"...And that's why the New Year really begins on the eve of the second of January, and not the thirty-first of December." Jeffrey finished, beaming brightly.
"Seriously?" The small brunette girl crossed her arms in dissatisfaction, "That long story that didn't even make sense half the time, and skipped all over randomly, that's how you answer a simple question? Not to mention that that has to be the most ridiculous, terribly, sentimental and horrible reason to change a major holiday!"
"I liked the story, dad!" The small blonde boy said enthusiastically, "Especially when mom face-smashed that boy!"
"I knew I should have just asked Mom." The girl was very disgruntled.
"Oh...right, so she has another chance to say-" Jeffrey adopted a bored neutral expression, that looked uncannily like Skye's face when she was 100% done with him, "'Your father is an overly-sentimental sap, that's why.'? Ha! I think not!"
"Ha-you're-supposed-to-be-putting-these-two-to-bed, and not talking on and on so they won't go to sleep." Skye said dryly from the doorway.
"And...that's exactly what I was doing, dear." Jeffrey said innocently, "Darn, you kids. You know how they just go on and on."
Skye remained there, arms crossed, and giving Jeffrey a knowing look.
"How long have you been standing there?" Jeffrey asked suspiciously.
"Since the part I met your dad."
"Oh, good. So not long."
"Not at all." Skye said in deadpan, "Only two hours."
"Well, how time flies." Jeffrey clapped his knees and stood up, "C'mon, dearest, you're keeping these little nuisances up!"
"Mummy, did you really punch a boy?" Asked Isaac.
"No. I punched three, and then learned better. Let's go. Get in bed, Isaac." Skye scooped him up and deposited him on his own bed.
"Bach wants to sleep with me!" Isaac pointed to the puppy chewing on his shoe.
"Bach is sleeping in his own bed, Isaac. You know the rules." Skye said sternly, picking up the basset by the scruff of its neck. The dog was, of course, a present from the children's Aunt Batty, and the offspring of Hound Jr. Much like the dog's grandfather, Hound, it had a fondness of eating everything and barfing it all back up. It was never wise to sleep with the puppy. They found that out after the 'great pillow buffet'.
"Elise, you finished your homework?"
"Mummy, you know math is a breeze for m-"
"Uh-huh. And what about Grammar?" Skye folded her arms sternly.
"..."
"We'll do it first thing in the morning." Jeffrey promised, putting an arms round Skye and kissing her forehead, "It's not due until Thursday. Goodnight, kids."
"Goodnight, Mummy. Goodnight, Daddy." They answered back.
"Goodnight. Love you." Skye turned off their light and closed the door quietly.
"The observatory called during you lengthy anecdote. I've got to meet the Professor at ten tomorrow morning, so I'll miss your practice, but I'll definitely be there for the concert at five." Skye told Jeffrey as they walked out of their children's bedroom, "Apparantly they've made some kind of mistake in their calculations when they were setting up the telescope, and-"
Jeffrey cut her off with a peck on the lips.
"Boring." He told her with a large fake yawn, "And don't worry, I know practice is a drag for you anyway. Do you think they'll let us look through the telescope once they're finished with your correct calculations?"
"You want to look at outer space, and hear me drone on about it for hours afterwards?" Skye smiled.
"Dearest, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Jeffrey told her sincerely, his eyes crinkling.
Skye slugged his shoulder fondly.
"That's for calling me dearest twice in one night, Dork."
"You know you love me." Jeffrey pouted, "Who else would put up with you, Dearest?"
Skye punched his arm.
"I want a divorce." Jeffrey sulked, "You make me feel like a trophy-wife."
"You know you love me." Skye retorted dryly, "And you aren't even close to being good enough looking to be a trophy wife. Go make me a sandwich."
"You sexist bigot! I've had enough of your oppression, and furthermore I only married you for your money!"
"Think about the children, Jeffrey! Don't do this to us." Skye's eyes widened in pretend horror, "They'll only allow me to see them on the weekends!"
"I'll let you see them Thursdays too, as long as you always pay your child support."
"Deal." They shook hands. Jeffrey was the first to crack up, predictably, but Skye rolled her eyes and eventually joined in with some laughs of her own.
"You're a terrible gold-digger if you married me for money." She poked him as they settled on the couch for a Doctor Who marathon, "We were almost penniless when we started out."
"Yeah, I lied about that." Jeffrey munched on a mouthful of popcorn, "I only married you, because I was so desperate to become a Penderwick. If you had refused me, I would have moved onto Jane. If she didn't work out, I was going to wait until Batty was old enough. If Batty didn't work, I would have had to murder Tommy and start on Rosy next."
"Poor Tommy."
"Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to that." Jeffrey shuddered, "But it was necessary, and I was going to frame you for it; so, you should be glad you made the right choice."
"What if I told you I only married you, so I could kill you eventually for the insurance money?" Skye asked him seriously.
"I'd say we should go ahead with that idea, but not actually kill me, just fake my death. That way we can move to Germany, and live in Beethoven's old house."
"You almost had me, until you mentioned Beethoven." Skye told him, reaching behind her back stealthily, "I'm just going ahead with my original plan now."
Skye jumped Jeffrey with a cushion and pretended to smother him with it. Jeffrey wriggled out from under it and attacked her back with the other cushion. The battle ended with a draw, or when Jeffrey knocked over the popcorn.
"Jokes aside, I married you because I loved you, and you're a real knockout."
"And I married you because you were hard-headed and wouldn't take no for an answer." Skye kissed his cheek, " Now that's enough gooey-mushy sap for one life, so shush."
To be honest, I'm not at all proud of this ending, but I still can't think of another way to finish. However, I've decided to start a collection of one shots, that will contain different Penderwick AU's or just one shots that take place in the books' settings. I have way too many ideas, and this will be a perfect way to express some of the ones I just can't write a whole story for. Don't worry, if you're not into that kinda of thing, I've got a couple full-length stories lined up too.
Isaac is of course named for Newton, and Elise is just from 'Für Elise' by Beethoven. The reason Bach isn't named for Hound is because he is only one of a litter, and I'm pretty sure that Batty would keep the puppy named Hound the III. Plus, Skye is still traumatized with her experiences with the original Hound.
Wrath of Nyx:It's great to hear from a new fan of the books! You're in for a treat once you get into the rest of the series. I literally got your review a half hour after I finished proofreading this chapter, so this is probably the quickest update anybody has ever gotten. I'm delighted that you liked this story and took the time to read it! Thank you very much!
Celestialite: Thank you very much! And I agree completely, although I have been a pretty angsty writer on my original stories, I tend to tread lightly on that habit now, because I'm naturally a more humor-inspired writer, and angst can be terribly depressing to me. Plus, that kind of emotion is extraordinarily hard for me to express, since I'm a recluse when it comes to feelings.
Koala-ABC-123: Thank you, you kind soul. Your love of my story throws me over the moon. Thank you for reading it, thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and being a motivation!
To the GM: Your review brought nothing but smiles to my face, I loved hearing what your favorite parts of those chapters were, mostly because they were my favorites parts while I was writing them. I want to thank you once again for the gingerbread idea, really it was a brilliant idea, and I appreciate you giving it to me. Thank you for reading this long story in its entirety, and for your great reviews!
Readwriteedit: So many glowing words of praise in your review, you've made me insanely happy. You've stuck by this long story as it took forever to unfold, and I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you for being a star reviewer, one of my fanfic idols, and a magnificent supporter. Thank you, I'm glad you liked my story.
Nijibrush: I'm incredibly jealous about your jammies, you're a super fan, in my eyes. I feel like I don't deserve the word awesome for my story, but I'll take what I can get. In a way I'm relieved this story is done, but I know I'm going to miss it as soon as I post this chapter. Thank you for every single one of the many reviews you sent me, every single one boosted my spirits and encouraged me. I'm so blessed to have had you along this long journey of my first Penderwick fic, you are real treasure. Thank you, thank you, and thank you!