Disclaimer, you get it now I hope.

A few weeks later, countdown, three days till the party.

When dorothy and the others returned to Kansas, things seemed, for lack of a better term in her mind, different. It seemed that wherever she went someone was watching her. it didn't really surprise her, more than it just kind of bugged her. wherever she walked there seemed to be someone in the town watching her. it didn't help that everyone in town knew who she was. As she walked into the library to tell her stories one last time before the holidays, she found herself bumping directly into the librarian. Which resulted in dorothy losing her balance and ending up the ground.

"Oh, dorothy, are you alright?" She asked helping her up.

"yes Mrs. T, thank you." Dorothy said smoothing her dress down and sighing.

"your stool is in place, I think it's time for us to get you a new one, that one's been with the library since we established the children's section when your parents were, oops, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" but that was as far as she got before dorothy stopped her.

"It's alright." Dorothy said with a sigh as she walked over to her stool.

As she sat down, immediately the crowd of children around her began to grow. Betsy and Trot soon arrived and Trot positioned herself at the front of the crowd, while Betsy resigned herself to leaning against a metal pillar that extended into the ceiling. She recounted some more of her tales of her adventures in Oz. this lasted for about an hour before the children started to get bored and go off and do other things. as dorothy got up both trot and Betsy approached her.

"So, not long till the party." Betsy said.

"Nope, hey trot, has your father and Captain Bill arrived yet?" Dorothy asked.

"No, I don't think they'll be home for the holidays, but that's nothing new." Trot said sighing.

"Ace asked if we'd be staying overnight at the manor, are you guys planning something?" Betsy asked.

"we are planning on spending Christmas day in Emerald city, I've already got all my gifts ready." Dorothy said sighing

"What did you get alex?" Trot asked.

"That would be telling." Dorothy said as she heard someone approach her from behind.

"darn." Came Alex's voice.

"Alex, you'll know what I got you at the same time everyone else does." Dorothy said turning to face him.

"So, we're going to Oz on Christmas Day?" Trot asked.

"If you don't mind." Dorothy said.

"That would be up to their parents, though wouldn't it?" Alex asked.

"They can come too." Dorothy said.

"I'll ask my mother about it when I get home." Trot said.

"And I'll ask my parents, have you gotten a dress for the party yet dorothy?" Betsy asked curiously.

"Maddie has picked a beautiful dress out for me, and alex hasn't seen it yet." Dorothy said looking at him and smiling.

"Hey Jack is helping me with my suit, so it looks like we'll both be in for a surprise." Alex said.

"is he making you wear a bowtie?" Dorothy asked.

"Yes." Alex groaned.

"I don't see what you have against them, you used to wear them all the time." Dorothy said.

"well, as now employee, and eventually owner of the family business, bowties just can't cut it anymore." Alex said sighing.

"Well, I say that do." Dorothy said kissing his cheek causing both Betsy and trot to gag

"okay, seriously, no mushy stuff." Betsy said.

"you wanna try and stop us?" alex asked.

Betsy looked at him for a second. Then at dorothy, then stepped back.

"No sir." She said.

"Well then, don't argue." Alex said.

"Anyways, alex, would you object to going to the sandwich shop across the street for lunch?" Dorothy asked.

"of course, not, do you have money?" Alex asked.

"of course, I got auntie Em to give me some money so we could." Dorothy said

"I always have some money on me, mainly it's for emergencies, but I've built up a nice collected of coins." Alex said.

"You two should go through them at some point, anyways, we'll see you two later Betsy's mom is taking Betsy and I dress shopping today." Trot said.

"Sounds exciting." Alex said.

"Oh, trust me, it is." Betsy said as trot dragged her away

Dorothy chuckled before turning back to alex. they embraced for a moment before starting for the door. When they were out of the library they both ran across the street to the sandwich shop. getting into a booth they both ordered a chocolate milkshake and a roast beef sandwich on rye bread. Which led to an interesting conversation.

"So, why did you order the same thing?" Alex asked.

"I thought you were reading my mind." Dorothy said.

"I'm normally not someone who likes rye, but it goes good with roast beef." Alex said.

Dorothy smiled and took out the little purse her aunt had given her for one of her birthdays, she had also given her fifty dollars, which was more than enough to cover lunch. Her aunt knew this and had pointed out that she was not expecting change. Dorothy found this odd, but she didn't question it at the time, and still thought it best not to question it.

"How much did your aunt give you for lunch?" alex asked as they were served their drinks.

"fifty." Dorothy said.

"Dollars?" Alex asked.

"yes." Dorothy said taking a sip of her milkshake.

"did she ask for change?" alex asked.

"No, she actually said she wasn't expecting change, which is odd." Dorothy said.

"I'm too intimidated by your aunt to even try to question her motives, but perhaps she has something on the side planned or thinks you could use money for the road?" Alex asked.

"Alex, outside of Oz, and the manor, and the town, what other roads have I ever been on?" Dorothy asked.

"Do you want me to answer that?" alex asked.

"no." Dorothy said.

"good, because I would suffer the repercussions, and my leg is bad enough as it is, but at least I can make it across town." Alex said

Dorothy smiled as the sandwiches arrived. They ate in silence for several minutes. Till dorothy broke the silence.

"so, you and Eliza getting along?" dorothy asked curiously.

"Mostly, actually, I was going to mention, I overheard her mom and my mom talking last night, they were talking about how things were when they were all younger." Alex said.

"I assume my parents came up?" Dorothy asked

"Yes, and apparently, your father, my father, and your uncle once wanted to start a band." Alex said.

Dorothy couldn't help but snort at this remark.

"Would one of them had been a singer?" Dorothy asked.

"Actually, your mother, apparently, you've inherited her singing talents." Alex said.

"A band, with my mother as singer, my dad, your dad, and my uncle as musicians, for whatever reason, the thought of that just makes me laugh." Dorothy said with a giggle.

"I had a hard time restraining myself from laughing, barely made it up the stairs, had to pass it off as finally getting the punchline to a joke." Alex replied.

"Clever." Dorothy said finishing off half of her sandwich.

"maybe you and Madeline can do a duet at some point." Alex suggested.

"Alex, really now, Maddie has her own style and I have mine."

"Yes, she's all, springy, and bouncy, and I'm not sure what to call your style." Alex said.

"Call it energetic but tame." Dorothy said sighing.

"Dorothy? Alex? I hardly expected to find either of you here." Came the voice of Jon Foreman.

"Oh, Jon, good afternoon, what brings you here?" Dorothy asked.

"this shop is a frequent for me." He said.

"Oh." Was all she could manage to think of saying.

"well, I won't bother you two any longer." He said smiling before walking away.

They both finished their meals in silence before going up to the counter to pay for the meal. Once this was done dorothy put the change in the little purse and she and alex left without another word. When they got back to the farmhouse they found it empty. Dorothy sighed and walked to her aunt and uncles room, leaving the little purse on the bedside table before going back to the living room. Sitting down on the couch next to alex, she rested her head on his shoulder and eventually she nodded off.