I do not own Lilo and Stitch.

Happy Creator, Aunt and Uncle's Day!

Stitch awoke not because of the warm morning sun shining through the window, but because of the soft sound of crying. He catapulted out of bed, rushing to Lilo's side, rapidly blinking the sleep from his eyes. He tugged on the blanket, which Lilo had wrapped herself in like a cocoon.

"Lilo?" he said anxiously. "Lilo okay?"

The six-year-old peeked out from her nest of comfort. Her brown eyes were filled with tears and she scrubbed at them. "I'm okay," she said quietly. "I'm just sad."

Stitch crawled beside her, burrowing under the blanket and pressing his body against hers. She buried her face against his neck. "Why sad?" asked Stitch, nuzzling her forehead with his nose.

"Today is Father's Day," she said. "The very first one without Dad."

Stitch understood that Lilo was missing her father, but he was puzzled by this Earth custom called Father's Day. "What is Father's Day?"

"It's a holiday we celebrate," explained Lilo. "It's a day where kids show their dads how much we love and appreciate them." Her bottom lip trembled and she whispered, "But I can't do that anymore."

Stitch hugged her close as she wept. "Oh…um…" he said, feeling rather helpless. He didn't know how to make her feel better, or even if he could. "Stitch have no father, either. We be sad together!"

Lilo peeked at Stitch with wet eyes. "But…but you do have a father," she said in confusion.

The surprise on his face was so comical it elicited a watery giggle from the girl. "Meega do?" said the blue alien with wide eyes.

"Jumba created you, didn't he? So that kinda makes him your dad," reasoned Lilo.

Stitch had never thought about Jumba in such a way, but he found himself enthused by the notion. "Ih!" he said happily. "So Stitch can celebrate Father's Day? What meega supposed to do?"

Lilo untangled herself from Stitch's arms so she could sit up. "Maybe…maybe I can still celebrate too," she said hopefully. "I miss Dad, but I don't think he'd want me to be sad today. He never liked it when I was sad. Maybe I can't have Father's Day anymore, but it doesn't mean we can't have a different holiday. We can celebrate…" Her little face screwed up in concentration as she thought for a minute. "We can celebrate Creator, Aunt and Uncle's Day" she declared. "And even if Dad's not here, I can still celebrate him, by remembering all the happy times."

She reached under her pillow and gently pulled out her treasured family photograph. Grief still clutched at her heart, but as she looked at the picture, she remembered all the silly things they used to do together, and the fondness of her memories chased away some of the darkness.

Stitch patted Lilo's hand. "Always 'ohana," he said quietly.

"I know." Lilo wiped away her lingering tears and tenderly set her parents back beneath her pillow. "Nani would help me make Dad breakfast and we would bring it to him in bed. We would make cards for him, too. We could do that for Jumba and Pleakley."

Stitch nodded. "Okie-taka!"

Lilo collected her paper and crayons from her desk and the two headed for the kitchen, where they stationed themselves at the table. Stitch's tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he clumsily wrote Happy Creator's Day! on the front of his card. Lilo's eyes were narrowed in concentration as she drew a portrait of herself standing in between Jumba and Pleakley.

"Purple," she said, extending her hand.

"Purple," said Stitch, handing the desired colour over. "Blue?"

"Blue."

Nani entered the kitchen a few minutes later. Her eyes were damp and mournful, just like Lilo's, and she went to her baby sister's side. "How are you doing?" she asked gently, stroking her fingers through Lilo's hair.

"I was really sad, at first," said Lilo. "And I'm still kinda sad. I wish Mom and Dad were here."

"Me too," said Nani, closing her eyes and pulling Lilo in for a tight hug. "They're always with us, Lilo. Even if we can't see them."

"I know. I just wish I could see them, too."

Nani eased back, taking in their arts and crafts set up. "What are you guys doing?" she asked curiously.

"Well, we can't really celebrate Father's Day anymore, so I thought maybe we could have a new holiday," said Lilo hesitantly. "Creator, Aunt and Uncle's Day. 'Cause Jumba is Stitch's creator, and Jumba and Pleakley are my uncle and aunt now. They do a lot for me, so I think they should be celebrated."

"That's a great idea, baby," said Nani encouragingly.

Lilo held out her card. "What do you think? Did I get Jumba's eyes right?"

"You sure did." Nani reached over and grabbed a pink crayon. "Think I can add something?"

Lilo beamed. "Yeah!"

Nani shaped Jumba and Pleakley's name with hearts, and she signed her name in the bottom right-hand corner. "It's perfect," said Lilo brightly. She finished colouring Pleakley's body and slid the card to the side. She grabbed a blank sheet of paper and said, "I'm gonna make Dad a card too. Could we bring it to him tonight?"

Lilo's voice wavered with emotion and fresh tears sprang to Nani's eyes. "Of course we can. I have to go to work soon, but we can visit them after." She tipped up Lilo's chin, looking at her with worry. "Are you going to be okay if I go to work today?"

"Yes," said Lilo honestly.

"If you need me, just call," instructed Nani. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"We'll do something special for dinner."

"How about pizza?" suggested Lilo. "We always had pizza for Dad."

"Pizza it is." Nani went to the fridge and pulled out a container of precut fruit. "Here, you should eat some breakfast."

As Nani got ready for work, Stitch and Lilo munched on fruit as they coloured. Nani gave them both a kiss before departing, promising she would bring the pizza after her shift.

When the cards were finished, Lilo stashed them in a drawer. "Now we can make them breakfast. What should we make?"

"Peanut butter and jelly!" Stitch said excitedly.

Lilo nodded in approval. "A classic. Everyone loves peanut butter and jelly."

They started to get out the ingredients but came to a halt when Pleakley entered the kitchen with a newspaper tucked under one arm. He paused when the two froze and stared at him. "All right," he said, setting one hand on his hip. "What are you up to?"

"You need to leave!" insisted Lilo.

Pleakley's brow raised. "Okay, if I wasn't suspicious before, I am now."

"It's a surprise!" Stitch said.

"That's right," said Lilo firmly. "We're making a surprise and you can't see it until it's ready."

"Annnnnd what if I don't leave?" Pleakley asked teasingly.

Lilo put her small hands on her hips and glared up at him. "We'll have to use force," she said seriously as Stitch punched the air for emphasis.

"Well, I certainly don't want that to happen." Pleakley grinned. "Good luck with your surprise. I can't wait to see it."

The moment Pleakley was out of sight, Lilo and Stitch returned to their task. The little girl grabbed two glass plates from the cupboard, using Stitch as a stepladder. She put them on the counter. "Bread."

Stitch handed her the loaf of bread. "Bread."

"Peanut butter."

Stitch slid her the jar. "Peanut butter."

"Jelly and butter."

Stitch threw open the fridge door and removed the desired ingredients. "Jelly and butter."

"Let's do this!"

Lilo slapped two pieces of bread on her plate and started to slather on butter. Stitch waited until she had finished before adding peanut butter and jelly. They repeated the process once more and put the sloppily-made sandwiches onto a wooden tray.

"Something's missing," Lilo mused.

"Milk!" Stitch went back to the fridge, which he hadn't bothered to close, and grabbed the jug of milk. He filled two glasses and Lilo put the beverages on the tray.

"Now it's perfect," Lilo said happily.

Stitch grabbed the homemade cards from the drawer and the final piece was added to the tray. They made their way carefully down the hall to Jumba and Pleakley's room. Stitch shoved open the door and the duo entered.

"Aloha!" Lilo greeted.

Jumba glanced up from his computer, regarding the items on the tray with intrigue. "What is this?"

"Must be the surprise," said Pleakley.

"Yup!" said Lilo, setting the tray on Jumba's worktable. She spread her arms out and said, "Happy Aunt and Uncle's Day!"

"And Happy Creator's Day!" added Stitch, smiling widely at Jumba.

For a moment, the two aliens were at a loss for words. "You…you did all this for us?" said Pleakley, touched.

"Uh-huh," said Lilo proudly. "Today is the day Nani and I would usually celebrate Father's Day, but, um, Dad's not here anymore. But you're here now! And you deserve a day where we show you how much we appreciate you."

The previous day, Nani had debriefed Jumba and Pleakley about Father's Day and how it might affect the six-year-old. The two had been prepared to offer their assistance and comfort to both Hawaiians on such a difficult occasion. They had never anticipated that Lilo would decide to create a brand-new holiday to honour them.

When neither said anything, Stitch ventured, "You like?"

"Of course we be liking it!" Snapping out of his stunned silence, Jumba grabbed Stitch's card. The portrait of him and his most prized creation caused him to grin with pride. "Jumba especially likes how 626 made Jumba slimmer in picture."

He opened his arms and Stitch immediately jumped into his embrace. Pleakley fondly read the card Lilo had made for him and Jumba, nudging the four-eyed alien with his elbow so he too could admire the little girl's work.

"Little Girl is very creative," praised Jumba.

"Nani helped, too! Do you see?" asked Lilo eagerly.

The careful arrangement of hearts in Nani's crisp, clean handiwork did not go unnoticed. "We sure do," said Pleakley softly, almost amazed at how quickly he came to adore the two humans as warmth enveloped him from inside out.

"Breakfast," said Stitch, pointing to the sandwiches still sitting on the tray.

"You know how we love peanut butter," Pleakley said with a grin, picking up his breakfast. He extended an arm and Lilo quickly grasped on, giggling as Pleakley pulled her into his lap. "Maybe we should hold a Lilo and Stitch celebration day."

"You can show your appreciation by sharing your sandwich, if you want," Lilo said cutely.

"I knew there was a catch to all this," Pleakley joked, pulling the peanut butter and jelly sandwich into two halves.

Jumba, with Stitch still his arms, sat beside Pleakley on the bottom bunk. When Stitch made grabby hands toward the remaining sandwich, Jumba chuckled and obliged, peeling it into two. Lilo happily took a bite, the peanut butter sticking to the roof of her mouth and the jelly sweet on her tongue.

Father's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving—the holidays wouldn't ever be the same again, not without her parents. But there was still so much to celebrate, even if she was sad sometimes. She and Nani weren't alone anymore. They had a family, one that they loved dearly, and Lilo was happy.

She knew Mom and Dad were happy for them, too.