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 41st cycle. Now cycle 42!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 42 CHEAT SHEET **

Countdown cycle #4 - Yes, it's that time again, where I select 16 favorite things (characters, ships, friendships...) from Glee and give them each a ficlet, and a chapter fic for #1. The previous countdown cycles, if you want to check them out, were c10 [days 190-210], c25 [days 505-525], and c29 [days 589-609]. Like the last countdowns, the #1 story is split in 3 blocks, the chapters posted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays over these three weeks, with #16 to #2 from Thursdays to Mondays.
Coming in at #10...

"Walks Along the Shore"
Beiste & (Little) Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty), Kathleen & Glenn (OC)
Ewan series (following Flying Solo)

Her sister had not changed. She had grown, yes, matured. She had adopted her new home of nearly a decade, Ireland, and she had become a wife and a mother, but she was still her Katie. Still when she saw her there, hair beating in the wind like a cape as she walked to meet her cab, it was hard to see the eighteen-year-old who'd suddenly decided to move an ocean away with all her life savings because it was an adventure. Just twenty-seven now, she was still young for certain, but… it took a moment for Shannon to find her sister again.

"Still the tallest and the prettiest girl I've seen!" she laughed with that voice of hers that always carried a smile, and what she called 'local color.' She did not have the accent outright, but there were hints of that lilt here and there, unmistakeable. Kathleen met her with arms wide to welcome her big sister, and Shannon needed no further invitation, scooping her up like no time had passed.

"And you're still a flatterer," she smiled.

"Yes, yes, alright, I'll admit it… I have met a taller girl," Kathleen smirked, taking her sister's bags and leading the way.

"I can get those," Shannon insisted.

"No, no, don't you dare," she lunged forward to keep her from being able to take the bags. "Right this way, Pebbles," she directed with a smirk. Shannon chuckled at the nickname… Right at home.

The house was just as she'd expected. She'd seen it in pictures, this part and that, but she'd never seen it with her own eyes before that day. It was one of her greatest regrets in life. She had not seen the house, never met her brother-in-law – she'd only even found out about the wedding, a spur of the moment thing, after the fact – and worst of all she'd never met her nephew. She'd seen plenty of pictures, gotten odds and ends of conversations on the phone, but now little Ewan was five years old and it would be the first time they would be in the same room. She would meet his father first.

"Glenn!" Kathleen called out as they walked in to the sunlit home. The bags were put down next to a couch, and she waited for a reply, getting none. "Glenn, she's here!" she tried again. Finally she sighed and motioned for Shannon to follow her. "Only one place he'll be then…"

Shannon was led through the kitchen and into a room from which she'd caught the smell of paint. There she found the man she recognized from the pictures – Glenn Healy, her sister's husband. Barefoot and showing the splatters of his work over his clothes, he stood at an easel, staring at the canvas until he heard them approach and looked over. "Sorry, I… What do you think? It might be too much, over here," he gestured. "It's not finished," he promised.

"Glenn," Kathleen smiled, nodded back to her sister. He blinked startled.

"Sorry," he apologized again, turning to her. "I would, uh…" he looked to himself – if he had any intention to hug her, now probably wasn't the right time.

"Where's your assistant?" Kathleen asked her husband.

"Outside," he nodded to the open door, met with a timely breakout of high pitched shouts and multiple dogs' barks. Kathleen led her sister out to the yard, where she had her first glimpse of her nephew. Ewan, of his father's unruly hair and long limbs and his mother's smiling blue eyes, set about chasing the four dogs, three of them probably able to tackle him bodily to the ground if they ever leapt on him, and the fourth, smaller, still barely more than a puppy, doing her best to keep up with them. It was hard to tell who was chasing who and for what reason.

"Ewan, leave them be!" Kathleen laughed, and the boy froze mid step. "Come here," she waved him over. He came running, and now Shannon could see specks of paint on him that would show he'd been 'assisting' his father, as they'd put it. Kathleen scooped him up to bring him up to eye level with them. "You know who this is?" she asked him, smiling and nodding to her sister.

"It's Aunt Shannon," he identified rapidly, and then his eyes popped as he realized she was actually standing there, in person. "Hello!" he nodded. Shannon had just forgotten how to not be smiling, looking at her sister's son, her sister holding her son at that… As much as she regretted the way they had become parted by an ocean, to see her now, see what she had made of herself, especially as a mother to this boy… She was right where she was supposed to be.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Ewan," she held out her hand 'officially' and the boy responded happily, stretching out his very small hand into hers before giving her arm as big of a shake as he could manage, which she could tell by the 'effort' in his face… She'd loved him instantly. "I didn't realize you had that many dogs," she told him.

"Just one dog," Ewan shook his head and, by the way he spoke, she could imagine Kathleen had told him to try and speak a bit clearer, knowing how Shannon had difficulty understanding him at times. "The big dogs are Mrs. Ronan's dogs," he explained. "Mine's the small one," he pointed and Kathleen put him down. "Come on!" he called to his aunt and mother before dashing off after the dogs. Mrs. Ronan's dogs barked and almost seemed to be charging him, but they stopped near him, while the small dog was trotting circles around her small master. Ewan caught her and picked her up, laughing when her wagging tail tickled his arm. He brought her over to his aunt. "This is my dog, Sally," he nodded. "She's just a puppy," he informed her. The dog, like Ewan, didn't shy around strangers, welcoming Shannon's petting and scratching. "I promised Mrs. Ronan to walk her dogs because she's sick now," he was equal part informing his aunt and reminded his mother.

"Yes, I remember, Ewan," Kathleen smiled. Shannon took this as an opportunity.

"Well, you know, I love dogs. If you need a hand, I could go with you to walk them," she gave him a smile. He put the puppy down and ran to the house without reply, returning with the leashes.

So off they'd gone. Ewan maneuvered Sally and one of the Mrs. Ronan's dogs, Rufus, while Shannon led Ronny and Roz. Ewan, as it turned out, was an excellent tour guide. He knew everything, every place and every person, and they knew him, as well. The whole way, as they walked, Ewan just talked on and on, quickly forgetting himself and letting the words run away. She didn't understand half of what he said, but he looked plenty happy to have her there, so she just kept smiling, laughing… everything was perfect. They would repeat this exercise every day for the duration of her stay.

The first day, after the walk, they had returned Rufus, Ronny, and Roz to Mrs. Ronan before getting back to the house for dinner. Glenn had changed, showered, though still barefoot. He stood at the stove while Kathleen continued setting the table. Ewan had his own task, filling Sally's bowls and remaining crouched at her side while he retold the tale of his walk with his aunt and the dogs to his parents. When at last it was time for dinner, they sat, with Kathleen and Glenn at the ends and Shannon and Ewan across from one another.

She watched her nephew, impressed with the way he was eating his way through his plate, zero complaint. She could remember the 'battles' when Kathleen was his age; she raised 'picky eater' to brand new heights never reached before or ever again. Everything on his plate disappeared bit by bit, until finally Ewan's 'big secret' revealed itself… the peas remained untouched, shunned, and his disdain for them showed itself as, little by little, with the rest of his food disappearing, the prospect of having to eat the hateful peas was becoming more and more of a reality… and he was bracing himself for it. She just smirked, watching his eating slow to a halt as he chewed his last piece of meat.

He looked up, cautious, catching his aunt's eye in the process. Maybe he thought she would rat him out. She looked to his peas, then back to him. His face scrunched in disgust. She smiled, then gave a small nod, scooping up some of her peas and waiting, extending the challenge. He hesitated, she waited. Finally he nudged his spoon at his peas, gathering some before looking back at her. She kept eye contact with him, eating her scoop of peas – your move. He sighed, frowning at the spoon before putting it in his mouth. He chewed – hating every part of it – and he swallowed, looking back to her. 'Good job,' her smile said, and he nodded. She gathered another scoop and after a moment he did the same. Scoop by scoop, they dared each other until his plate was free of a single pea. When he realized this, suddenly he was a chatterbox all over again, interrupting his parents' talk – they had either missed the whole exchange or they pretended so he'd finish his peas; Shannon wouldn't ask, and they wouldn't tell.

If up until then he was being his usual friendly self, after that night he was officially her new buddy. He followed her everywhere, and he awaited their dog walking with excessive energy. They were almost afraid of what would happen when she went away, knowing it could be a long time before they saw each other in the flesh again. It wasn't as bad as they'd feared, though he made her promise they would talk. He did convince his parents to drive her to the airport instead of taking a cab. He hugged her, kissed her cheek, waved her off. They couldn't know, any of them, that it would be eleven years before she saw him again, and his parents never again.

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!