Father's Day
Three years ago
River skipped down the hallway towards the dining room, her home-made present clutched in her hands. She thought it was beautiful. She had drawn their house, with the large oak tree out front extending its branches to cover the family of four that stood on the front lawn.
She stuck her head around the doorway then smiled when she saw that only her father was in the dining room.
She ran into the room and threw her arms around him, making sure that she didn't crush her present. Her father laughed and returned the hug, holding her tightly.
"I'm going to miss your enthusiasm River," he teased. River smiled, but it was a sad smile. This was going to be her last Father's Day for several years.
She put down her present on the table, once again admiring the beautiful blue wrapping paper with gold stripes she had wrapped it in. Her father smiled, then faked a look of surprise.
"For me?" River stuck her tongue out at him.
"Open it," she pleaded. Her father was just reaching for the present when footsteps caused them both to look up.
"Am I interrupting?" asked Simon, standing in the doorway. River shrieked with joy and launched herself across the room and into her brother.
"Whoa there," said Simon, smiling slightly. He gently detached River, holding up a package wrapped in red.
"This is breakable," he said. Their father smiled at him.
"Simon, we haven't seen you for three weeks!" he exclaimed, moving to stand up. River immediately ran over to him and pushed him back down.
"It's Father's Day, you can't move," she said. Their father rolled his eyes then reached out and pulled her down onto his lap. River giggled and struggled wildly.
Simon gently put his parcel down onto the table and came over to them, picking River easily off of her father and swinging her onto his back, just like he had done since she was a baby.
River giggled, but felt slightly surprised that Simon could still carry her. She was only five or six inches shorter than he was now. Though he was, she supposed, five years older.
Their father rolled his eyes and reached for Simon's package. Simon and River watched as he slowly peeled off the wrapping paper and revealed a new, portable model of the cortex.
"Simon," gasped their father, looking at it with shock, "This is way to expensive." River noticed that he didn't let it go though.
Simon shrugged. "I know a guy that works in the machine department. I got a discount." River grinned. Even with the discount, she knew it had been expensive. Simon was just playing the martyr, like always.
Her father looked at it with interest, and Simon deposited River and went around to look over his father's shoulder.
"You know, the best part is the source box," Simon said. "Instead of the message taking a couple of minutes, the second that someone presses the send button it appears."
Their father looked surprised at that and checked his mail.
"Huh," he said, reading through his messages. "That's cool." Suddenly, he stood up.
""I'm sorry, it appears that we have a problem," he said, walking towards the door. "I'll be back later."
River watched in disbelief as he vanished from the room. Seconds later they could hear the car pulling away. She glanced sadly at her still-unwrapped present.
Simon noticed where she was looking and his mouth formed an 'o'.
"I'm sorry River," he said softly, putting his arm around her shoulders. River shrugged, blinking back tears. She was leaving for the Academy tomorrow, and her father hadn't even opened her present.
"Do you want to leave it?" asked Simon. River nodded.
"Let's go pack," said Simon after a couple minute's time. River looked up at him.
"I've already finished," River said softly, though that wasn't strictly true. She didn't want any more reminders today. Simon knew she was lying, but he understood why.
"Do you want to go out?" he offered instead. River nodded. It looked like, once again, she was going to spend Father's Day with her brother instead of her father.