Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the awesome feedback! You're the best, ladies.

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!


Official Day Worry (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"These meatballs are tricky!" DJ said, laughing as he chased one around his plate with his fork.

"Twicky!" Angie echoed, stabbing a piece of one of her cut-up meatballs. She popped it in her mouth and chewed. "Yummy, twicky meatball."

Catherine chuckled, leaning over to wipe some marinara sauce off the table in front of Angie's seat before the three-year-old could lean forward and get it on her shirt. "So, does everyone remember what special day it is next week?" Catherine asked leadingly.

"I think it's Abraham Lincoln's birthday, isn't it?" Steve said, winking at DJ who giggled.

"I's Balentine Day," Angie said seriously. "Miss Ka-wen give us heawt stickews."

"Mmhmm," Catherine said, twirling her fork in her spaghetti and smiling. "And what very special thing happened on Valentine's Day last year?"

"Official Day!" DJ burst out.

"Yes! One of our most favorite days of the year," Catherine said.

"Da video!" Angie said, beaming excitedly as she realized what they were talking about. "DJ Officia' Day! With da ju'ge and all da flags."

"That's right, baby girl," Steve said, chuckling. "The judge and all the flags."

"Gwandma an' me makin' cookies for da pawty," she added seriously.

"Hopefully some of them actually make it out of the kitchen and to the party," Steve teased.

She beamed a spaghetti-faced smile back at him.

"Right, so we have our big family party in the afternoon, but we need to decide what else we're going to do to celebrate as a family," Catherine said. "A special breakfast together, a fun activity like a hike or a movie … or all of the above?" she finished with a grin.

"DJ pick!" Angie said, pointing at her brother.

"Me?" he replied, surprised.

"Sure, you," Steve said, smiling at him. "It's your Official Day."

"Oh, I'm not really sure yet." He bit his lip. "Can I think about it?"

Catherine smiled reassuringly. "Of course, honey. You think about it, and let us know what you want to do, okay?"


That evening while Steve was helping Angie with her bath, Catherine asked DJ to change into his pjs and pick out their bedtime book while she took Cammie out for a potty break. She was surprised when she returned to his room to see him still on the floor by his bookshelf with no book selected yet.

"Having a hard time picking tonight?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe with a soft smile.

He looked up, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah …" He looked back toward the shelf as his voice trailed off and she studied his profile.

"Could it be you're thinking about something else?"

He glanced back toward her and nodded.

She moved toward the bed, motioning for him to join her. "Why don't you tell me about it?" she suggested encouragingly, angling her body as she sat to face him. "Is it about this weekend?"

He looked surprised. "How'd you guess?"

"It's a Mommy superpower," she said with a little smile. "Now what's bothering you, honey?"

He bit his lip, plucking at the stitches on his lightweight comforter as he considered how to put his thoughts into words. "I was just wondering if … if I'm greedy because I got to have a birthday party last year and a Gotcha Day party in November and now I'm having an Official Day party plus you want me to pick other fun stuff to do to celebrate ..." He looked up at her. "Is that greedy?"

"Oh, honey, no," she said, immediately hugging him. "No, it's not greedy." She pulled back enough to look at him, keeping her hands on his arms and gently squeezing. "DJ, I have never once seen you be greedy. In fact, you are the opposite. You are always generous and thoughtful. Those are two of the things I love most about you." He smiled and she leaned forward to kiss his forehead and hug him again. Sitting back, she asked, "Tell me, what does our family love doing?"

"Have parties?" he replied seriously.

She couldn't help but laugh at his assessment. "We do have a lot of parties," she acknowledged, "but that's because we love celebrating together. And the best celebrations are of each other. Birthdays, anniversaries, Gotcha Days, and Official Days. And I think Official Day is extra special because it's the day we officially became a family. But even if it wasn't, we'd still want to celebrate you because of how special you are and how much joy you bring into our lives every day."

He smiled, happy and relieved by her words.

"Do you not want to do so much to celebrate?" she asked. "It's okay if you don't."

"No, I do," he said quickly. "I like when we celebrate as a family. I just didn't want to be greedy."

She kissed the top of his head. "The fact that you'd even be worried about that is another way that you're special."

He smiled up at her.

"And didn't you tell us that your friend April in your class celebrates both days with her family, too?"

His eyes widened in realization and he nodded. "Yeah, she does! And she's not greedy either."

She ran a gentle hand over his hair. "No, she's not. Neither of you are greedy for celebrating becoming part of your family."

He bit his lip again thoughtfully. "Since we're celebrating becoming our family, I think we should all pick what we have for breakfast and what fun activity we do together."

She hugged him, smiling. "That is a great idea, honey. We still have plenty of time to decide."

Sitting back, he beamed up at her. "I think I know what book I want to read tonight," he said.

She smiled warmly. "Which one?"

He slid off his bed and went over to his bookshelf, shifting a few books until he found the one he wanted. He turned and held it up.

"You Belong Here," Catherine read, a tear springing to her eye.

"Remember when you read this to us right after I came to live here?"

"I do."

"It made me feel like you were talking right to me."

She pulled him close as he rejoined her by the bed. "That's because I was."

"But also you were talking to Angie and to Daddy and to you, because the book is about how we're all right where we belong."

She smiled, blinking back her tears. "You're exactly right, honey."

"So I think that makes this the perfect Official Day book."

Her smile grew, and she wrapped him in another hug. "You know what? I think so, too."


Hope you enjoyed!

Book: You Belong Here by M.H. Clark and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Compendium, 2016), originally cited in the story Belong

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net

Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line.

And find Mari on Twitter at Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller