Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Being invited over to the Hawthorne's to dye Easter eggs was a bit of a surprise for Madge, but not an unwelcome one. She hadn't dyed eggs in years, especially with her father being as busy as he is and her mother on bed rest most of the time.
Now she sits around a giant table, cups of colored dye scattered randomly. Rory keeps trying to write crude messages on his eggs in white crayon so they don't show up until after they're dyed and Posy keeps threatening to tell on him.
"It's Easter!" the little girl cries, slamming down her pink crayon and glaring at her brother. "You have to write nice things!"
"Like 'Hoppy Easter'," Vick says happily. He holds up his egg to show Madge. "Right?"
"Right, Vick," Madge laughs, reaching over and ruffling his hair. The boy giggles as he drops his egg into the yellow dye and then reaches for another.
"Gale!" Posy calls. "We're running out of eggs!"
Gale enters a few seconds later with another carton of hard boiled eggs. "I made extra," he says. Gale lowers himself to the seat next to Madge and pops open the top. He reaches in and grabs an egg before handing it to Madge. "Here, take one."
Madge accepts the egg and bites down on her bottom lip to stop from smiling. She loves watching Gale around his family, his normal brooding demeanor dissolves entirely and he becomes almost sweet.
After selecting a blue crayon and drawing a bunny, Madge drops the egg into the pink dye. Posy continues to draw random designs with her various crayons as she hums some sort of spring-like tune.
Madge turns to Gale and watches him writing something on one of his own eggs with the white crayon. "Better not be anything crude," she says, lifting an eyebrow. "Rory has that covered."
Rory laughs from across the table and waggles his eyebrows.
"Not at all, Undersee," Gale shoots back, finishing his message. Gale drops the egg into the blue dye and turns back to her. "I happen to like Easter very much."
Madge reaches for another egg and lifts an eyebrow. "That so?"
"Mmm," Gale nods and passes her the white crayon. "Easter means spring. Spring means everything coming back to life. It means second chances. Fresh starts."
Again Madge finds herself biting down on her lip to suppress her smile. She likes hearing him talk like this.
A few minutes pass and an abundance of more designs are created. Madge writes her name beautifully and goes to dunk it into the blue dye when she realizes there's still an egg in there.
"Oh, Gale," she frowns. "You're hogging the blue!"
"Take it out, then," he shrugs. "It's been in long enough."
Madge fishes for the egg holder and pulls his Easter egg out from the mug. She takes it carefully between her fingers and goes to lower it into the egg carton when the message on it catches her eye.
Saturday, 8:00?
Her cheeks are instantly turning pink as she lifts her eyes up to his. Gale sits back with a smug look on his face, his arms are lazily crossed over his chest.
Before she can answer Madge drops her egg into the blue and goes to reach for another egg on which she plans to write her response. "Better luck next year," Gale hums, showing her the empty carton. "We're all out."
Madge drums her fingers on her knee and tries her hardest to hold his gaze. She can't fight the smile. "Well how am I supposed to accept your offer, then?" she asks.
Gale lifts his shoulders slightly before reaching out. He tilts her chin upward. "A simple yes will suffice," he murmurs.
"Then, yes," she nods. A grin takes hold of his features.
Gale presses his lips quickly to hers, ignoring the laughter echoing from his siblings. "Happy Easter, Undersee."
A/N: Happy Easter! Enjoy the fluff!