Hey so, your response was better than I could have hoped! I will surely continue with this one if you guys will stay with me on it. I am sorry for all of my little grammar mistakes, especially on that last one. I didn't realize there were so many until I posted it, and I don't know how to go back and fix them because I am new at this. Maybe one of you lovely folks will tell me how? Anyway here is the next chapter. I am unfortunately not particularly fond of it, it wasn't supposed to be just Skye and Jeffrey for most of the chapter because I want this story to be about family and more than just Skyffrey, but I got carried away. I don't know, tell me what you guys think. I have found that a detailed review makes me uncontrollably happy :) I think that if this goes as planned, it should be right around ten chapters total, with updates as soon as I can and have the inspiration (However, I have midterms coming up so I can make no promises). Thank you guys for the support! If you don't mind I am going to thank you personally even if it is a little long, because I love it when writers do this.

Pseudonymperson: Thank you for the well thought out review… it means the world to me. I love your stories and your style of writing, so to get praise from you was really exciting (and I love your new story!).

PartCat77: Here is your before Christmas update! Unfortunately, I don't think that Dexter is going to be hanging out near the pond anytime soon :( HOWEVER, I promise that Jane will get a bit of revenge on him later in the story!

Applesandbananas: Yep! I am Jane. I was super excited to get a review from you, because your reviews are always some of the best, and they are always very informative. Thanks! I am glad I am doing alright with my characterization-keep giving me pointers?

PenderwickFan101: Wow I love the enthusiasm :) I love Skye and Jeffrey too, so I am glad you like the way I write them! And I am so excited for Christmas… I just had to do it!

Awsedrf: I am glad you like it (I do too :D)

lsc01: You said you were anticipating this forever… did you mean that you were anticipating me writing a story forever? Cause that is totally cool, it makes me feel loved!

Susan: Yay some actual constructive criticism! I think that this is very good advice. However, I don't think that another girl isn't going to be quite so easy to work into this story. Instead of having another girl worked in here to interfere with Jeffrey and Skye, I think that Skye is going to interfere all on her own, her own stubbornness creating some issues between the two. I love the idea though and I might work it into another story, so thank you so much! I hope you can stick with me on this one, cause I would love some more pointers.

And to all my guests, thank you. That you guys take the time to read my stuff and review it means more than you can imagine.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Penderwicks (in this chapter or the last, where I forgot to put a disclaimer… oops!)

Growing Together

The next morning, Skye woke up to clatter against her window shudder. She sat up in bed blinking to try to get her eyes to adjust. It was still dark outside. She squinted at her clock on the side table and to her disgust, it read 5:38.

"Great gravy," she mumbled, rolling out of bed and kneeling at the window. She found exactly who she expected to find, Jeffrey, looking exactly how she had expected him to look, stupid. He was standing under her window, and even pixilated by the weave of her window screen and smudged by the darkness outside, Skye could still tell that he was wearing a big stupid smile. It was infectious.

With the corners of her mouth turning reluctantly up, Skye looked around the room, looking for a projectile to show her disapproval of being woken up this early. Unfortunately for Jeffrey, the first thing Skye found was Rosalind's Latin book, a terrifying thick volume that she insisted upon learning, for who-knows-why (definitely not Skye). Skye took the book from a still sleeping Rosalind's side table, removed the screen from her window and promptly tossed the book at the stupidly smiling boy below. Then she pulled on some clothes and ran downstairs to join him. Skye found that she had failed to wipe the smile off his face, and if anything, she made it bigger.

"You missed," he said brightly, as she ran out into the snow to greet him with a half-hearted scowl that hid a smile.

"I wasn't aiming," Skye said defensively, then she crossed her arms in a great show of disapproval. "Why in the world are we up this early?" she asked.

"We are up this early because you like spending time with me, whether you will admit it or not…"

Skye cut him off. "Not."

Jeffrey forged on. "…and I have something to show you."

With that, there was a change in Jeffrey's demeanor. It was subtle, and had Skye not known him for so long she would have surely missed it, but there was a change none the less. Something in the way his jaw tightened and forehead creased told Skye that there was something that wasn't right.

"What is it?" she asked, forgetting to pretend to disprove of his early wakeup call as her voice filled with worry.

His forehead smoothed out and Jeffrey smiled brightly, the look from before gone again.

"I have something to show you Skye, not tell you," he said, and with that he turned and headed back for Arundel. Skye jogged to catch up with him and his impossibly long stride.

"Can you at least give me a hint as to what we are doing?" she asked, curiosity getting in the way of her better judgment to leave whatever it was that was bothering him alone.

He looked down at her. "It is going to involve some snooping around," he said, mimicking their conversation from yesterday with a big smile on his face. Skye couldn't be sure, but it looked forced.

They slipped into the mansion through the kitchen once again, which was empty so early in the morning. Jeffrey lead Skye into the main hall and then up the spiral stair case. But instead of getting off on the second floor where the opening to the air duct was, or the third floor, where Jeffrey's room was, or even the fourth floor, Jeffrey lead her all the way up to where the sweeping staircase narrowed and led to the attic. Jeffrey held a finger to his lips, letting Skye know that this was somewhere they were not supposed to be right now. Not that she minded of course.

The door to the attic was small, and creaked when Jeffrey opened it. They both cringed and waited for a tense moment when they were sure Mrs. Tifton would come running to catch them both, their minds reeling as they considered all of the types of punishment Mrs. Tifton could inflict (Skye's thoughts went immediately to things like Chinese water torture and Jeffrey panicked over the possibly of getting his music practicing privileges suspended). When no such thing came however, they went on inside.

It was terribly hard to see in the pale morning light, but Skye could tell that they were in a massive, open room. Jeffrey flicked a light switch in the corner and a handful of bare light bulbs hanging from wires from the ceiling came on. They made pools of yellow light on the creaky wood floor and casted shadows about the middle of the room, but left the corners of the room in creepy shadows.

"Jeffrey?" she asked. He had gone still next to her, staring intensely at an old trunk in the middle of the floor, sitting in one of these pools of light like it was standing in a spotlight.

He nodded his head in the direction of the trunk. "Open it." There was no doubt about it, his voice was tight with unmistakable pain.

Skye approached the trunk like it was full of snakes or skeletons that were going to pop out at her. For all she knew, it was. It was heavy, but when she opened it, she didn't find snakes or skeletons at all. Instead, she found men's sweaters, piles of sheet music, old records, and other things covered in a thin film of dust.

Jeffrey was still rooted in his place by the door, looking like he had seen a ghost. Skye gingerly picked up a picture frame that was lying on top of the pile of think cable knit sweaters and after considerable blowing on it to get rid of the dust, she realized why Jeffrey was acting to strange. The old photograph was black in white and fading on the edges, but the happy young couple kissing in the center was unmistakably Mrs. Tifton and Alec. Skye slowly put the pieces together, men's sweaters and sheet music… it was a trunk full of Alec's things.

She felt, rather than saw, Jeffrey come and join her in kneeling in front of the trunk.

"Why would she keep this?" Skye asked. Jeffrey bobbed his shoulders, staring into the opened trunk but not daring to touch any of the things inside.

"Have you already looked through this?" Skye asked. Jeffrey just shook his head. He seemed to have gone mute. Or spontaneously decided to become a mime. Or-

"Will you go through it with me?"

"Yeah," Skye said, as gently as she knew how.

They went though it systematically, and silently. They started by brushing the dust of the top, sending little bits of the wispy stuff floating in the cold, grey morning air. Then they began inspecting each item, working their way through each layer of things. The top layer was mostly sweaters. Jeffrey slipped one on, after some gentle convincing on Skye's part (as gently as Skye knew how). It was big on him, but in a good way, and it made him look shockingly like his father. He looked older… tired. Or course, this could very well be because it still not yet 6:00 in the morning.

Then they got to the tall stacks of sheet music, many of which were handwritten by Alec. The tall stacks of vinyl records were mostly piano solos and saxophone and clarinet pieces and then, surprisingly, a handful of James Taylor records. Jeffrey read several piano pieces the same way one might read a letter from a loved one or a good book. He folded a few up and slid them in his pocket. Skye didn't question him about it.

They got to the bottom, where there was a wooden box with a little brown latch asking to be opened. "You do it," Jeffrey said. Skye found it to contain several polaroid pictures. There were pictures of Alec and Mrs. Tifton on their wedding day, pictures of them dancing at some fancy ball, pictures of them both smiling and waving on the very steps of Arundel. They looked… happy.

Jeffrey stood up suddenly, and walked over to the window, covering his face with his hands. Skye stood up nervously and followed him, hoping he was ok, because she was so awful and comforting people. The first few rays of morning sun were coming through the window now, so Jeffrey was just a silhouette, his disheveled hair a halo around his head.

She stood next to him, and when he didn't look up she put a hand awkwardly on his shoulder, hoping that it seemed comforting. She figured she was doing ok, as he hadn't started sobbing or anything yet, but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to mess up her good work so far. Suddenly, Jeffrey grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, burying his face in her hair.

Skye was caught massively off guard. Like the day before outside of the air duct Skye felt something very big in her chest. She was suddenly afraid to relax against him, because if she did, he might feel her heart hammering against her chest and jumping through her shirt, and suddenly she was afraid to breathe because she might inhale the smell of him (which had always been the smell of cedar wood and cinnamon). But mostly, Skye was afraid to look up at him because one of the only things in the world that was sure to make her cry, was him crying, and she could hear the small sobs that were muffled by her hair. So Skye kept her face pressed against his chest, her arms around him a way that meant minimal touching, and she held her breath. The sun broke over the horizon then, bursting through the window and casting a soft golden glow over everything. The sunlight caught the little dust particles that had yet to settle and the air seemed to shimmer around them. When Jeffrey finally drew away from her, his eyes were red but not wet, and Skye was relieved.

"Look what we could have had, Skye," Jeffrey said, waving at the trunk again.

Skye looked at a trunk that had the remnants of what was a happy family. With a dad that loved a mom and a mom that loved a dad and a son that could have had it all. It was everything that Jeffrey had ever wanted. And even though he found Alec, and even though he adored Alec and Alec adored him and they did their best to see each other as much as possible to make up lost time… it wasn't the same, it wasn't enough. And Jeffrey was done pretending that it was.

"He walked away, Skye," he said. Skye realized that his hands were trembling as he desperately tried to pull his cell phone out of his pocket. Skye reached out and took both of his trembling hands in hers, stopping him before he could do something stupid, like call Alec with an angry litany of frantic curses and grievances. "He left us," Jeffrey whimpered, almost begging her now as if she could turn back time and make things right.

"Jeffrey, you have to be logical about this," Skye said. "We don't really know the whole story…"

"I am being perfectly logical! What more is there to know? He left!"

"Fine, he left!" Skye said, because she had never been one to be gentle and certainly was never one to sugar coat things. "Can we just accept that love is dumb and go play soccer now?" Skye was getting desperate to get out of the conversation at hand.

Jeffrey looked at her, his anger slowly and visibly dissipating until it was finally replaced with a small, fond smile. "That's my Skye," he said, a teasing edge in his voice. "Forever alone."

Skye jerked her hands out of his, laughing, and then she thrust her palms into his chest sending him reeling backward into another trunk, this one already open and full of clothing accessories, like hats and scarves and shawls and all sorts of other things that Skye couldn't name.

Jeffrey pulled himself back up, also laughing, with all sorts of accessories clinging to him, like the scarf that was hanging over his shoulder and the handbag that got looped around his ankle. He looked at her, mischievously, and he grabbed an armload of hat and scarves before chasing after her. Skye shrieked and crashed through the racks of clothes that were like a maze in the huge room, making row upon row of old dresses and suits and coats. Skye ran down one of the rows, holding her hand out to brush her fingertips over the dresses as she ran. She rounded the corner to the next row hoping to loose Jeffrey, but instead ran smack into him. He was laughing and wearing a coat from one of the racks and a top hat from the trunk.

Skye tried to pull away and run the opposite direction, but Jeffrey caught her arm and pulled her back to him, looping a feather boa around her neck in revenge. Skye was laughing and Jeffrey's eyes were twinkling with mischief when they heard footsteps in the staircase.

The mischief his eyes was quickly replaced with terror. Jeffrey grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. They both stood, frozen with fear at the door jamb as they watched Mrs. Tifton's tall, elegant silhouette sweeping up the stairs. Skye turned and lunged for the trunk, quickly shoving things back in and slamming the lid closed before Jeffrey could grab her and pull her behind the door. They hit the light switch and then stood in the dark corner holding their breaths.

"Jeffrey!?" Mrs. Tifton's shrill voice pierced the room and her heels clicked on the floor as she marched into the attic. Jeffrey and Skye's eyes went wide as Mrs. Tifton's flicked the lights back on and scanned the room, landing finally on a picture of her and Alec that Skye had overlooked in her desperate attempt to return Alec's stuff to the trunk. Mrs. Tifton picked it up carefully, her whole demeanor changing dramatically. Her eyes softened and a small smile found its way onto her lips. She was entranced for a moment, and then she seemed to notice all of the hats and scarves and things strewn around. She stalked off, deeper into the cavernous room and behind some of the rows of clothing, calling Jeffrey's name again.

As soon as she disappeared from sight Jeffrey pulled Skye out from behind the door and to the stairs which they took two at a time before finally stopping at the second floor, where Jeffrey quickly ushered Skye into the air duct once more. There they caught their breath finally, their panting echoing in funny ways off of the metal walls of the chute. Then there was Mrs. Tifton's voice again coming from somewhere in the halls of the second floor.

"Crawl," Jeffrey commanded.

"But it doesn't let out this way…" Skye protested.

"Skye, trust me. Crawl," he said again.

Skye crawled. She crawled quickly and quietly with Jeffrey hot on her heels. He noted the way she fearlessly crawled over the grate the overlooked the drawing room and didn't seem to even flinch at the height, but he didn't say anything.

"Arg!" Skye cried, suddenly sliding forward on all fours down the air duct which was slopping precariously downward. She struggled to find purchase on the slick metal floor but found none. Skye was sliding even faster now and in the dark she could just make out what appeared to be a wall at the end of the chute. She braced herself for impact. But when she did hit the metal wall, it gave way easily. Skye burst in to the daylight and found herself tumbling into a snowdrift face first, muttering ungentlemanly things at the air duct and the snow and the green-eyed boy that somehow managed to land on his feet beside her.

"Graceful," Jeffrey said, smiling as he hauled Skye to her feet.

Skye rolled her eyes and they set off for the safety of the cottage. "You could have told me it was going to go from regular old air shaft to an indoor slide!" she retorted, but there wasn't much venom behind her words.

The morning was even colder than the last, and Skye could see her breath in the morning sun. She gathered up a handful of snow into a tightly packed ball and tossed from hand to hand as they walked. There were taking the long way around, because it offered a shelter from the windows of Arundel that Mrs. Tifton would surely be patrolling like a hawk. It required going all the way around the hedge though and was a bit of a walk. There was a dirt path back there, running along the perimeter of the hedge (though it was covered in a dusting of white snow at the moment) and was traveled mostly by Cagney. It was pretty really, wide and covered by big trees that hung over the path, their low branches heavy with snow.

"I don't think love is dumb by the way," Jeffrey said suddenly as they ducked under the hedge onto the path.

Skye looked at him like crazy and the next moment, Jeffrey got a face full of snowball. He shook his head to shake off the cold snow that had exploded on his cheek and dusted his whole face in a soft white powder. "Skye!" he yelled, laughing and tearing after her as she sprinted off down the path.

He caught her after a brief chase (it was that stupid long leg advantage!) and grabbed her with one arm around her middle. Skye shrieked and Jeffrey attacked with snow by shaking the branches of the low over hanging trees above them. The trees dumped snow on both of them, so Jeffrey had to share the consequences of his own revenge, but it was worth it. Skye pulled away from him, still laughing but attempting to scowl at the same time as she brushed snow off of her before it could slip uncomfortably into her collar.

Jeffrey jogged to her side again and they resumed the more civilized walk to the cottage.

"I mean it though," Jeffrey said. "I know the snowball was an attempt to avoid this conversation, but we are going to have it anyway."

Skye sighed, turning his sentence over in her mind for a moment before she answered him. "Really?" she asked finally. "You believe in love after see that? After seeing all the heartbreak in that trunk? After living your whole life dealing with the consequences of a failed teenage romance?"

"Yes," Jeffrey said, confidently, like a dare. Like he was daring Skye to question him. Skye had never been one to back down from a dare.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I think that love deserves our faith," he said, more careful in this response. "I think we are a product of love; myself a product of a brief and tragic love affair, you a product of one of the rarest forms of true love… we exist because of it. It makes beautiful things happen all over the world; first kisses, last kisses, long hugs, deep conversations, a look that touches someone more that any physical impact… So I think that we at least owe it our faith."

Skye was looking like she might throw up. Ironically though, she reached over and felt Jeffrey's forehead for a fever. "You are talking crazy. Perhaps you caught this crazy sickness from Jane. She has a particularly severe case of it. You ought to stop spending so much time hanging around her," Skye said quickly, trying desperately to end the conversation. It was far too sappy for her taste.

"Skye," he said her name softly, like a prayer. And unfortunately for Skye, they had reached the porch of the cottage, so there was nowhere else for her to go.

She turned around and faced him, suddenly scared to death but certainly not about to show it. "Love is dumb, Jeffrey," she said, in a last ditch effort to try and convince him and herself (her usually strong-as-steel resolve was wavering). "Love breaks. It falls apart. It fades. It leaves and sometimes it doesn't come back. Sometimes it just leaves a dad and four girls broken hearted…" Skye swallowed hard, struggling suddenly to catch her breath. She had told Jeffrey something she had never meant to; something she hadn't ever told a soul, not even herself really. Skye, fearless Skye, was terrified of love. Not heights, not deep water, not the dark, not bulls, or boys on skateboards, or even the terrible Mrs. Tifton herself… but love.

Before Jeffrey could say anything, Skye turned and burst into the safety of the warm cottage. What she walked in on though, was not the cozy haven that she intended on saving her from Jeffrey's concerned eyes… it was chaos.

Hound was lying right in front of the door chewing on…well who knows what… Skye stepped over him to get inside, where it seemed as though Hobby Lobby had puked the arts and crafts aisle over everything. There were paper chains hanging off of everything, glitter that appeared to have exploded out of a canon, and puddles of glue on the floor that made Skye's trekking boots make a suckering sound every time she took a step. Batty attacked Jeffrey with art projects spilling out of her arms, forcing him to tear his eyes away from Skye.

"Jeffrey! We are making homemade ornaments to put on the tree that Cagney brought us because we forgot to bring our own. See?" Batty proceeded show him every one of her ornaments, each more gluey and glittery than the last.

Skye dove into the fray, scooping Ben out of a pile of construction paper and markers. She plopped the protesting Ben into an actual chair, wiping the markers smudges off of his forehead with her thumb. Jane was sitting at the head of the table oblivious to all the chaos, her tongue stuck out one side of her mouth as she worked on one of her own "homemade ornaments." Skye was fuming.

"Where is Rosalind? And Daddy and Iantha?" she demanded.

"Daddy and Iantha when to Harry's to pick up some poinsettias. Rosalind's upstairs," Jane said, not looking up. She had her signature dreamy look that she got every time she started working on an artsy project. Skye groaned audibly.

"Is she ok?" Skye asked, referring to Rosalind. She gave Tommy a pointed look here that said what-did-you-do-to-my-sister-you-goon quite clearly, which was impressive because it was a lot of words to translate via glare. Tommy looked as though he was going through enough already though, as he was sitting slumped in his chair with a look on his face that told Skye that Rosalind had already taken care of him.

"Hmmm?" hummed Jane, who was obviously not listening.

Skye spun around and marched upstairs to find Rosalind. She left Jeffrey alone in the hectic kitchen to settle the mess, feeling a twinge of guilt because it felt something akin to leaving a man behind in battle, but it was short-lived.

The door to her and Rosalind room was cracked open, and Skye stuck her head in. Rosalind was laying on the bed despondently.

"Should I kill Tommy?" Skye asked, only half joking.

Rosalind looked up and gave Skye a small smile. "It's not Tommy, I took care of him."

"So? What is it? It's not like you to leave those kids to their own devices. Which is a good thing by the way…"

"Skye, I think you know why. I just can't handle all of the decorating," Rosalind said in a small voice.

Skye sighed. She did know why. "Rosalind, I miss her too. But Mom loved Christmas more than anything and she loved decorating-"

Rosalind cut Skye off. "And that's why I can't bring myself to do it Skye, after all these years."

"It is what she would have wanted, Rosy," said Skye, softly.

Rosalind looked at Skye for a long moment. Skye looked older now and so much like their mother. She was beautiful really, all long slender limbs and gold hair, though Skye didn't know it and denied it anytime someone tried to tell her this. Aside from her family, Skye had several suitors in her grade that reminded her constantly of her beauty, but unfortunately for them, this meant nothing to Skye, who would rather be complimented on her brains or soccer skills any day. She was always quick to brush them off.

But even now, standing at the door with her fingers smudged with marker and glitter clinging to her hair (for a reason unknown to Rosalind) Skye was beautiful, and there was a steely look in her eyes that was unmistakably their mother's. It was the look that made Rosalind roll out of bed and join her to go and straighten out the mess that was a Penderwick Christmas downstairs.