AN: Ask and you shall receive! Thank you to my reviewers, you make life a bit brighter.
Sam was the youngest of five children. She was not, as was often thought, an only child. She just had the fortune of being young enough to have nobody know the eclectic group.
Northfield was the oldest of the Manson siblings and, as far as Sam was considered, someone five times more far gone than the rest. Northfield was the corporate sell out young up and comer winner of Entrepreneur of the Year brother she could not agree with from a purely ethical point of view. He radiated sleaze from those piercing cerulean eyes. Since he had their father wrapped around his little finger, getting the company after their grandfather died had been easy, and he ran the riches of the Manson family from a cushy apartment in Manhattan, swinging by only for a few days when he could spare it but always making time for calls from his mother. He was a man who always wore his Bluetooth headset, the color clashing with his bright orange-red hair. He was already set up with his own wife and two daughters, Penelope and Pammy, who Sam had to begrudgingly admit she loved. They were shy little girls with big brains whose father doted on them like they were the sun and moon. They even had matching silver sun and moon bracelets, in solid silver metal with real gem highlights.
When Northfield's wife had been in a hit and run accident by a silver sedan, he'd come over for two weeks and basically let his daughters' care rest in his parents' hands. Fourteen year old Sam had been as nice to him as she could. Even corporate sell outs had hearts to be broken. Unfortunately, she didn't have much to say to a thirty year old man mourning his wife; she'd never been in that kind of place before emotionally. All she could do was give him Embraced By The Light by Eide and hope reading it helped. The first by his side, however, had been Richard, the middle child. He was working as a general practice doctor while living with his boyfriend in Minneapolis, but appeared at Northfield's doorstep like he'd been summoned by lightning within three hours of getting a call from him. Twenty nine and lanky, with silver rimmed glasses and never-quite-flat feathery blonde hair, he was drawn to all mourning or hurting family members like a moth to a flame. His big teal eyes were like his mother's just as Northfield's eyes were like their father's, and though night and day opposites, they were the best of friends from having been the oldest alongside each other.
Then there was Morgan. The raven haired boy had simply sent Penelope and Pammy whole photo albums of their parents, from the dating days in high school to their opulent wedding. Northfield wasn't sure to shoot his brother or thank him. Since Morgan was firmly located in Seattle, it was impossible to do either, but it was exactly the kind of thing that Morgan Manson specialized in, his trademark I-love-you-from-waaaay-over-here attitude displayed through actions. Morgan, at the ripe old age of twenty eight, was plowing through his Masters in Art and a Bachelor's Degree in Education at the same time, living his life doing nothing but school work, political protests and constant intellectual debates. He lived his life in art galleries and anti-establishment rallies. Sam rarely saw him, but it wasn't Morgan's choice. He wanted to be part of the family more, he just couldn't take the favoritism going on that divided their family. After all, he was using the family money to fund his actual dream, and unlike Richard, wasn't going after a 'practical' profession.
Cornel, the second youngest, was twenty four. He was in essence the one everybody got along with. After all, Cornel was both a lawyer and insanely likable. While Northfield couldn't stand Morgan, Richard barely tolerated their mother and vie versa, Morgan endured their parents like a dental appointment and Sam had issues with both her parents, everybody loved Cornel. He was the kind of idealist who was passionate and hardcore about his values, filled with love for all people, accepting of all things and willing to take impossible cases. He fought tooth and nail as a lawyer for his clients, desperate to get justice for them no matter how hopeless things looked at the time. He didn't just see silver linings, he made silver linings where there were none. It was hard to hate someone like that.
Hanukkah was an interesting one the year Sam turned fifteen. Her birthday fell in the middle of it, so she invited Danny and Tucker, which turned into just Danny when Tucker's family decided to go visit Tucker's brother and sister in law, who had just had their own baby boy named Eisa.
Danny walked in to a sea of laughter, all revolving around a debate Cornel had done in college in defense of bees. Yes, bees. There had been a debate team face off on ridiculous questions, and this was the crowner. Cornel had fought hard for the rights of bees to be treated like any other animal. Northfield and Richard were in tears with how seriously Cornel still took the debate. Richard kept objecting and the retorts had the richest, oldest Manson sibling doubled over on the couch, laughing hysterically. In the kitchen, Sam's mother was ruling over her husband with an iron fist as they cooked. By the fire, Penelope and Pammy were playing with Tarot cards given to them by their Uncle Morgan. Richard's boyfriend was busy being lectured by Sam's grandmother on how to properly celebrate a Hanukkah, and was taking notes on a notepad while asking questions every so often.
"So, um," Sam said sheepishly, "This is most of them. What'd you think?"
Before Danny could get a word in, the door opened without being knocked on and Morgan appeared, black-clad and overly stylized. Unannounced and unapologetic, he handed overjoyed nieces his pet raven in a glided silver cage, advising them to be gentle to the poor bird after such a long flight. Pammy got bread for it from the kitchen while Penelope stroked the bird's feathers, and they retreated back to by the fire while Sam squealed and hugged her older brother, complimenting him on his stylized eyeliner.
"I think you fit in perfectly here," Danny deadpanned to Sam, as Morgan handed her a sheet covered, smaller cage of her own. Two peeps sounded inside it as Sam pulled the sheet back, looking at a little black bird with fluffy silver down. "What're you going to name him?"
"Silvius." Her smile grew wider. "And she's a girl."