Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 56th cycle. Now cycle 57!


"Pierce Family Vacation"
(Sue &) Brittany + Dad & family
Sylvesters series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

They had driven into London on their sixth day. Brittany had spent the bulk of the ride singing at the top of her lungs along with her little sisters. How her stepmother had managed to sleep through it was beyond her, especially as the trio of voices would sometimes be joined by that of Joe Pierce in the driver's seat.

So far their vacation had been everything she could have hoped for and more. All the places they had been to just did not look like anything she'd ever seen before, and she couldn't help but be fascinated. It was like she'd been dropped on a new planet. Everyone sounded like they spoke a different language to her, even if Cat insisted that was English. By the time they had gotten into London, Brittany claimed she had started to learn their language.

After having checked in to their hotel, they had gone to lunch before heading all five of them on a walk about the city. The girls could wander off, so long as they all stayed together, so they did. They couldn't resist going into just about every store they passed by. Brittany had promised souvenirs, and not just to her mother. It was a good thing she had Cat with her though, or else she might have spent all her souvenir money already. Izzy was a devil on her shoulder on that matter, as she wanted to get almost every object she saw.

"Tiny time machines…" Brittany had breathed as they passed a display of various sized blue 'police boxes.' Cat had grabbed her hand and tugged her along. "I could totally build one."

"A time machine?" Izzy asked, curious, and Brittany nodded. "Cool…" she breathed, and her sisters laughed. "We can go to the future!"

"We will definitely go to the future," Brittany agreed, taking a hat off a rack and placing it on her youngest sister's head. Izzy had to fix it as it sank and covered her eyes.

"How do I look?" she struck a pose, and Brittany looked to Cat, practically pleading with the thirteen-year-old.

"I think you should get it," she smiled, and Brittany nodded energetically.

"Can I buy it with my money?" the eight-year-old Izzy asked.

"Sure, why not," Brittany smiled.

By the time they had made it back to the hotel that night, her little sisters were exhausted, and they had gone to bed almost as soon as they'd finished dinner. Charlotte had also turned in early. Brittany wasn't ready to go yet, not by a longshot. She had gone and sat on the small balcony of their room, perched and looking out at the city ahead. After a while just being mesmerized, she had looked over her shoulder, searching through the open door.

"Dad?" she called. Joe stood from his seat, where he had been watching television, walking up to the door. "Come here," she indicated the spot next to her.

"Okay," he bowed his head, carefully sitting down at her side. "Not tired?" he asked her.

"Not at all," she smiled. "I used to do this, sit and look outside, when I went on vacation with Mom," she explained. "Wanted to share."

"Thank you," he told her, putting his hand on her shoulder. She took this as an invitation to lean against him, which he welcomed.

"I wish I could have gone with you last year, too… and years before that… except you didn't know about me back then."

"I would have brought you if I did though," he promised.

"Is it bad that I wish we could do something just the two of us while we're here?" she asked him.

"Well, tomorrow your stepmother and your sisters want to go to a museum, how about you and I go and see a show instead?" he offered with a smile.

"Can we?" she sat up.

"I don't see why not."

They remained sat there on the balcony for a while more, looking at the nightscape. As much as she would never have wanted to upset her mother, sometimes on their vacations, just the two of them, she would wish that her father was there, too, even if she didn't know who he was. Maybe if he was there, things would be different, she'd think, and then she would regret it right away… She never wanted her mother to think she wasn't enough, because really Brittany was completely at peace with her. But it didn't change the fact that she would wonder, sometimes.

Their father-daughter outing the next day had been just what she needed. All those years before she'd known who he was, before he'd known she existed at all, they were gone. There was nothing to do about it, and they could be upset by it, or they could take this moment they had now, finally, and just have fun with it. So that was what they did.

After four days in London, their journey had carried on, with four more days left ahead. There had been more driving, more walking, running… One notable incident had involved Izzy's new hat getting caught in a gust of wind and the three Pierce girls running after it for a minute before Brittany had finally gotten the drop on it and retrieved it, putting it back on Izzy's head. The tiny blonde had made sure it wouldn't leave her head this time.

Before they knew it, they were waking up from their last night, and it was time to pack up and start heading for the airport again. Brittany's wish list had been well served. She had pictures, and souvenirs, and memories, stories to tell and to share about her vacation with her father and her family.

THE END


A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!