Sorry for the delay. This chapter did not want to cooperate.
It was the rustling that woke Rey. A soft expanse of bed and a full stomach had sunk her deep into sleep - not to mention the effect of the bourbon when she was used to nothing stronger than beer - but her reflexes were still sharp, and she lived alone.
"Sadie Logan, you get back in bed before you wake Miss Rey," came the irritated whisper. "She's a guest!"
Rey grinned sleepily into her pillow. "'M awake."
A long silence, and then - "Merry Christmas!" Sadie sounded downright gleeful.
"Sadie! What time is it, even?" Mellie said irritably, and Rey rolled over.
The room was gray with morning light, and Sadie was twirling back and forth in her pajamas, hair a tangle. She and Mellie had shared one bed, and Mellie looked as if she wasn't ready to get out of it, but when she met Rey's gaze a reluctant smile broke out.
"It's eight-oh-four! It's morning, Aunt Mellie. Time to get up!" Sadie tugged at the blanket covering Mellie, who yanked it back up. Sadie's eyes were gleaming with a mix of eagerness and humor, and Rey winked at her before sitting up.
"Merry Christmas, Miss Sadie. It's definitely time to get up."
"Yayyy!" Sadie danced from foot to foot, not noticing Mellie reaching for a pillow until it hit her square in the chest. "Hey!"
Rey had read about pillow fights, but never experienced one. Well, now's my chance - She grabbed both of hers, tossing one to Sadie and springing out of bed to paste Mellie with the other.
A quick laugh, an indignant yelp, and it was on.
Five minutes later they were all lying disheveled across one bed, panting in between giggles; Rey didn't know who'd won, but it didn't seem to matter much. Sadie was the first to recover, rolling over to prop her arms on her aunt. "Is it time yet?"
Mellie heaved a dramatic sigh, glancing at Rey. "I dunno. You had better go see if the boys are awake, don't you think? Knock first!" she added as Sadie bounced off the bed and ran out the door. "Lord help us. Let them deal with her for a bit."
Rey giggled again, enjoying the ache of her abdomen at the exercise. "Is she usually this excited at Christmas?"
"Nah, she's just wound up 'cause we're here." Mellie stretched, her pajama top riding up a bit. "Sorry if it bothers you…"
"No!" Rey rolled over to face Mellie. "I just haven't been around kids much. At least since I was one."
Mellie folded her hands on her stomach, looking sleepy and pleased. "She's a good kid. I'm real glad Jimmy got his act together so he can stay close to her."
"Clyde says he's a good dad." So far, Rey liked Jimmy; he was as quick to tease as Mellie, but he obviously loved his daughter and his siblings very much.
"Mm-hm. He and Bobbie Jo should never have got married, but I must say he stepped up real well when Sadie was born." Mellie eyes were closing. "She's a good kid."
Amused, Rey considered rolling off the bed and leaving Mellie to fall back asleep, but Sadie burst back into the room. "They're up! Daddy says we can do presents if you're ready."
Mellie heaved a dramatic sigh. "I suppose. If we gotta." She opened her eyes and raised a brow at Rey. "You ready?"
Rey hesitated. "Should we get dressed first?"
Mellie sat up and stretched again. "Up to you, but I ain't botherin'."
She was wearing a long satin pajama set; Sadie's pajamas were decorated with unicorns. Rey glanced down at her own combo of t-shirt and sweatpants, and decided she wouldn't either, though she did pull on a sweatshirt. "Let me hit the bathroom first."
Mellie flapped a hand at her, and Rey snickered and slipped away to use the facilities and freshen up.
Clyde and Jimmy were already in the living space when Sadie finally herded them out of the bedroom, the latter poking at the coffee machine on the dining bar and the former sitting on the couch looking ruffled and sleepy. Neither of them had gotten dressed either; Jimmy was wearing boxers and a tank top, while Clyde wore shorts and a band t-shirt so faded that Rey couldn't quite make it out. He hadn't yet put on his prosthesis.
Rey felt a little pulse of pleasure seeing him so relaxed, without the edge of grimness he'd had before. I guess those sessions with the doctor are working.
"Sadie, why don't you start with your stocking? We're gonna need snacks." Mellie started rummaging in the cabinets of the dining bar, pulling out cookies and other goodies she'd apparently stashed earlier.
"Oh, I brought some candy, hold on." Rey darted back into the bedroom to pull the box of chocolates from her pack and bring it out, glad she had something to contribute to the festivities. She added it to the pile on the low table in the living room, and Jimmy handed her a cup of coffee. Mellie was going around and turning on all the decorative lights again, and Sadie, who had a well-stuffed Christmas stocking in her hands, plumped down next to her uncle to dump it out on the couch.
Rey took one of the armchairs and watched with interest as Sadie sorted through her goodies. It was mostly candy, it seemed, but Rey spotted a tube of lip gloss and a keychain among the sweets, and a little mandarin orange that had to be worked out of the toe.
Clyde watched, murmuring in response to Sadie's excited commentary, but at one point he lifted his head and caught Rey watching. She grinned at them both. They are just so cute.
Clyde's lips didn't twitch, but he winked back before turning to take his own cup of coffee from Jimmy, and Rey pulled up her legs and sat back, amused.
It was all so fascinating to watch. Rey's Christmases with Maz still stood out in her memory, but it had been just the two of them, with a tiny artificial tree and a nativity set and a couple of carefully wrapped toys or books. And church; Maz had insisted. There had been no indulgent family, no spread of lights and decorations, no stocking.
Rey knew those things weren't necessary for the holiday. She'd held her own tiny celebrations after Maz's death, setting up the nativity and decorating it with whatever greenery she could scrounge, and until Luis left she'd had Christmas dinner with him and his parents. But seeing this now, the casual affection the siblings displayed so easily, the effort made to mark the occasion, the delight on Sadie's face - it didn't make her sad, exactly. More like wistful.
What would my life be like if I had a family like this?
But there was no answer for that, so she set the thought aside, and took the box of flavored popcorn Jimmy passed her, focusing on the moment. And the food. Brunch might take place at eleven, but Rey was hungry now.
"Do you want one, Miss Rey?" Sadie held up a peanut butter cup. "I've got lots."
"Sure," Rey said, and Sadie leaned over to hand it to her, turning back just in time to see Clyde sneaking one for himself.
"Hey!" Sadie squeaked, grabbing, but he held it out of her reach with a grin, and she thumped him on the leg and scrabbled her goodies back into the stocking, giggling the whole time. Clyde peeled the peanut butter cup open with a dexterity that had to be born of much practice, popping it into his mouth whole, and Rey hid her smile in her coffee cup.
Jimmy pushed to his feet. "Come on, Sadie-Bug, let's sort out those presents."
Rey hadn't paid much attention to the heap of packages underneath the tree, except to note that Mellie and Clyde had indeed brought the ones she'd sent. They were dull compared to the bright paper on the others, though Rey had carefully smoothed out grocery bags and drawn holly leaves on them before using them to wrap her gifts.
She raised her chin. Nobody expected you to make it all pretty, she told herself. They all know you don't have much money.
In fact, it was as if none of them noticed the difference. Jimmy and Sadie read labels and distributed the presents, piling them up in front of each person with happy efficiency, and Rey was startled to see four land on her side of the table, each one bearing her name. A large blocky one with Clyde's cramped handwriting, a bulky parcel with a wide cursive that was probably Mellie's, a square with elaborate lettering and a fancy curl in the tail of the Y, and a red envelope with the letters barely readable.
Astonished, she looked up; Clyde just shrugged when Rey met his eyes. Mellie leaned over as Sadie began tearing into her first gift. "Now don't argue," she murmured. "Just let us have our fun."
I…
For what felt like long moment, Rey hesitated, caught between embarrassment and pride, and an aching, sweet emotion she couldn't identify. Part of her wanted to draw back, stung; part of her wanted to fall forward into the warmth of the Logans and what they were offering her.
I want this.
It might have been the manners Maz had drilled into her, it might have been the loneliness that had hollowed her out for so long; it didn't really matter. Even if this closeness was just for a few days, she would take it.
Rey took a deep breath, and reached for the topmost gift. It was the square, encased in paper printed with cartoon reindeer and bound with ribbon that culminated in an enormous bow. The ribbon was knotted too tightly to undo, so Rey worked it carefully off the paper, shaking her head at the scissors Mellie offered.
When she unfolded the paper, Rey found a little hand-bound book inside; the cover read "THE ADVENTURES OF UNCLE CLYDE AND WONDER-REY". She flipped it open; it seemed to be a comic, drawn in meticulously sketched panels, with a little Clyde, whose mustache was bigger than his head, and a woman with a cape who was rather more statuesque than Rey would ever be.
It was marvelous, and Rey felt her heart melt as she turned the pages. Mellie chuckled softly. "She's been working on it for weeks," she said quietly. "Kinda too bad she's off cooking now, she was gettin' real good at brownies, but this'll last longer."
Rey shook her head again and looked up, but Sadie was busy cooing over the pony figurine she'd just unwrapped and wasn't paying attention.
"It's wonderful," Rey replied. "I can't believe she put in this much effort."
"I won't lie, it's half because it's her latest hobby, but she's real fond of Clyde and she was pretty worried when he up and disappeared." Mellie toyed with the wrapping of the present on her lap. "It might be more excitin' than what you actually went through, though."
Rey laughed. "That would be hard to do." She closed the comic book with care and set it down, folding the wrapping paper. I can use this on the camper windows if I need to.
When she looked up again, Jimmy was holding up a DVD to admire it, Mellie was ripping paper, and Clyde was fishing in a gift bag. It appeared to be a free-for-all, so Rey reached for the bulky present in her pile.
It was squashy, and opened to reveal a sweater in a rich red - not a thin clinging one like the sweater Mellie had lent her for Christmas Eve, but sturdy and intricate with cables and patterns worked into the knit. Rey held it up to look at it, and would have put it on at once if she hadn't already been wearing a sweatshirt.
"Thank you," she said to Mellie, who grinned.
"Red's your color. An' it's Christmassy, too."
Across from Mellie, Clyde was peeling the paper off the long box Rey had used for her gift for him, and Rey draped the sweater across her lap to watch, not entirely sure what his reaction would be. Like Sadie, she'd spent weeks on it, stolen moments here and there, but - Maybe it's too weird, or cheap -
Clyde opened the box, brows going up, and drew the contents out with care. His eyes widened, and Rey found herself holding her breath.
Jimmy whistled. "Oh, my - " Mellie said. "Did you make that, Rey?"
"What is it?" Sadie asked curiously, scooting forward for a better look.
"It's a weathervane, ain't it?" Jimmy said, glancing at Rey, who nodded shyly.
"The pole's in the box. It should just fit on top."
The metal structure in Clyde's hand was simple - the usual four-armed directional pointer, topped by a swiveling arrow that bore not a rooster, but the silhouette of a vintage Pontiac. Rey had painstakingly punched the compass letters through the thin metal of the pointer arms; the design was simple, but - she thought - reasonably graceful.
Clyde cleared his throat. "It's amazin'," he said, his voice a bit rough. "I ain't never had anything like this, thank you."
Relief flooded her, and Rey smiled at him. "I'm glad you like it," she told him shyly.
"Can I see?" Jimmy asked, and Clyde passed the weathervane over to him, Mellie getting out of her chair for a better look. Sadie came over to Rey.
"You made that? All by yourself?"
"Mm-hm." Rey fidgeted with the sweater. "The garage I work at ends up with a lot of scrap metal, so I just…recycled some."
"That's really cool." Sadie beamed at her. "What's it for?"
Rey had to laugh. "It's to tell what direction the wind is blowing, but most people just use them for decoration." She picked up the comic book. "Thank you for this, Miss Sadie, I love it."
Sadie nodded happily. "Y'welcome."
"All right, give it back now." Clyde collected the weathervane from his siblings, turning it carefully to examine it, and Sadie went back to her place to open another package. Rey folded the sweater and set it on the table, and reached for the red envelope.
"That's some real talent you got there," Mellie said seriously as she resumed her seat. "You do that a lot?"
Rey shrugged. "I used to, sometimes, but I don't have as much time any more."
She'd fiddled around with scrap and solder while Plutt wasn't looking, idly building things when she wasn't fixing something, but never with this much intent. It was by no means perfect, but it was as close as Rey had been able to get with the time she'd had.
She peeled open the envelope. It held a gift card for Barnes and Noble, and her heart bounded at the sight. Books!
Mellie snickered. "Same thing Jimmy gets Clyde, every year," she said. "Judgin' from the look on your face, he guessed right."
"Yes he did," Rey agreed. Jimmy was currently occupied with Sadie showing him one of her gifts, so Rey didn't interrupt. I can thank him later.
Mellie reached for the flat, paper-wrapped box that Rey had sent her. "Now I'm real curious."
Rey stuffed popcorn into her mouth as Mellie opened the package. It wasn't as complex a project as Clyde's gift had been, but Rey still hoped it pleased Mellie, so it was satisfying to see her surprise as she lifted the box's lid.
"Oh, look at this!" Mellie held up the ornament; three concentric circles of metal surrounding an orange glass disc, strung on wire so that the circles could spin independently. "A suncatcher!"
Rey had found the glass in one of the camper's cupboards, along with a lot of trash; there had been four of them, but she'd broken two before she'd managed to fix the third in place. It was a very plain design, but she'd tested it in a beam of sunlight and the results had been sparkly, so Rey was satisfied.
Mellie tapped it to make the circles turn, shaking her head. "Rey, you are in the wrong line of work."
Rey shrugged. "I like fixing cars," she mumbled around her mouthful.
"That's real pretty," Clyde said softly. "Mellie's right, you got talent."
Her face heated, and Rey shrugged again. "It's just old metal."
"It's art," Mellie said firmly. Clyde huffed.
"You got one more package," he pointed out.
Rey bit her lip and reached for the blocky gift, easily the largest meant for her. She could feel the edges and corners as she pulled it towards herself. "Books," she said, grinning at Clyde.
One corner of his mouth turned up in a tiny smirk. "Go on, open it up."
Rey peeled the paper back. Oh…
It wasn't the same copy of So You Want to Be a Wizard she'd given to Clyde, it was a brand-new hardback with a cover she'd never seen before, but the title was clear. Elated, she looked up at Clyde. "You remembered!"
"'Course I did." He looked almost affronted. "Keep goin'."
Rey picked it up - and beneath it was another book, Deep Wizardry. She felt her eyes widen. The second one?
Hastily, almost scrabbling, she dug further. Another, and another, and another, until the table was littered with books - eleven of them, the whole series.
Rey stared at Games Wizards Play, heavy in her hands, and couldn't make her voice work. But when she met Clyde's gaze his smirk softened, and she knew he understood.
"Good grief, you could knock someone out with that thing," Jimmy said amiably. "Is all those that Harry Potter?"
"Daa-ddy." Sadie rolled her eyes. "All the Harry Potter books start with Harry Potter."
Mellie, who was fiddling with her phone, snickered. Rey picked up the first book and held it out to Sadie. "These are about wizards too, but American ones."
Sadie took the book and glanced at a few pages, but didn't seem very interested. Rey examined a few of the others in turn, reading the front flaps and wondering how long she could make them all last. Probably a few months at least -
The presents were mostly finished; Clyde opened up a couple of CDs and Sadie another set of ponies while Jimmy got more coffee. Rey sat back with a handful of salted nuts and watched in bemused contentment, though she couldn't help eyeing her new books. Later. You can read them later.
Mellie set her phone down. "It's just past nine. Sadie, help me pick up all the paper, and then we can see who wants to go to church, that's at ten."
"I thought you said there was a brunch," Jimmy objected, crumpling up wrapping paper.
"Doesn't start 'til eleven." Mellie handed a wad of ribbon to Sadie, who stuffed it into the wastepaper basket she'd fetched from a corner of the room. "But it runs to three, so there's plenty of time."
Jimmy sighed, but didn't argue. Clyde muffled a yawn with his hand. "'M gonna go get cleaned up, if we're goin'."
He pushed to his feet and cocked a brow at Rey. "D'you want to come? It ain't mandatory."
Rey hesitated. It sounded interesting, but she hadn't been inside a church in almost a decade, and she kind of didn't want to face a bunch of strangers - even wearing her lovely new sweater. "I…I think I'd rather not, if that's okay."
"Of course," Mellie said easily. "We'll come back and pick you up for brunch."
Forty minutes later, the suite was silent, though the Christmas lights still twinkled and shone. Rey took a quick shower and dressed in solitary splendor, slipping the sweater over her head and spending at least a minute admiring it in the mirror before picking up one of her new books and stretching out on her bed.
This is the most amazing Christmas I've ever had.
Rey sighed contentedly, and opened the book.
The buzz of her phone shocked Rey out of the story. We're back, Mellie sent. Come on down for brunch.
Rey closed the book with alacrity and took a quick moment to smooth her hair before heading out. It was strange that she didn't feel strange about the whole thing, Rey thought as she waited for the elevator. Normally she would worry about incurring obligations she couldn't possibly pay back, or eating food so far outside her price range as to be in another county.
I don't know why it doesn't bother me, but it doesn't. Maybe she was still dazzled by the sheer fact of the Logans coming to visit, bringing their unselfconscious generosity and the simple assumption that Rey would accept being made a part of things.
Maybe it was just that, for a little guilty while, Rey felt like part of a family again.
I know I'm not. But I can pretend for a bit.
And since the Logans seemed intent on pretending it too, Rey wasn't going to fight it.
It wasn't hard to find them when she got to the hotel dining room, though it was almost full; even sitting, Clyde was tall enough to be visible. He was the first to spot her, and while he didn't really smile, he leaned back to pull out a chair for her as she neared.
"There you are," Mellie said comfortably as Rey sat. "We're all thinkin' buffet at this point; does that suit, or do you want something else?"
Rey, whose mouth was already watering at the delectable scents coming from the long tables, nodded. "Oh…the - the buffet sounds good."
"Okay then." Mellie flagged down a server and ordered coffee for the table. "Let's do this."
Rey lagged a little as they got up en masse, Sadie skipping ahead and Jimmy following behind her. Clyde walked beside Rey. "You ever done this before?" he asked quietly, and she had to shake her head.
He snagged a plate from one of the stacks and handed it to her. "You just help yourself, unless there's a server, like for the meat over there. An' there's no limit, you can come back and get another plate as many times as you like."
"That sounds like cheating," Rey said, mouth quirking, and Clyde shrugged.
"That's the way it works."
It felt like cheating, but Rey followed Clyde as he moved down the long tables, watching as he chose from the various dishes. Perhaps fortunately, most of them had little placards saying what they were, so she didn't have to guess, and Rey scooped up spoonfuls of grits and macaroni salad and an entire lavish serving of eggs Benedict, a few strawberries, green beans - there seemed to be no end to it all, and she ran out of room on the plate before they'd gotten far at all.
But no one seemed to care. No one even looked twice as she carried the plate back to the table, no one scolded her for greed or looked disapproving, and Rey sat down and tried each selection, listening as the Logans bantered back and forth. Sadie had a waffle drenched in syrup and whipped cream, though Jimmy was trying to get her to eat some fruit as well; Mellie had gone for a variety almost as wide as Rey's, and Clyde had constructed a sandwich out of roast beef and rolls and was consuming it peacefully.
It's like I've slipped into an alternate reality. It wasn't dreamlike, the tastes on her tongue were too vivid, but the Rey who sat surrounded by a family, dressed in a lovely, new, warm sweater, and ate foods she'd never thought to try was not someone Rey had imagined she could be - at least not for years to come. I wish…I wish…
She cut off the thought before it could hurt too much, and swallowed a bite of macaroni to chase away the lump in her throat. Christmas was a time to be happy, if you could.
And I don't want to waste a single minute. Rey cleaned her plate of every morsel. Just as she set down her fork, Mellie stood up. "I'm going for another round. Show me where you got those eggs, Rey?"
And so it was easy to pick up another plate, with Mellie's assurance by her side - to walk down the tables and choose another half-dozen foods and not feel like someone was going to yell at her for it. She even found the courage to go back a third time by herself - and then Clyde coaxed her into a fourth, for the desserts.
By the time they made it back to the suite, even Sadie was quiet.
"Ugh, I need a nap." Mellie rubbed her stomach. "You want to join me, Sadie-Bug?"
"No, I'm gonna play ponies." Sadie shot Rey an assessing look. "Miss Rey, you want to play with me?"
Rey blinked. I can't remember the last time I played…anything, really. "Um. Okay? But I don't know how."
Sadie shrugged and took her hand, towing her over to the side table where all the new equines were arranged. "It's easy, you just make stuff up."
They settled on the floor near the Christmas tree, and Sadie gave her a quick rundown of each pony's name and attributes. The symbols on their butts were a help, and when Sadie politely offered Rey first choice of which ponies she wanted for her play, Rey picked the one decorated with apples and let Sadie divide up the others.
When she looked up, Jimmy had settled on the couch and was watching some kind of race on the big flat-screen TV on the far wall; Clyde had taken over one of the armchairs with a book, but he caught her eye and winked.
Rey grinned back, and grabbed the pony's hairbrush.
It was surprisingly fun. Sadie had a strong imagination and was old enough that her plotlines had continuity, and before long Rey offered to construct a castle out of some of the gift boxes left over from that morning. Sadie fetched a pocket knife from her father, and they set about cutting holes in cardboard and taping boxes together; Sadie folded some decorations out of wrapping paper ("I was int'rested in origami last year") and Rey filched candy canes from the snack pile to form trees.
By the time Mellie emerged, yawning, they had created a three-building village and a rudimentary sleigh, and Sadie was explaining the intricacies of how the ponies were going to rescue Santa from the Grinch. Clyde came over to crouch down and admire, then gave Sadie a pointed look. "You been at this almost two hours, it's time to let Miss Rey up off the floor, okay?"
"Oh, it's - " Rey started to demur, but Sadie just scrambled up.
"Okay, what can we play then?"
"How about Go Fish?" Mellie called. "I know you brought it."
"Want to get some fresh air?" Clyde asked as Sadie ran for the cards. "It ain't too cold out."
"Sure! That sounds nice." Rey blinked up at him as he straightened. "You don't want to play Go Fish?"
Clyde's mustache twitched, and he held out his hand to pull her up to her feet. "Played enough of that to last me the rest of my life."
Rey snickered and let his hand go, wishing fleetingly that she could hang onto it.
Clyde was right; it was cold but not freezing, and the slanting afternoon sun lit the city in gold as they walked away from the hotel. Over the past few months Rey had mapped out large parts of Seattle in her head, but she didn't have any reason to go to the wealthier areas of downtown, so the streets they chose weren't familiar.
It didn't matter, though. Being outside in the crisp air with Clyde was a delight, and for a while they just walked in comfortable silence, enjoying the holiday decorations in various windows and feeling no need to talk.
They had gone almost eight blocks before Clyde spoke. "How you holding up?"
Rey, hands stuffed in her jacket pockets, gave him a wry look. "I could ask you the same thing."
"I asked first." The corner of his mouth curled up, and Rey had to laugh.
"I'm doing okay. I mean, things are still kind of uncertain, but I have a place to stay and that's a huge relief. And I have that appointment next month about my ID."
Clyde muttered something she couldn't catch. "You ain't working too hard?"
Rey shrugged. "As hard as I need to."
She didn't like worrying him, but the truth was that she had very little choice when it came to the jobs she could get. She needed all three just to get by; it was true that she still had a lot of the thousand dollars he'd given her, but Rey knew that sooner or later there would be an emergency and she'd need it.
Telling Clyde that outright - well. He'd want to help. And I can't -
Rey couldn't quite finish the sentence, even in her own head, but it was true all the same. She couldn't go on accepting his charity indefinitely. This holiday was one thing, a sort of party and gift all wrapped up together, but it was from all of them.
When it came to Clyde himself, Rey was certain that she didn't want that inequality between them. He's my friend. I'm not his charity.
He blew out a breath. "C'n I ask a favor?"
"Of course." Curious, Rey glanced up. Clyde looked almost nervous, mouth drawn taut.
"Put us in your phone as your contact in case of an emergency. It don't have to be me," he added hastily. "Mellie's fine too. Just - just - if somethin' happens - "
"Clyde." Rey pulled a hand from her pocket and squeezed his arm, feeling her face heat a little. "You already are."
"Oh." He blinked, going as pink as she felt. "That's good then."
The moment hovered on the edge of awkwardness, and then he pulled his arm in so that her wrist snugged in against his jacket, and they kept going. "Your turn," Rey prompted, embarrassed and pleased in equal measure.
"Hmm. It's goin', I guess." Clyde was silent a moment, and Rey gave him time to arrange his words. "Feels like we ain't making much headway, except when I think back I'm definitely in a better place, if you know what I mean."
Rey nodded, and he went on. "Still got a ways to go, accordin' to Dr. Min. But I got time."
"It's worth taking the time," Rey said slowly. "I'm glad it's working."
She was watching the sidewalk ahead of them, but out of the corner of her eye she saw him look down at her. "Me too."
"There you are," Mellie said when they made it back to the suite. "We were startin' to worry."
She didn't look worried, Rey thought with amusement. "It's not even completely dark yet."
"Mel just likes fussin'." Clyde's dry words were directed more at Mellie than Rey. "We brought hot chocolate."
He set the carrier box down on the bar counter as Sadie squealed. There was already an array of crackers, chips, dips, and other munchies set out there, and as Rey pulled off her coat Mellie shrugged.
"We're all still kinda full so we figured we'd just snack instead of doing supper, but if either of you are hungry we can call down for something."
"No, that's okay," Rey said quickly. She wasn't not hungry, but her stomach wasn't gnawingly empty the way it often was. "Snacks are fine."
Clyde shot her a sharp look, but didn't argue, just plucking her coat from her hands with his prosthesis and going to hang it up with his own.
Mellie smirked and walked over to the couch, prodding the supine form there until Jimmy snorted. "Leave off, Mel!"
"Rise and shine, sunshine, or you'll be up all night." Mellie dodged Jimmy's half-hearted swat.
"Yeah, Daddy, you promised you'd play cards when you woke up, remember?"
"So I did." Jimmy rolled upright and stretched, groaning. "Poker, right?"
"Daaa-dy…"
He grinned and stood, limping a little as he headed for the bar counter. "Hot chocolate first. You want some, right Sadie-Bug?"
"Do you play cards?" Mellie asked, turning to Rey. "Not that I'm suggestin' you join the high-stakes table of Crazy Eights."
Rey laughed. "I haven't played since high school - Luis' parents were all about Conquian and they taught me to play. When I was in junior high it was Egyptian Ratscrew."
"Egyptian what now?" Clyde's brows were climbing towards his hairline, and Rey turned up her hands.
"That's what it was called. There was a lot of smacking the table, which is probably more fun when you're twelve."
"I bet," Mellie said. "Well, once Miss Sadie is out for the night, we can play somethin' a little more adult if you like - no pressure though."
"That sounds fun," Rey said, curious.
"Forfeits," Clyde said, giving his sister a stern look.
Mellie rolled her eyes. "Of course. I didn't bring chips anyway."
Rey had no idea what they were talking about, but before she could ask Jimmy waved from the bar counter. "Anybody else want some of this?"
"Yes, please," Rey called, and went over to get her share of the cocoa.
The evening drew on, filled with reading, snacks, more hot chocolate, and quiet conversation around Sadie's games. She played cards with her father, sat with Clyde to draw for a while, and lured her aunt into more imaginings with her ponies. Rey made it through several more chapters, stopping every so often to get another plateful of munchies, and it was all just wonderfully relaxed.
She had to admire their casual care of Sadie. The girl was never ignored or set aside, and the way each one spent time with her individually let the rest of them do as they pleased, without any of them acting as if it were a duty or a chore. Sadie herself seemed content, happy to play with everyone as their turn came.
It wasn't a family like any Rey had observed, not that she'd seen that many up close. But it clearly worked; and they'd made a space for her as if it had been waiting all along.
It felt so comfortable that she had to close her eyes for a moment, and just breathe.
It's not yours. You're just visiting for a bit.
But oh, how she wished she could stay.