Jack lay awake in his bed while his sister snored peacefully from the other side of the room. He had been awake for at least an hour but couldn't get himself out of bed. As he lay there, arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling, he let tears run gently down his cheeks. Easter mornings had always been rough on him. He couldn't help but remember the morning, about eight years ago, when he climbed down from the loft, giddy with the excitement of the holiday only to find his mother broken down and crying, clutching a note from his father. Despite the holiday's theme of joy and new beginnings, Jack could never quite get into the Easter mood.

In an effort to cheer himself up, he felt underneath his bed for the little purple box he'd stowed away there yesterday. It was still there and Jack was almost shaking with the excitement and anticipation of gift giving. He couldn't wait to see the look on Anna's face when she opened the box. She'd be thrilled!

Finally, Anna began to stir. Jack quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep again. A few minutes later a small pair of feet was jumping on his bed, and a voice was screeching:

"Wake up! Wake up! Waaake uuuuup, Jack! It's Easter!"

Jack peaked at his little sister with one eye.

"Unngghhhhh!" he said (He had to try and make it convincing!).

Only when Anna started pulling on his shirt and calling him Sleeping Beauty did Jack "wake up".

"Come on Jack! Aren't you excited to see what the Easter Bunny hid!" she looked at him, excitement sparkling in her eyes. He was sure his eyes looked the same.

"Well... actually." Jack reached under his bed and pulled out the box. "I think you should be excited about what I hid!"

Anna gazed at the little box with wide eyes. She looked up at Jack and when he nodded, she snatched the gift from his hands and began untying the ribbon as fast as her little hands would let her. When she finally got it undone, with some help from Jack, she opened the lid and a high pitched squeal escaped into the room.

"It's the one that I wanted so much and you got it and it's mine! EEEEEEEEEK!" Jack laughed as his little sister danced around the room, clutching the bow to her chest. She ran up to Jack and hugged and kissed him.

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" She said with every kiss.

"You can thank Dexter next time you see him!" Jack said through his laughter.

"Oh I will!" she said, a big smile on her face. It faded a second later. "Wait... why am I thanking Dexter?"

Jack thought for a moment. He didn't know if he wanted to tell her that he was too poor to even afford the bow, and that Dexter had really bought it. He didn't want his little sister to think she couldn't rely on her bother anymore. Deep down Jack knew that if he told her who bought her the present it would hurt his pride more than it would her feelings.

"Because... he helped us get to town to buy it!" Jack almost bit his tongue as the words came from his mouth. He hated lying to Anna, yet he still did.

"Oh yeah!" Anna said, and continued to dance around the room. Jack sighed, mentally thanking her for being the easiest person to hide emotions from ever! After Anna had finished dancing and singing about how much she loved her bow, she ran to Jack handing him the bow.

"Put it in my hair, won't you Jack?" she said, turning around and rushing her fingers through her messy hair. Jack chuckled.

"Why don't we get mum to do that?" he said, not knowing a thing about how to put a hair bow in.

"Okay!" Anna snatched the bow and ran for the ladder and was gone before Jack could even get out of his bed.

"Mom! Mommy! Look what jack got me!" She yelled the whole way down. Jack quickly clambered down the ladder after her and arrived in the kitchen just in time to see his mom's face. She looked from the bow to Jack, completely stunned.

"Wow... Jack, honey..." she smiled one of her dazzling smiles "It's beautiful! But, how'd you-"

"Egg money!" He piped up quickly, before guilt made him say otherwise. "I've been saving up for a while..."

"That is so sweet honey!" Mary smiled warmly at her son, which sent another pang of guilt through Jack. He still didn't know how he managed to lie to his two favorite people in the world.

Anna gave the bow to her mother and Mary put it in her hair, and had to tell her repeatedly throughout breakfast not to touch it or it would fall out.

After breakfast, the children helped clean dishes before Mary sent them off to get dressed for Easter Mass.

"You two go get cleaned up." she said, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I have a presents for you when you come back down."

The children raced to the loft so fast Mary couldn't help but laugh to herself. When they were back downstairs in their nicest Sunday clothes, Mary revealed their surprise.

"Tada!" she said as she pulled two colorful, hand-weaved baskets from behind her back.

"Wow!" Anna said, reaching for hers. Jack stared amazed at his.

"Mom did you make these?" He asked, inspecting his with wide eyes.

"You bet! I wanted you kids to have something nice to collect Easter eggs in!" Mary smiled.

"Thank-you Mom!" Anna rushed and hugged her mother. Jack stared with thankful eyes at Mary. He didn't need to say anything, Mary knew this day was as rough for him as it was for her. She pulled her son into the hug and the family stayed like that for a long while.

When mass was over all the children raced out of the church ready to begin the search for Easter eggs. Jack and Anna kissed their mother goodbye and raced after the other children eager to start their search. Everyone knew that the boundaries of the hunt were from the church to the old creek in the park. It was just tradition. Whenever Anna questioned it their mother would always say:

"It's the Easter Bunny's decision after all."

As much as Jack wanted to he could not let himself believe in something as childish as the Easter Bunny. Anna was mad about him, just like she was about the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus, even the Sand Man. Jack didn't know how she believed in all that crap, but he didn't want to be the one to crush her dreams!

The pair was searching an old blueberry patch when they stumbled across someone familiar, literally. Jack wished he had seen the pair of legs coming from the blueberry patch sooner. Nevertheless, his trip and fall made Anna laugh and that's all that really matters right?

Anna was in the middle of her laughing fit when the owner of the legs popped his head out of the bush.

"Mighty sorry about that, Mate!" Dexter said as he fought his way through the branches.

"It's no problem!" Jack said, getting to his feet. "Say, what were you doing in there? Did you skip breakfast or something?" The comment made both Dexter and Anna laughed and Jack helped Dexter to his feet.

"Nah..." Dexter said, wiping his trousers clean of stray grass blades and leaves. "I was looking for the Easter Bunny!"

When Anna gasped in excitement Dexter smirked playfully.

"Do you know of him?" Dexter asked in mock surprise.

"Know of him? Anna knows everything about him!" Jack said as Anna smiled shyly.

"Well then I bet you'd love to see him, wouldn't ya!" Dexter asked. Anna gasped once more, and looked up at Jack amazed.

"Can we can we please!" she asked, clutching at his shirt sleeve.

"I don't know..." Jack looked at Dexter, who silently begged him to play along with his little game. As much as Jack didn't believe he didn't want to ruin this adventure for his sister. Jack smiled at Dexter.

"How do we find him?" Jack asked, allowing himself to play along. Anna squealed with delight as Dexter said:

"I've right on his trail! Follow me!" and the three took off in search of the mythical rabbit.

They made it all the way to the creek when Dexter finally held his hand out for the group to stop. Anna vibrated with anticipation.

"We have to keep an eye out for any tracks that might give us a clue that's he's still here!" he whispered to Anna who nodded. The look of pure determination on her face made Jack smile.

"I heard he poops out chocolate, maybe we can start there." Jack said, but Anna was too focused on her search to get the joke. Finally Dexter pointed across the creek and said: "Look!"

Anna raced to his side and followed his gaze across the creek. Jack ran up and crouched beside them, curious as to what Dexter's plan was.

"You see him?" Dexter asked Anna as he directed her gaze. "Right behind that shrub..."

When Anna gasped in surprise Jack, followed their gaze but didn't see anything.

"What-" he began.

"I don't believe it!" Anna breathed. Dexter smiled, and gazed in wonder at the other side of the creek. Jack was convinced they were playing some sort of joke on him until he saw Anna's face. Her jaw dropped almost to the river bed and her eyes were filled with such awe and joy at what she saw that it made Jack want to see it too. He let himself think, to believe for just a second that maybe, just maybe he could be real. That the Easter Bunny really could exist. He closed his eyes, and squeezed them tight. When he opened them, the sight on the other end of the creek made him gasp aloud.

peeking up from behind a flowering berry bush were two, tall, giant rabbit ears, twitching and listening to the sounds around them. Suddenly, the creature lifted its big head above the leaves and trio got their first real look at the Easter Bunny's face. Jack couldn't help but let out a little laugh as the rabbit twitched his nose, making his whiskers gleam in the morning sun. There was a rustle in the trees beside the trio and before they could say "Easter" the rabbit bounded out of the kids sight.

When Jack and Anna got home that afternoon, Mary was surprised to see her kids grinning from ear to ear, despite the small some of chocolate eggs they had collected. When Anna recounted the day's events to their mother over dinner, she smiled and nodded, obviously not believing a word she said. Jack didn't blame her though, a few hours ago, he wouldn't have believed Anna either!

Jack lay in bed with a smile on his face that night, giddy with the memories of the morning. He was snapped out of his daze when he heard a sleepy voice from across the room.

"He really was something wasn't he Jack..." Anna said, almost half-asleep.

"He really was!" Jack responded, long after Anna drifted off.

Author's Note: This was so much fun to write! I hope you guys are enjoying this fic and haven't lost hope in it yet! I still have a few ideas bouncing around in my crazy head and hopefully I'll get a chance to share them with you! Till then, I hope you liked the chapter!