guess it''ll have to be picked up tomorrow." Riley quietly admitted defeat, walking up to the blue box nearby before being stopped in place as the kit decided to suddenly grab her leg.


    "But then it will be too late and Santa won''t get it in time!" He whined with noticeable distress in his voice, his sister deciding against her initial plan after seeing Timmy care about it so much, not wanting to disappoint him like that.


    As the girl pondered on, she heard a faint mechanical hum coming up from somewhere, running back up to the car and quickly saying ''Give me a moment'' before she took off to investigate the noise that sounded not unlike a running engine that definitely belonged to something bigger than Ella''s car.


    A moment of wandering around confirmed her initial suspicion, Riley breaking off into a sprint as she realized the humming came from behind the post office, the layer of protection for her eyes provided by her glasses definitely welcome.


    "Riley, where are you going!?" Timmy squeaked loudly as his sister took off, the kit trying to waddle his way through the wind to follow her.


    With motivation surging into her, she quickly made her away around the building, a lungful of frosty air slowing her down with a painful cough before she pushed on, managing to reach her destination just in time, managing to make out a Postal Office-branded semitruck through the fog on her glasses, currently being loaded up with various packages and bags of letters by a couple employees who looked at her as if she was a ghost or something as she staggered up closer.


    "I-I''m s-sorry for being l-late-*cough*, g-got one more l-l-letter to Santa..." Riley forced out as she stuck out her envelope-holding hand, the employee closer to her grabbing it wordlessly with her paw and inspecting it under the light of an overhead lamp, her stern expression making the girl lose hope before Timmy caught up to her, himself breathing heavily as he ran up to hug his sister''s leg.


    The worker''s grimace downright melted at the sight, especially when coupled with the crayon-scribbled name of the addressee.


    "Well, normally we don''t do late letters, but... we''re gonna fast track this one to Santa." The employee smiled up at the siblings as she threw the letter into the small bag inside the postal truck, Riley smiling at her before mouthing out a quiet ''Thank you'' in a breathless voice, Timmy following up with a much louder "THANK YOU MISS MAILMAN!''.


    "You''re welcome kids. Now scoot before you two get yourself sick, and have a Merry Christmas!" Riley got the message with a chuckle, waving goodbye at the pair as they slowly wrapped up their shift before turning around and grabbing Timmy''s paw as they slowly made their way back towards Ella''s car.


    Now she really did wish she had put on something more significant than this.


    Or was wearing shoes that didn''t give in while running through light snow.


    Wet cold feet, fun for exactly nobody in the family.


    Thankfully it wasn''t even half a minute until they were back at the car despite all the snow and fog on the lenses making finding the exact path back tricky. Ella gasped in relief upon seeing them, earning her an explanation from Riley as she gathered her breath-


    "H-heard a semitruck running behind the building, turns out they were just packing the letters and so thankfully agreed to take ours in."


    Ella could only chuckle at her daughter''s explanation as she wiped her glasses yet again before they all strapped themselves back in. She inquired quietly in response, her voice soft and just a bit livelier at Timmy not ending up disappointed-


    "Hope you two thanked them for that, not every day something like that happens."


    "We did mommy, promise!" Timmy squeaked out excitedly, the happiness dripping from every word, managing to warm Riley up, adding to the fogginess of her glasses.


    "That''s nice of you sweetie. Now, let''s get Maddy to her place, and then head back home, pizza should be there by then!"


    Timmy did not mind that plan one bit, quickly strapping in as his big sister tried to warm herself back up in the car- feat made thankfully much easier with a soft tail that wrapped around her soon after the car was back on the road, Riley let her blush fog her glasses as she leaned closer to Maddy once more.


    They rode in silence for a while more, Ella eventually deciding to turn on the radio, providing an appreciated layer of background noise- especially since it would let the two stealthy snugglers chat between themselves without being heard for once.


    "T-this feels nice..." Riley whispered out eventually, knowing she''d been heard after Maddy pulled her in closer, a light embrace helping hug the cold out of her.


    "You feel nice too~ I had a lot of fun today Riley." Maddy responded in kind, hushed tones managing to remain unnoticed underneath the din of engine rumbling and occasionally recognizable pop music.


    "S-same..."


    "Wanna meet up again sometime?"


    "Yeah!" Riley let her emotions get a bit too much, voice rising just enough to be noticeable by the other two occupants of the car- though one didn''t care, and the other thankfully pretended to not notice.


    Maddy managed to keep her subsequent giggle sufficiently quiet, though that sure didn''t help Riley with wanting to burn up in pure fluster.


    "How''s Thursday sound then?"


    "I''d love to~"


    "It''s a date then~"


    Riley held in a squee as she leaned on further, the rumble of the car combined with Maddy''s warmth making the remainder of the journey over to her place a very comfortable one, especially as she held the weasel that had stolen her heart closer and closer.


    "That''s the one, right Maddy?"


    "O-oh wh- yeah, that''s the place, thanks Mrs. Asher."


    "It''s no problem Maddy. Is that corner there fine to park at?"


    "Yep!"


    In not too long, the car had stopped, Riley scrambling out to let Maddy out, about to speak up to say goodbye after she''d left the car as well before being cut off by Maddy pulling her into as big of a hug as she could manage, Riley not missing the cue for once and hugging her right back.


    "See ya Riley~"


    "Y-you too Maddy..."


    "Enjoy your pizza~"


    With a wink and a smile, Maddy finally got going, Riley staring in her direction with a big longing before a colder gust got her butt back into gear, the girl scrambling back into the car as fast as she could.


    "So, enjoyed Maddy''s visit?"


    "Yeah..." Riley''s response was much dreamier than she''d intended it to be, Ella giggling quietly under her breath afterwards as she drove back out onto the road, homeward this time, letting her girl savor everything that came with being infatuated like that.


    "And now pizza!"


    And so they took off, the lil'' kit''s excitement at the prospect of pizza only growing with every minute as they carefully drove back, all three content in their own ways, even if Riley felt a bit empty afterwards.


    Though she had one more thing to look forward to now at least~

 Chapter 28: Warmth

    The drive back took a bit longer than the other way around, Ella thankfully recognizing her own exhaustion and slowing down significantly juuust in case.


    After all, nobody wanted anything bad to happen just before Christmas.


    For the most part Riley just took in the warmth as she stirred in her seat, the car''s heater doing wonders from insulating them from the stinging cold of the dreaded outside.


    Of course, there''s only so much patience a four-year-old can muster even if he really, really wanted to, and eventually Timmy''s boredom became really apparent with him asking when will they finally be home.


    The answer was twenty-eight seconds, Ella having to keep herself from breaking into giggles upon hearing the tyke ask the inevitable question just as she turned onto the road their home was on.


    And it couldn''t have taken much more than that from the point Ella parked next to the garage until they were all back inside, the heat from the fireplace melting the brief frost immediately.


    "Ha, just in time!" Andrew chuckled as the remaining trio ran inside, a small stack of cardboard boxes catching Riley''s attention as it sat in front of the blazing fire, shielded by a glass pane.


    She ran up to him after kicking her shoes off, the savory smells drawing her in by the nose as her tummy rumbled on in excitement- at least until her eyes caught something that wasn''t quite like when she saw it the last time-


    Namely, Andrew''s clothes. Comfy plaid shirt replaced with green...


    Wait, were those pajamas?


    "Well, I thought it would be best if we were all ready for bed before cracking the pizzas open, it''s already quite late and all." Rick answered her wordless question as she eyed down Andrew in confusion, the explanation only affirmed as she glanced her dad''s own pajama outfit, red fabric matching the goofy pair of reindeer-themed slippers on his feet.


    Riley nodded ever so slowly as her brain tried to rev itself back to life against the forces of sleep and hunger, eventually responding with a tired ''uh-huh''. The plan had finally formulated itself inside her two still functional neurons by the time she''d reached the stairs, at least as much as ''do whatever to get to pizza'' could be considered a plan in itself. Regardless, her stomach was determined to fulfill it as fast as she could-


    At least until her eyes distracted her again, the sight in front of her making her stop abruptly as she futilely tried to hold back a burst of laughter.


    Well, now she knew what a blow-dried Lily looked like:


    Namely like a stick figure composed entirely of very dark, very puffed up dusters with every little dark hair facing its own direction.


    Wearing a lilac night shirt that looked like it got caught up on virtually every strand of fur simultaneously, looking downright... fur-fitting?


    And with a tail that looked almost as big as the girl herself.


    Lily''s initial embarrassment at Riley''s laugh quickly turned into hilarity itself, partially at the situation she found herself in, partially at her own fluffed appearance, and partially at her older sister''s kettle-like laughter.


    After taking an ashamedly long amount of time to calm down from her little outburst that just refused to end, and giving her sister an absurdly soft hug for sticking with her as they both kept laughing at each other, Riley finally made her way upstairs-


    Only to see the bathroom already taken because of course it would be. Timmy must''ve snuck by them while his sisters were too busy giggling wildly to notice, much to his order-of-using-the-bathroom advantage.


    Oh well.


    With a sigh, Riley made her way to her room, grabbing a pair of gray shorts and an oversized white shirt to change into, the sight of her invitingly warm bed making her doubt her cause for just a moment before a scent of hot pizza made its way into her nose again, stomach overruling the sleepy brain.


    A small bundle of clothes in her arms later, she moved herself into the waiting spot next to the bathroom door, taking a seat on the floor as her watch began, with the added assurance that it wouldn''t end too soon in form of a solid slap to the cheek to keep herself awake.


    Riley leaned back against the wall and tried to listen in on the faint music coming from downstairs, some obnoxious ad jingle that at least provided her something to focus on.


    Fortunately, she wouldn''t have to rely on just that for keeping herself from sleeping as she heard Ella''s voice from the bathroom behind her, heavily muffled and obscured by the sounds of running water and Timmy''s excited squeaks.


    Guess he is lil'' enough to still need help with baths, heh.


    And with that realization followed another one as she glanced around the rest of the corridor, quickly finding the door to Ella''s office left slightly ajar.


    Well, nobody will know...


    Riley quietly got up from her seat, gathering her courage to explore the forbidden territory for a few moments before just going for it, steps nearly silent on the thick carpet as she wanted to make the best use of the limited time she had.


    Or the worst use?


    Probably not, it''s not like she''d just start digging through her mom''s personal documents, she just... wanted to take a look.


    Pinky promise.


    The thick, padded door let her in surprisingly easily, opening smoothly despite its clearly noticeable weight, and together with the quickly flipped light switch revealing her mom''s secret den-


    And how utterly disappointing it was.


    Ella''s actual desk was one of the largest Riley had ever seen, sitting proudly in the center of the room, all wooden and ornate and stuff, central leg space flanked by a handful of wide drawers on each side and a ridiculously large office chair towering in front of it.


    Either Riley was seeing things or the desk was literally so heavy it was bending the floor underneath itself.


    Hopefully the former since she''d left her glasses back in her room and had an excuse.


    Most of the items on the desk looked familiar if... much higher budget compared to the ones back in the orphanage''s office, massive bulky monitors with creamy yellow plastic replaced by a pair of big flat ones, standing side by side.


    Underneath them stood a row of framed pictures of seemingly the entirety of her close family, some of the photos obviously quite old by this point.


    There was the photo of her and Rick''s first kiss, one of two older skunks that must''ve been her parents, then of Rick''s own parents, then all her sisters in order, goodness Izzy couldn''t have been older than eight in this one, and then of all her kids.


    Including clearly the most recent frame standing in line with the rest, absence of a photo covered with a sticky note that read-


    ''''''


    TODO:


    get Riley''s photo


    ''''''


    Riley couldn''t help but smile just a bit at the display, especially with how it contrasted with all the gear in front. A massive black keyboard, a stupidly large mousepad covering most of the right half of the desk, couple of coffee stains on its outer parts, a large mouse with... many more buttons than a mouse should have laying on it.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    There were some scattered paper notes on the other side of the desk, as well as on most of the other solid non-floor surfaces in the room, all of which amounted to just a couple of dressers, probably repurposed to hold yet more papers.


    And where there weren''t any papers, there was a combined printer-scanner-whoknowswhat machine, similar to one in orphanage''s office but less... horribly massive.


    There was a coffee machine too, half filled, and all stained, the cup seemingly responsible for all the coffee stains standing next to it. The noticeable wear on its handle and the barely legible "World''s #0th Programmer" on its side only adding to the atmosphere.


    And besides all that, there really wasn''t much more in the room. A cork board on the wall that bordered the corridor, a small rug under the desk with pillows on it to rest feet on-


    A small numerical lock on the bottom right drawer of the desk, left unlocked with a code of ''621''?


    Before the conflict of ''should I investigate'' and ''should I not'' could even get swinging in her head, the loud blowing noise had pierced its way from behind the bathroom door, giving her a clear cue to decide on ''I really should not'' and get out of the room.


    And so she was back in the same spot next to the bathroom door she started from, just in time to see the door open and Timmy run out.


    Suffice to say she wasn''t any more successful from stopping herself from laughing the second time around. The sheer amount of fluff looked like it was actively struggling against the confines of the purple pajamas some of it was trapped under, the rest of it free to puff up as much as physically possible, making the tyke look twice as large.


    And once he was in Riley''s arms, nuzzling her cheek, twice as soft.


    ***


    Her own shower was quick, to the point, and with her own gels this time, much more pleasant, the strawberry scent of her conditioner making her relax almost subconsciously before rinsing, good mood sticking to her as she started dried herself off.


    Just as she was about to put on the night clothes and head out, she reminded herself of the mighty loud blowing sound she''d heard a few minutes before, now curious as to how a normal hairdryer was able to pull off something like that.


    Her question was answered immediately after turning it on, a stream of hot hair so strong it made her wonder whether she was holding a hairdryer or a scaled down jet engine.


    Certainly sounded like the latter.


    But for all its deafening intensity, it definitely did its job well, her hair ending up dry just moments later, and just as absurdly fluffed up as the fur of her siblings soon afterwards.


    She may have given it another go after ruining her hair with her shirt to make her hair fluffy again, and then yet another one just to make it stick right before she ran back downstairs. Just maybe.


    Regardless, the amused giggles of her siblings were more than worth it when she joined them in front of the fireplace, taking a seat right a couple meters in front of the burning fire, head leaning back against the softness of the couch as Timmy snuck his way into her arms again, eventually deciding to sit down on her lap.


    Two of pizza boxes have since been opened and nibbled on, with the third untouched one in the center, Riley only realizing she had no idea which one was whose once her hand was already raised and hovering around in confusion.


    "Oh, the middle one''s your and mom''s, seems she ordered the same kind for you both." Andrew spoke up and reached to slide the box in question into his sister''s reach before handing her a plate to go with it.


    She couldn''t help but smile and thank him for the helpful gesture before reaching in to open the cardboard box, the fresh smell making her waste no time as she reached in and grabbed a couple of slices at the same time, quickly moving them onto her plate just for a second before biting in.


    So good. So cheesy.


    Riley''s quiet savoring lasted only a short while before taking another bite out of it, having an opportunity to actually taste the rest of the ingredients now that her stomach wasn''t screaming at her to start eating as fast as she could.


    There was... a lot of chicken to her surprise, some spicy, some crispy and some sweet, the combination working surprisingly well with olives, peppers and even some crunchy onion.


    Nom nom nom.


    Taste test over, back to stuffing her face with it.


    Fortunately by the time she was nearing the end of the second slice she could feel her stomach start to fill up and slow down its constant nagging, content fulfillment taking its place as she placed the remainder of her second slice down onto her plate.


    Warm, snuggly, and most importantly,


    Happy.


    Happy with her little brother on her lap that slowly nibbled on his own slice. Happy with her sister who had clearly slid closer to her since Riley sat down. Happy with her big brother who was busy with the small board game box he''d brought as he slowly set it up. Happy with her dad who quietly watched over them from his seat behind them. And happy with her mom who''d just decided to lay down on the rest of the couch, head resting on her husband''s lap.


    And maybe a bit sleepy, laying her head back against the couch as she closed her eyes in content, gently stroking Timmy''s tummy before shuffling noises broke the serene silence. By the time Riley had managed to open her eyes once more, all the pizza boxes had been moved to the side with pretty much everyone having had their portion for now, the center spot being filled back up with a small game board shortly after.


    "Ready to kick the game off sport?" Andy asked with a chuckle, showing off a handful of small cardboard figurines in Riley''s and Timmy''s direction, the boy wasting no time before choosing the biggest, baddest cartoon dinosaur she''d ever seen.


    "So, Riley, wanna play?"


    ***


    She''d never felt so simultaneously dumb and too concerned about the antics taking place around her to care about being dumb at the same time.


    Despite how straightforward the rules seemed, Andrew, Timmy, and more often than not both at the same time had to step in to give her a helping paw, even Rick stepping in from behind to give tips.


    She still lost first, almost painfully quickly, all three of her siblings much more experienced at this than she could hope to be, even Lily who was initially almost ambivalent about the whole thing, but quickly grew much more focused as she realized she was firmly in the lead.


    Up to and including some good ol'' bickering with Andrew for technicalities as they struggled for the first place, Timmy far behind but still firmly in the game, Rick''s minmaxing aid now being targeted towards him.


    As they went on, each turn started taking longer and longer, the older siblings gradually becoming more pensive and sluggish with their actions as they kept the game going, Riley too concerned with keeping the sleepy kit seated on her to notice the game had stopped entirely, the family having all dozed off one by one.


    It took her an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize that nobody has said anything in a couple minutes, eyes shooting as wide as they''d go in her exhaustion as she looked around, having to stop herself from laughing at the realization that *she* was the last one standing.


    And then again at the fact that she had five sleeping skunks on her hands to deal with somehow.


    When in doubt... wake up the biggest one to take care of the rest.


    Timmy got surprisingly heavy when asleep, his big sister straining to hold him in her arms as she stood up and turned around. She let out a quiet chuckle as she saw Rick''s head resting on the headrest, mouth wide open, which then turned into an ''aww'' as she noticed his tail  was covering up Ella and that he apparently had passed out while stroking her cheeks.


    Now... how to wake him up.


    Guess a prod wouldn''t hurt.


    After applying one entire prod to his shoulder without any reaction she tried again and again, her collective efforts only resulting in an almost exasperated sounding snore.


    Maybe his ears would be more receptive?


    Riley leaned as close in as she could while still holding onto the heavy kit, her whispering coming off as a bit strained as she tried to grab his attention from the clutches of sleep.


    "Rick?"


    A small ear twitch and another scritch on Ella''s cheek, but no cigar.


    "Rick, c''mon, need some help here."


    Another ear twitch, some groaning so quiet she could barely hear it, c''mon Riley think of something.


    Something that could wake him up- wait!


    "Dad?"


    "U-uhh, w-what... Riley?" He snapped out of his sleep immediately, the word ingrained so deeply in his brain it became impossible to ignore, making him look around in confusion for a moment before the pieces fell into place.


    Followed immediately by him taking Timmy off of her, Riley''s arms forever thankful for the gesture as the rest of her walked a bit further away to give him space to actually stand up and figure out what to do.


    And then realizing that Rick''s ''what to do'' was basically to prod everyone awake to get them to move themselves onto their proper spots, Riley doing her part by cleaning up the board game and helping the siblings to their feet, Lily''s half asleep hug a more than welcome interruption in getting everyone to their respective beds.


    With all siblings finally in their beds, it was time for Ella, Riley about to ask why Rick hadn''t woken her up before he slid his arms under her and lifted her up in a bridal carry-


    Or at least attempted to before his arms gave out from under him half a second later, the half foot drop back onto the couch sufficient to wake Ella up on its own. Both spouses looked awkwardly at each other, lit up by the slowly dying fireplace as Riley tried to stop herself from laughing any harder than she already was at the sight.


    "Shouldn''t you be in bed?" Both parents asked nearly simultaneously, certainly not helping with Riley''s exhausted laughter, slowly breaking down into coughs as her throat had had enough laughs for one day, the girl eventually managing to stand back up straight and head towards the stairs.


    "Sleep well!" She reminded herself to say around halfway through her third step up the stairs, a pair of obviously embarrassed sounding ''You too!''s telling her all she needed to know, adding another amused giggle to her throat''s list of crimes.


    Before she even knew it, she was finally in her bed, chucking sleepily at the sudden realization as she tried to listen for... anything that would confirm her hypothesis about what was happening downstairs.


    At least for the entire minute before the softness of the pillow became too much to resist and she ended up dozing off herself, and then, in their time so did her parents, cuddling together after finally making it back to their bed as well.


    And so they all slept, preparing themselves for the big day ahead of them, each in their own little comfy way.

 Chapter 2█: The ███ Day

    The morning took its time rolling around, gentle bright light of the clear wintry sky sneaking ever so slowly into Riley''s room.


    Like the world''s slowest, most ephemeral breaking and entering.


    And fortunately, it was also one Riley was ready for, ever so gently brightening room doing a good job at slowly stirring- not even that, slowly poking her awake, each ray of sunshine a single tiny prod, pushing the groggy teen just a bit closer towards consciousness.


    For a long while she just rested there, awake but with eyes closed, drifting and flirting with unconsciousness some more as she stirred under the warm covers, taking her sweet time.


    At least for a while, before the rest of the world reminded her of its existence.


    *knock knock*


    "Riley, breakfast!"


    After a drawn-out incoherent groan, she finally started the long and arduous process of sliding herself off of her bed, absolutely nailing the landing by account of actually managing to land on her feet this time.


    Wasn''t the most stable landing in the world, but given her past history of getting off her bed, it was definitely above average.


    After taking a brief glance at her current outfit and determining it sufficient for the task of going downstairs and consuming what will most likely be leftover pizza, she slipped on her flip flops and went on her way, slightly ruffled hair going well with a plain tee and gray shorts.


    Fashion magazine cover outfit, see you at the stage.


    A set of rhythmic taps of her flip flops on the stairs later, she''d reached the dining room, rest of the family opting to wave at her with varying degrees of enthusiasm, most probably because of their mouths being stuffed with leftover pizza.


    It didn''t mean Timmy didn''t try to say hello, but after almost choking on his bite, even he knew better than to rush it.


    A couple pats on his back and a few more on his head later, Riley made her way to her seat, joining the gathered skunks in filling up her mouth with a bit less fresh- but still addictively salty goodness.


    Nom n-


    "So, since Lily''s recital only kicks off in the evening and we have a fair bit of time- wanna check out the old playground together?" Rick brought the suggestion up after getting through his slice, seemingly completely unbothered by all the spicy peppers on it, Timmy lighting up immediately afterwards at the indirect possibility of getting to ride his sled.


    "Please please please, let''s go sledding!" The tyke squeaked out, the excitement dripping from every sound as he looked around for approval, granted with Ella and Andrew''s nods, Riley answering in her own way by leaning in to hug the heck out of her squirming brother.


    "I-I don''t know, wh-what if I trip o-or c-catch a cold and won''t be able to do the recital?" The younger sister brought up hesitantly, the skunk mom responding with a soft chuckle as she reassured her daughter-


    "Oh don''t worry, we have enough thick jackets to fit you out for a polar blizzard, if you want to be sure absolutely nothing happens, we can pad you out to the point where you won''t even feel anything." Ella reassured her warmly, reaching her paw over to ruffle her lil'' violinist''s hair, Lily slowly relaxing from her words and touch.


    "Yeah, if you want, I''ll just watch over you, you''re gonna be alllll safe and sound up until the recital, teehee." Riley added in, earning herself a shy, amused smile from her younger sister as she helped pile reassurances on.


    "Alright, alright, I think I''m gonna be fine, hehe." Lily eventually gave in, last traces of hesitation washing from her cheeks as she turned towards Timmy, a sly smirk sprouting in its place-


    "So, wanna race down the hill kiddo~?" She asked him teasingly, the kit not catching the slightly teasing undertone in her message, just answering with a squeaking ''Yeah!'' as another chance to use his sled was presented.


    Riley couldn''t help but chuckle at his genuine excitement, quickly resuming her assault on the reheated pizza in front of her, taking a moment to inspect the other kinds strewn around the table in various stages of consumption:


    The ones the two younger kits were slowly taking care of looked plain enough- Timmy''s the bare minimum of what is even considered a pizza, with Lily''s not too dissimilar if having a lot more slices of various veggies, pepper, onion, sweetcorn, mushrooms... fine, veggies with an asterisk.


    Ella seemed to be sharing her favorite pizza with Riley- or more probably simply not really knowing what to get her so she just went for what she herself liked, hoping it''d work out. Well it did, all the different ingredients looking unusual on the surface by their own, but working out surprisingly well once combined.


    Andrew''s on the other hand looked almost as weird less by the virtue of having too much different stuff on it and more so because Riley just had no idea what these yellow, almost fruity-looking chunks were.


    But considering that her big bro seemed to be enjoying it just fine, she thought she''d bother him about that on another occasion.


    As for Rick''s, well, it was already gone and disappeared by the time Riley took a look, but she did remember a bit of chicken, a lot of spicy peppers, and some red, smoky sauce.


    The mere sight was enough to make her tongue sting.


    Fortunately, by the time she''d finished cataloging all the treats around her, most everyone had wrapped up their portions, Riley joining them herself with a couple large bites, crunching loudly as she cleaned up the crust.


    The only one left was Timmy, after all there''s only so much pizza you can eat per minute with all the excitement and the... absence of a sufficiently large mouth.


    His big sister wasted no time in dashing upstairs and gearing herself up for the cold outside, the stylish jacket she''d grabbed on Thursday plenty sufficient for the nearly spotless pale sky outside and plenty of fluffy snow.


    Add onto that the warm dark pants, the thick white scarf and rainbow hat she got from Ella, some slightly thicker shoes... heck yeah, she was rocking it.


    Which wasn''t really something she was used to thinking about, the new realization making Riley walk up to her mirror and give herself a closer look.


    And yeah, she did look good, good in a way she never really remembered, or even considered herself looking ever before. Not really fashionable or anything, that never really interested her in any real regard, but just... feeling good with how she looked.


    Not ashamed anymore.


    And she was fucking staying that way.


    With a determined nod, she grabbed her sleek glasses and slid them on, rolling her shoulders as she instinctively tapped her right pocket, the absence of her knife making her freeze in place briefly before she dashed back into her room to pull the well-worn switchblade out of the pocket of yesterday''s pair, taking a deep breath now that it was where it should be.


    As she said, she was staying that way!


    With her confidence reaffirmed, she strutted downstairs, only to find Timmy still mulling through the crust of his last slice, the sight baffling her for a good moment before she spoke up-


    "Why didn''t you leave the last slice for later Timmy?" She asked uncertainly as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around the kit, the slightly annoyed kit answering-


    "Because I wanted to have pizza!"


    "But you can have the rest of the pizza later when your tummy isn''t as full anymore."


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "But I wanted it now!" There was a clear hint of frustration in his voice as he slowly resolved the conflict between his head wanting more of the rare treat and his tummy not particularly wanting much of anything right now.


    As serious as the kit''s attitude was towards his little breakfast mishap, his sister was definitely more on the amused side, hiding a smirk before she noticed Ella doing something around the kitchen, still dressed quite homely.


    It was only then when she realized she was a bit... overzealous with her excitement about going out to the playground.


    "Oh Riley, you''re gonna cook yourself in all that in here. I''m just setting the oven on to low for the fish before I''ll start getting ready myself." Skunk mom spoke up as she caught Riley already geared up for the winter outside, the latter nodding a bit dumbfounded before she got an idea for what she could do during that time...


    "Hmm, maybe I can head out there and you''ll all catch up in a bit?" The plan was as simple as it was sweet- use all that soft and fluffy snow to make a few snow-skunks and one snow-Riley to show off to the rest of the family before they caught up.


    Just something simple as a sign of affection.


    "Sure I suppose, whattcha planning?" Ella grabbed Timmy''s plate as he''d finally finished eating, sliding it into the dishwasher as Riley responded-


    "Oh, just so I don''t cook myself like you said." Riley managed to turn her mom''s words against herself, making her giggle before admitting-


    "Alright, ya got me here, heh. We shouldn''t be more than ten or fifteen minutes behind, hopefully." She chuckled and looked knowingly at Timmy who was slowly climbing upstairs, before turning back towards Riley and sending her off with a firm nod.


    The girl wasted none of her small advantage, sliding the gloves on and taking off into a slow jog down the path behind their house, the cold waking her up fully and only adding to her determination.


    The large abandoned playground was in the same state as she''d left it behind last time, only with even more snow covering most everything up, the firm, fluffy kind that was just perfect for throwing at people and for erecting their monuments.


    Riley bit her lip and dashed right in, quickly grabbing a handful of fluff and pressing it into a tight ball before laying it back down on all the fluff and starting to roll it.


    The snowball quickly gathered more and more mass as she pushed it on, ending up easily almost a couple feet across by the time it was large enough, suitable to serve as the base of one of the adults.


    Now just to roll like a dozen more and she''d be set.


    Each ball took longer and longer as the continued effort took its toll on her, Riley panting loudly by the time she''d finished the second adult, the pair of snow statues almost her height.


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    ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.


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    "Bruce sends his regards."


    ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€.


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    ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€...


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    ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.


    ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.


    ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.


    "¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€!?"


    ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€. ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€!¨€.


    ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€.


    ¨€¨€ al¨€o¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€e¨€ ¨€nto ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ i¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€e¨€, ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€n¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€i¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€e¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€l¨€, e¨€¨€r¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€e ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ in ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€, R¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ t¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ r¨€sp¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€h ¨€¨€y¨€¨€¨€¨€g ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€i¨€e¨€ ¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€¨€¨€k¨€¨€


    "Riley, pl¨€¨€s¨€, s¨€¨€y wit¨€ me, ¨€TA¨€ ¨€I¨€H ¨€E!" H¨€ w¨€s ¨€an¨€ck¨€n¨€ on¨€y a bi¨€ l¨€¨€s t¨€an h¨€s ¨€¨€ug¨€t¨€¨€ ¨€¨€ ¨€e r¨€a¨€¨€¨€d i¨€ t¨€ l¨€¨€t ¨€¨€r u¨€, ¨€i¨€¨€y''¨€ bod¨€ ¨€ayi¨€¨€ alm¨€st ¨€imp¨€y i¨€ ¨€¨€s a¨€m¨€.


    Sh¨€ tried t¨€ ¨€¨€ve, to hol¨€ ¨€nto ¨€im- bu¨€ her ¨€ody re¨€used, lim¨€s n¨€mb fro¨€ the c¨€ld and un¨€illing ¨€¨€ move from th¨€ p¨€¨€n, R¨€ley only ¨€¨€le t¨€ f¨€cus on her mor¨€ and m¨€re strained br¨€¨€thin¨€ with an ¨€ccas¨€ona¨€ ¨€que¨€k o¨€ pai¨€.


    Her dad quickly stood up and turned in the direction he came from, only letting out a scared, almost shrieking call before taking off in the other direction-


    "ELLA, CALL THE AMBULANCE AT THE ORPHANAGE, NOW!"


    He ran, ran like mad, holding onto his daughter as firmly as he could, just as she tried to mentally hold onto him as the pained warmth inside her turned into a bitter, alarming coldness that seemed to be spreading through her body, all the pain growing... numb...


    No, no, NO!


    She squealed in pain as she tried to focus, focus on Rick''s steps, his ragged breaths, anything to keep herself awake and breathing.


    "Riley, please, stay with me, stay with me, e-everything''s gonna be alright, JUST STAY WITH ME FOR GOD''S SAKE!" His voice cracked hard at the end as he sped up even more, exhaustion mixing with panic and an occasional dry cough of his own.


    As hard as she tried, she felt her mind slipping away, opening her still burning eyes in desperation just to give herself, a little bit more time despite all the pain that came with it.


    She felt the numbing cold tug at her, trying to pull her in into its silent, endless embrace, the offer of comfort gnawing at her, luring her in...


    NO!


    Not now, not fucking ever!


    Just breathe, just fucking breathe.


    The freezing cold spread in her faster and faster, making her focus all the mental power she had left on holding onto his arm with her hurting hand, the pain keeping her awake just that bit more.


    Just a bit longer, please...


    A surge of warm relief washed over her as she heard the distant sounds of an ambulance siren, Rick shouting painfully in exertion as he pushed himself further on, as far as he could or even more, if it just meant she''d be alright.


    The loud whining of the siren rung louder and louder still, Riley''s fading consciousness muffling it out harder and harder, a brief jolt of subconscious terror as Rick stumbled onto the pavement pushing her on just that bit closer, an array of distant determined voices joining him.


    The cold had almost taken her over completely, barely any pain, barely anything left. She only felt him stop and her body be moved upwards, unable to hear anything anymore, all the voices muffled and distorted beyond comprehension, as only numb cold remained.


    And then, there was nothing more.

 Chapter 30: Bottomless Pit

    Nothing was fine.


    Lily''s room was in a bit of a disarray, a pretty sizable bit at that. Her violin was lying in a heap in the corner, the bow somewhere within the rest of the mess. A stack of notebook pages she used for sketching was occupying most of the floor after she saw a sketch of Riley she had been working on for a while.


    Scattered clothing only added to the atmosphere, both the dirty stuff she was too tired to put in the bathroom bin, and the dress she was meant to wear at her recital.


    Meant.


    The phone was stuck behind her bed, reminding her of its existence by the occasional buzzing as yet another person sent a message to ask what had happened, why wasn''t she on her recital,


    Who was the girl on the news that shared her last name?


    After a second such message she had enough, shouting in burning frustration as she chucked her phone- well, anywhere. Just away from her.


    The last thing she had on her mind was answering the same questions, especially since she didn''t have any answers herself.


    The more Lily tried to think about it all, the harder she felt the ribbon of anxiety and panic wrap itself around her guts, making her gasp for breath intermittently; the thoughts would not stop coming.


    The next day did finally provide some answers, only Timmy able to really sleep that night, and even then, only for a few hours as he kept waking up with nightmares.


    Safer than ever, riiight.


    Why didn''t she tell us...


    Maybe if she did, she would be here with us. Maybe that guy would''ve been caught earlier, or there''d be a cop watching over her or, or,


    Lily kept tossing in bed as her thoughts kept racing in a circle, anger boiling over yet again as she shouted into her pillow, claws slowly tearing a hole in the other side.


    It didn''t matter.


    And as it did many times in the past couple days, anger gave way to sadness once more, the half-torn pillow as effective at muffling her pained sobs as it was at muffling her angered screams.


    Which is to say not very well, but nobody minded, nobody else could mind.


    They were all preoccupied with their own demons.


    She hadn''t seen Andrew since they came back from hospital that night, only barely heard anything from him, mostly in form of quiet cries at night.


    Mom had tried to maintain the illusion of normalcy at least a bit, after all there still were mouths to feed, even if depressed. It was all bland and overcooked, but nobody really cared, or talked about it.


    Or about much of anything anymore.


    There were occasional updates on Riley''s health, passed in almost whispers at the dinner table, after which they just went back to eating quietly especially as updates became less and less informative.


    The brief moment of respite at the news that Riley was stable and had been moved out of ER, was then overshadowed by her being in a coma and there being no real estimate as to when would she get out of it.


    Could be tomorrow, could be this week,


    Could be never.


    The latter possibility made her almost nauseous to even consider, and yet refused to let itself be forgotten for even a moment.


    Your sister you''ve been hoping for, the sister you''ve been dreaming about for so long very well could be braindead, and there''s nothing you can do about it.


    And you wasted the brief time you had with her being an angsty, shitty, kid.


    The painful thought felt like it stabbed right through her brain, her resulting squeal breaking into tears of bitter regret.


    Wrong. Everything felt wrong.


    Dad... he got it the worst, by far. He never shouted. At anyone. Mom told me one time how in all their time they''ve been together, all of twenty something years, the only time she actually heard him shout was once when he stubbed his toe one time.


    And of course, back when this happened.


    But it only got worse the next day.


    The news stations started blathering about what happened to Riley, turning it into their own little crime drama, scooping up all the ratings they could think of as the main actor was fighting for her life in a local hospital.


    Alone.


    And of course, where there was news coverage came all the more and less distant family members, trying to put their spins and agendas into the story, some even trying to blame Riley for what had happened.


    Lily hoped she''d never have to hear his furious screams ever again, the sheer anger in his words burning so intensely it scared her.


    Her own dad scared her.


    Not like Lily could blame him, the... ''family'' that did something like that was hardly any better than the locusts that spent all day trying to pester anyone into giving them a scrap of juicy information, anything to have an edge over the rival stations, milking the tragedy into clicks and views.


    After heckling away the first journalist that showed up, mom wasted little time in grabbing a sheet of paper, writing down "NO INTERVIEWS" on it with a thick marker and sticking it to the front of the door, message only intensified by great-grandpa''s hunting rifle she placed on the nearest windowsill.


    She didn''t have any ammo for it, but it was enough to convey the message.


    As for Timmy... he had a hard time comprehending just what had happened. He had to be calmed down regularly just so that the hospital staff would stop giving us shitty looks as we waited outside the ER room Riley was in. As far as he knew, Riley was hurt really badly by someone and she would be in the hospital until she wakes up and gets better.


    Which of course didn''t answer the questions of who hurt her and why, but seemingly even the tyke knew better than to keep prying into it as the sadness from everyone else kept rubbing off on him.


    He didn''t even try to protest when mom turned off the Christmas lights, the tree standing alone in the darkness, with nobody else wanting to even be near it right now.


    Even he knew that there could be no Christmas without Riley.


    Despite Lily initially being confused and even upset as to why her parents wouldn''t tell Timmy the whole thing, with time she realized the painful reason, and started wishing she would forget as well.


    How could anyone do something like that to anyone-


    How could someone like us do that to her...


    She remembered that moment too well, the clarity of all the sensations making her nauseous even two days later. Timmy couldn''t find his boots, making everyone wait for him before they were mysteriously found right next to the fireplace, the resulting giggling from everyone sounding very, very bitter in hindsight.


    They were well on their way to the old playground, Lily and her mom chatting about what it was that Riley raced ahead for, Timmy squeaking excitedly as Andrew pulled him on his lil'' sled, occasionally the lead being passed off to dad who never got bored of grabbing it and sprinting ahead just a bit, the moment of thrills sending the tyke into adorable giggles.


    And then it all stopped as they all felt it. It was impossible not to. Even as far away as they were, the sudden reek was overwhelming, both as a smell, and as the wordless message that smell cried out- a call for help, so loud it felt like someone was screaming directly into their ears.


    The impact felt downright stunning, Lily looking around in confusion for the briefest moment before dad let go of the sled''s leash and bolted forward, everyone else following not long afterwards. All the possibilities of what could have happened making everyone''s thoughts race at a fevered pace.


    And then they heard Riley scream. A shriek that only added to all the nightmarish scenarios as they were forced to slow down, completely out of breath.


    It was too much, far too much, Timmy crying as he fell behind everyone else, overwhelmed by the contagious fear. Andrew turned around to stay with him as Lily and mom kept running, the girl tripping on a tree branch and landing painfully, exertion combined with the tainted air making it hard to even breathe, as she could only listen-


    Listen to her dad shout her sister''s name, his pleading that she stay with him, screaming at mom to call the ambulance before he took off again with Riley in his arms.


    By the time Lily had managed to stagger onto the scene, it was long quiet, aftermath making her dry heave at... everything. The stained glasses just laying in the snow, the two unfinished snow-skunks Riley had managed to build before a real one assaulted her, the blood stains, the- the-


    Even trying to recall all that she had seen made her get up and rush towards the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the door behind herself or turn the lights on before what has left of her breakfast exited the same way it came in.


    For the third time today.


    There wasn''t even much left anymore to throw up, a fact that Lily''s stomach conveniently ignored as the rest of her struggled to regain strength before lifting itself back up and flushing the toilet before trying to wash her face.


    Try as hard as you can freezing water, there''s no waking her up today, for the waking world is her nightmare.


    One strained breath after another, she slowly managed to stand back up and halfheartedly dry her face, shambling back out of the bathroom towards her room, shaking a bit from the all-around cold, radiators having decided to strike against their continued use, which combined with the nasty downpour outside certainly didn''t make for warm surroundings.


    The gaping hole she felt inside her didn''t help any either.


    As she was about to return to her new hobby of spending all day in bed while alternating between screaming and crying, she stopped as she heard heavy footsteps making their way up the stairs, turning slowly around just as her mom approached.


    Her expression was, well, it felt like she didn''t have any. Someone had to pretend everything was alright, someone had to keep on trucking.


    Of course, the key word there was ''pretend''.


    "Lily, dinner''s ready. C-Could you get Timmy while I go grab dad?" As much as her facade covered her appearance, it certainly couldn''t cover her voice, so much quieter and withdrawn than her proud mom would ever want to be seen.


    Not like she had much else to do.


    The girl nodded faintly and walked up to Timmy''s room, her quiet knocks masked by her mom''s steps downstairs, making her just open the door to let herself in.


    Timmy''s was probably the only room lit as brightly as it could be right now, the kit busy drawing something anxiously. His sister''s arrival made him jump and turn towards her, his frightful expression breaking something in her as she spoke up-


    "Timmy, dinner''s ready." Lily''s voice was only a bit more dour than her mom''s, her expression similarly neutral, too tired for constant grimacing. That is, at least, until she made out what her lil'' brother was scribbling, a family picture with everyone sad and Riley laying on a hospital bed.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    It got a couple of tears out of her as she turned back, trying to keep herself from being seen any more as she gestured for him to follow, Timmy following wordlessly.


    The front door was left open as they took their seats at the table, reheated chicken from yesterday managing to taste even less of anything.


    After a moment, the parents made their way back from the dark outside, mom shivering as the rain caught her just enough to freeze her and dad just looking idly down at the ground as he stepped in, seemingly not minding the fact that he was literally dripping.


    And they just ate in silence, plates getting picked clean at a snail''s pace as nobody really felt hungry anymore.


    Was this it?


    Lily''s paw twitched as it tried to stab another piece of the flavorless meat, quiet frustration boiling within once again.


    Is that all they could do? Just sit there, half dead and just idly wait!?


    There had to be something they could do, s-some treatment, some-some medicine, how could there not be something!


    How could they all be so accepting of it, of Riley; there definitely was something- there had to-


    *BANG*


    Lily''s fist slammed into the wooden table hard, dull pain flaring through it as the noise caught everyone''s attention.


    Even if there was nothing they could do, the least ''she'' could do for her was just to be there for Riley.


    Her body shook as she boiled in anger, fur standing on end combined with lips trembling just enough to show a glimpse of the grinding teeth looking miserable, doubly so with her bloodshot eyes.


    It took her a moment to try to compose herself after her little slam, expression shifting wildly as she strained to come up with something, anything, her own throat betraying her as it refused to let any words out.


    "Lily?" She was surprised to hear Timmy out of everyone gathered, his concerned question giving her enough breathing room for her to finally put her thoughts to words-


    "I... I want to see her, a-at the hospital, and stay with her." The cheap fork trembled in her paw as she looked down at her plate, waiting for her parents'' response if it would even come.


    Out of the corner of her eye she saw mom looking up at dad for a while, the two exchanging thoughts wordlessly until she heard the latter take a deep, pained breath and speak up for the first time today-


    "Alright sweetie, we-we can do that. Just take your phone with you so you can call us in case, a-alright?"


    It hurt to listen to him, her dad''s voice clearly straining just to keep itself from cracking into tears- nothing like what her dad usually sounded like-


    But sounded everything like a father who blamed himself for his daughter almost dying in his arms.


    She nodded slowly in response, emotions calming down a bit as she went back to her portion, the rest of her plate going down a fair bit faster with the added motivation.


    With the slightly slimy leftovers eaten and her plate slid into the dishwasher, she wasted no time in racing back upstairs and into her room, grabbing whatever heavier stuff she could get her eyes on:


    Some blouse and pants, looking awkward and mismatched, but not mattering in the slightest right now. She didn''t even bother with grabbing her phone before running back out of her room, not wanting to face all the backlog it had accumulated.


    She was about to dash downstairs and wordlessly inspire her dad to speed up his dinner, before she caught a glimpse of an eye peeking out at her from the darkness of Andrew''s room, its door leaning open just a bit.


    The sight startled her a fair bit before she realized who it really was, making her slowly walk up to her brother''s room as he asked her so quietly she could barely hear him, voice obviously strained from crying-


    "A-are you gonna s-see her?"


    She nodded firmly in response, Andrew''s one visible eye clenching shut as it leaked a couple more tears onto his cheek, her drained brother answering with-


    "C-can you say h-h-hh-hi t-to her from me?"


    Lily couldn''t help but nod even harder, struggling to keep herself from tearing up any more as Andrew whispered out one last ''thank you'' before closing his door once again.


    Fortunately, by the time she had made her way downstairs dad was already done with his plate, busy putting his soaked boots back on before she joined him, a thick winter jacket rounding out her outfit.


    Soon after they were in dad''s car, Lily taking the front seat, in silence.


    The drive was painfully quiet. The inside lights were turned off, leaving her only to stare out the windshield as any attempts at conversation only resulted in her taking in a breath as if to speak and nothing coming out.


    What even was there to be said?


    Her brain kept chugging along at full power, desperately trying to fill the dreadful silence with anything, just to keep the emptiness from gnawing at her too hard.


    And much to her surprise, it was her dad that spoke up first.


    "Lily, just... don''t get your hopes up too high, a-alright?" His voice was hesitant and almost fearful, a small grimace adorning his expression as he kept on driving, eyes glistening just a bit.


    "Wh-what do you mean by that!?" She snapped back at him, anger at hearing something- something like that from the one person that always motivated her to never give up dripping from her words.


    Anger at being betrayed by even her own dad, by him surrendering any hope that Riley would recover he might have had.


    "N-nevermind..." He responded quietly, too afraid to annoy his daughter any further as he kept driving in silence, most of Lily''s immediate anger having diffused in time it took them to make their way to the hospital, dashing quickly through the rain to get to the reception.


    It took a fair bit of convincing to convey to the staff that yes, they were Riley''s actual family, no, they were not journalists looking for an extra buck by taking pics of an unconscious girl without her consent, and yes, they came to just see her.


    Or at least Lily did, turning around in confusion once she realized dad wasn''t following her and the nurse, a wordless question answered immediately afterwards-


    "I... I think I''m gonna head home already. Call me to pick you up when you get tired or if anything happens, alright Lily?" He couldn''t even bear to look at her, staring down and to the side, his daughter letting out an indignant ''hmph!'' as her anger boiled inside her once more, before turning around and following the nurse deeper into the building, not sparing him even a glance more.


    Her brief outburst was soon quenched as they walked by room after room, the girl getting an occasional glance of people in various stages of both getting better and dying. The sterile, fluorescent light only made her feel even colder.


    A couple more minutes of walking and one elevator later they finally arrived at their destination, a door just like dozens of others around them, unmarked aside from the room''s number stenciled in paint above the door frame, and a post-it note at roughly her eye level-


    ''''''


    ALL journalists will be escorted out of the building, and if found to be attempting to violate patient privacy laws, will have charges pressed against them


    ''''''


    Not even safe from them inside her own hospital bed, Christ...


    The nurse walked in first and flicked on the lights, urging Lily to come in quickly after her. The blinds were down, probably more so for privacy than for shielding her from the darkness outside.


    She looked so frail.


    The covers went all the way up to her shoulders, only her right arm visible aside from her head, the cast that adorned the wrist looking unnervingly large, almost reaching her elbow.


    So pale.


    Left side of her head was bandage heavily as well which combined with the neck brace only made the whole picture that much more harrowing. The small two pronged nose breathing tube-thing she saw in some hospital dramas was there too, its purpose uncertain.


    The bit that disturbed Lily the most were the bandages over her sister''s eyes, almost looking like a white blindfold, trying to imagine why she would need something like that only threatening to send Lily into another downward spiral.


    "Can I leave you two alone?" The nurse took her out of her dazzle, the girl answering with a curt nod as she grabbed a chair and slid it closer to her sister''s bed as she was left alone, the nurse closing the door behind herself.


    Lily had a hard time even looking up at her sister, all her doubts and regrets surfacing once more, threatening to swallow her whole on the spot.


    But she had to look, she had to face her, even if her dad was too consumed by guilt to do it himself.


    "H-hey Riley... A-Andrew and all of us wanted to say hi a-and I... I hope you''re feeling a-alright a-and t-that we hope you''ll wake up soon..." She almost whispered out, eyes tearing up as she forced herself to look at her sister, her asleep, emotionless expression, signs of all the pain she''s been through...


    "W-we miss you a lot, I-I miss you s-so much..." She muttered out in between quiet sobs, trying to wipe the tears into a sleeve of her woolen blouse with limited success.


    "C-can I s-stay with you for a bit Riley, a-and watch over you?" The rhetorical question helped her calm down just a bit as she slid the chair as close as she could, just... watching her sister in silence.


    What else could she do after all.


    The quiet beeping of her heart monitor, combined with the ticking of the wall clock and the muted hospital ambiance was all she could hear, slowly calming down as she listened intently, her heartbeat slowing to match her sister''s.


    Eventually, her eyes fixated on the IV bag plugged into Riley''s right forearm, watching it shift ever so slowly along with the blood bag next to it, the fluids providing the only visual change in the dour environment.


    Her stay did go on for a while, Lily having to shake herself from the spell of sleep growing on her, its power only intensified by the boredom of her situation, as selfish as the emotion even felt to acknowledge.


    But she had to stay here, stay with her. She knew Riley would do the same for her in the blink of an eye, she just knew.


    She had to, she couldn''t leave her sister alone like this.


    The eventual realization that she''d forgotten to take her phone with her stung just a bit, less so over the mistake itself and more so because she even thought to reach for it in the first place.


    You wanted to watch over your sister, so do it smartass, no cheating with a phone to distract yourself.


    Granted, being unable to call her parents was also a problem, but it''s not like they''d suddenly forget about her.


    Unlike with Ril-


    She let out an angry grunt as she ground the palms of her paws into her face in frustration. At the nasty thought she just had, at having to sit here alone while her dad was afraid to even show himself and her mom pretended everything was fine, at nothing, nothing at all being fine.


    Nothing was fine.


    She looked up at the room''s clock: ten past nine, making her more than sure that dad was already on his way here, probably pissed off at her for forgetting her phone like that to boot.


    Guess a quick bathroom visit wouldn''t hurt then, after all she''d rather stay up to the bitter end when dad would inevitably drag her away rather than end up falling asleep like a- like a child.


    With a strained grunt at her sore legs being forced to move once more, she lifted herself up and headed for the door, the corridor outside much less densely populated than it was just a few hours ago, but hardly empty either.


    Death didn''t wait until nine AM after all.


    A few confused moments of searching later, she had found her way to the nearest bathroom, fortunately finding it empty.


    Splashes of freezing water did a poor job at waking people up, but they certainly did help from falling asleep, mostly by making people just too uncomfortable to rest. With a handful of droplets applied directly to back of her neck, the freezing stinging on her back as uncomfortable as it may have been, was definitely effective at forcing her to stay up.


    With her own awareness secured at least until she could hear an earful from dad for her troubles, she emerged back into the corridor, passing by some male nurse who sped right past her, speaking anxiously on the phone before walking back into Riley''s room, the light having been mysteriously turned off since her recent departure.


    Maybe it was some sort of motion or infrared sensor? Who knows?


    As quickly as she gained an advantage over her own exhaustion, she lost it as she entered Riley''s room once more. Too drained to even notice the slowly growing raspiness in her sister''s breathing, only snapping her attention back to Riley when she wheezed loudly before resuming her harsh, raspy breathing.


    Each breath sounded more and more strenuous to take, her upper body having started to almost contort itself a bit in a way that almost looking macabre, the sight scaring Lily off her seat before the realization set in that something bad, very bad was happening to her.


    With a grunt to get her frozen body moving she dashed out into the corridor, calling for help as loud as her shrill, hoarse voice could handle as loud beeping from inside Riley''s room joined in on the anxious chorus. A couple of doctors and other medical stuff rushed into the room within moments, Lily staying outside for the time being to not be a bother.


    Their jargon was incomprehensible even on a good day, but right now it only registered as noise, only adding to the overwhelming cacophony, its intensity almost enough to make Lily break down in tears- but fortunately only almost, the alarm soon fading away as her sister was stabilized again, making her run back into the room to make sure everything was alright.


    And aside from her breathing just a bit heavier than she did before, everything was back to normal, as painful as that normalcy might have been.


    With a quiet sigh she took her seat back down on the chair, one of the assistants slowly walking over to her and asking in confusion-


    "Excuse me miss, but who are you? Visitation hours ended over an hour ago."


    "I''m... Lily Asher, her sister. F-forgot to take my phone with me a-and couldn''t call my parents to pick me up, I-I think they''re already on their way." She answered meekly, afraid she''d got herself in trouble on top of the preexisting mess to worry about.


    "Lily... oh goodness, where were you fifteen minutes ago, we couldn''t find you, your parents are- I''m gonna call them quickly, you stay here and don''t leave the room, alright!?" He didn''t even wait for the answer before rushing back out of the room, Lily only able to yelp quietly in response.


    Could this get any worse?


    It seemed that reality was about to answer her wordless question as Riley started breathing louder and louder once more, each breath deepening as Lily took a look at the slowly climbing number on her heart pulse meter.


    The doctor that had stayed behind noticed it too, walking closer up to her, his expression uncertain as he just observed for a moment-


    That is, until Riley had startled them both with a loud gasp, soon followed by a series of painful grunts as she writhed on her bed, Lily once again thrust into the seat of the unwilling spectator of the horror in front of her eyes.


    Thankfully this time it wouldn''t take nearly as long, the doctor reaching over to her bedside table and pulling a small ampule and syringe out of it, quickly dosing off the substance before injecting it into one of the small tubes coming off the place where the IV bag was hooked up to.


    Its effect was seemingly immediate, the grunts lowering in intensity before subsiding completely, her sister''s resulting breathing quite shaky.


    And then... she looked around, as much as she could with a blindfold, a hoarse voice whispering out soon afterwards-


    "W-whe-where am I..."


    Riley?


    The doctor caught on much faster than Lily, clearing his throat before answering, tone firm and calm-


    "Riley, you''re at the Intensive Care Unit of St. Luke''s Hospital in Duluth."


    She took in a couple more breaths as she kept trying to look around, almost as if processing his answer before the realization finally hit Lily through the fog of her exhaustion.


    "R-Riley?"


    Her sister froze momentarily before turning her head towards her voice, asking uncertainly in return-


    "Lily?"


    Riley!


    The kit almost leaped from her seat towards her sister, reminding herself to be gentle only at the very last moment, the resulting hug still very firm, if not as tight as she wished she could hold her right now.


    "Riley..." Lily didn''t know how to respond, only leaning her head in as she stood on her knees next to the hospital bed, sweet tears of relief wetting her sister''s bedsheets and bandages.


    "H-hey Lily..." Riley responded with the world''s quietest chuckle, her good hand slowly laying down on her lil'' sis'' back before moving further up, fingers sluggishly moving through the fur on the back of Lily''s head as if to scritch.


    "Riley, w-what happened?" Lily''s anxiety was still wracking her despite her sister being finally awake and in her arms, all the horrific questions that had been sprung upon seeing the aftermath of her assault returning with vengeance.


    Riley went silent for a while, quiet murmurs the only sounds escaping her lips until Lily felt her freeze suddenly, fingers on the back of her head clenching into a shaking fist momentarily before slowly being forced to relax.


    And so, she remembered everything.

 Chapter 29: The Big Day

    Content Warning: Graphic depictions of violence & disturbing content


    The morning took its time rolling around, gentle bright light of the clear wintry sky sneaking ever so slowly into Riley''s room.


    Like the world''s slowest, most ephemeral breaking and entering.


    And fortunately, it was also one Riley was ready for, ever so gently brightening room doing a good job at slowly stirring- not even that, slowly poking her awake, each ray of sunshine a single tiny prod, pushing the groggy teen just a bit closer towards consciousness.


    For a long while she just rested there, awake but with eyes closed, drifting and flirting with unconsciousness some more as she stirred under the warm covers, taking her sweet time.


    At least for a while, before the rest of the world reminded her of its existence.


    *knock knock*


    "Riley, breakfast!"


    After a drawn-out incoherent groan, she finally started the long and arduous process of sliding herself off of her bed, absolutely nailing the landing by account of actually managing to land on her feet this time.


    Wasn''t the most stable landing in the world, but given her past history of getting off her bed, it was definitely above average.


    After taking a brief glance at her current outfit and determining it sufficient for the task of going downstairs and consuming what will most likely be leftover pizza, she slipped on her flip flops and went on her way, slightly ruffled hair going well with a plain tee and gray shorts.


    Fashion magazine cover outfit, see you at the stage.


    A set of rhythmic taps of her flip flops on the stairs later, she''d reached the dining room, rest of the family opting to wave at her with varying degrees of enthusiasm, most probably because of their mouths being stuffed with leftover pizza.


    It didn''t mean Timmy didn''t try to say hello, but after almost choking on his bite, even he knew better than to rush it.


    A couple pats on his back and a few more on his head later, Riley made her way to her seat, joining the gathered skunks in filling up her mouth with a bit less fresh- but still addictively salty goodness.


    Nom n-


    "So, since Lily''s recital only kicks off in the evening and we have a fair bit of time- wanna check out the old playground together?" Rick brought the suggestion up after getting through his slice, seemingly completely unbothered by all the spicy peppers on it, Timmy lighting up immediately afterwards at the indirect possibility of getting to ride his sled.


    "Please please please, let''s go sledding!" The tyke squeaked out, the excitement dripping from every sound as he looked around for approval, granted with Ella and Andrew''s nods, Riley answering in her own way by leaning in to hug the heck out of her squirming brother.


    "I-I don''t know, wh-what if I trip o-or c-catch a cold and won''t be able to do the recital?" The younger sister brought up hesitantly, the skunk mom responding with a soft chuckle as she reassured her daughter-


    "Oh don''t worry, we have enough thick jackets to fit you out for a polar blizzard, if you want to be sure absolutely nothing happens, we can pad you out to the point where you won''t even feel anything." Ella reassured her warmly, reaching her paw over to ruffle her lil'' violinist''s hair, Lily slowly relaxing from her words and touch.


    "Yeah, if you want, I''ll just watch over you, you''re gonna be alllll safe and sound up until the recital, teehee." Riley added in, earning herself a shy, amused smile from her younger sister as she helped pile reassurances on.


    "Alright, alright, I think I''m gonna be fine, hehe." Lily eventually gave in, last traces of hesitation washing from her cheeks as she turned towards Timmy, a sly smirk sprouting in its place-


    "So, wanna race down the hill kiddo~?" She asked him teasingly, the kit not catching the slightly teasing undertone in her message, just answering with a squeaking ''Yeah!'' as another chance to use his sled was presented.


    Riley couldn''t help but chuckle at his genuine excitement, quickly resuming her assault on the reheated pizza in front of her, taking a moment to inspect the other kinds strewn around the table in various stages of consumption:


    The ones the two younger kits were slowly taking care of looked plain enough- Timmy''s the bare minimum of what is even considered a pizza, with Lily''s not too dissimilar if having a lot more slices of various veggies, pepper, onion, sweetcorn, mushrooms... fine, veggies with an asterisk.


    Ella seemed to be sharing her favorite pizza with Riley- or more probably simply not really knowing what to get her so she just went for what she herself liked, hoping it''d work out. Well it did, all the different ingredients looking unusual on the surface by their own, but working out surprisingly well once combined.


    Andrew''s on the other hand looked almost as weird less by the virtue of having too much different stuff on it and more so because Riley just had no idea what these yellow, almost fruity-looking chunks were.


    But considering that her big bro seemed to be enjoying it just fine, she thought she''d bother him about that on another occasion.


    As for Rick''s, well, it was already gone and disappeared by the time Riley took a look, but she did remember a bit of chicken, a lot of spicy peppers, and some red, smoky sauce.


    The mere sight was enough to make her tongue sting.


    Fortunately, by the time she''d finished cataloging all the treats around her, most everyone had wrapped up their portions, Riley joining them herself with a couple large bites, crunching loudly as she cleaned up the crust.


    The only one left was Timmy, after all there''s only so much pizza you can eat per minute with all the excitement and the... absence of a sufficiently large mouth.


    His big sister wasted no time in dashing upstairs and gearing herself up for the cold outside, the stylish jacket she''d grabbed on Thursday plenty sufficient for the nearly spotless pale sky outside and plenty of fluffy snow.


    Add onto that the warm dark pants, the thick white scarf and rainbow hat she got from Ella, some slightly thicker shoes... heck yeah, she was rocking it.


    Which wasn''t really something she was used to thinking about, the new realization making Riley walk up to her mirror and give herself a closer look.


    And yeah, she did look good, good in a way she never really remembered, or even considered herself looking ever before. Not really fashionable or anything, that never really interested her in any real regard, but just... feeling good with how she looked.


    Not ashamed anymore.


    And she was fucking staying that way.


    With a determined nod, she grabbed her sleek glasses and slid them on, rolling her shoulders as she instinctively tapped her right pocket, the absence of her knife making her freeze in place briefly before she dashed back into her room to pull the well-worn switchblade out of the pocket of yesterday''s pair, taking a deep breath now that it was where it should be.


    As she said, she was staying that way!


    With her confidence reaffirmed, she strutted downstairs, only to find Timmy still mulling through the crust of his last slice, the sight baffling her for a good moment before she spoke up-


    "Why didn''t you leave the last slice for later Timmy?" She asked uncertainly as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around the kit, the slightly annoyed kit answering-


    "Because I wanted to have pizza!"


    "But you can have the rest of the pizza later when your tummy isn''t as full anymore."


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "But I wanted it now!" There was a clear hint of frustration in his voice as he slowly resolved the conflict between his head wanting more of the rare treat and his tummy not particularly wanting much of anything right now.


    As serious as the kit''s attitude was towards his little breakfast mishap, his sister was definitely more on the amused side, hiding a smirk before she noticed Ella doing something around the kitchen, still dressed quite homely.


    It was only then when she realized she was a bit... overzealous with her excitement about going out to the playground.


    "Oh Riley, you''re gonna cook yourself in all that in here. I''m just setting the oven to low for the fish before I''ll start getting ready myself." Skunk mom spoke up as she caught Riley already geared up for the winter outside, the latter nodding a bit dumbfounded before she got an idea for what she could do during that time...


    "Hmm, maybe I can head out there and you''ll all catch up in a bit?" The plan was as simple as it was sweet- use all that soft and fluffy snow to make a few snow-skunks and one snow-Riley to show off to the rest of the family before they caught up.


    Just something simple as a sign of affection.


    "Sure I suppose, whattcha planning?" Ella grabbed Timmy''s plate as he''d finally finished eating, sliding it into the dishwasher as Riley responded-


    "Oh, just so I don''t cook myself like you said." Riley managed to turn her mom''s words against herself, making her giggle before admitting-


    "Alright, ya got me there, heh. We shouldn''t be more than ten or fifteen minutes behind, hopefully." She chuckled and looked knowingly at Timmy who was slowly climbing upstairs, before turning back towards Riley and sending her off with a firm nod.


    The girl wasted none of her small advantage, sliding the gloves on and taking off into a slow jog down the path behind their house, the cold waking her up fully and only adding to her determination.


    The large abandoned playground was in the same state as she''d left it behind last time, only with even more snow covering most everything up, the firm, fluffy kind that was just perfect for throwing at people and for erecting their monuments.


    Riley bit her lip and dashed right in, quickly grabbing a handful of fluff and pressing it into a tight ball before laying it back down on all the fluff and starting to roll it.


    The snowball quickly gathered more and more mass as she pushed it on, ending up easily almost a couple feet across by the time it was large enough, suitable to serve as the base of one of the adults.


    Now just to roll like a dozen more and she''d be set.


    Each ball took longer and longer as the continued effort took its toll on her, Riley panting loudly by the time she''d finished the second adult, the pair of snow statues almost her height.


    Alright, four to go. And then all the sticks and stones to make the faces and limbs out of. And tails, also important.


    Still, the couple of snow-skunks already in front of her looked well enough, especially with the lil'' snouts and rounded earsies she''d added.


    Riley admired her efforts so far as she took deep breaths, taking a moment to gather some more strength to keep on rolling and have something to show for herself, ears ringing a bit.


    It was only then when she heard shuffling steps a fair bit behind herself, the sudden intrusion making her freeze as her hand slid into her pocket, all the jolliness evaporating in an instant once she heard a man speak up a few meters behind her.


    "Riley Williams?"


    She flinched at hearing her old name as her body tensed up even more, girl''s mind racing at an impossible speed as another realization only added to her shock-


    There was nobody who should even know of her old name anymore. They were all either gone, in jail, dead, or presumably making their way over here.


    And the man behind her was obviously none of those.


    "Who are you!?" Riley spat out as she started to turn around, the grip on her knife tight.


    What transpired next happened much too fast for her to get a full picture of until much, much too late. There was a glimpse of a striped tail she knew so well by now,


    And the next thing she knew, she was reeling back and throwing up onto the pristine snow, remnants of an eaten pizza painfully evacuating themselves from her stomach.


    She felt like she''d just been baptized in liquid fire, almost every sense hurting with a burning pain so intense she wanted to scream her lungs out- before a hacking, retching cough cut her off, her throat seemingly refusing to take in any more air.


    Her sinuses felt like they were being stabbed with a burning knife at the reek so powerful, she had a hard time even comprehending it as an actual smell through all the pain. Her skin prickled painfully as her eyes clenched themselves shut, leaking bitter tears at the stinging so intense it felt like her eyes were melting.


    Riley was scared, so utterly afraid, at the sudden pain all over her face and airways, at the man who''d appeared out of nowhere just to hurt her like that, afraid of why would he do such a thing.


    With all her sapped strength she flung herself backwards, away from the aggressor, trying to get away from all the sudden pain- but it refused to let go, sticking to her relentlessly.


    Riley swatted at her face, tossing the glasses away as she tried to rub at her stinging eyes, retching and whining at the chemical assault, almost too preoccupied with all her other senses being set ablaze to hear the quiet shifting of snow as her assailant closed the distance on her.


    Almost.


    Fueled by instinct and any remaining willpower she could muster, she blindly pulled the knife out of her pocket with her right hand as she covered her face with her left, forcing an angry grunt out of herself as she turned around and started slashing at random.


    She pushed herself on in her blind outburst, the brief feeling of triumph at landing a hit on the wanker''s arm, confirmed with his sudden, painful grunt, managing to eclipse her overwhelmed senses for just a moment.


    At least before he responded back, a full force punch to the side of her head laying Riley out flat and definitely crunching something inside, a pathetic whine escaping her lips as she curled up on her freezing cold bed, bloodstained switchblade ending up a couple feet from her.


    She heard him walk up closer still, her frail body shaking in fear at his every step until the man was standing tall over her. He muttered out something that froze the blood in her veins, his voice heated but with a noticeable tinge of doubt in it-


    "Bruce sends his regards."


    If her throat would have let her gasp in shock, she probably would''ve done it there and then, while she still had whatever was left of her breath, before it was violently kicked out of her- an intense pain flaring up in her chest as the thug''s boot connected with it.


    Between the burning and the strong kick, her airways felt completely blocked, Riley gasping for air harder and harder in panic as she realized she was unable to draw any at all.


    She writhed on the freezing ground in more pain and fear than she could ever remember feeling, the cold reality that she could very well die there and then, alone and suffering, lighting what was left of her strength, the girl finally managing to take in a pained breath just as another stomp connected with her chest, a sudden burst of sharp, stabbing pain inside her finally forcing out a tormented scream out of her.


    The pain was getting too much, Riley''s awareness threating to leave her before yet more torment forced her further awake, something cracking in her right wrist as it was stomped on, the girl choking as she tried to gasp in pain.


    Why did someone do this to her...


    Her mental fortitude was spent, the poor girl just giving up with a barely audible whine as the burning hot pain in her head, throat, and chest struggled against the freezing cold of the world outside, a metallic taste managing to push itself onto the forefront of her mind despite the bitter oil coating her tongue.


    Her blood.


    She was dying.


    She could only wait for the aggressor to continue hurting her before a loud, horrified scream managed to eclipse her torment for just a moment, pushing itself into her consciousness.


    "RILEY!?"


    It was Rick, sounding so much more scared than he ever did, than a man like him should ever sound like. His voice was distant, but thankfully just its presence was enough to scare the man who attacked her, the creep running off with a mortified ''Shit!''.


    Rick screamed again as he ran towards her, his rapid dash through the snow lighting an ember of hope in her, before it was taken away from her right afterwards, the stabbing pain in her chest returning with vengeance as she sputtered out some more blood.


    He almost crashed into the snow in front of her, landing on his knees and pulling her in closely, every move hurting more in more in her chest, Riley in too much pain to respond with anything except for quiet whines and sobs as he spoke-


    "Riley, please, stay with me, STAY WITH ME!" He was panicking only a bit less than his daughter as he reached in to lift her up, Riley''s body laying almost limply in his arms.


    She tried to move, to hold onto him- but her body refused, limbs numb from the cold and unwilling to move from the pain, Riley only able to focus on her more and more strained breathing with an occasional squeak of pain.


    Her dad quickly stood up and turned in the direction he came from, only letting out a scared, almost shrieking call before taking off in the other direction-


    "ELLA, CALL THE AMBULANCE TO THE ORPHANAGE, NOW!"


    He ran, ran like mad, holding onto his daughter as firmly as he could, just as she tried to mentally hold onto him as the pained warmth inside her turned into a bitter, alarming coldness that seemed to be spreading through her body, all the pain growing... numb...


    No, no, NO!


    She squealed in pain as she tried to focus, focus on Rick''s steps, his ragged breaths, anything to keep herself awake and breathing.


    "Riley, please, stay with me, stay with me, e-everything''s gonna be alright, JUST STAY WITH ME FOR GOD''S SAKE!" His voice cracked hard at the end as he sped up even more, exhaustion mixing with panic and an occasional dry cough of his own.


    As hard as she tried, she felt her mind slipping away, opening her still burning eyes in desperation just to give herself, a little bit more time despite all the pain that came with it.


    She felt the numbing cold tug at her, trying to pull her into its silent, endless embrace, the offer of comfort gnawing at her, luring her in...


    NO!


    Not now, not fucking ever!


    Just breathe, just fucking breathe.


    The freezing cold spread in her faster and faster, making her focus all the mental power she had left on holding onto his arm with her hurting hand, the pain keeping her awake just that bit more.


    Just a bit longer, please...


    A surge of warm relief washed over her as she heard the distant sounds of an ambulance siren, Rick shouting painfully in exertion as he pushed himself further on, as far as he could or even more, if it just meant she''d be alright.


    The loud whining of the siren rung louder and louder still, Riley''s fading consciousness muffling it out harder and harder, a brief jolt of subconscious terror as Rick stumbled onto the pavement pushing her on just that bit closer, an array of distant determined voices joining him.


    The cold had almost taken her over completely, barely any pain, barely anything left. She only felt him stop and her body be moved upwards, unable to hear anything anymore, all the voices muffled and distorted beyond comprehension, as only numb cold remained.


    And then, there was nothing more.

 Chapter 31: Ascent

    "R-Riley, is everything alright?" Lily''s timid words took her big sister out of her daze, Riley shuddering a bit from the memories she recalled before pulling the kit into a closer embrace with her one working arm.


    "Y-yeah, j-just... bleh, wish I didn''t remember, heh." Riley''s light tone elevated the mood, Lily chuckling a bit in response before deepening her hug.


    "W-we were so scared..." The younger sister whispered as she nuzzled the older one, god it felt so good to hold her again.


    "S-so was I, but i-it''s gonna be alright s-sis, I promise." Her voice sounded hoarse, all the speaking made her throat ache from disuse, making her speak up in the direction of the doctor she assumed was still there-


    "C-can I get some water?"


    "Of course." The older man responded, Riley hearing running water followed by steps in her direction, Lily scuttling a bit further away as the doctor pressed the cup into Riley''s hand.


    She almost emptied it in one long gulp, shuddering at how wonderfully good it felt to finally hydrate her throat once more.


    Afterwards she tried to move her arm in the direction of the night table she assumed was there, unfortunately missing it by a couple feet before Lily took the cup from her hand, the annoyance pushing itself to the forefront of her mind-


    "W-why a-am I blindfolded?"


    "We had to rinse your eyes out as part of initial decontamination, and the chemical we use for it is sadly UV sensitive, so until your eyes finish flushing it away, they have to be shielded from light. By tomorrow morning we should be ready to take the dressings off." The doctor explained clinically, Riley shaking as she realized what she was being decontaminated from, a sensation of somewhere between awkwardness and nausea filling her as she tried to imagine the scene.


    "W-what about t-the rest of th-these..." She moved her good hand around her body, touching the casts and bandages she could feel.


    "The brace under your chest will help your broken ribs heal, the neck brace is for pain after the impact to the side of the face, and the hand cast is for the broken wrist, and is the one that will probably have to stay on for the longest." Riley listened calmly to the doctor''s words, subconsciously nodding along. She tried to get a feel of her hand as he mentioned the cast, and regretted it immediately, the sharp pain making her wince audibly.


    "I advise not moving your right hand for a while. Out of all your injuries it''s the one I''m concerned about the most, since some nerve damage has occurred, and you will most likely require physical therapy to regain its full utility."


    That... did not sound good in the slightest.


    "But I w-will be able t-to use it, right?" Riley asked nervously, Lily noticing the tension and sliding closer in the meantime, wrapping her arms around her big sis.


    "Definitely, it may take a while, but you''ll certainly regain full functionality. And that''s the worst of it, while the rest of your injuries did require intense care and a couple surgeries, you''re past them now, and assuming no further complications all there''s left to do is rest and heal."


    The words got a shared sigh of relief out of both sisters, Riley pulling Lily that much closer in with her good hand and nuzzling her cheek, the atmosphere lightening significantly.


    Especially after the younger sister not managing to hold in a lil'' yawn, Riley giggling in response as she reached to scritch her head-


    "See, told you it''s gonna be alright."


    Loud steps from outside the room interrupted Lily before she even had a chance to respond, door to Riley''s room opening soon after, followed by a very annoyed sounding Rick-


    "Lily, why didn''t you take your phone with your-" Before being cut off suddenly, Riley hearing the tiniest of gasps that followed his words, responding in confusion-


    "Dad?"


    For a long while nobody said anything, and with Lily having been jolted back onto her feet by Rick''s arrival, Riley didn''t exactly had much of an idea of what was happening in her vicinity.


    She really disliked that feeling.


    "What''s going on?" Her follow-up question at least seemed to have some effect, her ears catching a few very quiet steps, both towards and away from her, which didn''t clarify anything on their own, but combined with the cold that emanated from her right and light shuffling sounds it let her paint an uncertain mental scene.


    And she wasn''t sure if she liked it.


    "Rick?" She asked softly to the side where the cold emanated from, a couple of light sniffles only adding more confusion to the pot.


    She heard him take a breath and then another, the grown man unable to force out any words for a good while before finally breaking down-


    "R-R-Riley, I-I a-am s-so s-s-sorry I-I-I-" He sounded so messed up, the cracking in his voice creeping Riley out before all the intense, overwhelming sadness and regret came through, the girl''s expression shifting to concern as she cut him off-


    "Y-you''ve literally nothing to be sorry for dad, what''s wrong?" She pushed back at his despair, raising her tone.


    "I-I-I-I c-c-couldn''t p-p-pr-"


    "You- you saved my life!" Riley snapped back, feeling him lean back in response, nervousness only further intensifying in his voice-


    "I-I-I''m s-sor-"


    That was enough for her.


    With a painful grunt she shifted herself closer to his side of the bed, chest aching as she twisted herself to reach her arm behind where she thought he was and pull him in closer, as close as she could.


    "Shut the fuck up Rick. I''m fine, I''m glad to see you, and you didn''t do anything wrong, understood?" Riley''s voice was pointed and deliberate, her good arm exerting itself as it held her dad as closely as she could manage in her exhaustion, quick ''No''s cutting him off whenever he tried to speak up in protest.


    And fortunately, he finally got the message a few tries later, his body slowly relaxing as he extended his arms in return, gently wrapping them around Riley and calming down, the girl softly smiling in response and whispering out-


    "I love you so much dad."


    They rested in their embrace for a few moments longer, Rick responding equally quietly before slowly lifting himself up-


    "I love you too Riley, so much. B-before we let you sleep, guess we should give the good news to everyone else eh?" He spoke with a soft chuckle, voice still wavering a bit, but no longer outright panicking, followed up by a few audible beeps before he spoke again-


    "Hey sweetie? Y-yes, I''m at the hospital- y-yes, Lily''s alright, guess she was taking a walk at the time or something- yes, we''re heading home soon-" At which point Riley felt a slight tap on her shoulder, followed by the phone being pressed into her hand, letting out the quietest chuckle as she realized Rick''s plan, hearing Ella''s words as she obliviously continued her response-


    "-ably be fine, we have some potatoes left and can fix something up with them. Any updates on Riley?" Her tone was tired and dejected, especially the last part which in particular sounded like she was just waiting for something in the vein of ''she''s fine, no changes''.


    After suppressing a giggle, Riley responded softly, hardly able to hide the laughter in her voice-


    "Oh, she''s doing alright."


    Riley had never listened more intently to anything in her life than to Ella''s response in this second and a half before she almost shouted back-


    "RILEY!?"


    Ouch, shouldn''t have held the phone so close to her head.


    "In flesh and bandages." She answered with a quip, the surprised happiness in her mom''s response making her voice soften as she followed up moments later-


    "Hey mom. I''m- I''m so happy to hear you again."


    "Goodness sweetie, I-I''m-" She couldn''t even finish her sentence, trailing off into an elated squeak that made her daughter burst into giggles despite the complaints from her chest-


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    "I love you too mom, haha."


    "Oh sweetie, I-I- god, I wish I was there; you wouldn''t get me off of you, h-heh..." Riley could fear her voice tremble in sheer excitement, and definitely wished for the same thing right now, never enough soft hugs...


    "Maybe y-you can all visit tomorrow?" Riley brought up, a soft yawn trailing her words underlining just how late it already was.


    "Oh there is no force in hell that would''ve made us NOT visit, hah. Wanna talk a bit with the boys before I let you go?"


    "Definitely. Something tells me they could both use the good news." She took a deep breath as her mom stopped talking, muted steps making her giddy in anticipation.


    She heard a soft creak of a door opening, followed up by Ella''s very quiet ''sweetie?'' and some even more muted speech-like noises from further away, before her mom spoke again in the background-


    "So, dad has something to tell you about Riley, she''s getting better!"


    The resultant squeak was most definitely Timmy''s, and so were the quick taps of his steps as he ran up to his mom, a wide smile creeping up on Riley''s face as she heard him ask excitedly-


    "Dad, is Riley better now!?"


    "Oh, she defini-"


    "RILEY RILEY RILEY!" The tyke cut her off before she had even finished her sentence, the adorableness of it all making her join in on the fun-


    "TIMMY TIMMY TIMMY!"


    And after they had both calmed down from their respective laughs, her lil'' bro could finally respond-


    "Riley you''re alright I''m so happy! Can we come see you tomorrow please please please?" He was almost squeaking by now, many tippy taps clearly audible in the background.


    "Of course! Goodness I can''t wait to see you all again, haha..." She chuckled weakly, the string of ''YAY!''s that followed in response only widening her smile even further.


    She reached out to take a sip from the cup on the bedside table, throat aching a fair bit from the continued chatter, before his follow up made her really regret it-


    "Do you still stink?"


    Oh you, Timmy.


    Not like Ella was any better here, the innocent question making her laugh hysterically in the background.


    After calming her throat down from the choking cough it had just been subjected to, she could finally respond-


    "No Timmy, I very much don''t anymore!" Her tone amused, with the tiniest hint of embarrassment to go along with it.


    "Oh that''s good. You stunk really bad!"


    Don''t need to be reminded of that.


    "Yeah yeah yeah, so funny. Could you pass the phone to Andy so he knows too?" She couldn''t even pretend to be grumpy here but was more so afraid that one more comment like that would make her embarrassed blush burn off the bandages on the side of her head.


    "Yes yes yes!" She heard him run out of his room much to the ongoing amusement of Ella, her heavier steps following Timmy''s before they seemingly both knocked on Andrew''s door simultaneously, anxiously awaiting a response.


    After a long moment of nothing happening, Riley''s excitement shifted into concern, the girl listening intently as Ella knocked on the door once more, asking slowly, a hint of dread in her voice-


    "Andrew?"


    All three listened closely, a freezing cold fear creeping up on Riley before a sound of a lock being open broke through it, followed up by a very quiet, heartbroken voice-


    "Y-y-yes mom?"


    She heard the phone being passed over and Andrew''s shallow breath that followed, speaking up loud and clear-


    "Andrew, I''m here, I''m alright, how are you doing?" Her tone ended up firmer than she intended it to sound, certainly not expecting her brother to... break down into sobs, some additional sounds of shuffling and thumping only muddling the scene more as she listened to him cry.


    Soon he was joined by Ella trying to calm him down with very quiet ''shhhh''s, and Timmy''s confused question, his voice deflated-


    "Andy, w-why are you crying?"


    The big bro''s shaky sniffs quieted out over the next few moments as his breathing deepened out, Andrew taking a while before finally speaking up-


    "R-Riley... g-g-goodness I-I-I w-was so s-scared..." He whimpered out, followed by a couple of more shaky sobs, his sister really wishing she was there to hold him.


    "I understand A-Andy, but it''s all fine now, I-I promise. Everything''s g-gonna be alright, okay?" She said softly, trying to calm down her brother as much as herself.


    "M-m-mhmm. I-I''m s-sorry f-for-" She wasn''t listening to any of this again, her hand gripping the phone tightly as she cut him off-


    "No. Don''t be sorry for anything Andrew, it''s all fine now." Riley responded firmly, her tone leaving no room for disagreement.


    Doesn''t mean Andrew didn''t try, however-


    "B-b-but-"


    "No buts, please. I know how scary it all was, a-and still is, b-but please d-don''t blame yourself f-for anything, alright? I-it''s all gonna be fine, I promise." She pleaded with him, his painful squeak in response giving her a nasty feeling that something more was at play here than she could hear, but she decided not to push it.


    Riley listened to Andrew slowly calm down from his painful sadness, eventually hearing him ''mhm'' in response, following with a couple more sniffs and a few quiet words-


    "I... th-thank you sis." Gratitude dripped from his voice, his words followed up with more shuffling sounds, the breaths that made up the background ambiance growing louder.


    "You''re welcome Andrew. Now get some sleep, h-heh..." Riley responded softly, the tension leaving her system leaving her suddenly very tired.


    "I-I will sis, w-we all will, and so sh-should you."


    "Oh I''m falling asleep already, j-just hoping I can last until the end of this call haha." She focused as hard as she could on Andrew''s words to not doze off yet, hearing only a faint giggle and his parting sentence before loud beeps informed her it was over-


    "Not g-gonna force you awake for any l-longer then, Sleep well Riley!" He didn''t even let her say her goodbyes before hanging up on her, a moment of confusion turning into soft laughter as Riley lifted the phone up in the air to return it to Rick, adding something herself once he took it back-


    "If they''re still awake when you get home, tell them I said, ''Sleep well''."


    She heard him chuckle faintly, followed by a few steps around the room and a brief sound of exertion before he responded-


    "I will Riley. Sleep well yourself sweetie."


    As he was about to leave, Riley heard Lily mumble something out from where he was standing, her dad gently lowering her younger sister down onto her feet before she heard quieter steps staggering over to her bedside, followed by a gentle hug.


    "T-take care Riley, al-*yawn*?" Lily''s voice was sleepy and dazed, her big sister holding her in closer and nuzzling her on the cheek a bit before responding-


    "I will Lily. Sleep well sweetie, you could definitely use it, teehee."


    And a handful of louder and quieter steps later they were gone, the doctor that had stayed behind asking quietly-


    "Do you need anything before I leave you for the night Riley?"


    She thought for a moment as she struggled not to fall asleep quite yet, before reaching over for the cup of water-


    "S-some more water please."


    And with the cup refilled, the doctor turned off the lights and left the room, the sudden darkness forcing her asleep before she even had a chance to take a sip.


    ***


    Despite her injuries, Riley slept better than she had in days, light muted by the window blinds and her bandages letting her sleep for as long as she wanted to undisturbed, the girl gradually waking up on her own.


    Not too long afterwards she heard someone enter her room, lifting her arm a bit to make it clear she was awake now.


    The movement definitely got a surprised noise out of the nurse, who quickly collected herself before continuing-


    "Oh goodness, you''re awake. Did you only wake up this morning? My chart didn''t mention any changes with you."


    "N-no, yesterday, but I g-guess it was already quite late by then." Riley answered calmly, the nurse letting out a loud ''Oh!'' before responding-


    "Oh, so it was you I heard about this morning, didn''t put two and two together earlier it seems. I don''t have breakfast with me but I''ll grab it for you soon, now I''ll just take care of your dressings, alright?" She spoke matter-of-factly as she walked up to Riley''s bed, stopping and waiting before doing anything more.


    "Y-yeah, sure." Not like Riley had much of a choice here, leaning back on her bed and pulling both arms from under the covers.


    The nurse wordlessly went through the bandages that needed to be taken care of, the occasional stinging of the wounds being cleaned or exposed to air making Riley wince slightly before they were patched back up.


    Afterwards, she heard a drawer being slid open next to her and something pulled out, followed by the nurse walking over to her right arm and injecting something into... something she couldn''t either see or feel, the action confusing her for an instant before she felt a wave of warmth spread over her body, getting rid of aching that she''d since tuned out as she slept, making her feel so refreshed.


    The nurse chuckled at her quiet moan in response to the healing warmth before taking a moment to speak up-


    "Alright, I''m gonna remove your eye bandage now. It''ll probably take a while to adjust to the light afterwards and for all the stinging to fully subside, no harm in keeping your eyes closed until then."


    Riley nodded approvingly, trying to keep herself still at feeling the nurse''s paws on her head as she took off the wrappings, the pressure on her eyelids being lifted soon after, the darkness lighting up a bit.


    "Alright, took them off. I''m gonna grab your breakfast now while you try to get used to the light, aight?" The nurse didn''t wait for an answer, leaving her room soon after, and Riley alone in it.


    Opening eyes, attempt on-


    Ow ow ow ow that stung something nasty, Riley regretting ever thinking of seeing again, covering her eyes with her left arm in response.


    Attempt two?


    Still unpleasant, but she did manage to lift her eyelids halfway though, even if all she could see was the palm of her hand.


    Progress.


    After blinking some of the burning away, she slowly slid her arm out of in front of her, unpleasant prickling making her tear up a bit as she finally took in the room she spent the last couple of days in.


    There wasn''t really that much to see, whiteness dominating her blurry sight as she looked around. White, sterile walls, white door to her right, white bandages on her arm, surprisingly green covers and window blinds, almost the whole rainbow in here.


    The sight of all the tubes coming out of the fancy thingie in her cast made her briefly confused before seeing the IV and blood bags attached to it, the sight of so much of the dark red liquid making her just a teensy bit queasy, motivating her to give her eyes a bit of a rest.


    Sadly, it was not to be, her door opening soon after, the nurse walking in with a small gray tray, Riley''s eyes forcing themselves shut before she could see her slide the overbed table over.


    "Don''t push yourself too hard, your eyes will feel better sooner or later, no need to strain them." The nurse advised as she set the tray down, setting the utensils straight before dusting off her paws.


    A lil'' glimpse later Riley had determined the contents of the tray to consist of some mildly appealing toast and even less mildly appealing scrambled eggs, the smells suggesting them to be completely unseasoned.


    And another plastic cup of water.


    Seeing no point in waiting for the nurse to leave, Riley winced painfully before remembering to use her left hand for a while, her grip on the fork so shaky she had doubts as to whether any of the white-yellow mass would actually make it into her mouth.


    A few minutes of slow shoveling later, Riley realized the nurse hadn''t actually left her room, making her look up at her with tearing eyes, unspoken question answered as the nurse spoke up with a detached tone-


    "Just waiting for you to finish so that I can take your tray away and let the guys outside in."


    Riley couldn''t help but smile in response, happy to hear that they were here already, looking forwards to finally seeing, well, everyone again.


    "Dunno if I''d be as excited in your place..." The nurse muttered out quietly, her tone unusually doubtful.


    "Why so?" Riley snapped right back, confusion grinding her brain to a halt. She briefly considered the possibility that the nurse was being a shitty human, but a quick glance at her rust-colored fur scrapped that hypothesis, before her follow-up answered all the questions the wrong way-


    "Cops would be the last thing I''d want to see come in if I was lying in a hospital bed."

 Chapter 32: Pieces

    The nurse''s answer sent a cold shock down Riley''s spine, a loud gulp leaving her throat as she slowly turned to look at the door.


    "Yeah..." The girl admitted as her throat constricted around her, making eating that much harder.


    Especially with her hands trembling.


    "Hey, don''t worry hun, they definitely aren''t gonna take you anywhere, you''re still much too rattled for that. I don''t think they''re even armed." Nurse tried to calm her down as she glanced out the room, Riley taking a shaking breath as she finally finished her plate, eggs feeling uneasy in her stomach.


    The sliminess didn''t help her anxiety any.


    With the cup of water downed the nurse grabbed the tray and went for the door, exchanging a couple words with a pair of gruff voices before the corresponding cops walked in, greeting the girl with deep nods as one of them spoke up-


    "Good morning miss, we''re from Duluth PD. Sorry for what''d happened to you, we just want to collect your testimony to help with the criminal case against your attacker, that alright?"


    As if she had a choice.


    "Sure..." She muttered out after a while, scuttling deeper into her bed as the cops pulled the chairs over to her bed and sat down, entrapment making her squirm internally.


    One of them pulled out a pocket notebook and clicked his pen a couple times as the other prepared a voice recorder, giving each others a go ahead with light nods before the one with the notebook spoke up once more-


    "Can you describe what had happened on the day of your assault?"


    "Sure, I suppose..."


    In way too much detail.


    ***


    All of which she was asked to provide.


    Riley''s unease steadily rose throughout the interview, the girl nervously staring up at the sluggishly ticking arms of the clock, trying to distract herself from the surfacing memories and associated sensations.


    The two weirdly enough appeared unphased when she''d told them of Bruce''s involvement, a detail that mostly escaped her as she quietly prayed for the questioning to finally end, which it eventually finally did, thank god.


    Just as she was done shaking off the reprise of all the horrible sensations from that day and preparing for the cops to finally leave her alone, the previously silent one caught her attention again with another question-


    "So, any questions Riley? You probably have so many questions, what with being out cold for a couple days and all."


    Can you two piss off already?


    "N-not really, I don''t think. M-maybe the motive I suppose..." She looked to the side, some curiosity managing to push through her general distaste towards the situation.


    "From what we could gather, it''s just money, got paid some up front and promised the rest afterwards. We couldn''t find anything that would suggest a crime of passion." The officer explained matter-of-factly, a seed of confusion planted in Riley''s mind before she asked once more-


    "How much?"


    "Seems to have been five hundred dollars, altho we still have to interrogate Bruce."


    Riley did an auditory equivalent of a double take at the amount, the number striking her as... rather minuscule compared to the severity of the crime.


    "Just five hundred upfront?"


    "Five hundred in total, half of that upfront."


    She wasn''t sure if she would even punch someone for that amount.


    "That''s... less than I expected." Riley couldn''t help but admit, an uneasy smirk sliding onto her face as she briefly considered the possibility that the guy was just that dumb as to agree to something like that- before being wiped as more doubts sprouted up.


    This just didn''t make sense.


    "Isn''t it? Hence why we looked as hard as we could for any additional reasoning, something personal- but couldn''t find a thing." She didn''t expect the cops to share in her confusion, uncertainty continuing to grow inside her skull.


    She took a few moments just nodding idly as she tried to process the whole thing, a box of puzzles with only the borders and none of the center filling.


    "W-with the way you said it I assume you''ve already caught him?" She muttered out soon after, voice still deep in thought.


    "Not even caught." The cop chuckled out, the other one joining in soon after, laughter feeling almost like it was mocking her for not getting what they meant.


    "He''d turned himself in not two hours after it''d happened." He''d clarified a few moments later upon seeing Riley''s expression, making whatever pieces Riley''s mind thought it had of the big picture burn up into ashes.


    Nothing about that made sense.


    "Anything else you wanted to ask before we get going?" The words didn''t manage to take her out of her daze, Riley only responding with a slight shake of her head, still baffled over all this as the cops left her room.


    Didn''t even bother to close the door behind themselves, the douches.


    The brief moment of indignation took her mind out of the circle it was running its fastest in, ultimately coming up with absolutely nothing.


    And she couldn''t even get privacy, noises from the corridor making it hard for her to relax even after she gave up on trying to start her thinking engine again.


    How swell.


    A few minutes of laying awkwardly afterwards she finally decided to take *an* action, even if just to be able to try to take a nap in relative peace until everyone showed up.


    Trying to get off the bed was surprisingly painful even in places where she didn''t get hurt at all, her legs almost sliding out from under her completely when she tried to put any weight on them.


    At least she didn''t fall over completely, one arm supporting itself on the bed and the other clinging onto the IV pole providing her at least the illusion of stability.


    She was much too close to that for comfort, sore legs needing a good moment to just be able to support her frail self, and then another one to figure out how to walk.


    Easy there, easy-


    And just as she was about to reach the destination of her ill-fated journey the door was opened wide open, the nurse from earlier walking in nonchalantly, holding something that looked like paper in her paw as she opened her mouth to speak, words getting stuck as she got a look at Riley, a question brought up immediately-


    "Do you need to use the toilet?"


    The question sure took Riley out of the left field, the girl standing there for what felt like minutes as she processed the words, trembling like a dried leaf all the while.


    "N-n-no, just w-wanted to c-close the door..." She admitted quietly, the nurse quickly adding two and two together with an irritated groan before helping Riley stagger back to her bed, mouthing obscenities towards the cops under her breath all the while.


    Once the girl was comfortably laid to bed the nurse shook off her irritation with a deep breath, returning to a soft smile as she picked up the papers from where she''d left them and walked up to Riley, informing her softly-


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "So, you''ve got a handful of cards while you were out, want me to help with the opening?"


    Riley didn''t expect the kind gesture, a hint of a blush sliding onto her cheeks as she nodded in response, the nurse sliding a chair over before carefully tearing the first envelope often and passing it off to her patient-


    ''''''


    ARTHUR & SOPHIA NELSON


    278 22ND ROAD


    ST. CLOUD MN 56301


    RILEY ASHER


    ST. LUKE''S HOSPITAL


    915E 1ST ST


    DULUTH MN 55805


    ''''''


    Arthur? Sophia?


    The names came up blank as she tried to scour her memory for them, eventually deciding to take a look anyway and see what''s up with it all...


    With some effort her good hand pulled the card out of the opened envelope and spread it open, the front cover full of generic ''Get well soon!'' imagery, coupled with that line written verbatim in a way too flowing font.


    Fortunately, the message inside was much less overly... glittery-


    ''''''


    We''re sorry for what''d


    happened to you and that


    we weren''t able to meet you


    any sooner Riley. What you


    did was so incredibly brave,


    and we''re all proud of you.


    We were too wrapped up in our


    xmas preparations to pay you


    a visit, we''d love to


    correct that someday sweetie.


    Get well soon darling!


    Arthur, Sophia, Nica, Kate,


    Derrick, Eric,


    Caleb, Emma, Red


    with help of their mom,


    Beth, Granny Gwen,


    Grandpa Bob


    Sigs collected with help of


    Caleb <3


    ''''''


    That felt nice.


    A slight smile refused to wash itself off her face as she set the card upright on her bedside table, kind words helping wash away the leftovers of earlier anxiety as the nurse passed her another opened envelope, Riley taking it with a quiet ''thank you'' and inspecting the sender-


    ''''''


    LUCA MARTINEZ


    GRAND RAPIDS FOSTER HOME


    236 SW 9TH AVE


    GRAND RAPIDS MN 55744


    RILEY ASHER


    ST. LUKE''S HOSPITAL


    915E 1ST ST


    DULUTH MN 55805


    ''''''


    Luca!?


    Riley took the card out as fast as her one hand could manage, not even sparing the front cover a glance as she dug in into the message-


    ''''''


    God I wish you were here.


    I got so scared when I heard


    the news, again and again,


    the closure, relocation,


    all the shady things,


    you getting assaulted and hurt.


    I had an inkling


    that someone would harm you in


    revenge for blowing the


    whistle, but I hoped I''d be


    wrong. Please get well Riley.


    I knew it was you ¨ªmmediately.


    Didn''t have a concrete reason,


    but it all struck me very much


    as something you''d be invo?ved


    in.


    I wish I c¨®uld say it was all


    a smooth ride from the get go,


    but it v?ery much wasn''t. So


    much panic, so many tears at


    everyone getting separated and


    sent god knows wher¨¦.


    I can only hope that everyone


    will get over it in time, as


    painful as it all is. Or that


    we''ll be allowed? to somehow


    reunite once the whole thing


    blows over.


    I don''t blame you for any of


    this, I can''t. Oakwood and


    its staff had it all coming


    for a l¨®ng time now,


    I just wish the girls would


    cry less at night.


    Thank yo¨² for what you''ve


    done Riley.


    I hope you''ll get better soon.


    Luca


    & everyone else in GRFH


    ''''''


    That one hurt.


    After wiping a couple of stray tears from her cheeks she set the card down on her covers, unsure of how to feel about it all, feeling just the faintest sting of regret at bringing her orphanage down, oblivious to how it would affect everyone actually in it.


    Still, everyone would get better in the end because of it, right?


    Right?


    "Is everything alright?"


    The nurse''s question brought her out of the panic that has been creeping up on her, Riley only now realizing that the couple of stray tears have grown into couple hundred, her body shaking at everything she took in.


    "Y-yeah, j-j-just... m-may I use t-the bathroom?" Might as well take an out and hopefully get a hold of herself.


    And deal with the bladder.


    "Of course! Just let me grab a wheelchair and I''ll help you out." The nurse wasted no time quickly walking out of the room, giving Riley just enough time to put the card on the table before she walked right back in, holding a contraption of metal and black fabric that she then magically unfolded into an ordinary wheelchair.


    Medicinal wizardry.


    Scrambling her way off the bed and onto her means of locomotion was fortunately much easier this time, the nurse lifting her onto the chair relatively easily.


    Riley still got a good feel of how powerless her legs were as she was sitting down, suddenly feeling very, very thankful that she wouldn''t have to stumble over there on her own.


    She wondered for a while as to what would happen with the IV stand with them leaving the room, the imagery of the entire pole joining them in their mechanical convoy making her chuckle before the nurse just moved the two bags onto an attachment on the wheelchair, the solution certainly convenient if lacking in absurdist department.


    Riley definitely appreciated none of the hospital staff giving her more than a passing glance, despite her eyes still happily tearing up in presence of any more light than the shade they were used to, and that''s without even including sad tears that kept on trickling.


    Nothing going on, move along.


    A minute or so later they finally made their way into the bathroom, lacking the stalls Riley subconsciously expected, instead proudly displaying one entire porcelain throne, flanked with white hand rails.


    The unspoken question of ''what now'' was immediately answered with the nurse speaking up-


    "Do you need further help?"


    Oh no no no I''m good.


    "I-I''m good, don''t worry." Riley answered nervously before breathing a sigh of relief, the nurse thankfully closing the door behind her without any further questions.


    And then she realized she still had a couple meters to go between herself and the toilet.


    Go go Riley wheelcha- oh fuck that took a lot more effort than she thought it would, even when taking only being able to use just one hand into consideration, but she had finally reached the throne.


    The sink was thankfully within an arm''s range of one of the hand rails, legs cooperating with their owner for long enough to let her wash her good hand and face as well as manage to spin the wheelchair around, Riley''s brain coming up with absolutely nothing else to answer the question of how she would she even turn it around without that.


    But that was done now, and she managed to land her rear back on the black fabric seat.


    Go go Riley wheelchair.


    ***


    If she had to wheel her way back to her room on her own her good arm would have probably just fallen off.


    Thank god for that nurse.


    Not long after she was finally back in her bed, chair taken away back into storage as she snuggled on the soft mattress, feeling much more tired than she''d any right to be.


    Nothing like having your body rattled with a boot, woo.


    The sudden warm comfort brought with it some drowsiness, forcefully banished away by her aching left arm as she reached over for the night stand, grabbing the final envelope that the nurse had opened but not handed to her yet-


    ''''''


    ELIZABETH & MARVIN ASHER


    144 E 4TH ST


    SUPERIOR WI 54880


    RILEY ASHER


    ST. LUKE''S HOSPITAL


    915E 1ST ST


    DULUTH MN 55805


    ''''''


    Liz and Marvin! Maybe they''ll visit as well?


    ''''''


    We hope you''re feeling better


    now sweetie, and are so sorry


    for what''d happened.


    You''re incredibly brave to


    have done what you did sweetie.


    Your mom is definitely proud


    of you, wherever she may be.


    We love you and hope to be able


    to see you soon, sadly Liz caught


    something nasty and is in the


    hospital herself, but she''s


    alright now and will be leaving soon.


    Take care sweetie and have


    a Merry Christmas!


    Marvin & Liz


    ''''''


    Merry Christmas to you too.


    With her spirits warmed up she put the last of the cards up on the bedside, the empty envelopes laying on her lap, a brief thought of getting out to throw them out evaporating as soon as she felt her aching arm and legs, resigning herself to even more of nurse''s help.


    Speak of the angel.


    The nurse wordlessly threw the empty envelopes into the garbage bin, taking a glance at the clock above the door before pulling another ampule out of the drawer and injecting its contents into the same place to which the IV was connected to on Riley''s forearm, all her aches quickly swept away with a wave of warmth.


    God bless drugs.


    The brief wave of euphoria made Riley downright melt on her bed, sinking into the softness of the pillow with a goofy smile on her face, the nurse chuckling quietly as she took a look around, asking for confirmation-


    "Do you need anything else before I head out?"


    "S-some water a-and I''m g-good..."


    The nurse nodded and quickly refilled her cup, Riley speaking up one more time just as she was about to leave-


    "E-excuse me, w-what''s your name?"


    She lifted her eyebrow in response, expression uncertain as she spoke-


    "Lucy?"


    "I... t-thank you Lucy, f-for all your help." Riley''s voice trailed off as she expressed her gratitude, uncertain of the nurse''s response until a warm giggle stilled her fears-


    "You''re welcome Riley, it''s been a pleasure. Take care and get well soon." The gentle smile on Lucy''s face mirrored on Riley''s as she nodded in response, waving weakly as her caretaker left the room, leaving her finally to her own for the first time in a while.


    On her own, free to do... absolutely nothing.


    Guess she could try to nap...


    By the time her brain brought up the possibility of catching some rest after the strenuous task of existing with a beat up body, the rest of her was already well underway in implementing the idea, Riley dozing off less than a couple minutes later, fading off into peaceful snores.


    ***


    "Hey, ''Nana'' does count as a word!"


    "Shhhh!"


    Riley let out a quiet grumble as she shifted her head on her pillow, tendrils of awareness sneaking themselves into her sleeping mind.


    "Timmy, please be quiet, we don''t want to wake up Riley."


    "But why?"


    "She still needs a lot of rest sweetie. Don''t worry, she will wake up and we''ll chat and all as much as you want, but for now she should still sleep, alright?"


    "Fiiiine..."


    Aww Timmy, cmere...


    "Mooom, I''m hungry, can I take one of the candies?"


    "Sweetie, dad will be back with something to eat soon, these are for Riley, remember?"


    "Fiiiine..."


    The hushed chatter had finally wormed its way into her conscious, one of her eyes lazily opening to investigate what was happening in her room.


    Ella and Andrew took the two chairs, Timmy squirming on his mom''s lap as he stared intensely at the Scrabble board laid out on the overbed table, his big brother barely able to hold back a smile at the tyke''s childish frustration, Lily joining in with a small chuckle as she sat on Riley''s bed, tail serving as an impromptu blanket for her sister''s legs.


    Riley kept observing the scene for a few moments longer before Timmy looked in her direction, his eyes locking with her single one as they stared at each other for a while, a wide smile slowly creeping up on her face before the kit blew the lid on their stealthy exchange, shouting happily as he ran up to the side of her bed-


    "RILEY, RILEY!"


    He wasted no time in scrambling up next to her, wrapping his lil'' arms around her as widely as they''d let him, his big sis unable to hold herself from bursting into soft laughter, wrapping her good arm around him in return.


    And then breaking out into more giggling as the rest of the family caught up, the girl fully opening her eyes to the sight of four elated skunks squeezing her as gently and as lovingly as they could manage, responding softly soon after-


    "Hey there everyone, glad to see y''all again."

 Chapter 33: Glee

    "Oh sweetie..." Ella was the first one to speak up, leaning her head in a bit closer as Riley gently nuzzled her in return, the girl''s gentle touch doing wonders for both of them.


    Riley could see faint wetness in the corners of her eyes, and upon a quick glance to the side, also Lily''s and Andrew''s, her smile widening a bit as she tried to calm them down-


    "I''m alright, I promise..."


    Andrew was the first to crack, sniffling quietly as he wrapped his arms around his sis, first few words coming out as little more than sobbing noises before her embrace stilled his anxiety, Riley continuing-


    "And I... love you all so much." Not even she managed to hold back from tearing up some at all the hardly held in emotions in the room, leaning in to rest her cheek on his, hand gently petting his shoulder.


    "We love you too!" Timmy squeaked out from his position, seemingly oblivious to the rest of his family''s tears before wrapping his arms around all his siblings, Lily having since squirmed close enough for the tyke to just barely reach her.


    Riley slowly slid her head across her siblings'' heads, gentle nuzzling succeeding at calming Lily down as well, the girl''s breathing deepening out.


    Everything *was* gonna be alright.


    They rested like this for a few moments, even Timmy remaining quiet as he took in his sister''s touch, a few stray tears from everyone dampening the bed''s covers.


    "How are you feeling sweetie?" Mom softly asked after a while, gathering everyone''s attention as she sat on the edge of the bed, reaching a paw in to gently stroke Riley''s hair, left a fair bit brighter after decontamination.


    "Well, the best I''ve felt since I woke up that''s for sure." Riley responded with a soft chuckle, Andrew''s gentle hug only deepening.


    "And as for the rest, just sore but otherwise roughly fine." She giggled inwardly at her brother loosening his embrace a bit, juuuust in case.


    "What about the hand?" Lily brought up in response, Riley lifting her arm just a bit while trying not to move anything past her forearm, the cast thankfully protecting her from doing anything too painful.


    "I think the doctor mentioned something about... physics therapy?"


    "Physical therapy. Hopefully it''s not gonna be too bad but may take a while." The skunk mom cut in to correct her, Riley opening her mouth to ask a question before being interrupted once more.


    Rick walked right in with a rather filled bag, discussion with the doctor that came in right after making him oblivious to the scene in front of him, at least for a few moments before he realized that Riley was awake, the sight making him stop in his tracks.


    "What did you buy dad!?" Timmy couldn''t hold back his excitement, sliding off Riley''s bed and yanking at the bag his dad held, the latter''s expression sliding from brief surprise and unease to a wide, soft smile.


    "Well, hope the sleepyhead is in the mood for some fried chicken!"


    ***


    And sure enough she was. Even with all its grease, fast food chicken was so much better than... whatever food substitute it was that she actually ate this morning.


    The side effect of everyone having something else to focus on besides Riley''s obvious injuries was also dearly appreciated by pretty much everyone, the atmosphere quickly becoming much less heavy.


    And much more fried chicken-y.


    Arrival of the doctor further calmed everyone down, all worrisome questions answered by someone much more knowledgeable about the broken bits of Riley''s body than the poor girl herself. However, the answer to one last question got everyone particularly excited, Lily audibly squeeing once the doc told the family that Riley could be discharged as early as the day after tomorrow, finding absolutely no opposition to that possibility.


    And neither did Lily and Timmy in trying to scramble onto Riley''s bed with her, the trio eventually managing to scramble into something vaguely comfortable with the tyke on his big sister''s lap, and with help from their parents, she managed to sit back up on the bed, sliding to the side enough for Lily to be able to squeeze in with her, resting her head on her big sis'' shoulder.


    With the bucket of chicken eventually emptied, its spot was once again taken up by the Scrabble board, Timmy busy holding the tiny bag of fries with one paw as the other kept reaching over and composing the words his big sis kept whispering in his ear.


    Lily decided to stay on the sidelines as the rest of the family played on, her tail wrapped around Riley as the latter awkwardly did the same with her bad arm.


    The day passed by slowly, the family game giving everyone some much needed comfort and normalcy, the Ashers playing well into the sunset with nobody really wanting to stop, least of all Riley herself.


    But as the day turned into evening and evening into night, even the most determined siblings started to slowly drop off, Riley taking turns between scritching the sleeping Timmy and Lily as the drowsiness crept up on her too.


    And once even Andrew was too out of it to make a move on his turn, everyone collectively agreed it was time to call it for the day, everyone still awake giving Riley a big ol'' hug and a goodbye before carrying the sleepyheads out of the room.


    A few moments later a very drowsy Ella ran back in, Riley blankly staring at her for a while before the skunk mom finally spoke up-


    "Meant to give you this bag earlier and got caught up in things. Don''t forget to charge it this time, hehee." Ella leaned in to give her still awake daughter a small bag, giggling at her own forgetfulness and planting one last smooch on Riley''s forehead, the girl giggling happily and sending her off with a gentle wave before letting out a massive yawn she''d been keeping in for hours.


    She had to stop herself from passing out immediately upon resting her head back on the pillow, crinkling of the plastic bag snapping her back to more or less awareness.


    One swift motion later, she dumped the contents onto her lap, several very welcome sights making her involuntarily smile. There was her phone, the charger, and a small bag of the peanut butter candy, though her still full tummy immediately opposed her when she tried to grab a couple.


    And perhaps most surprising were her glasses, or at least an identical replacement, snuggled up securely inside their case, the girl suddenly feeling very dumb for just dumping all the contents like that.


    With how little she''d used them, she had a really hard time figuring out whether the glasses were just a replacement or just a result of some... very dark magic needed to somehow get that scent off.


    Probably the former.


    But who knows, maybe its magic.


    With glasses and candy moved onto the bedside stand, she picked her phone up, smiling at seeing it thankfully fully charged.


    And fully filled up with messages, just about everyone outside of her immediate family had the same idea to send her some variation of ''Get well soon!'', sometimes more than once, mostly just Ella''s parents.


    That is, aside from Maddy and around a dozen messages of worrying about her she had accumulated, Riley focusing her entire leftover willpower on somehow typing out a response with just her non-dominant hand, the feat probably enough to earn her a spot in some sort of distinguished afterlife-


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: hi maddy im awake now and have my phone


    Riley Asher: dont worry im fine


    ''''''


    The girl took a deep sigh, hoping it would be enough to at least calm Maddy dow-


    *BZZZT*


    No way...


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Oh God Riley are you alright!?


    ''''''


    Was she staring right at the phone just as Riley had responded or what?


    Weird phone sorcery.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: yeah sore a bit but im awake and well


    Riley Asher: sorry about the date


    Madeline Johnson: Who cares about that, I''m just glad you''re alright


    Madeline Johnson: Really really happy you''re alright


    ''''''


    Riley couldn''t help but smile just a bit at that, feeling warm on the inside at Maddy''s words and care.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: thank you maddy ??


    Madeline Johnson: <3


    Riley Asher: maybe we could try again?


    ''''''


    There was a noticeable pause before she even saw the indicator that Maddy was typing, a hint of concern over accidentally saying something dumb souring her smile a bit before she saw Maddy start typing again, messages popping up just seconds later-


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Yes yes yes


    Madeline Johnson: When are you out of the hospital!?


    Madeline Johnson: And where would you wanna do it?


    ''''''


    She may be just a bit excited.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: day after tomorrow but im free for visits


    Riley Asher: and sitting here is boring as fuck alone


    Riley Asher: so maybe tomorrow?


    Madeline Johnson: That''s


    Madeline Johnson: That''s a great idea, what hour would work for you?


    Riley Asher: any hour i suppose probably early before my family so its not awkward


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Madeline Johnson: How''s ten sound?


    Riley Asher: great


    Madeline Johnson: See you then c:


    ''''''


    It was a date. A hospital date even.


    Despite her sleepiness, the realization still made Riley giddy, making her briefly hold her phone to her chest in an imitation of a hug, the adorable display soon being cut off with yet another yawn, the rest of Riley that wasn''t preoccupied with being gay for Maddy calling out for some well-deserved rest.


    She reluctantly granted herself the wish, phone placed over on the bedside stand before the charger joined it- at least for the few seconds before she accidentally pushed the latter onto the floor, the sudden sound of plastic banging against the vinyl surface derailing any half-conscious plan of action she might have had, making her shrug slightly before turning over onto the other shoulder and finally letting her head rest on the pillow, sleep claiming her before she could even get comfortable.


    Or turn the lights off for that matter.


    ***


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    *snore*


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    *snore*


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    M-mhn...


    Riley stirred around on her bed, trying to blindly reach where she''d normally leave her phone-


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    Except with the wrong hand and in the wrong location, the resulting jolt of pain enough to force her into full awareness, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks at the intensity of her body''s punishment for daring to move her bad hand.


    *BZZZZZZZT*


    As she breathed shallowly and waited for the pain to fade down to a manageable level, the buzzing of her phone had finally caught her attention, the girl shifting awkwardly towards it and just barely reaching it with her better limb, a quick glance at the display making her gulp loudly-


    ''''''


    ????  | ?? 3G+??79% 10:22AM


    --------------------------


    Incoming Call


    Madeline Johnson


    ??         ??


    Decline    Accept


    ''''''


    Fuck.


    The pain took a back seat to the fact that she overslept so badly as she scrambled to finally accept the call, anxiety about Maddy getting pissed at being unintentionally abandoned like that bubbling up as she brought the phone to her ear, trying to defend herself just in case, voice cracking slightly-


    "I-I''m sorry, I-I-I-I-"


    "Riley? Is everything alright?" Maddy responded calmly, the warm concern in her voice stilling the creeping anxiety in Riley''s mind, the girl taking a few moments to gather herself before responding-


    "S-sorry for oversleeping..." Riley squeaked out, shuddering as a couple more tears dropped down onto her covers.


    "Oh don''t be silly, you obviously need rest and I only just got here. O-oh dear, did I wake you up just now?" It was Maddy''s turn to sound slightly sheepish and apologetic, Riley rushing back to reassure her-


    "D-don''t worry, it''s l-late enough a-already, heh..." She chuckled quietly as she looked at the sunlight filling into the room through the slightly opened blinds. Guess they really did stay up quite late yesterday...


    "A-alright. S-so, how does this work? I-I assume I can''t just waltz into your room, right?"


    "Probably not, uh... try talking to the receptionist I guess? I''ve honestly no clue." Their combined unease evaporated as they shifted focus from being sorry to each other towards actually trying to meet up, Riley hearing a few clearer steps amidst the sea of background noise before Maddy set the phone down on the desk and spoke up away from it-


    "U-uh, excuse me?" Her voice soft and rather withdrawn, sounding cuter than it had any right to...


    "Good morning, how can I help you?"


    "H-hello, I-I''d like to visit a friend w-who''s staying here."


    Friend, h-heh...


    "Of course, what''s their name?"


    "R-Riley Asher."


    There was a longer pause and some muffled keyboard noises, Maddy audibly gulping before the clerk finally responded-


    "Right. Well we''ve had quite a few people request visitation who were just journalists- so we''ll need your ID and a verbal confirmation from the patient."


    Verbal confirmation?


    "O-of course, d-does a school ID suffice?" She could hear Maddy scramble around for a bit before laying something down on the table with a quiet slap, the nurse muttering a quiet ''Good enough'' before typing out some more, leaving them both at an impasse for a good few moments before the clerk spoke again-


    "Take a seat over there and if patient agrees you''ll be taken in."


    "T-thank you..." Maddy''s quiet response was overshadowed by the knocking on Riley''s door, the sudden noise jolting her back into awareness before she replied with a stuttering ''Come on in!''.


    She took a deep breath as she put the phone down and hurriedly ended the call, her shoulders slumping in relief as she saw the nurse from yesterday, Lucy, enter the room.


    "G-good morning!" Her voice cracked a bit from the nerves, the nurse waving softly at her in return as she spoke-


    "Good morning Riley. How are you feeling today?" Her voice was noticeably warmer compared to yesterday, stress draining out of Riley as she responded-


    "I''m, I''m r-r-really good! Just, moved the hand a bit and it hurt a lot..." She winced as the pain decided to make a comeback, her whole body having been slowly growing more and more achey since she woke up, especially her chest.


    The nurse nodded and quickly walked up to the bedside table, shooting her a soft smile as she noticed the bag of candy before pulling out the ampule from the drawer. The expression was almost immediately washed from her face however, as she tripped on the dropped charger, tail moving much faster than Riley thought it was possible for one to before she quickly regained balance and picked the charger up, Riley only able to offer her an embarrassed ''Sorry''.


    "It''s fine, don''t worry, should''ve spotted it myself, sigh..." The exhaustion underlying her voice made itself very apparent. Lucy reached up to rub her forehead a bit before shaking it off and continuing her procedures.


    And once again, the injection of the clear painkiller made her feel alive once more- or at least no longer completely preoccupied with her aching wrist.


    Just in time as the nurse turned to leave, Riley catching her attention with-


    "E-excuse me!"


    And after taking a quick sigh, Lucy turned back towards her, looking down at her with a wordless question.


    "S-so my f-f-friend is waiting a-at the reception since sh-she wants to visit me and they told her she''d need my verbal confirmation or something, w-what''s up with that?" Riley asked skittishly, not wanting to grind on the nurse''s good will.


    She chuckled dryly and responded in a deadpan voice-


    "That''s what they say to people they want to piss off, basically. I take it you would indeed want her to visit, right?"


    "...y-yeah." Riley almost whispered back, pinkish blush contrasting greatly against her pale skin, making the nurse smile softly in response through her grogginess-


    "Can do, if she''s still waiting. What''s her name?"


    "M-madeline. T-thank you f-for this, L-Lucy..."


    "You''re welcome, just try to keep stuff off the floor next time, heh." The nurse chuckled before leaving the room, relief mixing with another heap of embarrassment on Riley''s face.


    She definitely didn''t have to be told twice.


    Lucy''s absence gave her a well needed breather, letting her at least finally plug the charger in and hook the phone up to it before finding a comfortable position on her bed that would also leave enough space for Maddy to sit on- or at least trying to, her legs growing restless as she kept checking out all the poses she could contort herself into.


    Without the secondary goal being too overt of course.


    And of course, now that she had the candy, she better make some use of it, grabbing the small bag and trying to work it open with just one claw-less hand, utterly unsuccessful. Her more and more ingenious ideas ended up with just her good hand hurting and the plastic bag looking no worse for wear, the girl''s seething resentment towards inanimate objects growing by the second as Maddy and the nurse were surely getting closer and closer.


    A few moments of thinking as intense as her floating head could get her, she had finally come up with the revolutionary idea of using her teeth. Riley grabbed one side of the bag as firmly as she could with her mouth as the good hand strained against the other, the girl closing her eyes as she gave everything she could into the feat-


    Straining herself hard enough to manage to miss the duo actually walking into the room, her strategy finally succeeding moments later.


    In a way of absolutely tearing the plastic bag apart, individually wrapped candy launched all over her bed and the rest of the room, brief triumph quickly dampened as Riley opened her eyes to look at the aftermath. The mess scattered across the room combined with Maddy''s barely held back laughter and nurse''s obvious amusement made her really wish the bed had some sort of eject mechanism to catapult her straight into the sun.


    "I''m gonna leave you two alone now~" Lucy giggled softly before giving them some well-deserved privacy, the inflection of her voice enough to deepen Riley''s blush by a dozen shades on its own.


    She kept staring at the door for a while afterwards, not having the heart to look back at her visitor before she thankfully got lent a hand anyway.


    Literally.


    Maddy crouched down to grab the few pieces that had managed to clear the entire bed and land on the vinyl floor, giggling quietly all the while before dumping the finds back on Riley''s bed, amusement and sincere gratitude combining in her voice as she spoke up-


    "Thanks for the candy, teehee." -and had one herself, her soft smile widening at the sweet taste as she cleared herself a spot amongst the debris and sat down on the side of the bed.


    "Y-y-you''re w-welcome Maddy..." The embarrassment refused to wash away even as Maddy''s actions made it clear that she didn''t mind the well-intentioned goof, the weasel girl unable to hold her laughter back any more after taking another glance at Riley, her blush intense enough by this point to power street lights on its own.


    "You''re absolutely adorable, you know?" Maddy''s words definitely didn''t help with the blush, but at least gave Riley enough mental fortitude to look her in the eyes, finding... absolutely no malice or ill will in them, just a lot of amused happiness.


    That felt better than it had any right to, her heart finally slowing down a notch as she slid just a bit closer, bolstered by Maddy''s warmth. She eased on her laughter in response, moving herself just a bit towards Riley as well.


    "So uh, aside from, well, all this, how''ve you been doing Riley?" Maddy cursed herself for the sentence coming out so clunky, hoping Riley would get the point.


    Which she didn''t, but it didn''t matter.


    "Much b-b-better than when I was k-knocked out that''s for ss-sure. F-family came to visit yesterday and g-god did I need that badly."


    "Aww, glad to hear Riley. Was a stone off my heart when you sent me that message yesterday, I can only imagine their sheer relief, heh."


    "Y-yeah... c-can''t say I didn''t appreciate your messages either..."


    It was Maddy''s turn to blush brightly, the weasel girl looking slightly away from Riley as she tried to dismiss it all-


    "N-nah, i-it was just me being a panicky kit, o-of course you w-wouldn''t have been able to respond and all..."


    "But you cared enough to do it."


    Bingo.


    The red of Maddy''s embarrassment pushed itself through the soft white fur of her cheeks, the furred girl shaking a bit as she nervously chuckled in response, a cheeky smile sprouting on Riley''s face as she involuntarily leaned in, the excitement, appreciation, and the mild high of her painkillers combining into one emboldening mixture.


    Enough to make her sit up on the bed and lean in, sitting there for a moment before whispering out, voice shaky from excitement at what she was about to do-


    "And I really appreciate that~"


    -and kissing Maddy lightly on the cheek, the realization that yes, she indeed just did that, made both their hair stand on end, much more of it in case of the recipient.


    After the initial shock of... that actually having happened, Maddy turned slowly towards her, expression an inscrutable mishmash that Riley couldn''t even begin to parse before being pulled into a close and surprisingly warm hug. Maddy''s elated squeak that followed downright melted something inside her, Riley responded with the closest approximation her throat could produce as she wrapped her one good arm around her in return, all the warmth making her feel pumped enough to scale mountains.


    On a wheelchair no less.


    They both held each other for a long while, neither willing to risk breaking the magic of the moment by saying something that wasn''t excited squeaking or squeak-adjacent humming, Riley only prying open her eyes upon feeling something brush against her face, smiling even wider upon realizing it to be Maddy''s puffed up, rapidly waving tail, the sight enough to warm her heart on its own.


    That is, if the other thing she saw didn''t still it immediately afterwards, the sight of a surprised Rick peeking into the room with the door half open making her freeze in panic. Her brain raced ten miles a minute to figure out, well, anything before being cut off with a soft, barely perceptible giggle from the direction of the door, Rick speaking out loud enough to be clearly heard soon after-


    "Awwh, she''s still asleep. Say, how about we go check out the arcade nearby and come back in a couple hours?" His tone not giving anything away as he gently closed the door, Timmy''s muffled squeaks of excitement enough to convince the rest of the family to try again later.


    They both held each other, completely frozen for a good few moments, neither saying a word until all the group steps have faded away completely, the curse of awkwardness only finally being broken by Maddy, voice as deadpan as it was disbelieving-


    "...I love your dad, holy shit."


    "Y-yeah, s-so do I."


    Their lil'' exchange didn''t relax them much in itself, Maddy holding back a quiet chuckle before speaking up once more, keeping her voice just as flat-


    "Wanna kiss again?"

 Chapter 34: Eve

    Broken ribs and nerve damage certainly sucks.


    Fortunately, having someone to cuddle with made it all much more bearable.


    The hospital beds weren''t exactly sized for more than one even slightly large person, which made any sort of cuddling tricky, the issue partially alleviated by Riley being the size of an overly jumpy garden gnome.


    And Maddy being naturally flexible.


    The end result of this game of condensed, crippled twister was Riley''s head snuggled into Maddy''s shoulder, the broken arm resting on her side, both girls forced to partially lay on their sides just to not slip off of it.


    Neither particularly minded that much.


    Especially Riley, snuggled up to Maddy from the front, her scritching and massaging paws combined with the soft tail holding her close from the back, both resting and unwinding from their combined anxieties, pets and shared warmth doing wonders at getting rid of tension.


    The occasional smooches and light teasing may have helped as well.


    In their shared bliss neither really noticed or cared about the passage of time, Riley close to dozing off with a goofy smile on her face before both snugglers were suddenly startled out of their relaxation with a loud knock on the door. The human girl almost fell off the bed in surprise before Maddy held her tighter, gently pulling her to the middle of the bed as she herself got up from it, stretching all over with a quiet yawn, her feather duster of a tail making her girlfriend smile before she spoke up-


    "Uh, come on in!"


    Riley was busy trying to appear inconspicuous, patting down her hair and pulling the covers over herself before she saw Rick peek into the room, his wide smile at the cuddlers'' crime scene immediately reflected on both girls'' faces, with added blushes.


    "Don''t worry, it''s just me for now, kids are still at the arcade. How are you girls doing?"


    Lovestruck.


    Same.


    "We''re alright, d-did something happen?" Riley sat up on the bed as Rick walked in, his usual jacket missing to fully reveal the comfy sweater underneath, the deliberately terrible Christmas patterns somehow managing to look endearing.


    "Well, not really, just that the kids were really starting to ask to, well, see if you''re finally awake, heh. And... there''s something I need to talk to you about in private." Rick responded softly, any teasing that might have been there gentle and well meaning. The follow-up definitely didn''t fill Riley in with any more confidence, thought process thankfully interrupted by the other lovebird as she spoke up in return-


    "Has it really been that long?" Maddy asked, genuinely confused as she dug into her pocket, soon realizing that yes, it''s been just a bit over two and a half hours since her visit.


    "Time sure does fly, haha. Maddy, if you ever wanna visit just text me and I''ll give you a lift, it''s no problem." Dad chuckled out loud at seeing Maddy''s reaction, his smile as wide as ever as she looked back at him in appreciation.


    "Thank you Mr. Asher!" She responded gleefully, quickly glancing back at Riley in excitement, both almost giddy at the, uh...


    ...possibilities?


    "Well, hope you two had fun! Sorry I had to barge in like that, but I assumed better just me than the whole family." There was a hint of genuine apology in his voice, Riley''s response cut short as Maddy dismissed it nonchalantly-


    "Oh it''s no biggie. You said you were being discharged tomorrow, right?" She turned towards Riley, a sly glint in her eyes as she thought up of things they could do together, as opposed to other things they couldn''t do.


    Yet.


    "Right, hope that goes well." Riley quickly snapped back, Maddy answering with a toothy grin as she head over for the door-


    "Well, see you on Saturday then~"


    Even her bad attempts at a singsong voice were sweet.


    "Take care Maddy!" Both Rick and Riley waved her goodbye before the latter closed the door and took a deep breath, his smile faltering a bit as he turned towards his daughter and took a seat.


    Something was clearly wrong, Riley gulping a bit as she slid deeper into her bed, tension rising slightly as she questioned, her voice cracking-


    "What''s wrong?"


    Rick immediately caught onto the tension, smile widening a bit as he shook his head a bit, getting up and opening the window a bit as he responded-


    "Don''t worry sweetie, just wanted to get you up to speed on the criminal investigation side of things- that is if you want me to, I completely understand if you just want to forget about it all." His voice was soft as he slid closer, any hint of worry that might have been in his expression having washed away fully.


    Clarification did wonders for Riley as well, banishing any tension that threatened to creep up on her.


    "Well, yeah, I''d appreciate it if anything changed since yesterday." While the subject still didn''t exactly make her the most comfortable she could be, hearing it from someone she actually trusted could make all the difference.


    She definitely didn''t expect him to look so dumbfounded in response, his head tilting slightly as he blinked the confusion away.


    "Yesterday?" He sounded baffled in a way she never remembered hearing him. The change of tone combined with his expression would''ve been ten times as funny if the subject discussed wasn''t so serious.


    "Yeah? A couple cops came over in the morning and asked me to tell them everything I could remember and then told me how the investigation was going overall." Riley responded flatly, joining Rick in his bafflement.


    "What the..." He trailed off into his thoughts, expression first shocked, then aghast, and finally, really quite pissed, fists clenching tight.


    "What''s wrong?" She was taken aback by his reaction, her dad visibly trembling before closing his eyes as he breathed the anger away, shoulders slumping back down before he looked back at his daughter, voice much, much quieter-


    "I''m sorry. F-for this, that you had to deal with them, it''s not even legal to get your testimony without a guardian present."


    "I-it''s fine dad, I promise. Y-yeah, it wasn''t any fun, but that''s in the past now, and now you''re here." Riley answered softly as she sat back up, soft smile filling her features as she opened her good arm for a hug.


    A penitent expression shifted to a soft smile as he scrambled over and gently embraced his daughter, presence of both calming the other down.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Well, guess everyone else has waited enough already, heh." He chuckled slowly as he let go of Riley and got up, stretching a bit as he turned towards the door, his daughter calling out as she realized something-


    "W-wait! D-did they tell you how much the guy who... did this, was paid?" She called out quietly, the contradiction resurfacing inside her, still refusing to make any more sense.


    "No, of course not. Did they... tell you?" The question made him freeze in place before turning back towards Riley, expression inscrutable.


    "Yeah. A-apparently it was something like five hundred bucks."


    "...that makes no sense." He answered flatly, trying to blink his confusion away.


    "I know, that''s why I brought it up. Something isn''t right about it and I''m not liking it one bit." She muttered out, a hint of a grimace creeping up on her once more.


    Rick took a seat once more, expression deep in very confused thought, making him constantly open his mouth as if to speak up, only to abandon the idea and think it over some more, every attempt resulting in a mental equivalent of a shrug.


    "D-do they know anything about the- well, him?" Riley chimed in once more, mulling over the mystery, concluding that if that abnormal amount of money was real, the perpetrator must have not been a normal person either to accept it.


    "They didn''t tell me that much, a divorcee who had his kid taken away due to drug abuse, that''s basically all I know. Which doesn''t help in figuring out the motive much." Rick verbally mulled over what he knew, shaking his head slightly at feeling so unable to come up with anything.


    "Yeah... the only reason I can think of that someone would do something like that for so little is sheer desperation, and that just doesn''t add up with him turning himself in." She responded, her dad answering with slow nodding before standing back up and taking a few deep breaths.


    "I... think we should move on Riley. I understand that you really want to get to the bottom of it in a personal way, but I doubt us idly theorycrafting is going to do much except making us relive the painful memories."


    She pondered on his words, finding it difficult to disagree on a rational level, uncomfortableness of it all impossible to ignore. But still, it kept drilling into her mind, not hurtful, but refusing to be ignored.


    But between it and feeling Timmy snuggle into her lap, she definitely preferred the latter, not even a contest.


    Riley nodded up at him, taking deeper breaths to try and clear her mind as much as she could, his calm smile quickly spreading to her face.


    "Be right back sweetie, but first-" He snuck a paw into the bulging pocket of his pants before tossing a small bag of peanut butter candy towards her, Riley somehow managing to catch it with her left hand. Before she could even ask as to why did he get her another one, Rick was already at the door, sending her off with a wink and a smile.


    She wasn''t gonna say no to that.


    Riley laid back down on the bed, placing the freshly received bag back at the bedside table before grabbing her phone, half emptied battery icon reminding her to finally plug the thing in.


    With the battery filling up and not down for once she was free to... waste some more of her life on the internet, unfulfilling scrolling not doing much at keeping the annoying contradiction away, Riley staring at the ceiling and trying to keep it away from taking over once more.


    What was the point, it''s not like she''d somehow have an epiphany without any further input.


    ...but what if she got some?


    She navigated out of her browser towards the contacts, scrolling under finding her grandma, stretching her overused wrist before starting her typing-


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: granma, i have a question,


    what do you think could motivate someone


    to do something bad for a disproprtially


    small payment but then still turn himself in?


    ''''''


    Not exactly the most subtle, bit it had to suffice.


    With that out of the way she made herself comfortable and put her phone away, letting the poor thing sip on the wall outlet as she snuggled in under the covers, leeching on the leftover warmth left behind by Maddy.


    She even managed to consciously relax her shoulders for once, certainly a commendable achievement.


    Just as drowsiness started to creep up on her once more, her ears caught a fast paced series of thuds coming from the corridor, making her tilt her head as she listened in.


    Was... was someone running?


    She listened in intently, the light steps growing and louder, with an occasional loud squeak of rubber soles slipping on the hospital floor. A few moments later, the steps had almost made her way to her room before they absuptly stopped, a door to the room next to hers opening up with a loud croak.


    "Oh, sorry!"


    Timmy?


    Before she even had a chance to focus on whether the muffled voice she heard was really his, the door was closed as rapidly as it was opened, the dull thud jolting her awake as the excited steps made their way up to her room, before flinging the door open.


    "HI RILEY!"


    She barely registered the black and white blur running across the room, only really getting a good look once he was already climbing onto her bed, bursting with soft laughter as she helped him with her good arm, pulling Timmy into a tight embrace.


    "Good morning Timmy, how are you?"


    The tyke went unusually quiet as she held him, savoring the sisterly warmth, especially in the form of scritches to his very ruffled hair.


    Not that Riley minded, they definitely weren''t in a rush.


    Pausing her scritches for a while to let her overused wrist rest gave the lil'' kit the opening he needed, taking a deep breath as if to start speaking before he noticed the dirt his shoes were leaving on the bedsheets, squeaking out an apologetic ''Sorry!'' before carefully taking them off and laying them down on the side of the bed.


    And proceeding with his excited recounting of today''s adventures.


    "You were asleep so dad took us to an arcade and it was AWESOME! There was the one where you shot at aliens on the screen with a REAL gun a-and they would fly all over and-" She could hardly suppress a giggle at the first bit, the reality being much more cuddly than the hyped tyke could''ve expected.


    She half listened as he tried his best at recounting every single game he and his siblings played, one out of maybe four words on average making any sort of sense to her. Certainly didn''t stop her from nuzzling and cherishing the wonderful kiddo, only really hoping that the thing about ''real guns'' was some sort of hyperbole.


    Even with his lightning fast squeaks, Timmy didn''t manage to finish going over every single game before the rest of the family gathered around one by one, Riley holding back chest-aching laughter at the realization that the kit didn''t notice everyone else catching up to him, continuing to happily go on and on. His big sister greeted everyone else with a wave and a quiet gesture, not wanting to ruin his fun.


    But eventually even he had to take a breather, leaning up to go grab some water and finally realizing that everyone else had finally caught up with him, looking around dumbfounded.


    Riley''s injuries regretted her subsequent laughter.


    Thankfully, the rest of her didn''t one bit, especially with everyone else joining in before gathering into a group hug, familial warmth combined with loads of drugs proving to be the best cure for severe injuries once again.


    After everyone had calmed down and Timmy had finally managed to fill his sippy cup with water, the discussion mostly died down to chit chat, Andrew busy preparing yet another board game as Lily snuck once more onto her big sis'' bed, repeating the comfy configuration from yesterday.


    Except this time, she was gonna be anything but an idle observer in the game being played.


    ***


    "I exchange two timber for one grain, three sheep for one ore, use them to upgrade my settlement to a city, and have one-two-four-five-seven victory points, plus two for the largest army, plus one in my hand, and I win!"


    Riley had no idea what was going on, but Lily''s triumphant pose combined with Andrew''s silent muttering of ''fuuuuuck'' made up for the confusing hour and a half up to that point.


    Especially with Timmy being delegated the role of distinguished decider-of-where-to-build-stuff. The card for the longest road was her pride, with the downside of the kit not deciding to build any settlements or cities in his quest to circumvent the entire playable area with roads.


    And he was remarkably close to finishing that goal as well, at least as much as Lily''s seaside conquest would let him.


    Ella looked up from her book at the game as she heard her daughter triumphantly win, rewarding her with some scritches as well as with a couple of the peanut butter candies, before doing the same to Timmy and Riley, and with a bit of exertion, Andrew as well.


    Rick got a kiss and he''d better be happy with it.


    "So, wanna play again?" The champion chirped up just as Andrew was getting ready for cleanup, them two and Rick exchanging determined glances and collectively deciding on ''of course, this time I''ll win!''.


    Timmy could play, too.


    Riley decided to join her mom and take a break, grabbing her thankfully now fully charged phone and browsing various stuff on it, the backdrop of the rest of the family engaged in deep strategy and childish banter alike melting any worries she might have had.


    Just being there, with them, lighting up Lily''s expression with a gentle ruffling of her hair amidst her deep focus, tickling Timmy''s tummy as he played with all the resource cards that weren''t brick or lumber, resting her own head on her mom''s shoulder after she''d slid her chair closer to her bed...


    Was this what christmas feels like?


    Of course, aside from the ouchies afflicting her body, that is.


    Regardless of the actual answer, she wasn''t gonna say no to savoring the sensations around her, eventually dozing off into a nap as everyone else played, arms still wrapped around the road-building tyke.


    Nobody else really minded, lowering their voices and continuing their play, Lily taking her sweet revenge by being the one to scritch her sister as much as she wanted, without any repercussions.


    Aside from a dreamy smile on Riley''s face, that is.

 Chapter 35: Return

    While Riley''s exhaustion often got the better of her, she rarely just dozed off on the spot without any awareness that she was falling asleep. In these precious few moments inbetween awareness and sleep, she would often fantasize about something she had read, or twist her position ever so slightly just to make it that much more bearable.


    This time, she had wondered when would she wake back up. If it was really just a nap, she would''ve woken up in not too long, and enjoy some more of her family before the evening inevitably forced them out. But if she really was this exhausted, she would sleep through the whole night in one fell swoop, waking up fresh and ready to finally leave the Dentist-scented building for good.


    Or at least until her next checkup.


    Unfortunately for her, the fates weren''t quite satisfied with either option, flipping the coin of Riley''s awakening and having it land on its edge.


    She awoke with a start at the sudden impact, her eyes darting around the fluorescent lights and white paint of the room''s ceiling before her ears came online, finally resolving the noise she was hearing to be... laughter?


    With a squint and a bit of an ache she leaned her head forwards, added stimuli helping her figure out that she was laying flat on the hospital bed''s shitty substitute for a mattress, and that she was holding even less awake Timmy to her front, the tyke''s weight preventing her from easily sitting back up.


    And that the rest of the family was softly giggling at the scene as they slowly put on their jackets.


    "Wha''appen..." Riley muttered out half awake before her mom reached in to pick her younger child up off of the older one''s still bandaged, still very much achey chest.


    Judging by Lily''s amused giggles, the question was the peak of comedy, somehow.


    "You looked so calm sleeping like that, and then I got up from the bed and you just very slowly tipped over and bwam, down for the count." Younger sister''s recollection only reignited the wave of giggles around the room, even Riley joining in once her mind revved itself awake to the point where it could actually imagine how she must have looked.


    "Wh-what time is iiiiiiieeee-" Her question turned into a yawn halfway through before a jolt of pain from an aching muscle cut it short, some more of her awareness returning to her at the worst possible hour.


    "Ten to nine, sadly we really have to get going now." Rick answered as he slipped into his jacket, Riley groaning quietly in response after glancing to the side at the window and seeing the black rectangle of night sky confirm her dad''s words as her own growling tummy provided the extremely important second opinion.


    "We got you something to eat since you missed dinner, the bag is next to the bedside table, hope it hasn''t gone all cold yet."


    Riley nodded subconsciously at her mom''s words as she tried to rub the sleepiness off her face before feeling a pair of soft arms embrace around her, making her lips curl up into a slight smile as she was pulled into a gentle hug, resting her head against Ella''s tummy as her hair was scritched.


    "We''ve arranged you being discharged at eleven, so don''t worry about oversleeping, especially with your nap here already, heh."


    "I can''t wait!" Lily chimed in, getting a smile out of everyone still awake as her mom patted Riley''s back and let go, only for her big sis to be attacked with intense hair ruffling by her big bro, the former squinting and clenching her sleep deprived face in response.


    Jokes on Andrew through, all this hair ruffling had managed to do is just change her utterly bedraggled hair into a slightly different variation on the theme.


    "Alright alright, best not wake Riley up too much, it''s bedtime already, heh." Rick gently nudged them all out, after all they''ll have all time in the world with her once more in less than a day.


    Still, he couldn''t stop himself from giving her a lil'' hug after saying the last ''sleep well''s and heading out, closing the door behind himself.


    And so she was alone once more, the harsh white light on white and gray furniture providing exactly no distraction from having to actually move herself into a better sleeping position if she wanted to do even as much as distract herself some more with her phone or stop her tummy from distracting her in turn.


    She wondered how being discharged like that would look like considering her everything still felt like it was made out of a combination of cotton and broken glass.


    That''s almost glass wool, right?


    Before her exhausted mind would conjure any more questions that would baffle theoretical physics PhDs, she finally managed to scramble towards back of the bed and drag the table along with her, the titanic effort required to lift the brown paper back up onto it proving so tiring she had to take a phone break.


    Fortunately, the pillows were that much less uncomfortable than the modest layer of foam that constituted the rest of the hospital bed, providing at least some excuse for comfort even if only in comparison to its absolute absence.


    Still, it was almost enough to knock Riley out there and then, the sheer exhaustion having hidden in plain sight only to reemerge when she was at her weakest.


    And in all likeliness she would have lost that fight to the pillow''s vile sucker punch of comfort if her phone hadn''t vibrated right there and then, distracting her from her own sleepiness enough for her to reach over and take a closer look-


    ''''''


    WhatsApp


    _________


    Liz Asher: Desperation pushes many towards ends


    they find at best illogical and at worst


    immoral, towards ends that have a vanishingly


    small chance of working, because that''s still


    better than the seemingly impossible reality


    they have found themselves in. Towards ends


    that even if they end up working out, are not


    any less morally repugnant to the ones forced


    into them.


    (3 more messages)


    ''''''


    The words made Riley pause as she mulled on them, hardly able to disagree with anything but still feeling like something was missing from the bigger picture, namely the very first word, desperation.


    Before she could go on thinking idly any longer, she noticed the addition about this not even being her grandma''s full message, unlocking her phone and navigating to the app, eyes ready to take in the rest of it.


    ''''''


    Liz Asher: That''s the general lecture, but


    I''m more than aware of why you''re asking


    about it. Don''t ask how I got my hands on


    any of this, the answer is much more


    boring than you''d expect.


    Liz Asher: James H. Lewis, Born 08.31.82,


    Chicago, IL. No criminal record before now


    aside from a couple cases of public


    intoxication. Married in ''09, had a son in


    ''13, divorced in ''14, mother resigned the


    custody of the child. Fell into alcoholism,


    lost job in ''17, house in ''18 and custody


    of his son in January this year, and


    has been desperately trying to hold onto


    any job since, being discharged because of


    alcoholism. In debt and been trying again


    again to regain the custody of his kid,


    which was denied every time.


    Liz Asher: 500 is nothing for a hitman job,


    but plenty if you want to kickstart


    yourself back into society.


    ''''''


    Riley''s tired eyes took in the rest of the message, numbers and dates making it more difficult to take in than it had any right to be, the teen eventually giving up in frustration and setting the phone down as she dove into the by now tepid brown bag.


    A rather light burrito and a small bottle of cola, any temperature the two might have previously had having long since equalized. Neither part of the meal was particularly awe inspiring in its tastiness, but it more than enough to shut her stomach up for long enough to be able to eat something homemade tomorrow.


    And with that out of the way... it was finally time to get some rest, the brown bag discarded on the floor on account of Riley not thrusting her aim nowhere near enough to be able to pull off a left handed dunk into the trash bin halfway across the room.


    That and the bottle would most likely just bounce right back at her even if she did manage to nail the arc to stick the landing.


    Either way, this all could be dealt with tomorrow, it''s not like a Christmas fairy of hospital room cleanliness would visit her overnight and replace her teeth with coal if she''d find the room to be too dirty.


    Probably.


    Hopefully.


    With everything else dealt with, she pushed the wheeled table away from herself, the wonderful possibility of her waking up fresh in the morning only to bash her head into the plywood surface upon sitting up providing enough motivation to push the table as far away as it''d go.


    Or at least as far as her arm would reach.


    One final contortion to reach the light switch with her better arm later and she finally allowed herself to lay back down again, lasting an approximate eight seconds before tired breathing turned into light snores.


    ***


    To Riley''s chagrin, her sleep was nowhere near as long or refreshing as she wished it would''ve been. She was exhausted to heck and back, but her brain would not spare her, making her constantly wake up every couple hours or so, the plaintext mystery in grandma Liz''s message not letting her rest for a while afterwards despite her exhausted half consciousness not managing to make any progress in it, rinse and repeat.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The end result was Riley somehow managing to finish the night even more exhausted than she had started it, not able to get any more sleep once the sun had finally crawled its way from behind the horizon, but definitely not able to stay awake in any real sense.


    She never had much of an interest in coffee, the bitter scent occasionally wafting from the upper floor offices filling her with many things, namely disgust and spite, but hardly any interest in the dark brew.


    But in her present state she was about ready to give it an honest shot, preferably many of them, one after another.


    Time was being so sluggish were it to tick any slower it would be actively going backwards as Riley desperately looked for something to distract herself with, boredom pushing her to new heights of dealing with the hospital''s awful Wi-Fi.


    Fortunately, eventual arrival of more painkillers, food, and Lucy, not necessarily in that order, lifted her spirits just that bit more she needed, thanking any celestial being that was listening in on her once another nurse had told her she would be discharged soon, once her father had arrived.


    Cue him showing up not five minutes later, carrying gifts of the three wise men. Like clothes to change into. Or another bottle of soda. Or an actually good pillow.


    She never read that part of the good book but that ought to have been more or less accurate.


    After repeatedly refusing nurse''s help with changing herself into something more suited for the outdoors and only slightly regretting it through the annoyingly long ordeal, she was finally ready to head out, all the necessities packed into pockets and all the trash stuffed into the slightly overfilling bin.


    Only for the nurse to return with a wheelchair, Riley''s brain short circuiting as she tried to grasp its purpose, leaving her just staring at the accessibility device like it was made out of gold.


    It was definitely made out of rust, guess at least the number of letters matches.


    "Wheelchair ride is part of the discharging procedure. No, you can''t just walk instead." Nurse''s voice was as audibly worn with having to explain it to everyone as it was final and definitive, Riley ending up shrugging and begrudgingly sitting down on the plastic seat, ready to at least try to enjoy her tiny ride.


    Only for any hopes to be dashed by all the doorways, wonky wheels, and the weird grated flooring of the industrial-looking elevator unit, the end experience proving to be so bumpy she''d have preferred to roll on the floor towards her destination.


    Fortunately the whole thing only took a couple minutes, as uncomfortable as they might have been, before she was finally right in front of the main entrance with its tinted glass doors, the end result looking like it was inviting her to get out.


    She was definitely not gonna argue against such a menacing glass door.


    With Rick''s help, she managed to pull herself onto her feet, balance still proving to be an issue, but at least one she could temporarily sidestep by clinging to Rick''s side, his arm wrapping around her giving her enough of a reassurance to push on, soon getting back into something resembling a rhythm as they pushed on towards the parking lot.


    It was only then that Riley consciously noticed that it was just her and Rick here, unfocused eyes managing to make out her dad''s car and that there was nobody else inside.


    "Oh, did everyone else stay home?" She muttered out quietly, pushing on despite feeling like her every individual muscle was simultaneously trying to fall asleep.


    "Yeah, but rest assured, they''re staying home for a reason."


    That definitely didn''t sound menacing or anything.


    "Slept well sweetie?" He followed up softly, his voice full of relief that she was finally out of that place.


    "Closer to the opposite of well, but I suppose I''m awake now. I''ve never been more inclined to give coffee a shot, heh..."


    "We can definitely grab you some sweeter one to try if you''re so inclined."


    "Sweeter?" Riley tilted her head as they slowly waddled over to the right car, thankful absence of wind making the cold temperature much less impactful than it would have otherwise been.


    "Ella drinks it straight without anything else added, and I doubt you''d enjoy it too much that way if you haven''t had any coffee before."


    "And you?"


    "I don''t really drink much of it anymore, and when I do I just borrow some from her."


    Riley nodded idly in response, feeling more confident now that she had someone to turn to about the subject.


    "Guess if I do end up enjoying it she''ll help me choose which kind to get?"


    "Hah, I really doubt. She only drinks it while working and refuses to touch the thing otherwise."


    Riley took long enough to compose a response together that they managed to get into the car in the meantime, the singular crutch laying on the back seats making her groan internally as they strapped in.


    "Why would she drink it at work and not otherwise?"


    "Well, her work day starts at five, which is coincidentally also when she gets out of bed and remotely checks in, then forces herself awake with some coffee. Not exactly the healthiest day to day cycle, but after so many years it''s hard to kick the habit- or how she''d call it, addiction."


    "Addiction?" The word stuck out to Riley in particular, many unpleasant associations putting her off just a bit.


    "Oh don''t worry, she means it in a tongue-in-cheek way. That''s not to say she won''t be unaffected without her morning coffee, I remember when we forgot to restock on it and she just had a couple of days where I had to call her every half hour just to make sure she wouldn''t collapse on her desk. She did anyway but thankfully nobody noticed, and afterwards we napped the exhaustion away."


    The adorable anecdote helped to calm Riley down a bit as they both finally strapped into the seats, the mention of a nap combined with the soft padding of her seat definitely not doing her awareness any favors.


    And Rick definitely did notice, his daughter''s quiet grumbles at her own exhaustion forcing a sly smile on his snout as they pulled out of the parking lot, urban buildings decreasing in density as they drove home.


    "Nothing wrong with taking a nap sweetie, will help the ride go by faster."


    "I know, I know, it''s just so frustrating, feeling so tired like that constantly."


    Rick reached over to stroke her shoulder a bit, eyes remaining focused on the dreary road, dirty snow decorating its sides.


    "Hopefully once we''re back home you''ll be able to get some more quality rest. Had a hard time falling asleep tonight?"


    "The opposite if anything, just kept constantly waking up again and again and once it began to get brighter outside it was all over."


    "Hmm, was something on your mind? Stress, anxiety- I know I can''t stay asleep if I go to bed concerned about something, even if I do somehow manage to doze off the first time."


    Riley forced her eyes away from him, unsure as to whether her grandma intended the things she sent to remain confidential, or whether bringing it up there and then was the best of ideas.


    "Probably, don''t quite remember what it was exactly."


    She saw him raise his brow as he glanced at her, hoping he wouldn''t notice her obvious misdirection, and if he inevitably did, he would at least spare her by not speaking up about it.


    "Still, I think it''d be the best if you got some more rest, no point in forcing yourself awake to the point of getting grumpy."


    "I mean yeah, but I''d rather be fully awake once we get back home, I''d guess everyone has had enough of the unconscious ragdoll- hell, I''ve had enough of it, I just wanna... do things again."


    Her words silenced the inside of the car for a bit before a soft chuckle escaped her dad as he responded-


    "Oh sweetie, everyone understands that you need more rest than ever right now, even Timmy, and we''re just happy to have you around again. Still, I do get your frustration, I remember well how annoyed Ella was about not being able to do anything when she was recovering from her spine injury, especially since the Internet was in its infancy back then. The college we were going to had public terminals and all, and it''s own BBS even, but all it had was stuff that she didn''t particularly care about."


    "...BBS?" Riley blinked in response at the unfamiliar initialism, Rick laughing to himself at how badly he showed his age right there, taking a while to collect himself before heavily oversimplifying-


    "Oh, if you''ve already been to one it''s basically like a forum except during the prehistoric times before the Internet existed for real, connected to through the phone lines. Our college could afford to host its own for its students, which was definitely remarkable for its time even if it all ended up being for naught."


    "What makes you say that?"


    "Hardly anybody used it, and the few active users that did use it turned it into something that, well, repelled everyone else from using it, and so it was shut down just a couple years later."


    "W-what did they turn it into?"


    She saw her dad chuckle to himself and blush ever so slightly, biting his tongue a bit as he was pinned into a rhetorical corner without Riley even knowing.


    "Well... I think Ella said it the best that one time- ''An impressively large collection of impressively low quality smut.''"


    Well that was definitely more than enough to wake her up for real.


    Riley''s eyes were pinned to the passenger side window as she tried to hide her blushing, the barren flora on the side of the road not exactly providing her much to distract herself with as she could''ve sworn she heard her dad try desperately to suppress his own cackling, succeeding only partially.


    They drove in silence for a while, Rick knowing better than to keep prodding his already embarrassed daughter. It''s not that he couldn''t- the book he had found in her orphanage clothes, and especially the location of the impromptu bookmark giving him enough material to create a ''Richard'' memory of her own-


    But that was the last thing she needed right now, and it''s not like he even had the advantage of being certain he wouldn''t do the exact same thing in her situation.


    He totally would, where as he doubted that Riley would suddenly switch to preferring her name be written ''Rayleigh'', with every individual letter meticulously sounded out.


    A few increasingly less-awkward minutes later Rick pulled into a small parking lot in front of a rather underwhelming grocery store, its storefront proudly proclaiming both the owner''s first name and the shop''s general age, based on the amount of large letter stickers that were slowly peeling off the glass.


    "Let''s just grab some coffee and head home, wanna come with me or...?"


    Inside warm, outside cold, and more than likely requiring her to figure out how to move around with that crutch on the spot- the math wasn''t too hard on this one.


    Plus she wouldn''t have any idea what to get anyway.


    "Yeah, I''ll pass. You probably have a much better idea what to look for anyway."


    "Fair enough. Prefer it sweeter or creamier?"


    If there was any correct time to use Ask the Audience it would''ve been right there.


    A few ''um''s and confused glances later Rick got the message, chuckling as he grabbed his jacket-


    "No harm in getting one of everything then. Be right back."


    Sitting alone in the car like that was probably the closest Riley ever got to true meditation, the quaint nothingness of the snow covered landscape not giving her anything to focus on, with the building in front of her being such an eyesore it was actively difficult to even keep her eyes pointed at it.


    No noises aside from the quiet rumble of the engine and a very occasional swish of wind, no stimulation in being bound by the seatbelt from moving, no distraction on account of her having slid her phone into a pocket she couldn''t reach with her left arm from this position.


    Peace and sereni-


    *click-swoosh*


    Finally, it was getting boring.


    "Got you one with extra sugar, one with extra cream, and one that''s apparently caramel flavored." Rick''s voice brought her back from whatever spiritual plane she had ascended to during these three or so minutes as he scrambled back in, the gust of the freezing air from the outside accompanying him fully grounding her in the realm of her dad''s sedan.


    "Is that even still coffee at this point?" She asked with a lift of her brow as the car made its way back on the road, its brief stay in the middle of nowhere soon to be forgotten.


    "Probably not, but considering that coffee on its own tastes terrible I''d hardly call that a bad thing."


    "Fair." Riley chuckled back as they slowly drove into the slightly more familiar territory, the sublime uniqueness of those particular ugly leafless trees guiding them back home, one backwater street after another.


    In not too long they were finally taking the last turn into their own stretch of asphalt, dark thick of the woods on her right contrasting with the untarnished snow cap on her left as they drove up to their house, Riley subconsciously relaxing at the sight before reminding herself of one final complication.


    No way of getting around that crutch, is there now.

 Chapter 36: Welcome Home

    As the car pulled over in front of their house, Riley couldn''t help but to let the crutch laying on the back seats occupy more and more of her mental space, formless anxiety at being forced to use the thing blooming as Rick finally parked the car to the side, leaving her with only a vague hope that the ground wasn''t utterly frosted underneath the snow.


    Else this embarrassing task would turn into an embarrassing and impossible one.


    With her dad getting out of the car Riley had no further way to stall for time, groaning to herself as she unbuckled the seatbelt and opened the door, only to see him already waiting there with the accursed thing.


    Ma''am, your crutch.


    After turning herself around in her seat and resting her feet on the snow outside, she was confronted with the device face to face, hesitantly reaching for it with her better hand and... having no real idea what to do with it afterwards, too concerned with being forced to use it to realize she didn''t know what it even precisely entailed.


    "Need some help sweetie?" Rick''s voice was as soft and welcoming as ever, calming her down enough to let her swallow her pride and ask for assistance-


    "I-I guess, I''m not sure how to even use this thing..."


    He smiled softly, reaching in to gently hold the crutch and slide its top under Riley''s shoulder, positioning her hand on the grip.


    "Now, right leg forward and push yourself off, leaning your weight on the crutch. Take as much time as you need sweetie, I''m not going anywhere, hehe."


    With a nod of affirmation Riley narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath, aching legs shifting into the correct position as she leaned forward, frosty air chilling her nerves before she took the figurative leap and lifted herself off-


    And managed to stand up, legs trembling but keeping balance, refusing to falter yet again, knuckles going white as she held onto the despised accessibility device for her dear life.


    She had this.


    Eventually.


    "You got this Riley! Get your balance, take a moment, and then one leg after another. You''ve already have the worst bit behind you, now just to get moving."


    Just!?


    She looked up at her dad incredulously at his vast underestimation of the task''s difficulty, a slightly frustrated grimace fading into a slightly less frustrated one once she realized that she''d have to move one way or another.


    The alternative would be the Asher family gaining a new human-shaped garden gnome to display proudly to all the neighbors.


    After briefly considering and then dismissing the option of spending her life as a front porch decoration to repay the hospital debts, Riley focused once more, breathing as deeply as she could to still her shaking everything and eventually managing to reduce the unpleasant motions down to just rocking in place.


    Now, lean forward, raise her foot, move it forward, set it down. Walking, the thing she''s been doing for something like fifteen years now. Except this was Xtreme Walking, with glass bones and a metal stick.


    Coming to your local sports channel soon.


    With enough delay to make Rick open his mouth, presumably to ask if something was wrong, Riley finally made the one foot leap, the dreaded motion done in less time than it took her to exhale after all the focused breathing.


    Repeat many, many times.


    After the first couple steps she mostly got it under control to the point where she didn''t need to stop after every individual motion, finally allowing Rick to close the car''s door and lock it, inside chilled so thoroughly it will probably have grown some nice icicles by the time they have to use it again.


    Still, he did not say a thing that wasn''t words of pure support, staying by her side as she stumbled around the car and onto the stone path in front of the house, Riley finally hitting something close to her stride before her walking process was derailed mid-step by the sight of a rifle visible behind one of the front windows, causing her dad to have to reach over and pull her in just to keep her standing.


    As she regained her balance she briefly noticed flushed Ella taking the gun away, dashing back towards the basement door, Riley''s frostbitten brain processing the scene at dial-up speeds before she finally muttered out-


    "W-why a gun?"


    "You''d be surprised how many journalists managed to crawl their way over here looking for cheap thrills to sell after, well, it happened. Eventually Ella got so annoyed she took out this relic we originally found when renovating the house, Winchester ninety four, with that number more than likely also indicating the number of years since it was last used. Still, the sight of any gun was still enough to spook most of them off, even if it''s mostly rust by mass and we don''t have the ammunition for it."


    Riley giggled tiredly as Rick told her the story and assisted while she stood back right up and stumbled through the remaining distance to the front door, most of her mental capacity taken up by the feat of mostly unassisted motion, with the remainder used for one final quip before Rick opened the door for her-


    "Packed with paparazzishot?"


    "You''d need artillery for that."


    With nothing else to delay her, Riley finally took the final fateful step into her new house, not even managing to take a second one afterwards before she was suddenly pulled into a tight hug, the resulting squeak of surprise muffled by Andrew''s shirt and underlying floof. Before she could even complain, three more pairs of arms of varying sizes joined in on the fun, their combined embrace completely surrounding her as their warmth filled her up, Riley''s cheeks blooming into a blush at all the love, especially as everyone gathered soon boomed out-


    "WELCOME HOME RILEY!"


    Well, the end result was muffled through all the fabric and fur around her, but she received the message much the same, a wide smile creeping up on her face despite her best efforts as her own embrace around Andrew only deepened.


    God was she glad to be back home.


    The mass embrace persisted for a good while, even being added to some time in, accompanied by her mom''s embarrassed, but clearly joyous laugh.


    Every passing moment did wonders for just easing her in, homely warmth filling Riley inside and out, melting the frost off of her as it lifted her spirits, any tension or anxiety she might have felt easing down to nothing.


    Before she could doze off in the calming warmth or have the crutch dig even harder into her shoulder, the embrace was slowly untangled with everyone letting go one by one, leaving Riley pressed into Andrew before she slowly pulled herself off of him, finally able to appreciate the scene-


    "Maddy!?"


    Everyone broke into giggles at Riley''s adorable surprise as she noticed the big surprise pretty much immediately, most of all the copper-furred girl herself, her amused smile filling the returning daughter''s tummy with butterflies.


    "Told you I''d see you on Saturday!"


    "G-guess I didn''t expect that to mean ''as soon as I get back home''!"


    "Guess you underestimated how much your parents would help in making this happen then~"


    Riley''s followup glance between her parents told her everything she wanted to know, with Rick giving her his best ''I''m pretending I didn''t do anything but I obviously did'' impression and Ella... clearly trying to do the same, but failing at the ''pretend'' stage, a sweet smile spilling through despite how hard she was trying to hold it in.


    Andrew was glancing between everyone in slight embarrassment while Lily was outright beaming with joy, both at her sister finally being back home and at the adorable meeting her mom arranged earlier that morning.


    Timmy was...


    "Where''s Timmy?"


    The question got loud chuckle out of Lily in particular as both parents looked around at the realization that the tyke was missing, the gathered eyes eventually focusing on her as she explained-


    "Was all excited to welcome you home, then got bored when you took too long to get out of the car so he went back upstairs to finish working on his little present, don''t tell him I mentioned it."


    "...present?"


    "You''ll see, he was so proud of himself for coming up with it that he spent all morning working on it. Will take him a while and quite a bit of dad''s help to wrap it up, so until then you''re stuck downstairs because he''s doing it in your room."


    "Not like I already wasn''t stuck downstairs with this hunk of junk-" Riley shook her crutch for emphasis, chuckling bitterly before feeling Rick''s paw rub her shoulder a bit in reassurance, the unspoken message clear in his delivery.


    "Guess that''s just one more reason to chill out on the couch for now, look we even got you sustenance!" Maddy chuckled as she turned to present the table in front of the fireplace as if it was a brand new car she was selling, a truly all inclusive deal featuring a couple bottles of soda and just as many bowls filled with snacks.


    Even had cup holders in form of the entirety of the table and a 4x4 drive, or rather a 2x2 drive which Riley''s mathematical prowess determined to be equal to a single 4 drive, which is how many legs the table had.


    A sight impressive enough to convince her to mortgage the entirety of her possessions in form of a singular crutch to afford it.


    With the possessions handed off to Rick and Maddy giving her financial advice in form of an arm to hold onto while she made her way across the ground floor, Riley''s purchase was soon secured in the form of her garden gnome-sized self huddling in the middle of the soft couch.


    She was flanked immediately by Lily from the left and Maddy from the right, with Andrew taking his sweet time in ruffling her hair before hopping onto the seat to the right of Maddy, the resulting furry squish that much more comfortable without the metal stick stabbing into her armpit.


    Soon Lily''s paw was already reaching for the TV remote, Riley closing her eyes and resting her head on Maddy''s shoulder as the shapeless weight of having to figure out what to do now was lifted from hers.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Nothing wrong with brainless entertainment in a pinch.


    With that credo in mind, the younger sister navigated her way through the TV''s interface, the unspoken question of what to put on soon answered just as unspokenly with a shrug of Maddy''s shoulders, or at least the one Riley wasn''t busy snuggling into.


    As the action flick started up and Maddy lifted her arm to wrap it around her by now half-asleep girlfriend everyone else started to serve themselves to the presented nutrients and their absence. The awake trio enjoying each other''s presence even without the sleepyhead in the middle, but with her it all felt even sweeter, even if quieter.


    At least for approximately ten minutes or so before a choir of uncountable steps cried out from the staircase, building on each other with each individual one, the oncoming roar growing louder and louder until it was capped off with a bloodchilling crescendo-


    "Riley!?"


    Just to be then dashed with an equally almighty-


    "Shhhhh! She''s asleep sweetie."


    Timmy groaned in disappointment, less so at missing his big sis get home, and more at the fact he''d have to wait some more to show off the one art project he''s been working on for the past couple hours, burning through his entire supply of colored paper and utterly mastering his control over his prized set of patterned safety scissors while at it.


    The sawtooth ones are by far the coolest.


    Ella couldn''t help but giggle at how instantaneous his change in attitude was, taking a break from preparing a casserole for dinner to scritch him just a bit, the resulting soft purrs combined with the way he''d close his eyes and softly push his head into her paw melting her heart every time.


    "Don''t wake her up just yet, but feel free to snuggle up on the couch with everyone else, there''s oughta be some free space left over there."


    He was too enraptured to respond there and then, but definitely got the message, getting in as much affection as he could before his mom sent him off with a more intense ruffle of his short hair and a warm smile, boiling pasta water dragging her attention back towards the cookery at hand.


    With his burning enthusiasm diffused down onto a more manageable long term anticipation, he took off towards the huddling mass in front of the TV, sight of snacks and drinks his parents normally don''t let him drink too much of only sealing the deal.


    The entire group was quite leaned over in their seats, or at least most of it, with Andrew being the untiltable mountain upon which drowsy looking Maddy was leaning on, upon which so-drowsy-she''s-asleep Riley was leaning on, upon which not-drowsy Lily was leaning on.


    Or rather leaning on Maddy''s arm that was wrapped around his big sis, who continued to be resolutely unconscious.


    With the realization that waiting for her to get through her nap before staying hi was probably the nicest option, Timmy soon scrambled onto the seat, soon burying his head deep into his less big sister''s side, her paw soon moving to gently tease him behind his ears, the resulting bliss audible to all.


    Except Riley of course. Would defeat the whole point.


    As the lazy Saturday continued to roll by, with Timmy''s collection of chips he''d managed to sneak out of Lily''s bowl growing exponentially, the big sister herself slowly came around to once more. Of course, she took her sweet time before going forward with any drastic measures, such as opening her eyes, daring to move even an inch, or thinking too hard about anything that wasn''t attempts to reconstruct the movie''s plot just from the bits she overheard or pondering on how warm and soft she felt.


    How safe and loved.


    Granted, she was still quite tired even if sleep was proving less and less possible to acquire as the day finally crossed the threshold of noon, she still ached all over, especially underneath her cast and through her chest, there was still the looming crisis of having to ascend the stairs eventually-


    But none of that mattered at that very instant. What did was the family that surrounded her, that made her feel so cared for, that made her sure they''d always be there for her whenever she needed them, and which would not let go of her, no matter what.


    That made her feel truly welcome in her own home.


    If Maddy did notice the handful of happy tears that rolled down Riley''s cheek around that moment, she knew better than to acknowledge them.


    Or rather, she did acknowledge them, but only in the way of holding her that much closer as a result, her paw reaching a bit further down to stroke her sides just a bit.


    And if anyone else noticed the resulting smile that spread through the supposedly asleep girl''s cheeks, they had the timeless wisdom to follow Maddy''s lead.


    Or more than likely they just didn''t notice, with the movie in front of them entering its third act, the CGI budget that had more digits in them than Timmy could be trusted to reliably be able to count to displaying itself in full force, hooking the tyke in as it pleasantly distracted the teens.


    And gave Riley leeway to orient herself ever so slightly more comfortably, occasionally sneaking in just the tiniest glance at the action unfolding in front of them.


    And at Maddy to her side.


    Most likely much more so of the latter than the former, but who''s keeping count anyway.


    Riley most definitely knew she wasn''t.


    As the movie drew to a close and the stockpile of junk food was being depleted, with a small bowl left over for Riley that Timmy had to repeatedly remind himself not to touch, the older siblings slowly got up to go about their own days.


    Of course, neither of them even thought about getting away without getting in some more affection towards their drowsiest sis, with Andrew taking his time with his loving scritches after scrambling himself off the couch and helping Maddy with stabilizing herself after the resultant support vacuum, chalking Riley''s muffled moans and ever so gentle wiggling of her head in his paw to her enjoying the sensations even in her dreams.


    They definitely weren''t just in her dreams, with the scritchee''s emotional state best described as conflicted between pretending to be annoyed at him daring to scritch her like that at her most vulnerable and not-pretending to be annoyed at him daring to end it so soon.


    Lily on the other hand went for something more tried and reliable, one paw diving behind Riley''s back as she was pulled into a wildly askew embrace, the younger sister taking a long moment of just nuzzling her cheek into the older one''s side before even thinking about letting go.


    Never in her life has Riley ever more intensely wished she had a tail to wrap around her lil'' sis than at that exact moment.


    Sadly as with all good things, Lily''s embrace had to have ended eventually, with the skunk tween seemingly contracting some of her sister''s sleepiness afterwards, yawning loudly before leaving with a wide smile at the half-awake couple still on the couch.


    And one furred goblin that wasted no time in filling in the space she left behind, scrambling up to Riley before reaching for the remote, taking a couple attempts to find the correct button before navigating his way over to the age appropriate cartoon channel, leaving Maddy in a bit of a pickle as to what to do next.


    On one hand there was the play room on the second floor where they could watch or do whatever else while also being blessed with better acoustics, but on the other climbing their way over there would be an adventure of the less enjoyable kind, and, well...


    "Maddy, when is Riley gonna wake up?"


    Send help.


    "No clue Timmy. Best to just give her time, y''know? She''s being one drowsy bug right now, and honestly deserves it more than anyone else."


    You don''t have to pretend you''re not enjoying this as much as I am Maddy.


    "Okay! ...if she doesn''t wake up soon, can I-"


    Before he could even finish his question, Maddy answered it by sliding the bowl of snacks reserved for his big sister way out of his reach, together with one of the soda bottles.


    That didn''t mean he immediately got the clue, however.


    "-can I have Riley''s snacks?"


    "No, these are for her silly. Can''t you just go make yourself some toast if you''re still hungry?"


    His response was the closest a ''yeah'' could get to just being a groan and still be recognizable as a word.


    "Well, I can pause the telly for you if you really want to make some right now."


    "What''s a telly?"


    "That ugly thing up on the wall."


    "What? Where?"


    It took everything Maddy had in her for her laughter to be contained in her mouth at Timmy''s response and accompanying confused looks around the room, the mysterious object proving to be as elusive as ever.


    If only.


    Riley fared only a bit better, a strained smile spreading on her lips at the interaction, slowly cooling off with subsequent deep breaths to return to her usual inconspicuous expr-


    "Riley?"


    Oh no.


    No matter how still she tried to pretend to be, the secret was already out, with the tyke off the couch and standing right in front of her in a matter of seconds, not willing to let go of his rightfully accidental catch.


    "Riley, c''mon, I saw that!"


    With her back against the back of the couch and with nowhere to go, the heroine decided to try and outwit the attacker, focusing every part of her that really wasn''t asleep to come up with something on the spot, murmuring dreamily in response, keeping her face as straight as possible-


    "Saw what?"


    "You smilin- HEY!"


    Key word being ''try''.


    Her devious plot now foiled, she had no choice but to face the dire reality in front of her own eyes, manifested in the form of a very impatient four year old, looking like he was just about ready to grab her himself and drag her upstairs step by step.


    In case everything else fails, try... flattery?


    "You''re looking good today Timmy, new haircut?"


    This attempt was more successful at its purpose of derailing the kit''s thought process, determined expression briefly replaced with confusion as he reached up to feel his own hair, wondering whether it was actually cut while he was asleep to the backdrop of Maddy''s unconstrained cackling.


    Still, it only bought Riley so much time to collect herself and sit back up to something approximating straightness, Maddy''s arm forever lamenting the loss even as its owner continued to giggle like a maniac, any attempts to rein in the onslaught of slightly squeaky noises only resulting in them reigniting.


    "Riley, come upstairs, I made something!" Timmy wasn''t gonna take any other delays, grabbing his sister''s arm before trying to drag it as much as his fortitude would let him- which is to say not very far, barely able to even tilt Riley from her sitting position before she wriggled herself free of his grip, chuckling as she justified herself-


    "Alright, alright, just give me a minute, walking is a bit hard."


    "Walking is hard?"


    "With a crutch it sure is. Where''s that thing anyway?"


    After Maddy''s cackling had finally subsided after as few as seventeen attempts to stop it, she was the first to evacuate the couch, reaching in to grab the dreaded instrument of medical anti-torture and pass it to Riley, the slightly younger half of their cuddly duet groaning in displeasure as she grabbed it and assumed the correct position, breathing deeply as she braced herself for another takeoff.


    "What do you need it for?"


    "Walking."


    With the final curt response it was finally the time for her to reach upwards, arm slightly trembling as so much weight was put on it before legs took their fair share of the effort once more, leaving her standing in the narrow space between the couch and the table in front of it.


    Now to scramble her way out of there.


    "But why?"


    "Because my legs feel like they''re made of putty."


    She slowly cleared the space with one careful sidestep after another, breathing a sigh of relief as Maddy was finally able to support her from the side, mentally celebrating the successful completion of one daunting trial as she desperately tried to ignore the much more intimidating one right ahead.


    Timmy was seemingly content with this response, breaking off into toddler sprint as he raced up to and ascended the staircase in the time that seemed around three orders of magnitude above the realm of possibility for his sister right now.


    "Come on!"


    With a roll of her eyes Riley had no choice but to advance, staggering her way towards the staircase one uneven step at a time, support of Maddy by her side making it more comfortable even if the resulting speed was ultimately unaffected.


    The producers of Xtreme Walking were not gonna approve of this third party interference.


    One ad break later she managed to finally reach the threshold between a mere contestant and a champion, the twenty or so steps separating her from victory looking more intimidating than two thousand steps ordinarily.


    Either case, gotta start with the first one first.


    There was no Rick to guide her around this time, leaving her to come up with a jury rigged solution of lifting one leg up onto the next step first and using it to push herself off the previous one, as straightforward as it was elegant, inspired by the beautiful simplicity of nature in its purest form.


    Almost as if she already knew it or something.


    After the first step of faith the following ones were much less harrowing to face, with the only difficulty coming in how more taxing on her legs they were, the concept of potential energy seemingly having a grudge on her and her specifically.


    She''d have her revenge after she finished taking a breather at the halfway point, Maddy''s warm fluff refilling her with enough energy to scale the remaining distance.


    One step after another, every one bringing her that much closer to her goal, every one with the weasel girl''s arm wrapped behind her, wordlessly reassuring that no matter what, she won''t let her fall or stumble.


    While also being very warm and soft.


    Riley''s legs hurt like she''s been running for half an hour, she had to take a while just to catch her breath afterwards and the inevitable realization she''d have to do it many, many more times while her legs got less bad didn''t help, but-


    She did it.


    She ascended the mountain.


    And would most definitely not mind some more cuddles as a reward for accomplishing the tas-


    "Riley, come on!"


    Timmy, no.


    One dull chuckle later she forced herself to move once again, thuds of the rubber foot of the crutch against the ground muted by the soft carpet as the two lovebirds got closer and closer to Riley''s room, sunlight filling the dim corridor as it poured in through the splayed open door.


    The radiance of the reveal was outright blinding, especially so with Riley having forgotten to pull her curtains shut the last time she was in her room.


    But the actual contents were more than worth the climb.


    The banner proudly displayed its message to everyone who peeked in the room, the string it was supported on attached to the walls with a couple globs of Blu Tack. Granted, it would only work when looking from outside of the room in, individual letters were of heavily uneven sizes and the whole thing contained a typo, but...


    ''''''


    WELcOME HoME R?ELY


    ''''''


    She didn''t mind one bit.

 Chapter 37: Flutter

    With Timmy now fully satisfied and rewarded with plenty of hugs and pets, the two lovemammals decided to not try their luck once more and stayed upstairs, together relocating to the play room to hopefully camp out the rest of the day.


    A task made that much easier with Maddy backtracking to get the snacks they left behind before some force of nature or another would''ve nibbled them out of existence, and to get some of that fancy newfangled ''coffee'' thing for Riley to finally try.


    Old people these days and the silly things they come up with.


    The scent perked her up from the half laying position she had managed to contort herself into, forcing her to sit up as Maddy placed the two cups down, the aroma of the weasel''s own mild tea utterly drowned out.


    It smelled... complex. There was the smooth, nutty-ish, almost electric scent of the coffee itself underneath everything else, faint memory of oversmelling it in the orphanage soon obscured by everything else that accompanied it.


    Such as the sweetness of caramel or fullness of cream, the combined fragrances making her shiver after she brought the cup up under her nose to take a deeper sniff.


    And then grunt in pain after her body subconsciously reacted incorrectly to a nose itch.


    After thankfully managing to set the cup back down without wasting any of the precious fluid by horribly burning her body with it, Riley leaned on Maddy''s shoulder once more, grumbling slightly as she pain from her right arm slowly mellowed out.


    The larger girl wrapping her arm and tail around the smaller one and diligently treating her to one entire chip may have had something to do with the aching fading faster as well.


    Conclusions uncertain, need to repeat the experiment.


    As Maddy right paw continued stuffing her girlfriend one chip at a time, the other reached over for the remote and turned on the TV, about ready to zone out to some more fluff, she noticed the gamepad laying on the other end of the table, the idea creeping up on her before she spoke out-


    "Down to play something?"


    Riley tilted her head to look up at her, a blank expression dotted with a couple slow blinks her only response in addition to slowly wiggling her shoulder to draw attention to the fact that, in fact, she was still wearing a cast.


    "Plenty of games you could play one handed. But yeah, probably not with the weaker hand, can''t imagine that being fun. So, uh, lemme try again then- down to watch me play something?"


    The answer came much easier this time, with Riley leaning back on the couch as Maddy got up to take a look at the available selection of electronic products of various levels of entertainment before choosing the one which probably offered it the least.


    "Heard all about this one but never quite got a chance to try it out, let''s take a look..."


    ***


    "Why do people play this bull- agh!"


    Maddy had to concentrate her everything to not toss the controller at a nearby something, instead just laying it down on the table and serving Riley to one more chip, one per death as was promised.


    Couple more play sessions like that and the human would make a complete recovery from being underweight.


    A couple more and she''d be on her way to break new horizons and become the first ever person with a three digit BMI.


    The weasel girl got up with a loud groan and made her way back to the console, flickering the lights on on her way as the sun began its early descent, almost throwing the disk at a nearby wall before replacing it with something else, having just enough clarity of the mind to not deliberately confuse the boxes out of spite.


    "Let''s try an actually good game for once, get ready to watch a maestro at her art~"


    "Does it mean a chip every time you don''t die instead?"


    "Oh shush."


    Riley giggled to herself and drank some more of the rapidly depleting soda as Maddy made her way back to the couch and pulled her into another side hug, thinking for a moment afterwards before outright lifting the smaller girl onto her lap, peeking out from behind her shoulder to see the screen at all.


    Despite the moment of surprise at the change in elevation, Riley didn''t mind at all, relaxing back into Maddy''s soft fur and everything else as she looked up at the screen and two digital characters calmly introducing themselves to each other before proceeding the beat the crud out of each other.


    The spectacle was definitely entertaining to witness, even as just an inconspicuously snacking spectator, letting Riley peace out against Maddy after finally exhausting the immediate supply of junk food, the garden gnome sized bundle of cloth and casts unable to help falling into a highly dangerous behaviour right away-


    Namely, thinking.


    Thinking so much that eventually, despite focusing most of her immediate attention at not being combo''d to death by an overtuned AI, even the weasel noticed in not too long, Riley''s eyes becoming unfocused as she faced the TV on the wall in front of them, prompting her to pause, the act thankfully making the human snap out of her trance.


    "You alright Riley?"


    "Y-yeah, yeah, just spaced out there." Riley shook off the nasty act of thinking, trying to blink the immediate surge of sleepiness away.


    "I noticed. Still tired?"


    "Well, yeah, can''t deny, just was more thinking than anything really." With a tiny bit of core strength, Riley leaned further forward, letting her stretch a bit without inadvertently clocking Maddy with her one good hand.


    "What about?"


    "Just... all that happened past couple weeks, so much of it."


    "I dunno whether continuing to think about it is a good idea..." Maddy had a bit of worry in her voice, even if she knew full well that her own advice was a very vague one, hard not to think about traumatic events like that after all, mostly just not wanting to see Riley bring herself down so soon after getting out of that stuffy, sterile place.


    "What? Oh no no, not about that, more so just everything else before it. It''s been a lot."


    As much as the other girl''s worries might have been put to rest with a response like that, she wasn''t entirely sure what Riley meant either, tilting her head as she looked down at her.


    "The whole adoption process, right? Imagine that took forever to get sorted out, yeah..."


    "Hah, quite a bit less so than you''d think. Just more so... meeting everyone, getting to know them, and all the little things inbetween, like- hell, just this is a good example, us just chilling while you get destroyed."


    "Oi, haha. I guess I get it though, would imagine the orphanage wasn''t the most eventful place around?"


    "That''s putting it lightly. I can recall more things from the past couple weeks than the entire year prior now that I think about it."


    "Sheesh. Everything... else aside that sounds really boring."


    "You''ve got no idea. I''ve had whole weeks blend into one another, to the point where I forgot what month it was a couple times." Riley admited offhandedly, even chuckling at the recollection, Maddy''s eyes going wide right behind her.


    "Jeez. I mean, I can''t say that the middles of school semesters don''t get monotonous in their own right, but that sounds downright cruel- was there really nothing to do there?"


    "There was school of course, uh... yeah, more so just a couple teachers than a whole separate building or anything, and the place had a library too but not a whole ton of children''s books or any drawing materials and all, so it was rather miserable as well. Some of the older boys especially just fucking loved to vandalize everything that was even somewhat usable they could get their hands on, so stuff like balls or skip rope didn''t survive long either."


    "Wow, that''s just... really awful of them. Why would they do something like that when the place was as awful as it was already?"


    Riley shrugged weakly, that particular mystery being one she resigned herself away from ever being able to crack.


    "Maybe just want to make others even more miserable? Or posture to show they own the place or something. I don''t know, guys are weird." Riley leaned further back on Maddy once more, sighing to herself, but remaining a bit tense now that the subject of school had come up.


    Her response made Maddy think back to some other troublemakers she had ran into in her own time, paw subconsciously reaching over for the snacks only to find the bowl long since emptied, internally groaning in despair before making a mental note to get up to refill the bowl once an opportunity were to present itself. It would have to wait a bit though, the tension in Riley''s back leaning on her definitely noticeable.


    "Are you cold Riley?" The weasel girl hazarded a guess, humans obviously needed a bit more clothing than anthros after all, though Riley was already wearing something long sleeved on top of a shirt so that might have not been it, unless the heating inside broke and she hadn''t noticed until now.


    "Wh-what? No no, not at all." Riley immediately tried to overcompensate as she shrugged it aside, forcibly relaxing her shoulders to middling success before attempting to change the subject.


    "So, gonna continue beating up their faces?"


    Maddy looked down over at the controller she had put down, before glancing back up at Riley.


    "Just feels like something''s up, is all." She grabbed the controller afterwards and tried to resume her gameplay, but kept a closer eye on Riley, the other girl managing to keep her cohesion for about fifteen seconds before dropping the act, there wasn''t much of a point in trying to hide it now, especially not from Maddy.


    "It''s just... dunno how to really explain it."


    "Take your time then, we ain''t rushing anywhere after all."


    "Me most of all, hah." Riley chuckled at her own joke, the smile blowing off before she sighed deeply and broke the ice once more-


    "So... what''s the process of catching up with the school like?" She finally muttered out, Maddy well into another match as the words reached her furry ears, split attention making her respond with a question herself.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "What do you mean? I guess your parents have already signed you up for our school, only one big one around so me and Andrew and Lily and like everyone else around goes there, and you''ll probably just hop right in on the semester starts."


    "Well yeah, I would''ve guessed that, more so meant, uh... catching up with the school material and all."


    The response made Maddy''s eyebrow perk up together with a light smile and a glance over at Riley, at least before an uppercut to the jaw of her digital avatar snatched her attention back.


    "There are some catchup classes for struggling students through the semester- I know because I''ve been helping out in them- so there''s no big fear about being behind on your classes or something, don''t worry Riley." Before her attention was so violently yanked away by the video game being played, Maddy tried to put on a calming expression, definitely not wanting the girl on her lap to worry about small things like that-


    "Even if it''s a year behind?"


    -though that might not have been that small of a thing.


    The sheer surprise made Maddy pause her game and look back at Riley as the latter gulped quietly, somewhat afraid that the response she''s been dreading was gonna come to fruition right in front of her.


    Or more accurately right behind her.


    "That''s... a fair bit, can''t deny that yeah. Have you brought it up to your parents yet?" Maddy asked calmly despite her surprise, definitely helping preemptively calm Riley''s nerves as she shook her head.


    "N-nah. H-haven''t really spoken to them about anything school related yet, not exactly looking forward to it either." Riley begrudgingly admitted, shuddering weakly.


    "Though, guess they would''ve had a look at your school records and all, and so would our school, so it would probably not be all bad? I doubt everyone''s suddenly gonna wake up two days before the new semester and be surprised you''re behind and all. Though..."


    The continued reassurance did help quell some of the worry building up inside Riley at yet again making herself a bother on the family- and now also on the school she was gonna go to, though the latter understandably made her much less concerned.


    "...I can''t say I''m not curious as to how''d you end up missing a whole year. D-don''t have to tell if you don''t want to or anything, just I am quite curious and all."


    Riley sighed, Maddy''s curiosity not at all hard to understand, even if actually admitting to the cause was much more embarrassing now that people actually cared about her.


    Funny thing it was. Three weeks ago and she would not only gladly admit to having skipped a whole year of school, but even rub it in people''s faces when they tried heckling her for it- which they did, a lot, especially the administration, at least for a few months before they gave up and just left her to her own devices.


    Though, guess that was the difference between engaging in self destructive behaviour for fun and to rub it in people''s faces, and actually having to face its consequences and admit to it to people that, for once, were genuinely interested in her well being.


    What a concept.


    "It wasn''t some big deliberate thing or anything is the fun part... well, not really fun, but maybe unexpected I guess. More so just, one day I woke up earlier, was thinking ahead to another day in the school, dreading it, not seeing the point in it, and just... didn''t bother going. Got an earful from the admins, and did it again the next day. And next, and next, and basically that was it, spent my time loitering around, trying to get some money on the side, practiced some punches against a bag, and that was it. Nothing too thrilling, really boring even, but still managed to be better than sitting in class."


    When put like that, it sounded less miserable than how it felt like at the time, the sheer hopelessness with no end in sight making her at times spend entire days in bed, barely moving and definitely not living-


    Before Riley could ponder upon it any more and put the old misery under the spotlight, the hug coming from behind did derail her train of thought, the sudden warmth succeeding in making her relax that bit more under Maddy''s embrace, worried expression being replaced with a soft smile.


    "That sounds rough, yeah. Who knows, maybe I would''ve done the same if I was in that situation, can''t really know. For the better I guess, hah." The hug showed no signs of stopping, Riley leaning further back in her constriction- though it was a very, very comfortable constriction.


    "Buuuut, that''s in the past now, and noooow, once you get back to school, I''m gonna see about being the one to help you catch up with the course material, how''s that sound?" Maddy''s tone was rather clear in conveying what she thought about that whole idea, making Riley just chuckle to herself before responding.


    "Oh no, guess I''m gonna have to keep lagging behind for a couple semesters longer~"


    "Pfft, you''re a dork, you know?"


    "Heh, never would''ve imagined that anyone would ever use that adjective in particular to describe me."


    "And yet it''s quite spectacularly accurate right now, hah."


    Riley just chuckled along as she leaned further into the embrace, trying to turn slightly on top of Maddy''s lap, making it easier to rest her head on her shoulder, and more importantly, for the two to establish eye contact, their expressions mutually softening as they stared at each other for a few moments, Maddy eventually taking the initiative and pulling Riley over into a kiss, the magic of the moment as electric the tenth time as it was the first time.


    Neither girl said anything even after they let go, Riley continuing to rest comfortably with her eyes closed, her desire to lean even closer dashed by the pair of specs that made that a bit uncomfortable, and the notable encastening of the one limb she could use to take them off with.


    Guess she''d have to orient herself some more, and even more terrifyingly, lean away from Maddy for a moment in order to accomplish that, the teen groaning quietly under her breath before getting right on that, blinking a bit as her eyes welcomed light again, the quick glance around the room making her notice the darkness behind the window, cloudy night sky making for a wall of black outside, with the exception of a fresh snowflake passing by the window every so often.


    "What time is it?"


    Maddy squirmed underneath her in process of reaching for her pocket, quick glance over at her phone''s screen answering the question- while also making her slightly regret that Riley had asked.


    "Half to seven. Guess I''ll have to get moving soon, don''t want to have to drag your mom out to give me a lift back at god knows what hour."


    Riley let out a quiet groan of disappointment, but it was ultimately more than understandable, especially if Maddy lived a decent bit away. Though... yeah everything was a decent bit away from here.


    "Awwwhhh."


    "Yeah, I know. Well, best to make these final few minutes count then-"


    The weasel girl held Riley closer, fluffy tail providing enough softness to make Riley briefly consider dozing off there and then again just to enjoy that bit more of all this, of Maddy- but that''d just be mean both to her and Ella, and besides, there was always the next day, one where she''d probably feel less tired while at it as well.


    "Yeah~. So, planning to visit tomorrow too?"


    "I wish, but sadly won''t be able to- we''re going on a trip to spend the New Year''s with the family, won''t be back until the third."


    "Oh..."


    "Yeah, I know- but we''ll survive these few days, plus can always text if you really can''t get enough of my nonsense. And- absence makes the heart grow fonder or so they say- though I sure can''t imagine getting even fonder, teehee."


    Riley chuckled to the side, her cheeks blushing brighter before she leaned into Maddy once more, snuggling as close as she could manage in her current position, leaving a light smooch on her cheek.


    "Me neither. Hope the family trip goes well."


    "Oh I''m sure it will, just as I''m sure that I''ll probably spend half of it on the phone chatting with you or getting otherwise distracted."


    "Can''t get the cripple out of your head, eh?"


    "Not when that cripple is being a cute, cuddly ragdoll, that''s for sure~"


    Maddy giggled out loud at her girlfriend''s embarrassed reaction, holding her even closer afterwards, gently nuzzling her face as one of her paws reached up to stroke her short hair.


    "I gotta admit- this ain''t what I imagined at all when mom told me the Ashers are adopting a human girl around my age, especially with a rough past."


    "Well, I''m quite far from my usual form at the moment so that definitely helps in that whole ragdoll aspect, hah."


    "Something tells me that you''re gonna be like this even once you''re back to normal."


    "Shush."


    The taller girl laughed quietly at Riley''s denial, quickly giving her one last squeeze before helping her slide off of her lap, the human immediately missing the fluffy warmth as Maddy turned off the TV and the console, slowly getting ready to get going.


    "Just lemme catch up with you-"


    "Oh I''m not going anywhere until you''re up by my side, don''t you worry Riley~"


    The chuckle that followed only motivated Riley further, the girl reminding herself the routine back from getting out of the car and up from the couch, going through the individual steps until she''d pushed herself off of the ground, the crutch''s presence by her side as supportive as it was a bit achey. Fortunately, she wouldn''t have to just rely on it, with Maddy taking her better hand, stabilizing her further as they made their way through the corridor and over to the staircase.


    "Ready for the descent?"


    "No, but here it comes anyway-"


    Replaying the steps from earlier, just inverted was thankfully enough to make Riley scale the stairwell for the second time, especially with gravity assisting instead of actively hindering her this time- though the assist was occasionally too much as well, Maddy''s support required a couple times lest the shorter girl would stumble just a bit too forward and lose whatever semblance of balance she had left.


    Fortunately, the stairs ended before Riley could tempt the fate even further by actually tripping, the couple arriving in the basement, only finding Riley''s parents preparing something in the kitchen- Rick appearing to be working on some sort of cake while Ella had just finished stuffing the oven with a casserole of some sort, turning around just in time to see the two stumble forward onto the ground floor.


    "Oh? What''s up sweetie?"


    "Oh no, nothing, just that Maddy realized it''s quite late and she didn''t want you to drive around with her at god knows what hour."


    Maddy looked away with just a hint of a blush at Riley listing off her mindfulness, before begrudgingly nodding along, while Ella pulled out her phone to check the hour.


    "Oh it''s really fine Maddy, I know the route to your place well, you don''t have to get going yet. Though... can''t imagine Riley wanting to make the trek up the stairs again quite yet, and I doubt either of you would be particularly comfortable with a couple old farts in the same room while you''re snuggling, heh."


    A chorus of ''uhm''s left the duo, both Rick and Ella having to hold in giggling at the sight, with the mom eventually taking the initiative.


    "It''s more than fine, believe me. So Maddy, ready to get going?"


    The question snapped the weasel girl out of her embarrassment as she nodded strongly, the skunk mom nodding in return before walking over to the coat hangers to change into something warmer.


    "Honey, keep an eye on the casserole, shouldn''t be more than fifteen minutes or so until it''s ready. C''mon Maddy, before we get snowed in in here, hah."


    Maddy''s immediate urge to dash up to the door was cut short at the realization of having her personal garden gnome still attached to her arm, walking her forward until she could lean on the table without her help before turning around and pulling her into the one final hug.


    "See ya after New Year''s Riley."


    "Y-yeah..."


    It took Riley exactly a moment past the instant she''d blurted the words out to realize she should probably respond with something else, but alas- she had to  suffer the consequences in the form of the entire room breaking into giggles in response as she tried not to look at anyone and just shamble herself over to a seat as Maddy caught up with Ella.


    The gust of cold wind caused by the latter opening the front door helped snap Riley out of that pronto, just in time to respond to Maddy waving at her in kind, dreamy smile lighting up both their faces before the door was finally closed, leaving just the worn out teen and her dad.


    "You two are cute together, you know?"


    Or nope, nevermind, back to the embarrassment.

 Chapter 38: Justice

    Despite being distracted by having to shield herself from showing embarrassment at her dad''s comment, Riley eventually managed to take a seat at the dinner table, half sitting and half roughly collapsing on top of it, sighing at the effort just the act of walking took as she leaned on the crutch and caught her breath.


    "Heh, Ella was considering bringing you your portion upstairs to avoid having you deal with the stairs again. Just lemme know once you want to get going, alright?" Riley nodded at her dad''s offer, not feeling like rejecting any more help until she felt like she could scale a staircase unassisted again.


    "Will do. Whattcha working on?"


    She pushed the chair enough to turn it sideways, letting her look at the ongoings in the kitchen without having to figuratively- and at this point, it also very much felt like literally- break her neck. Rick paused mixing the dough for a while as he glanced back at her over the shoulder, smiling weakly before resuming-


    "Oh, just one of the cakes we meant to have for Christmas. Well... suffice to say that nobody really felt like having them after what happened, at least until you woke up. While the other two are still alright, just gonna be a bit stale when we get to them, this one goes rather unpleasant fast, so once the good news came it was pretty much a rush just to finish that one off while it was still edible, with the idea that we''d make another one for the actual celebration."


    Well, it definitely made sense, and even if Riley might''ve felt the tiniest bit bad for being indirectly responsible for this, she shook it off quickly.


    "Ah. What about the other stuff, like that fish meal?"


    "Same fate really- while we went ahead and froze the veggie salad, the pot is behind the house and we''ll bring it back on Monday to thaw a bit beforehand, the greek style fish though... yeah, that one doesn''t preserve well, we had some of it for dinner on Thursday but it was already somewhat unpleasant by then and we ended up just throwing the rest of it out onto the compost pile. We''ll just have to make some more tomorrow, it''s no big deal."


    "I take I won''t be the one to have to peel potatoes again?"


    "Well I *mean*, if you want to~" The stink eye his daughter gave him made Rick chuckle somewhat guiltily before he dropped the subject as he reached into the cupboards for a dish to bake the cake in, followed by a good bit of butter from the fridge.


    Still, Riley couldn''t help but to chuckle just a bit at that, even if it was under her breath, followed by rolling her shoulders to try to work out some of the accumulated tension. The fate of holiday dishes wasn''t quite the only thing on her mind though, the silence only interrupted by the hum of the oven and the clanking of dishware giving her a lot of space to think back to the event that caused all that wastefulness to begin with.


    The pieces were there, laid out on the table, but they didn''t fit. Someone sent to mess her up on a shoestring budget, desperate for money enough to take it, and yet ended up turning himself in afterwards, apparently all arranged by a meathead with a vendetta-


    Wait.


    A detail she had overlooked earlier caught Riley''s attention, her focus sufficient to get her to straighten out on the chair as she yanked at the resulting thread of thought, overcoming the mental fog of exhaustion.


    The guy clearly wasn''t a coldblooded murderer, that much was obvious by his reaction afterwards alone, so the... ''regards'' he sent from Bruce weren''t spirited, he didn''t just say these words on his own, he was told to say them. And while Riley didn''t *truly* know Bruce, a fate she wouldn''t wish on her worst enemy, she was familiar with him enough to be able to say with confidence that he didn''t leave the orphanage a whole lot, and with how violently speciesist he was, probably wouldn''t wander over to the poorer areas with more anthros with them even if he did.


    Not to mention that even with him bullying younger kids for any money they might''ve had, there was no way in hell he was ever getting to five hundred bucks. Two hundred and fifty maybe, if he intended to screw that guy over by ghosting him afterwards, which would''ve been as stupid of an idea with a skunk as much as it was exactly like something he''d do, but that possibility didn''t feel particularly realistic, at least not right now.


    Plus he was in jail for crying out loud.


    The realization, obvious in hindsight, swept aside all her prior pondering with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. And in all likelihood, it was obvious for the cops as well- or at least should''ve been, maybe the two she had the displeasure of chatting with at the hospital just haven''t actually looked into who that particular ''Bruce'' was and where he was at. Would be fitting for the amount of effort they were otherwise putting in.


    And if it was unrealistic for him to raise enough money to pay off her assailant, it was downright impossible for him to ever get his hands on enough dough to pay off the bail and get out of whatever cell he was sitting in- and with the stuff he was charged with, he was definitely rotting in one. Not undeservedly of course, but this whole deal required more thought and subtlety than he was capable of, in that it required any thought at all.


    Besides, if he was out and able to arrange this, he would absolutely not waste the possibility to come over and try to beat her ass himself.


    While it was now obvious to Riley that Bruce wasn''t behind any of this, that only gave rise to another question- "who had *actually* arranged this and just decided to use Bruce as a convenient scapegoat?"


    Someone who knew her, who knew Bruce, who knew she was the only one with the opportunity to pull something like that off, who had a stake in this, enough money to throw around to set this up, who knew she was now living with skunks, who knew her new address so that they knew where to send that goon-


    ...


    Of course.


    The headmaster.


    Or if not him, then at the very least someone close to him in the orphanage''s administration. Someone so closely in on it that they were charged with corruption and whatever else that TV anchor mentioned and looking at years behind the bars, familiar with her being a rebel formerly without a cause, and absolutely furious at their whole little spiel being brought to light by some worthless kid of a junkie, enough to want to make her pay in the most humiliating way possible.


    These pieces of-


    "Riley? You alright?"


    Rick''s quiet words snapped his daughter out of the revelation-fueled fury she was about to descend into as her attention was brought back to the real world in front of her, including the crutch she was holding so tightly her knuckles were almost white.


    "Yeah, I-I think so. Was just... thinking." She turned to look back towards Rick, his concerned expression sobering her even further as he stood nearby, a glance further into the kitchen having revealed the dinner casserole having been pulled out of the oven and replaced with the cake in the meantime, the air smelling sweet and nutty.


    "Thinking about... what had happened?" Rick wasted no time in walking over to her and taking a seat himself, turning the chair to face her.


    Riley slowly nodded, at least initially, before cutting herself off with an ''um'' and speaking up after having a chance to gather her words.


    "Well, kinda. Not about... the thing itself but who organized it and what were their motivations." Her words seemed to only make Rick even more concerned, concerned and thoughtful, her old man recalling the details before speaking up-


    "Wasn''t it set up by that douchebag bully? Barron or-"


    "Bruce."


    "Yeah, him."


    "That''s what I thought too- hell that''s what the cops at the hospital thought as well, the- the guy who assaulted me sent me his regards-"


    "Riley, I really think we should try to move on-" Rick tried to step in, not wanting his daughter to get so winded up again so soon.


    "I''m not finished- yeah everyone thought it was Bruce but it couldn''t have been him. It wouldn''t make sense- he doesn''t have the money, the contacts, he''s dumb as bricks, and more than likely he''s in jail and there''s no way anyone''s bailing his ass out."


    This time though, Rick actually let her finish, bringing a paw up to his mouth as he considered it himself, recalling everything about the case he looked into afterwards- and with the things that kid was charged with there was no way in hell they were letting him await the court anywhere but behind the bars.


    "Yeah, that would check out. So, if not him, then who?" As concerned as he was for Riley''s mental wellbeing, there was an undercurrent of actual curiosity, and maybe just a slightest bit of a desire for revenge in Rick''s voice as he leaned forward in his seat.


    "Orphanage admins, has to be." Riley responded with utmost confidence, even accentuating her conclusion by lightly tapping her crutch against the floor.


    Rick didn''t react right away, seeming to be mulling on that idea, eventually responding with a very slow nod.


    "As sleazy as these guys felt when I had to interact with them, I''m not entirely sure."


    "But it all checks out- they knew where I lived, they knew me enough to be able to figure out it was me, they knew Bruce so they had a convenient scapegoat people wouldn''t doubt, and..."


    Riley paused to consider her words, grumbling quietly.


    "...they knew who to get to make it really hurt."


    She looked back up at her dad, seeing him staring down at the floor for a couple moments before looking back up at her, visibly trying to keep it together as his expression was twisted in a grimace. Knowing that she didn''t quite have the words to help calm him off the top of her head, she just reached in with her good hand and grabbed his, holding it firmly until he returned the gesture, starting to breathe deeper.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "I... yeah. Yeah that makes sense. Too much sense."


    He quickly swiped any moisture from his eyes before trying to reset his expression back to his neutral, soft smile, mostly succeeding and taking another deep breath.


    "Heh, want me to pass it onto the cops?"


    "I mean, if I figured it out so will they, right?"


    There were a few moments of loaded silence between the two as Riley reconsidered her words before holding back a chortle.


    "Yeaaah, knowing them they might just need it."


    "I''ll call them about it tomorrow then. Anything else you were thinking about Riley?"


    She paused, feeling more than a little bit of pride at having managed to crack this, and satisfaction at the fact that whichever douche organized this will be double screwed in prison. Who knows- maybe stuck there for life even. And while savoring it was definitely on her agenda, there still was the other side of this mess left, namely the perpetrator.


    "The guy who went and did it. I''m... trying to figure out what was his deal."


    Rick nodded in return, uncertain on whether he wanted that particular topic to continue. While his daughter might have been feeling much better than yesterday at the hospital when she brought it up the last time, and if anyone it was him who hasn''t fully gotten over it all yet, he really didn''t want her to dig herself into a dark place because of all horrible mess.


    "I mean, there aren''t many other possibilities aside from just desperation, right?"


    "There aren''t, but he still turned himself in anyway, it just doesn''t make sense. Unless-" Riley paused, the obvious reason presenting itself to her so suddenly, overlooked in the overall monstrosity of this whole affair.


    "Unless his conscience acted up and made him turn himself in."


    "Well, that''s always a possibility, yeah."


    "And I don''t think the original reason was anything awful either- hold on, lemme quickly check-"


    With a bit of acrobatics, Riley let go of Rick''s paw, reaching her left hand into her right pocket and pulling out her phone, navigating the UI left handed with all the grace of a semi truck spinning out on ice before bringing the messages her grandma had sent back up, double checking the exact details.


    "Lost custody of his kid because of alcoholism and apparently has been trying his hardest to get his life back together afterwards but hasn''t been able to."


    "...did Liz send you his details?" Rick couldn''t see Riley''s phone directly from his position, but he could make out the WhatsApp color palette on the reflection of her glasses, stumping the girl for a while before she spilled the beans-


    "Well, yeah, but only because I had asked." She was surprised he''d figured it out so suddenly, not having much experience with either glasses or digital screens until very recently.


    Rick simply sighed in response, not expecting this for certain, but in hindsight, knowing his mom, he really, really should''ve.


    "I suppose that makes sense, yeah. As does that guy''s motive. Case closed then?" He would be content not having to think back to anything surrounding what had happened Riley for the rest of his life, but unfortunately for him, his daughter had a different idea, slowly beginning to take root in her head.


    "Hmm... I mean, yeah, but... I-I don''t know, this all feels... wrong."


    "Wrong? You think he had some secret ulterior motive on the side-"


    "No, no, not that kinda wrong. More like... wrong that he''s gonna end up behind the bars forever because of this."


    She glanced back up at her dad, finding him, unusually enough for him, genuinely taken aback at her words, opening his mouth as if to respond but needing a few more moments to piece the words together.


    "Well, he did nearly kill you. If there''s anything that justifies someone ending up behind the bars it''d probably be attempted murder."


    "Or better yet, arranging a murder in the first place."


    "Both whoever arranged all this and this guy can be equally guilty Riley, it''s not a competition."


    "I-I know, but it... it doesn''t feel right." Riley slid her phone back into her pocket, the left one this time for less awkward access in the future and leaned forwards in her seat, staring down at the floor.


    "Not right in what way?"


    "Like, one did it with premeditation and wanting revenge, and the other was some desperate schmuck who really needed money and even then couldn''t live with himself afterwards and turned himself in, and they''re both probably gonna sit for just as long."


    "Hmm... on one hand desperation like that is a reason to lower his sentence, on the other... yeah I''m not trusting the courts to take pity on him like that."


    "Yeah..."


    She sat in silence for a while, her left hand fidgeting with the end of her sleeve as she tried to sort out her emotions about all this, groaning in frustration afterwards.


    "I... honestly, at this point I- I don''t think I even want him to go to prison anymore." Riley didn''t expect the resulting silence from Rick, making her look back up at him after a while, finding him looking at her wide eyed, the obvious follow up question clear in his expression alone.


    "Like... not even because of him, or maybe not just because of him, he''s a junkie, whatever, but... he has a kid, right? And from what I know that kid doesn''t have anyone else left, so-"


    "Riley-"


    "-so right now they''re probably stuck in some shithole orphanage, too young to even really get it all, that kid is like six or seven or something, and they don''t want their dad to be like he is right now but they really really just want to see him again-"


    "Riley-"


    "-and they''re just so fucking scared and lost and one day they''re just gonna hear that they''re never gonna see their dad again and they won''t understand why and it''s gonna haunt them for the rest of their fucking lives-"


    Before she could say even a word more, she was unexpectedly pulled forwards into a very tight, very warm hug, her whole body shaking as she processed the sensations, finally noticing the warm, stinging tears that were flowing down her face. Rick had knelt in front of her chair to be able to properly reach around her, holding her firmly and tightly, a glance over at his face revealing some fresh wetness around his eyes of his own, the black fur shining under the lights even more than it usually did.


    Slowly, Riley reached her good arm around his back in return, the tears her words have invoked continuing to flow as they sat in silence, her own distress taking a lot longer to calm down from compared to Rick''s, the girl eventually feeling even more tired than before as her breathing gradually calmed down, embrace weakening involuntarily.


    "I get that Riley. I really do. How about- I''ll talk with Ella about what we can do to help, Liz and Marvin too, and we''ll try to figure something out. How''s that sound?" Rick spoke with a soft whisper, his own embrace of his daughter not waning even for a moment, his paws gently stroking her back intermittently.


    She weakly nodded into his shoulder, the muttered ''mhm'' signaling just how exhausted she was at this point, her dad chuckling weakly as he picked up on it.


    "Today really took a lot out of you, hasn''t it?"


    Riley chuckled sleepily in response as she slowly let go of him, Rick following her soon afterwards, though not before patting her back a couple more times and lightly ruffling her hair before taking a seat once again.


    "How hungry are you?"


    She thought back, the snacks might not have been limitless, but they were plentiful enough to where she was largely sated by now, finding herself unable to care one bit about the sources of her nutrients not exactly being the most healthy today.


    "A bit, not that much..." Riley muttered before straightening back, trying to keep herself further from falling asleep where she sat by shaking her head a bit, the technique proving itself to have absolutely zero effectiveness.


    "How about I''ll make you a sandwich and then you can go straight to bed, and you''ll just have the casserole tomorrow?"


    "Specialized diet, what luxury, heheh..."


    "Hah, less luxury and more the fact that in your current state you''d probably faceplant into your plate before you were done eating, especially with having to eat left handed." Rick''s frank response got a chuckle out them both, Riley having to forcibly hold in laughter after imagining herself dozing off at the table.


    "Especially since I missed the window on dinner and now the casserole is probably already cold and is gonna need a few more minutes in the oven to reheat it."


    "Oops."


    "Yeah, heh. Thank goodness none of your siblings decided to come down and check up on the dinner in the meantime, that would''ve been... something."


    Riley''s eyes went wider at that realization, making her sigh out in relief at randomly dodging that bullet- she was more than glad to have had that conversation, but boy it wouldn''t have been a fun one to have to go back to at a later date. In the meantime, Rick had gotten up to get her sandwich underway, after pulling out the only slightly singed cake and sliding the casserole back in on a lower temperature setting.


    The brief shine of headlights on the living room''s back wall informed them that Ella was finally back, and not a moment too soon, Riley letting a ''phew'' out loud at making it through a third of a Russian roulette- plus she was done crying now for hopefully long enough that her mom wouldn''t be able to immediately tell that something had happened.


    The frigid gust that followed as Ella stepped in was intensely successful in making sure Riley wouldn''t be snoozing any time soon yet, her teeth clacking out loud for a moment before the door was closed behind her, Ella''s muffled chuckle becoming clearer as she took off her scarf.


    "Still here Riley? Thought you''d be going straight to bed after dinner honestly."


    Here''s to her pitiful attempt at pretending nothing had happened.


    "Well~ dinner hasn''t happened yet. We started chatting and got distracted and by the time we finished it was already cold." Fortunately, her dad was there to bail her out, redirecting any possible maternal annoyance.


    "And here I was thinking you were reheating it just for me~" Annoyance that thankfully never came, Ella just giggling at the news as she finished taking her outdoors clothes off, warming up in the comfy indoors as she noticed a sandwich being made, a raised eyebrow spotted by her husband soon after.


    "Oh, just making something for Riley so she can have something light and hit the hay afterwards. The chat was... rather emotional, and I don''t think even she trusts herself to effectively use a fork left handed with how much she''s tired afterwards."


    "Nope, not in the slightest." Riley chimed in directly, helping her mom in feeling much less guilty about chuckling at Rick''s words.


    The additional unspoken benefit of not having to interact with her siblings while she had just finished being a teary eyed mess was also appreciated.


    Rick helped reorient Riley''s chair back towards the table as he delivered the impromptu dinner, the sandwiches about as plain as possible, but even if Riley was in any way picky with her food, she would''ve been much too tired to be so right now, managing to space out a couple times just in the amount of time it took to chew though a couple slices of bread with margarine and a slice of cheese on them.


    And while she couldn''t know for sure whether the louder clinks coming from Rick deciding to hand wash some of the dishes from today, timed just so that they would shook her awake and have her continue eating were intentional, they were much too conspicuous to not be so.


    "Goodnight Riley, sleep well sweetie."


    "Goodnight mom."


    Eventually, she was thankfully finally done with her dinner, Rick wordlessly intervening to help her up the staircase, the complicated dance feeling almost easier while being so tired like that, or at least it felt like it went by faster. Her dad occasionally deciding to help lift her up to the next step might have helped with that just a tad though.


    "Want me to walk you off to your room?"


    "N-nah, I think I''ll be alright, it''s just a straight, flat line."


    "Alrighty then."


    He didn''t waste the opportunity to pull her into another hug though, much weaker and shorter this time around, Riley smiling dreamily before muttering out-


    "Thank you dad."


    "You''re welcome sweetie. Now go get some rest, okay?"


    "Yeah. Goodnight..."


    "Goodnight Riley."


    Even if he was true to his word and didn''t walk her over to her room directly, he still kept an eye over on her from the staircase just in case, the extra assurance thankfully not noticed by the recipient as she shambled over to her room, getting in with as little of a hitch as possible while this tired and this inexperienced with a crutch.


    Timmy''s present was still there in its splendor, getting as big of a smile out of her as she could manage in her exhausted state.


    "Kids, dinner!"


    The call from downstairs made her briefly pause and begin turning herself over towards the door before catching up on the fact that she, in fact, had already eaten, a weak chuckle leaving her at her own silliness before she resumed the inevitable approach towards her bed, finally taking a seat and leaning the crutch on the cupboard, having to commit the entirety of her willpower to not lay down as is.


    With a lot more effort than expected, she eventually changed into something more appropriate for bed, took her glasses off and even remembered to plug the phone into the charger, leaving her with one final task- turning the lights off.


    For which she''d need to get up... and use the crutch...


    A low whine let her at that realization, leaving her to glance around in case there was something that would possibly help with that ordeal, her attention resting on the wall switch on the wall by her bed, next to the window, one she had overlooked earlier because she thought it had something to do with the window.


    What if...


    *click*


    And just like that, the room was plunged into the most welcome darkness of Riley''s life, the girl wasting exactly no time before finally laying down and getting comfy under the blanket, too tired to even appreciate the glow in the dark decals on the ceiling at that moment, just all in on getting some well deserved rest.


    Rest at home, after so, so long.

 Chapter 39: Wrap-Up

    Riley had almost forgotten how divine a good bed felt to sleep in, and even more importantly, to wake up in. There was nobody to rush her, no checkups that needed to be performed, no meal calls, at least not yet, just the warmth and softness of her covers, the sound of her breathing, and occasional ambience reverberating through the household.


    Bliss.


    As wonderful as it felt, she neither desired nor was planning on spending the rest of the day wrapped up underneath her covers- she might''ve been too exhausted to be all that hungry yesterday, but her tummy wasn''t about to forget a missed meal, starting to gradually remind her of its existence as Riley slowly drifted closer and closer to awareness.


    Unfortunately, that beautiful and elegant process was eventually unnaturally accelerated by another organ also deciding to chime in- namely, her bladder.


    A low grumble left Riley as she flipped herself over onto her side towards the window, having enough experience with her cast by now to not include her right arm in her stretching regimen, clumsily reaching over to grab her phone afterwards, the sunlight making her wonder what hour it was, and whether she got lucky and woke up right as it got bright outside or just overslept the breakfast calls-


    10:47 AM.


    The latter, definitely the latter.


    She must''ve slept like a rock through Ella''s calls and knocking, good god.


    As much as Riley wouldn''t mind tossing around in bed for a few more minutes, it was clearly not meant to be, the realization of the relatively late hour together with multiple reminders of bodily functions that needed to be done pushing her ahead to pick herself up off the bed, grabbing only her phone, glasses and crutch before proceeding to shamble out of the room, the latter feeling not awful to handle for once.


    She was getting the hang of this.


    Much to her appreciation, the thermostat seemed to have gotten nudged up a handful of degrees overnight, changing her decision to shamble out in just her pyjamas from a temporary half-measure that would be alleviated after she was done in the bathroom to something she was very much willing to stick with, just because pyjamas comfy.


    Very comfy.


    With one of the two bodily nuisances alleviated, she could head downstairs once more- though for the first time, it would be entirely on her own, the padded steps staring at her mockingly as she got a better grip on her crutch and took a deep breath, unsure how she was gonna tackle it-


    At least, before the door to Andrew''s room opened, her older brother briefly blinking in surprise at seeing her in just pyjamas staring the staircase down before quickly running up to help, realizing the difficulties of navigating a staircase with a crutch.


    "Morning Riley! Need a hand?" His usual chipper was a reassuring sight, Riley nodding in response before reaching her free arm towards him, Andrew not wasting a moment before sliding underneath it, the height difference making it a decent bit awkward, but ultimately workable.


    "Yeah, these stairs are gonna be the end of me. Lemme guess, y''all already had breakfast?"


    "Oh yeah, like an hour ago now. Mom knocked on our doors individually, I heard you had a very early night yesterday?" With his assistance, she could start making her way down the steps, fortunately only needing her big brother to help just a bit with her balance every once in a while, leaving her with enough free brainpower to actually participate in the conversation for once.


    "Yeah, right as you all had dinner. This thing takes more out of you than I thought, heh." She sidestepped the actual reason- or at least the entirety of it for her early bedtime, the question making her remember the promise Rick had made to her yesterday, upping her pace just a bit as she got more eager to see him. And considering she could hear some muted sounds of the downstairs TV, there was a decent chance it would happen sooner than she thought.


    "Boy I can imagine. Whattcha planning for today?" The convenient timing of the question right as they reached the halfway mark gave Riley an opportunity to glance up at him, unsure how to answer.


    "Honestly, wasn''t thinking about anything in particular. I know mom is planning on making more of that fish stuff but I''m unsure how much I can help with any of it."


    "Oh yeah, though me and dad are gonna be enough to deal with preparing it. She was also planning on making more cookies though, and never enough hands for that!"


    "Guess handling that processor thing is still doable in my current state, heh."


    "And cutting out the cookies themselves, don''t forget!"


    "Something tells me that Timmy won''t be too eager to renege on getting to do at least one of these things for himself."


    "Oh don''t worry, mom will be there to help handle him this time. But even if, I think it''s gonna be alright regardless."


    "Heh, can''t get enough of me?" She asked jokingly, with a light chuckle, though it seemed to have more of an impact than she expected, Andrew looking away and slowing down for a moment before responding quietly-


    "Well, we missed you a lot..."


    The hushed, maybe even slightly hurt tone felt like a stab to her heart, Riley suddenly feeling quite bad for teasing her brother like that, rushing through the past couple steps in silence before turning on the spot and pulling him into as big of a one armed hug as she could, Andrew returning the favor with all the gentleness in the world.


    "I missed you all too."


    He held her ever so closer in response before slowly letting go, looking almost like he got close to tears for a moment there before managing to pivot away from that and into a large, warm smile.


    "Oh- mom left you some of the dinner to reheat, want me to help with that?"


    "Not sure how well I can carry anything at the moment, yeah. Thanks Andrew."


    "You''re welcome Riley."


    With a smile and a nod, she turned back to get a better view of the room, finding almost the entire rest of the family already gathered on the couch, Timmy getting cozy on Rick''s lap while Lily leaned on his side, all three sufficiently enthralled by the movie they were watching to not even give her a passing glance until after she''d made her way over, with her sister being the first to notice.


    "Hey Riley!" While Lily''s words just made Rick smile and give her a big nod, Timmy seemed to have been genuinely oblivious to her presence here until now, letting out an excited gasp and beginning to scramble his way over onto her lap while she was sitting down, coordinating with her just right to really pin Riley to her seat, sinking into the softness of the sofa, and making sure she wouldn''t be getting up any time soon.


    Ayy, she wasn''t the only one in pyjamas as it turned one, score one for team comfy.


    "Riley, Riley, Is my present still up?"


    Guess he really got excited over that one, hard to blame him.


    "Yep, still up an proud, you really did a great job with it."


    The joyful squeaks that left him in return were almost too precious, Riley just reaching up to ruffle his hair as he squirmed some more on her lap.


    "Wanna watch the Owl-Man with us?" His followup question was no less excited, though she couldn''t say she really knew what the movie in question was- most she''d heard of it were brief snippets of the promotional material on the radio back at the orphanage, and those didn''t exactly help in conveying much beyond ''a superhero movie''.


    Fortunately, it seemed that Lily had caught onto her confusion, stepping in to help explain as she slid up to her big sis, inconspicuously wrapping her tail around her-


    "It''s what we''re rewatching right now, just superheroes and villains and stuff. The sequel is coming out soon and we''re gonna go and watch it at the movies so we''re watching the first one as a refresher.


    Guess it indeed was just a superhero movie.


    "Sure! Heh, never been to the movies-"


    "REALLY!?" Timmy''s disbelief was almost earpiercing, the rest of the couch wincing slightly at the volume of his delivery, the tyke fortunately having enough self awareness to spot it, following up with a quiet ''sorry'' shortly after.


    "H-heh, yes, really. O-oh, thanks Andrew."


    The big bro came in just in time to divert the subject- not that she felt anywhere near as much insecurity about not having had a chance to enjoy most of the things the rest of her family had before anymore, but it didn''t really led to anything productive either- she''s never had popcorn or nachos either, and just repeating that fact would just get boring, even if it would help satiate Timmy''s bottomless curiosity.


    The plateful of reheated dinner was wonderful at providing an excuse to not have to talk for a while, and as much as she deeply enjoyed him snuggling against her, Riley wasn''t quite feeling enough like herself to be able to have Timmy on her lap for long periods of time, the little skunk scooting off of her, ending up snuggling inbetween his sisters, much to the light grumbling of the younger one.


    "Oh, oh, Andy wanna watch with us?" Even though he might have lost his temporary seat, Timmy was nothing if not relentless in trying to get himself another one.


    "Sure sport, whattcha wat-"


    "Alright everyone, who wants to help me out with shopping?" Ella''s sudden appearance caught everyone''s attention, five assorted heads turning to look towards her as she cleared the stairs, already mostly dressed for the outdoors.


    "ME!" And just like clockwork, all the kids that weren''t currently in bandages volunteered eagerly, Riley finding herself ever so slightly startled by the sudden volume, though ended up just chuckling it off afterwards.


    "Then go get yourselves in the gear and let''s go." She didn''t have to tell them twice, Lily scrambling her way over the couch''s back rest before gunning it for the stairs, with Timmy''s inadvertently trapped predicament ending up being helped by his dad carefully lifting him up and over onto other side of the armrest he was sitting next to, the tyke''s tail waving excitedly all the while as he got to running.


    The sheer speed at which the ground floor went from full and clamoring to basically quiet aside from the sounds of generic superhero antics on TV and scraping of a fork against a plate left Riley rather stunned, Rick chuckling at her surprise, realizing this is the first time she''s ever seen the whole house mobilize like that- and perhaps a bit unfortunately, wasn''t really able to join in on it just yet, though considering the topic they would be talking about in not too long, it was probably for the best.


    "Morning Riley. Feeling any better now?" The teen was simultaneously too stunned by the sudden rush all around her and too distracted by the rich, pleasant flavors of her meal to notice her mom having walked over, leaning on the couch as she looked over her, smiling at Riley already looking a bit more like herself than yesterday evening.


    "Hey mom. And yeah, much less like I''m only barely walking for once."


    "Now that''s some great news. We talked with Rick about what had happened about yesterday, I''ll let him go into the details, but-" Riley turned her head over from her dinner-turned-breakfast just in time to see Ella pull her into another hug, flinching ever so slightly at the unexpected gesture, but quickly relaxing afterwards, letting the fork clatter on the plate and the table as she wrapped her arms around the skunk mom.


    "-I''m proud of you sweetie. So, so proud."


    "T-thank you mom."


    With a couple pats on the back, Ella let her go and get back to eating, her expression beaming.


    "Now go get eating sweetie, your body is gonna need more than chips and sandwiches to heal up, teehee."


    Riley rolled her eyes and chuckled, right in time for Lily to come down the stairs, leaping past the last few steps and managing to stick the landing, Ella only giving her a tired sigh- guess the only way the girl would ever learn to take the stairs more carefully would be if she actually hurt herself on them, oh well- can''t best the good ol'' teacher experience.


    Andrew and surprisingly Timmy as well weren''t too far behind either, Riley decidedly not expecting the latter to be able to change into an appropriate outfit so quickly on his own- though the motivation of getting to grab more snacks from the store was no doubt a significant one.


    And just as soon as they had arrived, they were gone, the shopping routine so well practiced by now it looked downright rehearsed, especially Timmy''s part of wrapping himself snuggly in a thick jacket, the sight as cute as ever.


    Before Ella could even get the engine started, Rick had already changed the channel to a different kind of pleasant silliness, something a bit less hyper active, and also more suitable as a background noise to relax to, and of course, to deliver what Riley had been waiting for to.


    "So..." Riley eventually broached the subject, taking her time to slowly wrap up her portion first, needing to intermittently pause to let her hand rest, providing good opportunity to get some talking done.


    "So~ well, we chatted, called your grandparents and eventually arrived at something." Rick spoke up with a smirk, looking much more comfortable than yesterday when they were discussing the subject. His daughter simply nodded in response, eventually following it up with a ''mhm'' after she was done chewing her current bite.


    "Considering the circumstances of the case, there isn''t a *whole* ton we can do, especially not now. Most of it will come down to the actual court hearing and will need to be discussed with a lawyer beforehand."


    Riley felt her heart sink a bit in response, slowly nodding at the reality seeming to be steadfastly against the possibility of things being better, at least until her dad continued-


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "That doesn''t mean all hope is lost though, just that we can''t just jump in and just make them not prosecute that guy. The hearing is not gonna happen for at least another month, though that doesn''t mean we''re completely out of options."


    The assurance made her snap her head back towards him, the need for elaboration clear in her eyes.


    "What options!?"


    "Well, mostly just paying for his bail and contacting him in private. Telling him in no unclear terms that we''re doing it for his son and not him, and hoping we can try straightening him out some before the actual trial."


    While far from a miracle, this was at least something concrete, and Riley could only hope beyond hope that just getting to speak with him directly would be enough to figure out a plan to prevent any further unnecessary suffering.


    "I-I see. H-how would speaking with him directly look like?"


    "We''re thinking some bar somewhere nearby, but that''s not really that important, at least not now. We''re gonna be handling this sweetie, it wouldn''t be healthy for you to have to be the one to talk that guy into changing for the better."


    Riley was taken aback by that, but in hindsight, she really shouldn''t have been surprised in the slightest. There were heroic and stupidly risky antics involving trespassing in the orphanage offices, and then there was the equally heroic process of slowly influencing another person to be the best version of themselves they can be, especially with a good enough motivation, involving a whole lot of talking.


    She was good at only one of those.


    After thinking it through, she nodded firmly in response, feeling... deeply calmer afterwards. There was a plan now, even if merely an outline in its current state, but one that would lead to things getting better, and at least one kid getting to avoid what she had to go through. What Rick had to go through.


    "A-alright. Is there... anything else?"


    Rick thought for a moment before shaking his head and picking himself up off of the couch.


    "That''s all we have for now, pretty much, the rest will come up as we go. We''ll let you know if anything big changes though." He walked over and past her, heading for the stairs while Riley was still mulling through it all, calling out to him as she saw him walk away-


    "D-Dad?"


    "Yes sweetie?"


    He turned around on the spot towards her, giving Riley a reassuring smile as she was still visibly thinking through everything, the teen responding with a weak smile and a nod before speaking back up-


    "T-thank you for this dad. Thank you all, s-so much."


    Her old man smiled wider still, giving her a deep nod.


    "You''re welcome Riley. I''m gonna get to dealing with bail and that whole nonsense, shoot me a message if you want me to come down and help you upstairs, okay?"


    And with a loud ''mhm'', he got to making his way upstairs, leaving Riley on her own downstairs, in just her pyjamas, with a big ol'' TV wholly for herself, and a plate of mostly finished once dinner. Scrambling over to the TV remote took a bit more effort than expected, her legs still on the weaker side as she shuffled along the couch, eventually her fingertips managing to graze the device and slide it just barely within her reach.


    Well, since the family was planning to see a sequel to that superhero movie, might as well take a look at it herself, who knows, maybe she''d get hooked?


    ***


    That movie felt like what Riley thought popcorn tasted.


    Dry, crunchy, rather bland- but perfect to grab whole handfuls at a time and just chew on while turning off her brain. Or at least that''s always been her impression of why people enjoyed popcorn, guess she''ll find out herself once the Owl-Man 2 releases and she''ll be able to witness Timmy having a time of his life.


    She had to give it one thing though- it did manage to keep her attention squarely occupied for almost three whole hours, the shocked realization making her look out the window to see the sun already beginning to set despite her having basically not done anything today yet- and still being in her pyjamas no less.


    Guess it''s a pyjamas kind of day.


    That realization was quite liberating actually- mostly in that she wouldn''t have to message Rick for help... probably until the evening at least, saving them both time and effort. Only thing she really missed were earphones, but she''d manage without those, especially when it just came down to idly browsing the internet. She wouldn''t get to do too much of the latter before the shopping delegation was back though, the rumbling from outside catching her focus even if she wouldn''t be able to contribute to the unpacking process.


    Or at least or so she thought- she might not have been in the shape to carry any of the bags herself, but she was in the perfect state and position to help distract Timmy after he slipped out of his shoes and jacket, the tyke scrambling right over to her, getting out of the way of his big siblings and mom. And even despite being a bit chilly, he was just as soft as usual, melting under her scritches.


    "Why are you still in pyjamas Riley?"


    "Because they''re comfy and I''m lazy. Whattcha got us over there?"


    "Oh oh oh, we got stuff for more cookies and fish and soda and veggies and mom took a big hoodie for you and OH OH did you watch Owl-Man while we were gone!?"


    That was a lot all at once and the end came completely unprompted, though considering that the title of the movie was still visible on the TV together with the rest of the video controls, she brought that one upon herself.


    "Uh, yeah, I did, what did you say about a hoo-"


    "OH OH OH did you see the fight against the Spider Lord it was so so cool and-"


    "It was great, now what was it you said about a hoodie?"


    The exchange drew more than a bit of giggling from Ella as she walked over to them, holding the bespoke article of clothing out for Riley to see, black with white decals as usual- and this time it was not that fact in itself that made her groan a bit, at least initially, with that dishonor going to the most prominent decals, a pair of white eyes around the chest area. Though, as a second glance revealed, it was both in the wrong position for that crude joke, the eyes more so around the collarbone than on the chest directly, and thankfully it wasn''t just that, with dozens of smaller, pairs of eyes staring at the viewer all over the front, most of them in dark shades of gray that were difficult to make out, and could probably spook someone once they did.


    "I spotted it and thought you''d like it, though they didn''t have your size on hand, so I grabbed the next smallest one I could find. It''s gonna be a bit oversized, but hopefully comfy oversized and not weighing you down oversized. Worst case we can just return it next time we go shopping."


    After straightening herself out on the couch and reaching over to grab the top, Riley realized that she really wasn''t sure which of the two oversized categories the article of clothing would fall under, especially with its thick, yet soft fabric.


    Hell this was probably big enough to fit her and Timmy both.


    After the unexpectedly involved process of scrambling herself into the hoodie to the backdrop of the lights being turned on and various food stuffs being sorted to their appropriate destinations, all that was left was actually getting up and getting a feel of how walking in the hoodie would feel like, though the first impressions were very much positive, soft, and rather cold with the hoodie having spent the past however long only separated from Minnesota winter by the trunk of Ella''s car.


    It had chilled her so much that now she felt like she had to keep it on just to warm herself back up.


    With a crutch reached and some tenuous stability established, she took it for a test drive, pushing through Lily giggling at the downright comical sight as she took a stroll around the living room- a very comfy one at that, much to her relief. Even if the hoodie was almost so long as to completely hide her pyjamas shorts, making her almost look bottomless.


    An awkward look to just parade around the family with... but not without its uses.


    "Oh man, I knew it was gonna be large, but didn''t think it would be this large, pffffft." Andrew was no less amused than anyone else, though also made sure to make a mental note that if, or when, he would find a girlfriend of his own he absolutely needed to get her something like that himself.


    "It looks dumb, but goddamn if it doesn''t feel really comfy."


    "See mom, I told you." It was Lily''s turn to feel good, the tween now finally seeing the fruits of her efforts to convince her mom to go along with it despite the size difference- and having them be unexpectedly nice along with expectedly funny.


    "Well then, I''m glad to hear. Are you gonna parade like this for the rest of the day then?" Ella chuckled at Riley''s resulting outfit, though was no less glad she liked the little impromptu gift.


    "Guess so!"


    Partly because she was just really comfortable like that, and partly because fuck shambling upstairs just to grab some actual pants, only to then have to get back down afterwards.


    And as she declared, then so it was, Riley briefly returning back over to the couch to chat- or rather get excitedly asked about her movie watching experience while the rest of the family finished unpacking, with the change of pace over to making some more cookies catching even Timmy''s attention.


    The actual process went much faster than the last time, mostly because there was Ella to help them now, taking care of making sure Timmy wouldn''t inadvertently explode the food processor while Riley worked the already gathered ingredients, leaving the tyke to press the buttons and watching the chaos that transpired behind the device''s transparent walls.


    Lily was initially eager to help as well, though she soon excused herself at realizing something- and that something turned out to be very muted violin music that filled the house shortly afterwards, Riley initially confused as to the reason, didn''t she have her recital on-


    -on last Monday.


    As much as that realization stung, especially with how excited she remembered Lily being beforehand, that still didn''t immediately answer why would she practice now, long after the fact, unless... unless she still wanted to have her recital, though only for them this time. For Riley.


    It was at that moment that Riley discovered another useful aspect of her new hoodie- it was very easy to inconspicuously wipe your eyes with sleeves that went on for miles. And soon after, another one- there was enough space in it to wrap it around her legs after she''d pulled them up onto the chair, letting her quite literally hide inside of this oversized wonder.


    Can''t wait to see Maddy again in this.


    The entirety of cooking and baking went by almost disappointingly quickly- though it was perhaps to be expected now that the entire family was around, they weren''t dealing with an aftermath of food poisoning, and there was maybe a third of the original workload to go through to begin with. It helped with maintaining a relaxed atmosphere at least, they weren''t racing for time, not in the slightest, with the bulk of the cooking getting done soon enough that there was even ample time for everyone to get into a family game before dinner time- even an early one to offset the relatively late yesterday one.


    Considering the game in question was Scrabble, Timmy had to join ranks with his dad, though he wasn''t the only one, with a spontaneous alliance forming between Riley and Ella as well, leaving Andrew and recently returned Lily to make the third team, attempting to keep themselves from complaining and bickering more than the two other teams combined as they tried to figure out their strategy- and failing miserably at that.


    And because the world wasn''t obliged to ever make sense, they also somehow won by a landslide.


    Just in time for mac and cheese.


    A meal that was much simpler to consume in general, and especially left handed was endlessly appreciated.


    Doubly so since it doubled as the comfiest of comfort food, managing to perfectly fit Riley''s current vibe, all the niceties culminating in that one moment where all her aches and discomforts left her alone, and she felt, just for that one moment, perfectly content with everything.


    At least until it was interrupted by the way of Timmy poking her arm, wondering whether she had fallen asleep or something.


    With the bowls and plates emptied soon after, everyone could start taking their leaves and heading back to their rooms, Riley finally cashing in on Rick''s offer from way, way earlier in the day, fortunately finding that she didn''t need his assistance anywhere near as much this time.


    Though, a much more dire problem soon presented itself- she was less than fresh by now, which in itself would''ve been annoying, but considering having to deal with both a cast on her wrist and a crutch just to move around... there would be issues. Issues there didn''t seem to be any straightforwardly good answers for no less- Rick suggested bringing a chair into the bathroom and having it be next to the bathtub so that she could try to lift herself up out of the bathtub and onto it, while also not getting her cast wet, and trying not to slip over and crack her skull on the linoleum.


    In case of emergency shout for Ella.


    As blissful as the dinner was, the experience of the bath in her current state turned out to be the opposite of that- her right arm got numb basically right away as she kept it out of the water, and there were so many annoying spots that she either couldn''t reach at all with her left hand, or couldn''t reach in her current state.


    Hope nobody was gonna go around sniffing her upper back.


    With everyone else still needing to shower there was no time for soaking, though with not being unable to fully submerge herself it wasn''t much of a loss to begin with, the bulk of the admittedly relieving bath over and done with in a span of ten minutes- which how just left one final obstacle to overcome, namely the bathtub itself, Riley''s customary death glare not seeming to phase it a whole lot, leaving her just looking rather silly as the water drained from around her.


    Now to just try to lift herself up onto the chair.


    This wasn''t something she could slowly inch towards, just had to try to get close to standing up and redirect herself over to the chair- if there ever was one time she wished she had a handle nearby to hold onto like in one of these TV ads for old people, it was definitely now.


    Riley held onto the edge of the bathtub with her left hand as strongly as she could as she slowly lifted herself up, tentatively trying to lift one leg out of the bathtub a couple times before actually committing, almost losing her balance there and then. She still ultimately lost it, but not before managing to correct herself onto a better crash course, landing on the chair with one leg still inside the bathtub, the chair creaking and sliding a bit at the impact, but ultimately holding admirably even if it didn''t appreciate her landing. Though for that matter, neither did her bum.


    "Riley? Are you alright?"


    "Y-yeah!"


    After she was done grunting at the very unappreciated landing, Riley could finally start drying herself off, interspersing sighs of relief at managing to escape the bathtub with winces at the manner in which she did so.


    Fortunately, Ella had enough courtesy help with the chair afterwards, the freshly cleaned but decidedly not cleanly fresh teen finding herself similarly tired to how she felt yesterday- though at least this time it was at a more suitable hour, and she wasn''t falling asleep standing this time.


    Yet.


    The realization that she''d eventually have to take down Timmy''s little present to her made her let out a disappointed ''awwh'' as she stepped in her room, though considering the shape she was in, that time wasn''t coming anytime soon, and she''d get to enjoy it for several more weeks at the very least, with all its typos, misshapen letters and weird colors, all the things that made it beautiful and heartfelt.


    She was ahead of herself from yesterday on the account of having already changed into a fresh set of bedtime clothes, leaving her to just splat on her bed and get some well deserved rest before the big day- but since she had marginally more energy than yesterday, she might as well deal with the bag that used to have her hospital belongings that still littered the bedside table, Riley of the previous day too tired to throw it in the trash after grabbing the charger from it.


    Alright, that''s dealt with, now-


    The switchblade.


    In all the chaos, in all the pain, Riley hadn''t even realized she''d forgotten about it, that she''s been without what she once thought to be an integral part of her for almost a week now. She could only stare it for a good while, her heart speeding up at the realization that she''d been defenseless for so long- but at the same time... was she ever not defenseless to begin with?


    Her right hand hurt a bit as she picked it up, inspecting the cheap, by now incredibly well worn plastic and the shoddy steel, rust beginning to creep onto all the metal parts. For the longest time, she thought- maybe not consciously, but deep down for sure, that this cheap trinket she bought at a county fair made her invincible. That no matter what, nobody would ever fuck with her as long as she had it within reach, that she could just spook all the world''s threats away with a press on a cheap, spring locked mechanism.


    The world sure must''ve been delighted to prove her otherwise.


    And with that function dismantled, exposed for a lie she had been repeating to herself for over half a decade now... what else was there? It wasn''t her identity, not anymore. Though, just staring into it, she could feel some of those old impulses calling. The deep, primal desire to hide from the world and threaten it with a sharp stick to not let anyone approach, to maintain invulnerability through the complete denial of any vulnerability. To reject warmth, comfort, love, just because she could never *fully* trust someone, because there was always that possibility, no matter how vanishing, that she might get hurt in response.


    Well shit she already got hurt, hurt a whole ton even, and she was still fine afterwards.


    She didn''t need it, not any more. She wasn''t Riley the street scum anymore, no longer just some mean bitch that most other kids were afraid to even speak to-


    She was Riley Asher now.


    With a determined expression, she briefly let go of her crutch to pass the switchblade to her left hand, the teen deaf to the resulting banging of the plastic and aluminum on the floor of her room as she reached over for the window handle with her right hand, legs straining to keep herself upright as she opened the window as wide as she could, the gust of freezing air making her shudder and grimace as she stared into the barely illuminated, snow covered front lawn, beyond which laid only darkness.


    And then, she tossed it as hard as she could, the lack of any sound letting her know that it was now embedded somewhere in the snow, more than likely never to be seen again- or at least not until late spring, and by then it would probably be little more than a slab of rust and acrylic.


    It was gone now.


    *knock knock knock*


    "Riley?"


    The sound of Ella''s voice startled her out of that accidental trance, legs reminding her that they were really not quite ready to stand on their own unassisted yet, with the whole of Riley falling down onto the edge of her bed, wincing at having to make an emergency landing on her butt twice in a span of twenty minutes, even if this time it was much more padded.


    "I''m good, I''m good, it just slipped!"


    The influx of frigid wind kept her shuddering as she scooted over to where her crutch had landed, having to contort herself in somewhat uncomfortable way just to pick it off the floor and get up once more, this time just to properly shut the window.


    If not for the fact that she really, really didn''t want to wake up drenched in sweat and have to go through the whole bathroom spiel once more tomorrow morning, Riley would''ve slept in her new hoodie without a single bit of hesitation.


    But alas, it was up to her garden gnome body to warm itself up under the covers, a noble goal she would not belate any further than she already had.


    A couple hours of mindlessly entertaining scrolling helped too- and this time she''d even remembered to plug the charger in before the exhaustion had inevitably claimed its toll, body heat eventually overcoming the outside frost.


    For the first time in forever, Riley could finally rest unafraid, wholly and utterly.


    Unafraid, and for the first time in her life, proud of herself.

 Chapter 40: The Beginning

    And just a few short hours later, rather remarkably well rested.


    At least by her own standards.


    Riley was in no rush to get going anywhere, sighing as she huddled under the covers, rolling onto her side and reaching for her phone, getting better and better at operating the device left handed- at least in that it only took her a couple tries to get past the lock screen anymore, as opposed to so many she''d inadvertently end up locking herself out and had to sit there waiting like a dummy afterwards.


    Much to her despair, the internet did not fill itself with completely new content in the time overnight, and so she wasn''t able to get more than a couple minutes of enjoyment out of it, though only being half awake sure didn''t help either. Right as she was about to call it for the time being and try to get some more shut eye in, wanting to skip from the sun''s presence in name only to the actual daylight, she felt the phone buzz while she was putting it back onto the bedside table-


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Morning Riley!


    ''''''


    Now that was a very good reason to not snooze.


    It presented itself with a bit of an issue though- Riley''s typing abilities were... not quite there at the best of times, and in her current state it felt like her best option for chatting back was to literally peck the letters one at the time and get carried by the autocorrect as much as possible.


    So that''s what she did.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: Hi Maddy, how r u


    Madeline Johnson: I''m great, though I''d be even better with you around :*


    Madeline Johnson: Over at my grandparents in the UK


    Riley Asher: o


    Riley Asher: How is it there


    Madeline Johnson: [1 attachment]


    ''''''


    After waiting a couple moments for the image to be downloaded, Riley was treated to the sight of a very grey view out the window, the sky looking uniformly bleh as the rain blanketed the entirety of the rural looking outside, with nothing but a couple other houses and fields in the distance.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: About as expected


    Madeline Johnson: We''re hoping it clears up a bit before midnight, but so far it''s not looking particularly likely, oh well


    Madeline Johnson: How are you feeling Riley?


    ''''''


    Riley was about to start slowly typing back a response before realizing that she could show and not just tell, chuckling at the opportunity before trying to work the app''s UI to let her take and attach a photo of herself, looking around for a moment before seeming to finally find it-


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: [1 attachment]


    ''''''


    And sending a photo of her room''s ceiling.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: wait fuck


    Riley Asher: [1 attachment]


    ''''''


    Second time''s the charm, the photo now correctly included her half awake bedhead, staring up at the screen of an arm''s length away phone through half open eyes, the rest of her similarly messy.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: good GOD you''re cute, omg


    Riley Asher: naah just sleepy


    Madeline Johnson: [1 attachment]


    ''''''


    Maddy seemed keen to respond in kind, though her own selfie was much less haphazard, taken with a wink and a V gesture in her free paw, a smile involuntarily creeping up onto Riley''s face in response.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: u look great


    Madeline Johnson: I could say much the same :wink:


    Madeline Johnson: Shoot, seems there''s a change of plans and we''re gonna be spending the New Year in Manchester, watch the celebrations there and so on


    Madeline Johnson: The internet on the road here is god awful so it''s gonna be a while before I can chat back


    Madeline Johnson: Take care Riley <3


    Riley Asher: you too maddy < 4


    ''''''


    Well she gave that heart a good ol'' attempt.


    She sure wasn''t getting any more sleep after all that, that''s for sure, might as well finally get up- especially since it already was much, much brighter outside than it was the when she initially woke up and for once she felt more than down to seize the day.


    Or, y''know, just have breakfast.


    As cozy as her yesterday''s outfit was, she''d rather have something more normal this time- not like she was planning on going out any more than she did yesterday, but since they were gonna have a fancy very belated Christmas dinner today, she might as well put on something fancy.


    She didn''t have anything fancy.


    Or at least, nothing ordinarily considered fancy. Anything more formal than ''none at all'' she used to hold a large amount of distrust towards- and she still did to an extent, sure wasn''t about to not spit at the sight of some three piece suit wearing bureaucrat, but probably a dress shirt of some sort would''ve been appropriate here. And who knows, it might''ve even looked passable on her.


    But alas, she would have to satisfy herself with just a tee and track pants, preemptively avoiding the issue of a goofy appearance in case she decided to put on the oversized hoodie later. She looked the best she was gonna look in her current state, or at least the best she was able to make herself look.


    Let''s go get it.


    Even the crutch felt more cooperative today, Riley finally feeling like she was actually using the device instead of actively wrangling with it and just coming out on top more often than not. It''d definitely come in handy when dealing with the stairs, for once the girl finding herself with nobody around to aid her with them, but also feeling like, for once, she could handle it herself.


    Hopefully.


    Her right hand could only hold the handrail so hard as she stared down the by now oh so familiar steps, taking one last breath and making her first step, bending the leg that felt less weak and bringing the crutch down onto the last step in one swift motion, holding onto her stability as she stepped down afterwards. One step down, couple dozen or so to go.


    It was far from a blazing fast process, but she was managing on her own, step after step, trembling a bit at the increased effort it took to do it all on her own, and at a lack of anyone nearby to hold onto in case she did end up slipping, but that just meant that she had to take it slow and steady, taking a breath after each step and making sure she was as stable as possible-


    "Kids, breakfast!"


    At least while she still had the entirety of the staircase to herself.


    Fortunately, she''d managed to make it to the halfway point by the time the Ella''s call resonated through the house, creaks of the doors opening upstairs making her huddle over in the corner of the stairwell, waiting for everyone to pass by before she''d continue.


    "Hi Riley!"


    At least Timmy didn''t catch onto the direness of her situation, letting her just wave him by as he ran downstairs, with the greetings he''d exchanged after making his way over to his chair, out of sight, indicating that both parents were already downstairs-


    "Hi mom, hi dad!"


    "Riley?"


    In Timmy''s... Timmyness, she didn''t hear Lily walk up to her at all, the skunkette looking up at her somewhat dumbfounded as she just stood there in the stairwell.


    "Hey Lily. Uh, was on my way downstairs before mom called out, so I''m just waiting for everyone to pass by." Sometimes, the true state of things was all that needed to be said.


    "Oh. Do you need help?"


    Riley chuckled weakly at the mental image of her leaning on her even smaller sister, and the inevitable collapse of them both should she slip.


    "Nah, don''t think so at least- I''m trying to make it on my own, have to get used to it sooner or later."


    Lily nodded in response, thinking through her words for a moment before gently hugging her big sis, making her just chuckle in return and gently stroke her hair.


    "Alrighty! But you''re gonna call for help if you need it right?"


    "Well, it''s just a few steps, I imagine if I need help mom or dad are gonna see it, heh."


    "Teehee, that''s fair. OOohhh, that smells nice..." The scent of breakfast having finally reached the staircase was the push Lily needed to get going, smelling some fried meat, and after glancing over at the table, also found it to be paired with toast and some sunny side up eggs.


    Riley would''ve called it downright picturesque if she was able to see it.


    But before that, she needed to actually get down there herself. Andrew didn''t seem to be coming quite yet, hopefully she''d manage to squeak by before he would catch up.


    Couple determined steps to make it to the second flight of stairs later, Riley was ready to descend once more, the very soft time requirement motivating her to not waste any more time, getting down one step, then another, and then-


    Whoops.


    She felt her leg buckle underneath her as she was stepping down, holding onto the handrail for her dear life so that she wouldn''t just completely crumble on the stairs- unlikely she''d flat out fall anymore, but she''d still like to preserve at least some dignity-


    "Riley!"


    Time''s up.


    Andrew''s immediate support helped Riley right herself back up, the girl sighing out in relief as she leaned on her brother, looking up at him with gratidude.


    "T-thanks Andrew. Went a bit too fast there, heh..."


    "Want me to help you the rest of the way?"


    "Yeah, for sure, thanks..."


    Riley slowly caught her breath as they cleared the rest of the staircase together, needing to take a deep breath after they were done, finally letting her catch onto the choice of the breakfast meal.


    Downright picturesque.


    And much, much yummier looking than some cereal, that''s for sure.


    "Morning Riley!"


    She nodded back at Rick, too occupied at the moment by sitting down to be able to answer right away, wincing a bit at feeling the aftermath of yesterday''s bathroom struggle, but that was put aside quickly as she dove into the treats on the plate in front of her, the salty grease reinvigorating even if its overdose had the exact opposite effect.


    "Are we gonna go play in the snow dad?"


    Timmy''s question, innocent as it was, seemed to have stilled the table, everyone''s gaze shifting over to Riley, whose own looked back at her little brother, the girl not quite down for that for... several reasons.


    The awkward silence lasted for just barely long enough for even Timmy himself to catch onto it, though Rick soon intervened-


    "Only out in the back yard. I was thinking though..." Skunk dad trailed off as he stalled for time, trying to come up with a possible replacement activity before they''d get the Christmas dinner underway, glancing around the room before spotting the TV.


    Something so nice, they''d do it twice.


    "-I was thinking we could watch some more movies if you want~"


    "But we watched the Owl-Man yesterday, right?"


    "We diiiid, but- there are some older Owl-Man movies we could watch too!" It was Andrew''s turn to step in, the offer of more of his younger brother''s favourite superhero enough to sway the tyke''s opinion.


    "Really!?"


    "Yep! A few in fact!"


    The detail that a good few of them outdated everyone present except the parents was neither mentioned nor particularly important, fortunately- even if Timmy would end up being put off by the more dated appearance, he was still firmly at an age where just the sight of his favourite hero was enough to keep his attention occupied. And while the parents felt just a bit dirty at taking advantage of that... it was a price of making sure the New Year''s Eve turned Christmas Eve would go off without any further hitches or accidents.


    God knew that they all needed that certainty more than ever now.


    "Yeah! Ooooh, can we have popcorn too?"


    ***


    They did indeed have popcorn too.


    And soda, and even some hot chocolate- the parents most definitely did not spare any snack the youngun ended up asking for, sighing in relief deep inside at the fact that he did not end up catching onto the fact that they were more than willing to please him on that particular day. Though, knowing him, even if he did realize that, he would be much too innocent to try pushing his boundaries like that.


    And by now, much too preoccupied with some cinema.


    Lily excused herself for some more practice, with the rest of the family coming and going intermittently- aside from Riley, willing to perform the duty of chief Timmywatcher, doubling as his personal cuddling machine for the next few hours, an arrangement that both of them enjoyed greatly, even if the recipient was at times too enthralled to appreciate the affection on the spot.


    He always came back to it as soon as some of the tension dropped in the movie though.


    Also, Riley got to finally taste popcorn.


    It tasted exactly like she thought it would. And just like the movies themselves, perfectly facilitated some casual brainless entertainment.


    Fortunately, Timmy wasn''t particularly insistent on everyone else following the movie together with him, just that there was someone else there, leaving Riley to space out every once in a while, scrolling through whatever new mildly amusing content was posted since the last time she''d checked her phone- and just like the last time, fortune would have it that she would get distracted by something much more interesting still.


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Happy New Year Riley!


    Madeline Johnson: [1 attachment]


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.''''''


    Riley''s eyes went wide at the photo of the fireworks- she''d heard of them of course, remembered *some* from when she was much younger, and it was impossible not to hear their echoes, even in someplace as backwoods as the orphanage once they did go off- but she''d no idea they were as big or as bright.


    Quite cool.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: oh wow it looks great


    Riley Asher: happy new year


    Riley Asher: is it already midnight there


    Madeline Johnson: Yep, six past and it hasn''t stopped going off yet


    ''''''


    "Whattcha doing Riley?"


    She didn''t expect Timmy of all people to get distracted away from the movie, but at the very least she had something concrete to show him-


    "Looking at the photo Maddy sent me-" She slid her phone in front of the tyke, making him go ''waaaaoww'' at the sight before excitedly looking back up at her, before seeming to get briefly saddened.


    "Did we miss the New Year?"


    A quick check of the clock, displaying 6:07PM decidedly proved that they hadn''t missed anything- though it didn''t take Riley long to realize the source of the confusion, chuckling as she ruffled her brother''s hair, scritching him a bit behind his ears.


    "Oh no no, Maddy is in the UK and it''s already midnight there."


    "Oh? Why is it midnight there?"


    You''re asking the wrong person kid, I don''t get timezones myself either.


    "They''re in the future."


    "Can I go to the future too?"


    "Well, you sure will in not too long-"


    "OH OH are we gonna fire the fireworks?"


    Riley just blinked idly in response, not even aware there were any fireworks to speak of, putting on a quiet ''ummm'' before redirecting him in the most obvious way-


    "Go ask mom-"


    And just like that, he was gone, fireworks seeming to have been the one activity that was even more exciting for him than watching more of his favourite superhero.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: still some time left here


    Madeline Johnson: You think you''re gonna be staying up until midnight?


    Riley Asher: dunno if I manage but I''ll try


    Madeline Johnson: That''s the spirit!


    Madeline Johnson: Wonder how close you and Timmy will get


    Riley Asher: oh come on I can stay up longer than him


    Madeline Johnson: Wanna bet?


    ''''''


    Game on.


    ''''''


    Riley Asher: deal


    ''''''


    "Mom says we''ll be able to fire some yaaaaaaaay!" Timmy''s return heralded good news, and it heralded them at the absolute highest volume, Riley cringing a bit as he ran down the stairs and back up to their couch.


    "Yep, after we have dinner. Speaking of, I thiiink it''s probably the high time to start preparing for that, day flew by faster than I thought it would huh." Ella stretched a bit after she finished making it down the staircase, taking a look around the place and making a mental plan of what to do first.


    "Can I help anyhow?" Riley spoke up, a part of her a bit annoyed at how little she could still do even after having gotten out of the hospital.


    Ella was slightly taken aback at that, thinking through it for a moment, getting Riley''s frustration but not sure what to do.


    "Well... telling everyone it''s about to be dinner time would help, just so they have the time to change into something fancier. Though that''d also have you walking back up on your own-"


    "I-I can manage, have to get used to it sooner or later."


    "True, but you gotta do it safely. Don''t be afraid to call for help if you start faltering and all that jazz."


    Riley nodded as she picked herself off the couch, waltzing over to the stairs with a sense of purpose, even if a tenuous one at best.


    "Unless you wanna try some of my very old shirts guess there aren''t too many options that would fit you for that, hmm... ah well, we can deal with that in the new year- just put on something comfy, it''s all just about being homely anyway."


    The teen couldn''t help chuckling a bit at that as she began her ascent, glad her mom had arrived to a similar conclusion, and now also wondering what the rest of the family was gonna dress like. The only thing she really hoped for were no suits on Rick, but knowing how similar they were beneath the skin... no way in hell would he ever put one on.


    At least not without playing Richard.


    The mental image of *that* was amusing enough to let Riley climb up the stairs mostly without even having to think anymore, distracting her until she''d suddenly realized she was already halfway up without even having to focus particularly hard.


    She got it.


    And this time, the second flight of stairs wouldn''t immediately debunk that assertion, taking a decent bit more effort than the first one did, but becoming conquered regardless.


    Taking Xtreme Walking to new heights, gonna start adding obstacles soon to keep it interesting.


    After a moment to catch her breath, she could start making her rounds around the upper floor, a knock and a couple words on Lily''s door letting her know everything there was to know, the tween shutting the door before Riley could even finish her sentence, stunning her for a couple moments afterwards.


    Guess she''s been waiting for this for a while.


    Trying to catch Andrew''s attention had nowhere near as much success tho, making his sister wonder whether he was really busy, in the bathroom, or... otherwise busy, before she finally heard him- grunting loudly in frustration over from the game room.


    And indeed, him and Rick seemed to be having the time of their life racing against each other, focused more than she''d seen either of them be before, the sight so transfixing she just stood in the doorframe for a while, trying to hold in an amused smile as she observed.


    It only took them a couple minutes to finally notice, when Rick''s car spun out on the dirt, the ordinarily stoic dad looking like he was about to throw his controller for a moment with a loud groan, briefly spotting Riley in his peripheral vision as he did so.


    "Oh, what''s up Riley?"


    "Mom says to start preparing for dinner."


    Neither boy needed to be told twice, clearing out of the room in less time than it took their daughter and sister to just walk over, Rick lagging behind enough to connect the dots together about Riley''s appearance here-


    "Did you walk up the stairs on your own sweetie?"


    She just put on a proud smirk and got to hobbling, leaving him chuckling as he looked at her with pride as she made her way to her own room, her own change of outfit as straightforward as possible.


    Step 1: Put on the big hoodie.


    Step 2: Realize she''d probably not be able to use utensils in the big hoodie.


    Step 3: Change from big hoodie to a normal hoodie.


    Step 4: Comfy.


    With that detailed plan fulfilled to the letter, she was more than down to repeat her athletic feat from shortly before, the descent proving to be harder than the ascent, but now that she knew that she could take one of them on and come out victorious, she sure as hell was more than willing to do the same to the other.


    And just a couple minutes later, she did. Not without a couple smaller stumbles- but the awareness that help was just a call away made her push through them, taking a deep breath, correcting her stance, and just going for it again, and again, however long it took.


    By the time she had made her way down, the table was already mostly ready, the fish meal already waiting at the center of it, surrounded by cake and a bowl of cookies, with the big pot of veggie salad slowly defrosting in the corner. The rest of the preparations went by quickly, the utensils being laid out, then napkins, and even a couple candlesticks flanking the fish, giving the whole meal a much more magical, significant vibe by themselves.


    Which it absolutely, wholeheartedly deserved.


    With not much left to do, Riley simply waited for everyone else to get ready, quick check on her phone finding Maddy having sent a couple last messages in the meantime-


    ''''''


    Madeline Johnson: Oh man, it took almost half an hour for the bulk of it to finish


    Madeline Johnson: Gonna be going to bed, tried some wine and it knocked me out, have a Happy New Year Riley <3


    ''''''


    Sleep well Maddy.


    Andrew showed up first, his usual plaid shirt replaced with a slightly more formal black one, paired with a white clip-on tie and black dress pants, the sight overall a bit amusing, and more than a bit dorky, but Riley absolutely wouldn''t have it any other way.


    "Heh, nice color coordination."


    Her big brother chuckled a bit awkwardly in response before taking his seat, explaining shortly afterwards-


    "Had a white shirt I wanted to use, and then I realized I haven''t put it on in a while and that it''s gotten a couple sizes too small in the meantime, so I borrowed one of dad''s."


    "Well, you''re most definitely rocking the look either way."


    She could swear she saw him blush a bit as she smiled.


    "Thanks sis."


    "You got it."


    "Good god everyone is taking forever aren''t they." Ella''s words got both her kids to look up at the stairway, their mom making her way down in... sweater and sweat pants- a much more festive sweater, with christmas trees and stars and so on, but not that far removed from her usual look.


    "Heh, when you said you had shirts I thought you were gonna wear one." Riley admitted, Ella laughing softly in response.


    "Oh, I said I had *old* shirts, from ages long past- never getting myself another one if I can avoid it."


    "Guess that''s more than fair, hah."


    Before she sat down, Ella made her way over to the TV, setting it to radio mode and putting on some pleasant, inoffensive Christmas music that still dominated the airways- even if she knew that she would have to mute it in not that long.


    Timmy''s excitable dash down the stairs was heard before it was seen, even despite the background tunes, the tyke mimicking his mom in the choice of a sweater- which fit, since Rick that followed right behind him was quite close to Andrew, though perhaps the usual Andrew rather than a festive one, the red and green pattern on his plaid shirt fitting the theme beautifully even if it somewhat hurt the eyes to look at.


    Which left just Lily.


    Nobody spoke much as they waited in excitement, Riley probably most of all, glancing over at the stairs every once in a while in hope she would spot Lily approaching- and eventually, she did.


    Or at least, Lily''s head, poking out from behind the corner, the tween hiding right afterwards as she was spotted, leaving her big sister dumbfounded as to why she''d shy away like that for a couple moments before she made her actual appearance, putting everyone else to shame outfit-wise. Or at least, she would''ve if anyone was seriously paying attention to that.


    Her dress was gorgeous, navy blue with several bright accents, combining with long white socks and a white cardigan underneath the dress to give her a downright distinguished appearance, her outfit as a whole looking so stunning it took Riley a couple moments to notice she was holding a violin, visibly trying to keep composure as she looked back at her big sister, Riley''s smile encouraging her more than anything else in the world right now.


    She stopped in front of the table, taking a deep breath before moving the instrument to the right position, her bow-holding paw fidgeting a bit as she prepared to finally give her recital-


    "You''ve got this Lily."


    Riley''s words broke the almost silence the room was shrouded in, while also reminding Ella to turn off the radio, Lily just nodding in response-


    And beginning to play.


    The rest of the world felt at standstill as the chipper tones filled the room, sounding so much more vibrant, so much more uplifting than anything she could''ve overheard through multiple walls, and while some of her worried whether she''d enjoy the show as much considering she''d heard her sister practice it dozens of times by now, nothing could''ve compared to the real thing.


    With the real, captive, loving, quiet audience, with the actual atmosphere of Christmas cheer and hard earned celebration, with the whole family together after all, any past spite or disappointment long since forgotten.


    Now there was only time for one thing- Joy.


    Joy, felt in excess around the room- joy, pride, love, satisfaction, most of the gathered eyes welling up with an errant teardrop or seven, Riley not excluded, something deep inside her feeling so much warmer at Lily''s amazing showing.


    And then, once Lily had finished the final note and bowed towards her audience, the applause overshadowed the one she would''ve gotten at her actual recital- especially since this one also came with hugs from her entire family, including Riley- though in time it took her older sister to pick her self off the chair Lily had already made her way over and hugged her as close as she could, the two holding their embrace for a long time.


    It was, finally, truly Christmas.


    Which also meant Christmas dinner.


    ***


    Once everyone had finished drying their eyes, the family could descend upon all the mouthwatering meals on display- Riley''s expectations getting surpassed time and time again as she got a taste for everything, sure wouldn''t have thought that fish could ever taste that good.


    By the time everyone had a chance to taste all the various goodness, the flavors not wearing out their welcome even after many, many years, their stomachs were already mostly full- which meant that, yes Timmy, it was finally time for fireworks.


    Or rather, a firework each, each kid getting their own rocket to fire from the front lawn, Timmy thankfully not minding since one was a massive upgrade from last year''s zero and he still had a blast, and Riley deciding after the fact that one was plenty. For the rest of her life no less, especially after she''d stuck it in too weakly and it fired the wrong way, fortunately at least managing to clear the road in front of their house before exploding in the middle of the field on its other side.


    Sparklers though, sparklers were the shit.


    Riley even took a selfie with one, with a bit of help from Lily, the end result only barely not blurry enough to make her out.


    With the supply of pyrotechnics burned through, the family could gather on the couch, get the fireplace going and try enduring until the midnight together, watching the New Year''s celebrations from elsewhere in the world to pass time, the exhaustion soon beginning to set on them, with Lily and Andrew being crowned the obvious champions of staying up before the competition had even really started.


    That didn''t mean it wasn''t a close fight still, at least not between Riley and Timmy specifically, the tyke soon catching onto the fact that his big sis really, really wanted to stay up for longer than him- and he sure as heck wasn''t gonna give up easily. The older of the two might have had an advantage due to her age, but the playing field was about to be evened as Ella pulled out the champagne, pouring herself, Rick, and Andrew a full glass- and then a half full one for Riley, curious eyes earning her that one indulgence.


    And with how it ended up tasting, it seemed like alcohol would be another pleasure like fireworks for her- best enjoyed once ever and then never again, good god how can people actually drink that stuff. Despite her lack of enjoyment of the forbidden drink though, it had its effect on her, especially with her already being on the smaller side, the buzz sufficient to make her drowsy without any of the more fun effects.


    An offer to help get her to bed while she was still awake was rejected- she was winning this little contest, or she was falling asleep where she sat, the parents arriving at a conclusion that the most likely outcome was both of these happening at the same time, bringing her a blanket to swaddle herself in once she did inevitably doze off.


    To nobody''s surprise, the determined teen did manage to outlast an equally determined four year old, though only for about long as it took for her to take pic proving her victory and their parents to carry the snoozing tyke out, the day''s celebrations managing to wear her out at just shy of 11PM.


    The rest of the family enduring until midnight so they could wish each other a Happy New Year before the parents immediately beelined towards bed, grumbling quietly under their breaths at their bodies not being what they used to be, and kids retracted to their rooms, enjoying actually staying up overnight, even if they spent it doing basically the same things they already did every day.


    It was still cool though.


    ***


    The celebrations might have been the once a year kind, but as it turned out, nobody was exempt from the every day annoyances even during these special occasions.


    Riley slowly grumbled awake, the sofa being markedly less comfortable than her bed making that feat relatively easier, the teen rubbing her eyes as she looked around the now abandoned living room, only lit by the Christmas tree lights and the fireplace embers anymore, the sight no less homely despite being much more lonely.


    Brief pondering as to why she was even awake in the middle of the night were answered right away, Riley grumbling as she picked herself back to the standing position and took aim towards the bathroom, though right as she was about to press down on the doorhandle, she heard... something outside. She might''ve been groggy, but the sound made her jump back to full alertness, the crunching of snow not what she expected to hear at this time of the hour.


    Riley waited in silence, quietly following the outside sounds as they made their way around the house before finally making their way over to the front door. The tension she felt reminding her of the old times in the most unpleasant way, having no idea why would someone be walking outside at this hour, but really hoping it was just Rick or something and that he had a reason-


    The sound of the letter box opening made her jump slightly- mail at this late of an hour made no sense, who could''ve even delivered it...


    Fuck it, she was going for it.


    Not wasting any more time, she quietly hobbled up to the front door and opened it, hoping to catch the perpetrator red handed-


    And indeed, she did.


    The skunk standing outside, illuminated by the small light that flicked on above the door outside, could only stare at her in shock, definitely not expecting anyone to catch him on the late night act- and definitely not her of all people.


    He was scraggy, rather visibly unkempt in places, hair kept so short it was barely any longer than the fur that surrounded it and some of the clothes torn in places. There was a smell of booze to him- but only a distant, long faded one, replaced by the sobering cold of the outside air that began to seep in as Riley held the door open.


    The two stared at each other in silence for what felt like an eternity, Riley''s eyes going wider as she realized who it was she was looking at. Eventually, he made the first move, crouching to pick up the letter he''d just delivered and handed it to Riley directly, the girl taking it, briefly looking around the envelope only to see her name written on its back before tearing it open, pulling out a folded sheet of paper with a handwritten message on it.


    ''''''


    Riley,


    There''s no excuse or justification


    for the things I''ve done to you. No


    reason for you to have forgiven me


    the way you have. I can only


    promise to use the second chance


    you''ve given me to the fullest, to


    try to make it up to the world, and


    especially to my son.


    I hope the rest of your life is full


    of peace and prosperity.


    Happy New Year,


    James.


    ''''''


    "I haven''t forgiven you." She spoke quietly, barely a whisper as she looked up at him, seeing him shake where he stood in front of her, the man slowly freezing, shocked expression trying to process what was said before she continued-


    "I just don''t want your son to have to suffer, suffer so horribly, for what you have done. He''ll be the only one that''ll care whether you get better or not- but if you won''t, if you end up behind bars or in a cask he will NEVER forgive you. And likely even share your fate once he grows older."


    The man outside was unsuccessfully holding back tears at this point, Riley''s expression as stern and stoic as possible, voice as the winter as the air that surrounded her interlocutor.


    "Do it for him. Save your son. Understood?"


    He nodded firmly, still shaking but visibly trying to gather his bearings now.


    "I-I will. I-I-I promise."


    "He''ll hold you to that, James. Don''t fail him."


    She reached out to hand him his letter back, her assailant taking it back as he continued to nod, distraught expression turning determined.


    "I won''t."


    It was Riley''s turn to nod, the girl staring up at him for a few more moments before nodding herself.


    "I hope so too. Happy New Year."


    "H-Happy N-New Year."


    And with that, she slowly closed the front door, leaning on the handle as she waited for him to leave, the sounds of departing steps in the snow making breathe out a sigh of relief and turn the key, the lock springing to life.


    It was over now.


    Without the adrenaline and with the cold letting go of her, she suddenly felt so much more tired than before, exhaling heavily as she leaned on her crutch, her own breathing masking the sounds of muffled steps approaching from behind, making her jump a bit once she''d finally noticed them-


    And then immediately relax as she was hugged from behind, Rick''s frame holding her oh so, so tightly, his arms shaking as he gently pressed her closer.


    "I-I''m so proud of you sweetie." His words shook as he muttered them out, trying to calm himself down as he spoke, relaxing heartbeat by heartbeat as his daughter squirmed around to hold him back, the crutch poking both their sides-


    -but it didn''t matter.


    "I love you dad."


    "I-I love you too Riley."


    None of that mattered anymore.


    "Happy New Year sweetie."


    "Happy New Year."


    Now, there was only peace.

 Epilogue

    After Winter came Spring, and after Spring, Summer.


    And with Summer came Andrew''s 18th birthday.


    Ever since Rick had told her that their house had enough space for eight families in it, Riley wondered whether that was actually true- and if so, how would that even look like.


    The answers were, respectively: "Yes", and "Like a whole lot of black and white fur."


    Riley didn''t consider herself to be *terribly* introverted, but found out the hard way that there was a number of people, somewhere between five and what looked to be almost a hundred, above which she could only go ''nope, nope, nope'', and recede to somewhere less cramped- fortunately for her though, she had earned herself one of the most important duties during a massive party like that, one that she got to share with Maddy to boot.


    The official kit handler.


    There still were quite a few of them, ages ranging from not even three to Lily''s age, and at that age range there was nothing more boring than an adult party with adult things like talking and drinking badly tasting things from fancy glasses. Getting to play some racing games and playing with wooden bricks though, now that was the good stuff.


    Especially when some of them could go and touch a human for the first time in their lives.


    It was quite an odd thing to realize, but true nonetheless, the sheer fascination some of the younger kits stared up at her with making it impossible not to giggle in return and offer up a hand to them, one that they inevitably ended up taking, feeling, or, depending on the age, hugging.


    With most of the kids gravitating towards racing cars on the screen, supervised by Maddy, she got the relatively easier end of the deal, making sure that the kits playing with the wooden bricks and other physical toys would do so nicely, settling disputes if needed, and sharing the snacks evenly between.


    Thank goodness they had the foresight to only go for the most mess-free ones possible, gummies definitely not being everyone''s favourite, but it definitely beat trying to keep all the kits clean on top of playing nicely.


    "How''re you holding up in here?"


    Well if it isn''t the birthday boy himself.


    With a quiet grunt, Riley stood back up where she sat, swiping the dust off her dress pants and looking up at Andrew, his outfit similar to the one he wore last Christmas, except better color matched, with a white shirt and a black tie- a look so good Riley ended up stealing it from him this year.


    What could she say, she could rock a dress shirt quite well, as long as it didn''t have much in the way of sleeves.


    "We''re managing, eh Maddy?"


    It took the weasel girl a couple moments to notice she had been spoken towards by her girlfriend, missing out the context completely, resorting to sticking out a hand in Riley''s vague direction and waving at her from underneath a pile of older kids that really wanted to race and younger kids that wanted to see the cars go vroom.


    "Well, I can see that much, hehe."


    Both siblings chuckled, Andrew turning to look out the window, the cars filling their driveway and turning the tiny road they lived on into an impromptu parking lot.


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    "I was just thinking..."


    "Hmm?" Andrew''s relatively pensive tone made Riley walk up closer, glancing once more at the kids to make sure none of them were murdering each other at that particular moment before looking out the window with him.


    "About college and all."


    "Is something wrong with Minnesota State? Thought you liked that one a lot from what you''ve seen."


    "Oh it''s great, i-it''s not that, it''s just..."


    Riley gave him some space, eyebrow raising a bit.


    "Was just thinking it''s gonna suck that it''s only been a few months and soon we''ll only get to see each other at the weekends, if even that."


    The admission took Riley aback a bit, a quiet chuckle leaving her afterwards.


    "Not sick of me yet huh?"


    "Far from it."


    "And here I thought you were looking at colleges so hard because you wanted to get away from me as fast as possible, teehee." Her tone was a clearly joking one, though it seemed that it didn''t quite land this one, Andrew just kinda awkwardly chuckling in response, leading his sister to walk up and pull him into a big hug, one that was immediately returned.


    "But yeah, there''s voice chat, if you ask nicely I''ll even take the bandaid off of my webcam- we''ll be able to keep in touch."


    "I know, don''t worry, I''m definitely planning on all that, it''s just..."


    "Hmm?"


    "I-I dunno. It all flew by so fast, I can still remember your first day here clear as day."


    "That''s what routine does to you."


    "Yeah. Makes it hard to cherish the important things at times."


    "''Cherish'', what fancy wording, hah."


    She saw him roll his eyes a bit, blushing slightly.


    "You know what I mean."


    "Of course I do, not my fault you''re fun to tease."


    "Ain''t that the truth."


    "So, what were you thinking about with regards to college then? I don''t doubt the parents wouldn''t mind a whole lot if you decided to take a year or a semester off before going to college or something..."


    "Oh, no, no, nowhere near that, don''t worry. More so a family trip or something."


    "Heh, guess it''d be my first one with you all eh?"


    "Yep! So I was thinking a big one so it''d the the one to remember."


    "How big?"


    "Grand Canyon?"


    "Well that does sound quite big."


    Neither of the siblings could hold in a giggle at that, the act interrupted by one of the kits, no older than five or so, running up to them both, yanking on their pant legs.


    "Hmm? What''s up?" Riley spoke up, turning towards the boy and crouching to get closer to his level- seeming to have humbled him enough for the kit to be unable to spill the beans, instead just fidgeting in place-


    "Do you need to go to the toilet?"


    Andrew''s intervention was more than welcome, the boy nodding intensely in return and eagerly grabbing the larger skunk''s paw as he was guided over to the bathroom, Riley just chuckling in their wake before turning towards the rest of the kids, seeing a couple of them thinking something though before racing after Andrew and their playmate, the teen''s chuckle getting upgraded to barely held laughter.


    Oh, kids.


    With Andrew taking a temporary leave, Riley sat back down on the carpet, leaning against the wall as she cleared her head, her brother''s words getting her in a bit of a pensive mood herself.


    School had been a mixed success- catchup was somewhat successful, but she was still very much behind, and her grades reflected that- though if she were to keep putting in effort, she would most likely end up fully catching up by the end of the next semester, and while grades on their own were as useless of a motivator here as they were back at the orphanage, wanting to make her parents and Maddy proud was a very effective carrot in their stead.


    Aside from that though, things were on the up and up- she felt better and healthier than ever before, she managed to explore some kinds of outfits that weren''t just hoodie with track pants- and even if those were still her favourites after all that, she did manage to find a couple other neat styles, as indicated by her current outfit.


    And of course, she had her family- Maddy by now only not a part of it in name only- that she was thankful for every single day. Andrew was right- routine made it hard to cherish them at times, especially with the realization, one that he was struggling with right now, that one day they would all have to leave their family nest and start living on their own.


    But that was then, and here...


    Riley got up to her feet, walking up to the couch behind Maddy, waiting for a moment where her girlfriend wasn''t busy helping any of the kids out before leaning in and wrapping her arms around her, doubling up on her hug with a kiss on her cheek.


    ...was now.


    And she sure as hell was gonna cherish now.