Jane Morgendorffer (Part 38)
Penny sat between Daria and Jane on the plane trip back. Jane had fallen asleep and was leaning against her unofficial big sister. Pulling out her sketchbook, Daria's pencil began to move carefully over the paper. Jane's bangs were covering one of her eyes and her mouth was slightly open. Penny watched as Daria focused her entire attention on the sleeping girl's face. The sketching continued for almost the entire rest of the flight. When Jane finally awoke, she looked over to see the picture Daria was drawing.
"I am glad to see that I make such an interesting subject," Jane huffed.
Daria gave her a slight grin and closed the sketchbook. Right before the plane landed, Daria slid the book into her duffel bag. Once they arrived home, everyone went into their rooms to unpack while Helen brought Penny home. Jane quickly put away her clothes and then helped Daria finish. Jake returned forty minutes later with dinner in hand. Trent had invited Charity over for dinner. After the meal, Charity and Trent left to go to a movie. Jane asked if she could go practice her cello while Quinn played the drums. Helen and Jake nodded and watched as the kids ran into the garage. They looked around for Daria, until they heard the bedroom door close.
Daria could hear Jane and Quinn as she brought back out the sketchbook. She reached for a stack of old newspapers that she kept near her bed and spread several pages on the floor. Then, she placed her easel on top of them and grabbed an empty canvas from the closet. When she was finished setting up, Daria opened her book to the drawing of Jane. Taking her time, Daria began to recreate the sketch on the canvas. An hour later, Helen and Jake called for Jane and Quinn to come inside and get ready for bed. Helen followed Jane into their room to tell Daria to change into her pajamas and her mouth dropped.
Still wearing the clothes she left New York in, Daria was already sound asleep. The drying canvas still resting carefully on the easel. Although she could tell it wasn't finished, seeing Jane's sleeping face in the picture before her made Helen want to wake Daria up and wrap her in a hug. Helen signaled for Jake to join her. Jake smiled brightly as he and Helen picked the paper off the floor and grabbed the brushes to clean them. For her part, Jane stared at the portrait and smirked. Before they left the room, they kissed both girls foreheads. A few minutes later, Jane turned off the bedroom's light. Then she realized that Daria was sleeping on top of her covers. She nudged her sister until Daria woke up just enough to stand up. Jane moved her blanket aside as Daria took off her glasses. Daria laid back down and wrapped herself in the warmth of the comforter.