It's also a thought that
Changed the world.
…She carries a world on her hip
Grace, by U2
Quality Family Time
Jake is home.
Jake is home, Daddy!
Mum! Come help Jake unpack!
When will Lucy be here?
Mol, be a dear and owl your sister?
No, Izzy. Izzy! Stop it! C'mon, darling, please clam down?
A bustling house is what they're used to. A bustling house is what they love.
He smiles at her, over the heads of their children, not so little anymore.
Molly rushes to the family owl after scrawling down a note, nothing her parents are allowed to read: Where the fuck are you? Even Jake's here!
Jake tries to control his sister, who is begging him for news about his life as political figure – and being out of the house. He brings in his luggage and sends it to unpack itself as the family joins in the sitting room, where they gather round Jake as he tells them stories, funny and poignant, in his strange, cute way.
Izzy, seventeen, wishes, clearly, to be out of the house and joining Jake, doing anything but living here with restrictive parents.
Kim, two years her junior and with eyes that burn through Jacob's own right to the core of his stories, looks as though she relishes the family time when (nearly) the whole family is together.
And Sara, her head bent over a notebook, documents it all – every smile, every look, every word.
Lucy Apparates with a subtle pop, her hair rumpled and her hand clutching her sister's note. "Where's Kent?" she asks breathlessly, referring to her sister's fiance and kissing her father's cheek and hugging her mother.
Molly grins. "Oh, you know. Gallivanting." The wedding is scheduled for next month, and everyone can see the anticipation in the young lovers' eyes.
Percy stands, smiling at his clan. "Sit, Luce," he orders, grinning at her, and she plops down right next to Jake with a smile and a nudge. He reads Molly's note and laughs, but no one else gets the joke.
Their father continues without hindrance. "Guys," he starts, "we're together for the first time since – oh, Merlin, Christmas! So get ready to party!" He holds up a bottle of Firewhisky, as his three older children clamor to get some. Audrey laughs appreciatively, and sips her own bottle.
She puts her hand into her husband's, and he squeezes it, whispering, "Look what we did, baby."
"I love you," she tells him, and they watch as the loves of their lives laugh, talk, and be together.
A/N: Pointless fluffy drabble for the U2 Challenge at the HPFC. I recently took about 50 challenges, so you'll be hearing a lot from me…-.- These 8 people are based upon Pieces of Life, a next-generation series of oneshots I wrote. =D So yeah, that's Jake, Iz, Kim, & Sara for you...