So this is my first take on a Harvest Moon fic. I've tried to make it as light-hearted as possible so yeah… Bear with me here.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harvest Moon.
"Hey, have you heard?" Ann asked as she saw Gray walk into the Inn. The young man looked up at his sister and pulled his eyebrows together.
"Heard what?" he asked in a tone that teetered between indifference and irritation. He had another argument with his grandpa earlier and he was not in the mood to entertain another of his sister's antics.
Ann raised an eyebrow at his tone, but shrugged it off. "Well…" she said as she walked behind the counter. "You know how Claire keeps saying she doesn't have a family?" Gray nodded. "Well, she does, as a matter of fact, have one."
Gray frowned. "And you know this how, exactly?"
"I heard it from Manna."
The young blacksmith rolled his eyes. Of course, Manna. "A little brotherly advice, don't believe everything Manna says," he told her as he began heading upstairs.
His sister puffed her cheeks out. "But I saw them too you know! She was carrying a cute little kid earlier this morning and some guy, some nice-looking guy, was with them."
At that, Gray stopped. "Say what?"
Cliff raised an eyebrow as he saw Duke exit the winery with a frown on his face. "Anything wrong Duke?" he casually asked as the older man stood beside him and began helping him pick the ripe grapes.
"Nah, just Manna. She just won't stop talking about what happened earlier…" Duke tiredly said as he tossed a bundle of grapes into the basket. "She keeps going on, and on about Claire not saying that she had a family."
"Oh." Cliff was all could say. "Where could she have heard that from?"
Duke shook his head. "She said she saw them earlier in the square while taking a morning walk. Claire, a guy and a kid were talking. Manna says they were very happy together," he explained.
The young brunette forced a nervous chuckle. "And she thinks the kid's Claire's?"
"Yep," Duke answered rather guiltily. "She says the kid looks exactly like his parents."
Again, Cliff chuckled nervously.
"Thank you again!" Popuri sang as she waved goodbye to someone just as Rick came out of the house. The pink-haired maiden then turned to the chicken in her arms and pointed a stern finger at it. "Now don't you ever run off again! You really had me worried there!" she told the hen.
Rick walked up to her younger sister and asked, "Ran off again?" Popuri nodded, a small smile on her face. "Well, let's make sure she doesn't get out again," he said as he took the chicken and put it back in its pen.
"Oh, so that's how they get out…" he heard his sister say. Rick turned around and followed Popuri's eyes. There it was, a hole in the fencing. It was a rather large hole and Rick couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't seen it. "It must have been from the storm…" Popuri concluded.
"I guess…" Rick agreed. "Popuri, get me some wood, nails and a hammer. We better fix this before another one runs lose," he said, chuckling.
Popuri nodded. "Yeah, we got lucky this time. If it hadn't been for the kid Claire was dragging along, that chicken would have been long gone," she sighed as she went to fetch the items her older brother needed. "Cute kid too… I can really see where his looks came from." Popuri whistled along as she went into the shed, leaving Rick to think on how to fix the fence.
And then it struck him.
Doctor Trent looked at the clock on the wall, and then back at his own wrist watch, and then back at the clock. Elli was running late. It was very unlike her to be running late. She had gone out for a bit to check on her grandma after a call from her, but it was already an hour after. Trent was starting to become nervous. Ellen was old and had a problem with her legs. Maybe something had happened to her or maybe…
The doctor's thoughts, however, were stopped to a screeching halt when he saw Elli enter the clinic with a bright smile on her face. Trent sighed in relief. Nothing bad had happened.
Upon seeing the doctor, Elli righted herself. "Oh, Doctor Trent! I'm so sorry that I'm late it was just that-"
Trent raised a hand. "It's alright. I thought something bad had happened to your grandmother. I'm relieved to see that is not the case," he reassured her.
Elli nodded. "Grandma just called to show me the little boy Claire had left with her. She told me that Claire had to run some errands and left him with Stu and Grandma to play for a while. The boy began crying when Claire didn't come back immediately, so Grandma asked me to take him back to the farm where his dad was."
"Oh… And I thought something had happened," Trent chuckled, shaking his head. "You just had to take Claire's kid back home."
The nurse nodded. "Yes, Claire's kid," she reaffirmed. Elli made to go back to her place in the clinic. "I'll be behind the counter if you need me Doctor."
Trent nodded. He was exaggerating. He was stressed. Nothing bad had happened to Ellen. It was just that Claire's kid needed a walk back to the farm. Trent frowned. Claire's kid. Claire's kid. Claire's kid…
"Claire's kid?"
Kai took a deep breath and exhaled, a content smile gracing his lips. Summer in Mineral Town was always the best. Of all the places he had gone to, Mineral Town was probably the nearest thing he could call home. As much as he would want to stay and lounge at the beach all day long, he had places to go, people to talk to. So with one swift motion, Kai got himself up and made his way to the inn.
Just as he was about to open the door, it burst open. Kai let out a yelp as he jumped back to avoid the door slamming into his face, not to mention a seething Gray.
"Gray! Wait! Where are you going!" he heard Ann yell as she too came out. She had on her an expression made up of confusion, irritation and worry.
"What's up Ann? Anything happened?" Kai asked as he approached the redhead.
Ann sighed. "I really don't know," she told him. "One second he's shocked stupid, the next he's running out the door."
The dark-skinned man crossed his arms. "Did you say anything to him?"
The woman looked up in thought. "Well, I did tell him that Claire has a family, but I don't know why he'd…" Ann caught the look on Kai's face. He had that 'do-you-see-now?' expression on his face. And it finally dawned her. "Oh…"
Kai nodded.
"But… Don't you have anything to say? I mean," Ann began, but she did not continue when Kai's facial expression changed drastically.
"A-A family?" Kai stammered.
Ann almost hit herself when she watched yet another young man run away because of her mouth.
All five men saw each other just outside Claire's farm. They saw the look on each other's face and they all knew that they were there for the same reason. Slowly and nervously, they stepped into the farmer's property. As soon as they caught sight of Claire's house, they saw a boy with blond hair and blue eyes running around, chasing chickens. Not far off from the child was Claire herself and a stranger, sitting just by the fish pond. The man had blond hair and green eyes.
The men were dumbstruck. The likeness was uncanny. The boy's eyes were definitely hers. It was impossible for the boy not to be Claire's son.
To add to their frustration, they watched as the pair get up from their place in the grass and hugged each other. The two of them pulled apart and Claire reached for his shoulder and squeezed it. The young boy ran to them and Claire carried and snuggled him, causing him to laugh.
Defeated, the five men turned around and walked away before she could see them.
"Lucky bastard," Gray couldn't help but murmur. Cliff, Kai, Rick and Trent couldn't agree more.
"Ann, five glasses of wine," Gray said over the counter. Ann frowned at her brother's tone, but nevertheless handed each one of the guys a glass of wine and let them be.
"I don't really-" Trent began, but the glares he got from the rest of the men were enough to silence him.
"You are going to drink, and you are going to like it," Rick hissed uncharacteristically. In truth, all of them were in a relatively bad mood.
"This sucks…" Gray sighed.
Cliff nodded. "To think she already had a kid and a husband."
"And I thought you guys were the only competition I had…" Kai mumbled before he took a big gulp of the ruby red liquid.
The bell that signaled someone had entered the inn rand and all of them turned to see it was Claire. "Hey guys!" she called to them, as cheerful as ever. "Oh, Doctor, you're here too?" Trent nodded. "So what's the occasion? There must be an occasion if Trent's here to drink."
"Oh, hi Claire!" Ann greeted. "Want one too?" she asked, referring to the wine. The farmer nodded and took the spot between Kai and Cliff.
"So the guy and the kid…" Cliff began, but he was immediately elbowed Gray. But ultimately, the damage was done and Claire's interest was piqued.
"Mark and Daniel? What about my brother-in-law and his son?" Trent almost spit out the wine in his mouth.
"Y-Your brother-in-law?" Rick exclaimed.
The farmer nodded. "Yeah, my sister, Chelsea, is his wife. Me and her look alike so people sometimes think I'm Mark's wife," she laughed. She pulled out something from her pocket and showed it to the guys.
They're jaws dropped. They did look alike.
Let me know what you think! Reviews are more than welcome!
On the side note, Chelsea and Claire do look alike, for me that is... I dunno for anyone else.