Hey guys!

I've gotten holidays for a while, so my updates have become freakily regular.

I just want your opinions on something (leave it through reviews). I've been wanting to start a new MDBC fanfiction, abd continue it along with this one.

I've seen the 'Characters react to' stuff, but I don't want mine to be the whole book.

I want to choose a random page or chapter, from any one of the books (I'll write the book and page number on top) and have the characters react to that. I'm not sure whether I should do it, though, what do you guys think?

Also, a shout out: DorkQueen and AlanaFaith2, I love your stories! Please keep 'em coming!

Dess4Ever, bluerasperry- butterflies, obsessedchick44, luvJessandDarcy, and ALL the Guests, thank you for your regular reviews and ideas!

This is a future one-shot for blueraspberry-butterflies.

Enjoy!

-Estelle

Becca's P.O.V.

I sigh irritably and call again, "Brianna! We're leaving for Cassidy's house soon! Hurry up!"

My only daughter yells back down, "Gimme a minute, Mom!"

"OK! I'll be in the car with your brother and father!"

"Fine!" her voice comes from her room.

My daughter, Brianna Rochester, is 14 years old, and I love her more than anyone else in the whole world (along with my son, Mark, and my husband, Theo. Duh), but sometimes, she gets on my nerves.

I try to be patient with her, and Emma keeps reminding me how I was as a 14 year old, so I can't really say much.

I make my way to the car and get into the passenger's seat.

"Where's Brianna?" Theo asks.

"She'll be down in a minute." I twist around in my seat to face Mark. At 10 years old, he was stuck onto his Nintendo DS, "Mark, no playing that thing in the car. It'll spoil your eyes."

Grumbling, he shuts it away, just as his sister swings open the car door and hops inside.

"All in?" Theo asks.

"All in." the rest of us reply, and the car rolls down the driveway.

"Which Berkeley is it again?" Theo asks distractedly, "Is it Megan or Cass?"

"Cassidy." I say.

Cassidy and Tristan live in a huge, cozy house, just 15 minutes from here. It's really close to where her parents live, which is a plus.

There was a brief spell, between the time after we got married, and before we had kids, that our club hardly used to meet. We were in touch, of course, and saw each other often, but there was no sitting around and picking a book and 'Fun Facts' and stuff.

Then, surprisingly, Cassidy was the first one to have a baby. Or maybe not surprisingly, since Cassidy and Tristan were both kind of reckless before. And I guess, sometimes they still are.

Katelynn Berkeley is a few months older than Brianna, and they are totally- along with Megan's daughter, Amy- best friends. Weird, right? But since Katie and Amy are cousins, and Megan and I are best friends, it worked out like that.

Katie, like Cassidy and Tristan, is a figure skater. She had dark hair like Tristan, and gray eyes like Cassidy.

Amy is a few months younger than Brianna.

Emma's daughter, Elizabeth, was born in July, and Kristen, Jess's daughter was born in February.

So it was all the same 'time period',as Jess put it. They're all in Alcott High together, just like me, Megan, Emma and Cassidy were.

Jess has another son, too, and so does Emma.

Jason Hawthorne and Brandon Chadwick, 13 and 14 years old respectively. (Brandon and Elizabeth are twins).

And, unlike my younger self, Brianna gets along with all four of her fellow book club members just fine.

"Mooooommm!" Mark whined from the back, "Brianna's being annoying! She keeps telling me that my DS is 'so uncool'!"

"I do not want you to pull out that DS during lunch, Mark Theodore Rochester!" I snap, "This is about getting together with our friends for Thanksgiving, not video games!"

"But- David... we need to beat the final level together!" Mark protests.

David, Cassidy's 11 year old son, is Mark's best friend. Oh, how life has worked out. David looks exactly like Cassidy, meaning exactly like her dad, whick led to the name David.

Cassidy has another daughter named Ashley, who looks just like Tristan. Blue eyes and dark hair. She's only, like, 4 or 5.

"We're here!" Theo announces, pulling into the driveway, where many other cars are already parked, "And we're the last ones here. Again."

We all turn to look at Brianna. "What?" she asks.

We make our way up and ring the bell. The outside of the house is decorated extensively.

The door swings open, to reveal Cassidy, grinning at us, "Hey. Come in."

I gape at the decorations. Cassidy is not into decorating. She might have become as good a chef as her mother, but decorating went over the limit.

"Mom did it. She can't stand it if there's 'no holiday bustle'." Cassidy explains as we leave our coats on the hook, "Everyone's in the Living room, by the way."

I smother a grin, knowing what my mother would have said when she entered. Elves.

"Mark!" comes a shout from inside, and David slides down the banister, DS in hand, "Did you bring yours?"

"You bet!" Mark replies brightly.

Before David could do anything, Cassidy plucks the DS from his hand, "David Berkeley! I told you not to bring this down!"

"But Mom! It's Thanksgiving!"

"My point exactly. Put it away."

David pouts, "Dad said I could use it."

Tristan, who had just come in to the foyer, backed out immediately.

Cassidy rolls her eyes, "Cleaned your room?"

"Yes."

"Homework?"

"Done."

"The science test?"

"Studied.

She hands him back the DS, "Half an hour. Tops."

"Thanks Mom!' He hugs her waist. According to Tristan, David'll be normal height till he's about 14. Then he'll shoot up. Seriously shoot up.

Mark looks at me expactantly. I smile and nod, "Remember to come down for lunch."

He dashes off after David, both whooping triumphantly.

We make our way into the Living Room, where all the grown ups and Ashley are seated. Ashley is playing with some sort of doll on the floor, while everyone else is just talking.

"Becca!" my mother gets up and hugs me.

Of course the parents came. It wouldn't be the same without them.

Or should I say grandparents?

"Nice of you to join us, Bec!" my brother teases from his armchair.

"I know, I thought you would never get here!" Tristan agrees.

"Tristan!" Cassidy snaps.

"Sorry." he grins sheepishly, "What can I say, love, I'm incredibly honest."

We all laugh.

"No matter what Cassidy says, she's grown up like me!" Mrs. Sloane- Kinkaid announces, her hair still blond, and her face still beautiful.

"It was Bree's fault that we were late!" Theodore says childishly.

"Was NOT, Dad!" Brianna yells from inside the Family Room. I heard Amy and Katie and Elizabeth and Kristen laugh.

"Where are Brandon and Jason?" I question.

"Upstairs." Emma tells me.

I roll my eyes, "Real descriptive, Hawthorne."

"Hey, I didn't say anything!" Jess protests.

"I mean- Chadwick." I correct.

"And there she goes." Simon says in a stage whisper, "Talking to herself."

"I'm a Rochester now!" I say indignantly, and the room laughs again. It's been a standing joke ever since our weddings.

It was kind of weird, calling Emma a Chadwick, and I don't think I'll ever get used to the name switches. Delaney to Hawthorne, Hawthorne to Chadwick, Sloane and Wong to Berkeley, which confuses everyone all the time.

"They're upstairs watching a rerun of the Thanksgiving Game." Cassidy tells me, finally answering my question.

"You could have just told them that TV was banned, Berkeley." Megan grinned at Cassidy.

Cassidy, Simon and Tristan put on identical hurt looks.

"Watch it, Berkeley." Cassidy replies, at the same time Tristan says seriously, "Berkeleys don't protest against watching sports."

We all howled with laughter. This joke never got old.

Most people wouldn't get it, but people who had known us since middle school would. Like our parents, who helped us through everything. No matter how annoying they were back then, I can see how great they were now.

We girls had hated each other, and fought and pulled pranks and had food fights. We had stuck together throughout everything, and here we are. With surnames interchanged.

Ashley looked up at her mother and asked curiously, "Is Aunt Chloe coming today?"

It's weird, hearing Chloe be called "Aunt."

I was there when she was born, when she came home from the hospital, during her first plane ride to Wyoming. I used to babysit for her. And now she was in her 20s.

I am honestly glad my mother and I joined book club about 2 decades ago.

"She can't come home for Thanksgiving, but she'll be here for Christmas." Tristan consoles, and Ashley nods.

The adults all talk and laugh for an hour or so, and then call our kids down for lunch.

We all seat ourselves around an enormous table in an enormous dining room, and eye the potluck happily.

"Who wants to say the blessings?" Darcy asked.

For some reason, all eyes turn towards me.

I shrug.

"C'mon, Bec!" Darcy urges.

"I'm thankful for..." I think for a second, "I'm thankful for the facts that through all the crazy things we used to do as youngsters, we've stuck together, and now we're here, and we're happy. And for our families."

"Nice." Jess says approvingly.

"Well done, Becca. I think we're all grateful for the exact same things." Mrs. Hawthorne - as in Emma's Mom, not Jess- adds, ever the Book Club Leader.

"Can we eat now?" Katie asks.

"Tell me about it." David agrees, looking at his sister," The two of us are-"

" -STARVING!" the rest of our kids all scream out, even Ashley.

The adults all look at Cassidy, who giggles a bit. Then Tristan joins in, and so does Megan, and then our parents,and then our kids, and we're all laughing so hard that we slide down from our chairs.

Laughing, and watching my friends and their kids and our parents laugh with me, I choke up a bit The sight is just so familiar. The top of Stanley's head glowing pink, Megan and Simon clinging to each other in happy laughter and the smiles on everyone's faces as they remembered how us kids-now-moms used to do the exact same things as our children are doing now.

I am so grateful for what I have. An amazing family, and great job, and the best group of friends anybody could possibly ask for.

It's the exact same as before, except everything is different now.