Chapter 12: The Festivity

There was something extraordinary about the atmosphere of District 27 when Ray walked back into the station the next Monday morning.

He scanned the room, as was his ritual habit. No, nothing had changed. It must be only him.

Ray had a smile on his face as he passed his fellow officers. You could almost compare him to the Mountie the way he was nodding to every person that passed his way.

He reached Welsh's office and knocked.

Welsh looked up, seeing it was Vecchio, put his newspaper down and motioned the detective to come in.

"How are you feeling, detective?"

"Much better, sir. You were right about sending me away."

"Always good to hear. Now that you are here, there's a case that I thought that you could handle…"

Ray listened to Welsh while looking around the surroundings. It was good to be back. He was very lucky.

The scene: Vecchio household.

Time: Friday night, 8:30 p.m.

Participants: Ray, his family, Fraser, and various co-workers from the police station and the Consulate.

On that previous Monday, Ray came up with the idea to have a little party (as strange as that sounded). So he spread the word. And he was glad about the turnout.

Ray expected Gardino and Huey to skip it. He guessed that Elaine had convinced the two detectives to come.

He went to check on Fraser.

Diefenbaker gave a happy bark as Francesca fed him a bit of a cookie.

Fraser sighed. It wasn't as bad as he predicted, but Diefenbaker was still expecting a lot of junk food from Fraser when he had returned. No asking "How was your trip" or "I'm glad you're home". He should learn to be a little more polite. Chicago had influenced him, nonetheless. Or rather, the Vecchios.

Francesca looked up at Fraser and gave him a smile.

Fraser gave a faint smile back. At least she's feeding him.

At that point, Ray walked up to the group. "Hey ya, Benny. Some of the guys are gonna play some poker. Ya wanna come?"

The Mountie looked over at where Huey and Gardino were seated at the living room table. Fraser was taken aback when he noticed his own father sitting at the table, trying to get the others' attention and not succeeding in the least.

Fraser's eyes slightly widened, and then shook his head, trying to clear it. "Uh, actually I think I'll just watch Ray."

"Okay, Benny. You can sit on the outside."

Francesca almost frowned as her brother took the Mountie away.

Fraser stopped by Francesca for a moment. "Would you mind, uh," Fraser left off, looking at the wolf.

Francesca perked up. "Sure, I'll look after Dief. My pleasure."

The Mountie nodded with a smile. "Thank you kindly."

Just then, Elaine greeted Francesca and they started having a lively talk.

As the partners were finding their way through the small crowd that was mingling, Fraser noticed Inspector Thatcher in deep conversation with Welsh by the front window. She was laughing at some story that the older man was telling her.

Fraser felt a twinge of, was it discontent? Instead of ignoring it, he tried to watch more closely but instead found himself almost bumping into the living room table.

"Watch it, son," Sergeant Robert Fraser grunted at his son.

"Sorry, dad," Fraser answered absently, still looking over at the Inspector and the Lieutenant.

"Did he just say 'dad'?" Huey asked wide-eyed.

Gardino snapped his gum. "Yep." In a quieter tone, leaning toward Huey, he said, "I wonder what Vecchio got him to do down there."

Both men snickered at Gardino's comment.

Ray sat down at the living room table. "Well, sit down Benny. Whatcha waiting for?" He motioned to the chair that the Sergeant was on.

"Excuse me, I'm sitting here. That's what I was trying to tell these two…buffoons" Robert stated flatly to no one in particular, flicking his hand in the two detectives' general direction.

"I'll just find another seat." Fraser said to his father.

"What? What's wrong with that one?" Ray asked.

"Uh, just let me pull this one up." The Mountie slid another chair up to the table, between his father and Ray.

Huey and Gardino looked at each other, shaking their head.

"The air must be thicker down there," Huey established seriously.

Robert Fraser turned to look at where Benton was looking previously. "Ah, that's Welsh, right? Fine man, from what I can tell. Don't you think so?" he prodded his son.

"I wasn't looking at-" Fraser started, but stopped.

"What's that, son?"

"Um, nothing."

Ray pulled out the deck of cards he had gotten from Miami. "So let's do this." He slid the deck towards Gardino.

Gardino picked up the deck, looked at the printed pictures, and made a face. It looked like he was almost going to say something sarcastic, but when his eyes fell on Ray, he shut his mouth, and dealed. It was almost as if he didn't want to ruin Ray's good mood.

"Deal me in, boys." Robert Fraser said in an authoritative tone.

But of course they didn't see him, must less hear him.

It was the end of the night, and everyone was saying goodbye to Ray and Fraser, who were at the front door.

"Night, Inspector. Lieutenant." Ray nodded to the two as they walked out.

Most of the visitors were gone by now, except Elaine offered to help clean up a little. Though there wasn't much mess.

"I'd say you held this gathering on the right night, Ray," the Mountie commented on the turnout.

"Yeah, Benny. It must have been the right time," Ray smiled contently.

"So I would be bold enough to say it was a success," Fraser articulated.

"It sure was, Benny. It sure was."

Epilogue

Fraser arrived at his apartment, in light spirit after leaving the Vecchio household.

Diefenbaker was by his side, and had finally quit his whining. Thus, Francesca had done a good job.

The Mountie fell sombre as he went over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. His eyes landed on the possession that he wanted to look at, the very thing that he had actually obtained from The Bayview Marketplace and had concealed from Ray.

Fraser lifted the book out of the drawer, and sat down on the floor, his back leaning against his bed.

After every single piece of literature that he had read as a boy to his manhood, he had never taken the time to even skim through the contents of what he had in his hands.

Fraser didn't think of the controversy of this historical book, or its implications. Just read. And thought.

He flipped a page.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose." Ecclesiastes 3:1

Very true, very true.

Side note: Congratulations! You have finished reading my first fan fiction, ever! I am grateful you took the time. I would like to hear from you! I understand it got a little off track, but I hope you enjoyed some of the humour nonetheless. I will use this experience to write even better stories. Thank you!