Chapter Text
“Il n’y a qu’un bonheur dans la vie, c’est d’aimer et d’être aimé.” – George Sand
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Being eight was hard most of the time. Dawn wished grownups weren’t always telling you what to do, and school took up so much time. And now Mommy gave her chores. Blech. Only she had none today because it was Thanksgiving. Dawn loved Thanksgiving. Her sister liked Halloween better, but that was just because she got to dress up like a princess with a crown, which she did every single year. Boring. Dawn had been a ninja this year and a cowboy the year before. She still had the stick horse, his name was Spot and she rode him around the yard sometimes, though now she went to real riding lessons with real ponies once a week.
Anne had ballet class instead. Which sounded really lame. You just wore a lot of pink and jumped around. Even Mommy didn’t like ballet class, something about Daddy and the other mom’s eyes.
But today was Thanksgiving, which was awesome. Not only because there was food nobody ate the rest of the year that was yummy, but because everyone came over to the house and was happy. Dawn suspected it had to do with the trippy stuff she’d heard was in the turkey.
“You wanna see if Aunt Willow or Tara will play with us?” Dawn asked her sister, who was annoying but also her best friend.
Anne sighed. “They’re helping with the cleanup.”
“Drat.”
“We could play cars!” Xander Jr. said. He was their cousin, sort of, who was two years younger than them and completely immature. At least his little sister was napping and not bugging them as well.
Dawn rolled her eyes. “We played cars already today.”
“We could play Candyland with Grandma,” Anne suggested.
Dawn just glared at her. Trust Anne to come up with something to do that required sitting down and following rules. “We see Grandma Joyce all the time,” Dawn said. “And we play games with her all the time.” Especially since Grandma had moved to an apartment building only a few blocks away.
Anne shrugged. Xand Jr. was running around in circles and making car noises. Ugh. Boys.
“How about we choose where we want to go this weekend?” Dawn finally asked. Mom and Dad had said that Dawn could pick something to do on Saturday and Anne on Sunday.
Anne brightened up. “I want to go to the zoo, the one with the sharks.”
“Cool!” Dawn liked that zoo a lot too, and Daddy always bought each of them a new stuffed animal at the zoo’s gift shop every time they went.
“What about you?” Anne asked.
Dawn bit her lip. There was so much to choose from: a ferry ride, the science center, the troll under the bridge in Fremont and lunch at Ivar’s, Pike Place—though Mommy was always jumpy there, or the library, but none of those were what she really wanted. “Gasworks Park?”
“Mom’s going to say it’s too cold.” Anne put her hands on her hips like Mommy would.
“But Dad will tell her we can wear coats, and if you say you want to go too…” Dawn had learned a long time ago that a united twin front pretty much guaranteed Dad would be on their side.
Anne nodded. “I want to have a picnic. We can have turkey sandwiches.”
“Fine with me.” Dawn knew her sister liked the park, with its ancient gas-coal machine stuff and play barn. And turkey sandwiches would be good. “Maybe pie as well?” Could you even eat pie during a picnic?
“Clem makes the best pies,” Anne said, then wrinkled her nose. “We should probably make sure there’s some leftover.”
Hand-in-hand, they rushed through the house, only walking when Uncle Wes, holding his baby daughter, gave them a stern glare. Even Mommy had to do what he said (most of the time). Shadow, who was super cool, was talking to Uncle Wes and gave them a wink. He was always on their side and his Gran made awesome cookies.
Once out of Uncle Wes’ sight, Dawn and Anne sped up again, running through the dining room. The table had been cleared, but Uncle Dalton was sitting there with Clem, Rowena, her dad, and Jorge. Dawn gulped, because Jorge was a police officer and might tattle about the running, but the grown-ups were too busy playing cards to notice Dawn and Anne.
The twins left the dining room, only to nearly collide with Uncle Lorne.
“Wait for Xand Jr., you little devil cakes, he’s trying to catch up.” Uncle Lorne wagged a finger at them, though he was also smiling so Dawn knew he wasn’t really mad.
“Yes, sir,” Dawn and Anne chorused, and dutifully waited for their cousin before stampeding into the kitchen.
There were still several untouched pies on the counter, including a pumpkin one, much to Dawn’s relief. There’d be plenty left for Saturday.
There was also Mom and Dad. Kissing. Again.
Weren’t they supposed to be washing dishes? Instead, Dad had pushed Mom against the counter and it looked like he was trying to eat her face. Gross. Dawn had no idea how they got anything done because they liked kissing so much they were always getting sidetracked by it.
Anne let out a very long sigh.
“Wanna go out back and play Slayers and vampires?” Dawn asked.
“Sure, but I get to be the Slayer this time,” Anne said, following her sister towards the back of the house. “Because you’re always the Slayer.”
“We can take turns, and you can be Slayer first.” Dawn waved her hand. “Me and Xand will be the vampires, okay?”
“Okay,” Anne answered, then stopped and hugged Dawn. “You’re the best sister ever.”
Dawn smiled as they hurtled out the door into the back yard. The late afternoon sun was warm on her shoulders and in the distance, she could see a few lights coming on in the skyscrapers of Seattle. The Space Needle was lit up already too. Dawn had been there twice, but Dad took Mom to the Space Needle for dinner on their marriage anniversary every year, which Mom found funny for some reason. Adults were so weird.
The mountain was wearing its sunset colors, rising high above everything.
Dawn loved it all. Her family and her home and, since it was Thanksgiving, she especially loved that she was not even the eensiest bit hungry.