The Festival of Ice
The Festival of Ice was by far Alex's least favorite event of the year. Not only was there no food, but also there was nothing to do except stand around in the cold and chat. And since Haley found a new best friend in Shane's sister Samantha, who was attached to the blonde at the hip, Alex's normal conversation buddy was already taken. At least Shane was here so they could talk gridball or Alex might have risked making Granny mad by sneaking off to go lift weights at home or take a good soak in the spa up on the mountain.
"Why do we even have this party?" Alex wondered aloud as he followed Shane around to finish a few final touches for the ice fishing competition. "Do people really like fishing that much?"
Shane shrugged as he put the last of the crates next to the holes in the ice. "If it was up to me, I'd probably have a pizza festival at the saloon, instead."
Alex chuckled. He liked pizza as much as the next guy, so long as it had a good amount of protein. Cheese pizza was only good for carbo loading and the jock was not looking to do that anytime soon.
"So, how's the married life, Shane?" Alex questioned his buddy with a smirk.
The mayor grinned. "No complaints so far."
Since it had been his wedding night, Alex figured Shane got some action after the reception, but was not about to ask about it. The brunet was always put off when guys bragged about that kind of stuff with explicit details. Maybe girls did their "kiss and tell" stuff, but too often guys' locker room talk crossed the line for Alex's taste. Not that he assumed Shane was that kind of dude, but he did not want to provide the opportunity just in case.
Alex's eyes wandered, looking for Maru. She was talking with Farmer Violet and her laughter carried over the open field toward him. The jock wanted to go and talk to her again, but he knew that if he did, his face might betray how he was feeling. Alex wanted to ask Maru out so badly, but she made things clear the last time he even tried to bring it up.
As much as it sucked, maybe spending some time apart was for the best. Looking back, Alex realized he had been kind of clingy with Maru, popping in at the clinic every day for lunch. Haley was his best friend, and they did not see each other every day, so why should he hold himself back from having fun with other people?
Besides, hanging out with other guys who loved gridball made him feel like part of a team again. While Alex had beef with a few guys in high school with their poor sportsmanship and bad attitudes, most of his teammates were his best friends back then. They did everything together. He missed that. Sure, Shane was not enough to fill that void, but it was a start.
Hell, even Zach invited him to see the game out in ZuZu City. Making connections with other people was already starting to give him new opportunities to see and do things he never believed possible. Alex always assumed the only way he would make it to the Finals would be due to his role as the star quarterback of one of the competing teams.
While he missed spending so much time with Maru, Alex could appreciate what having a larger circle of friends meant for his social life. He could hardly complain.
As the brunet talked to Shane about the game they missed yesterday because of the wedding, Alex noticed someone he did not recognize wandering toward them.
"Who are they?" Alex asked aloud, drawing Shane's attention toward the newcomers. The first guy was big, with light curly hair and a ruddy complexion. He wore oversized glasses and was carrying something covered in a blanket in the crook of his arms like a gridball player carried a ball.
Behind him was another guy, dark and lean. His black hair was long and greying but pulled back in one of those man buns. The second man wore glasses, too, though his appeared to be more in style. There was a kid trying his best to disappear in his shadow.
Emily rushed toward the big guy and tried to give him a hug, but he dodged it like a pro.
Shane saw the interaction and excused himself to go check it out. Alex decided to stand over by his grandparents but continued to watch the strangers. Judging from their body language, the taller guy seemed to be on good terms with Emily. Maybe friends of hers from out of town?
"Such a lovely couple!" Granny commented with a smile as she gazed across the field at the two men.
Alex frowned. "The two guys?"
"Of course, dear. They even brought their children!" she replied with a distant look in her eyes that Granny only had around little kids. It was as if she was looking right through them and thinking of something else. Was she remembering when his mother was a little kid? Or maybe more recent memories of when he would visit them here in the Valley when he was small? Then again, Alex had spent most of his life living with Granny and Gramps at this point.
His green eyes darted back toward the duo, and he saw the big guy put his arms around the other man's shoulders.
Granny Evelyn turned back to Alex. "You can tell they really love each other," she said softly, patting George's shoulder as she spoke. "Ah, to be young and in love!"
"It's not natural, two men…" Grumps grumbled under his breath, turning his wheelchair away in disgust.
Evelyn swatted at her husband, though not hard. "George, you stop that kind of talk!" she ordered firmly. "You should know better."
"Heh!" the balding man scoffed.
Alex could not help but stare at the strangers. They did seem happy, and although seeing them together like that made him uncomfortable, it was not as intense a reaction as his grandfather's. Why did Gramps care so much? And why did Granny feel so differently?
"I thought you and Gramps agreed on most things," the spiky-haired man uttered within earshot of his grandmother.
Evelyn shook her head sadly. "George has always been very conscious about what other people think," she explained with a sigh. "It's caused him a great deal of heartache…"
Before Alex could interrogate Granny further, she pointed toward the opposite end of the field. "It seems their son has gone off with Jas and Vincent." Sure enough, the kids were running around in the snow well away from the adults.
Evelyn gave him a searching look. "I'm going to introduce myself to that couple and their sweet little baby," she announced. "Would you like to come say 'hello,' too?"
Emily had not expected to see Martin, but she was delighted when she saw the tall, huggable man enter the Cindersap Forest. Despite the winter coat and hat covering his mop of red-blonde hair, Emily instantly recognized his bright aura.
"Martin!" she called, rushing toward him excitedly. The blue-haired barmaid went to throw her arms around her ex-boyfriend when he angled his body away from her, stopping Emily in her tracks. "Watch out for Sasha!" Martin warned.
It was then Emily grasped that the heap of fabric nestled in the crook of Martin's arm was a baby, and he had protected her from being crushed by her enthusiastic embrace. "Oh, she's beautiful, Martin!" Emily cooed, examining the tiny head peeking out from the thick layers of swaddling, "you and Jonathan must be so proud!"
"Proud and exhausted," a voice chimed in. Martin stepped back to reveal a dark, wiry man standing behind him, and a small boy clinging to his partner's pant leg.
Her ex interjected to set the record straight, "Oh, don't you mind Jon," the freckled man insisted. "Sasha caught a bit of a cold, and we were all worried about her," Martin explained. "We would have loved to come for the wedding yesterday, but she needed another day on the mend, and we just couldn't leave her, even with a sitter."
"Even Tim refused to leave, knowing full well that there would be cake at the wedding yesterday," Martin disclosed, clearly proud that his child was willing to give up the opportunity for dessert for his sibling's sake.
Emily beamed at the child, who half-hid behind Martin's husband, Jonathan. "You must be Tim!" she greeted him, holding out her hand to shake. "You're a good brother to be so worried about your little sister when she's sick," she added.
The boy buried his face in Jonathan's coat, seemingly embarrassed. Emily giggled but did not force the introduction any further. She rose to her feet and closed the gap between her and Jonathan, giving him a quick squeeze. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Jon! I've heard so much about you from Martin."
Jonathan's dark eyes flickered toward his husband. "Good things, I hope?" he chuckled nervously. "Martin does nothing but sing your praises..."
"Oh, Jon!" Martin scolded playfully, wrapping his partner in a hug with his free arm. "Of course, they were all good things! I love you."
Emily nodded in confirmation, allowing Jon to relax, and her gaze shifted back toward baby Sasha. "May I hold her?" the woman requested hopefully.
Martin's eyes widened. "Oh, of course!" he replied apologetically in his charming accent, gently lowering the bundle of joy into his ex-girlfriend's arms. "Mind her head, though," the man cautioned Emily. "Her neck still isn't quite strong enough to support it yet."
Sasha was fast asleep, nestled in her blankets. There was a steady, calm movement from the rise and fall of the infant's chest from her breathing and her chubby cheeks were tinged pink from the cold. Little Sasha's aura was a warm, cheerful orange enveloping her small frame. The baby's features were so soft and delicate, it stirred something in Emily she had not expected. She had never seen anything so perfect in her entire life.
Emily heard approaching footsteps crunch in the snow and glanced up to find her husband, Shane. She beamed at him, introducing the visitors quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping baby. "Shane, this is Martin and his husband Jonathan," she began, indicating with a tilt of her head. "Their son Tim and this," she gazed down affectionately at the infant in her arms, "is their daughter Sasha."
Shane seemed more cautious than normal but extended his hand to shake to both of the adult newcomers.
"We meant to swing by yesterday, but it just didn't work out," Martin apologized to Emily's husband, rubbing the back of his neck. He pulled out a pair of small parcels from the bag on his back. "We wanted to congratulate you both in person, even if it is a day late." The curly-haired man handed Shane the boxes wrapped in colorful paper. "They aren't much, but we brought a few wedding presents. We hope you like them."
Emily's husband accepted the gifts, unsure of where to put them, and scanned the area to set them down somewhere. Without any proper furniture around, Shane was stuck holding them for a while.
The mayor's wife turned to address the other villagers to introduce their guests, several were either friendly or bold enough to greet Martin and Jonathan. It became apparent that a few of the townsfolk had ulterior motives and were eager to hold Sasha. It had been years since there was a baby in Pelican Town. Both Jas and Vincent had been born outside of the valley, after all.
While the adults were busy conversing, Emily noticed Jas and Vincent invited Tim to help them build a snowman. The boy was reluctant at first, but after some encouraging words from both of his dads, the trio of children ran off on their own.
Emily handed off baby Sasha to Jodie and decided to save Shane from his misery. "Why don't we open those so Martin and Jonathan can see? Then we can at least set them inside Marnie's house for now."
Shane relaxed, clearly grateful for an out from being a human table. Emily pulled him aside and waved to Martin to let him know their intentions. The four huddled off a bit away from the villagers as the newly married couple opened their gifts.
"That first one is from me," Jonathan started with an anxious laugh. "I work for the NuNu City Anthropological Museum. We acquired a large collection from Stardew Valley earlier this year, but this piece was rejected. The senior collection manager fancy it as a movie prop of some sort." His gaze drifted downward self-consciously. "Martin told me you like gems, so I thought you might appreciate it."
Curiously, Emily peeled back the paper to reveal a black box about the size of one made for shoes, only thinner. It was smooth, like polished marble and bore several rows of inset gems with the largest - one that Emily could not immediately identify - at its center. She tried to open it, but there was no seam in the material to suggest that it could do so. Martin's tone was apologetic. "It doesn't do anything, it just looks nice," he informed Emily.
Shane did not react, but Emily grinned to show her appreciation. "It's gorgeous, thank you both!" Emily meant it, too. "I'll display it in the house. I'm sure it will really sparkle in the sunlight."
Emily turned to her husband. "Why don't you open Martin's gift for us, Shane?"
Reluctantly, Shane revealed their second prize: four sets of matching winter scarves and hats. Martin's cheeks went flush. "The smaller sets are meant for a dog, a cat, or… maybe future children." He paused when he saw Shane's surprised expression.
The barmaid suppressed her amusement at her husband's reaction, but Martin caught on quickly.
"No pressure!" the curly-haired man back-pedaled. "It's just that Emily always talked about having kids one day and I got into a bit of a knitting craze after the adoption agency gave us the good news about Sasha."
"'Craze' is putting it light, Martin," Jonathan teased his spouse, ribbing him lightly. "I would say you did nothing but work and knit for half a year."
Emily snorted faintly at the knowing side-glances between the couple. She took off her own hat and donned one of two adult sets that Martin knit for them. "It fits perfectly! Thank you, Martin!"
Shane, who had been quiet for some time, finally spoke up. "Jonathan, you said Emily's gift came from a collection from the Valley earlier this year," the mayor summarized a segment of the previous conversation. "Do you know the name of the person who sold it to the museum?"
Jonathan tucked a stray strand of long, greying hair behind his ears and leaned in toward Emily's husband. "I'm not supposed to reveal trade secrets," he responded in a conspiratorial whisper, "but off the record, it was a chap named 'Gunther.'" His dark eyes regarded the mayoral couple curiously. "Do you know him? He sold us a fine collection; we would love to do business again."
Shane's shocked expression mirrored Emily's own. Gunther?!
Penny fidgeted, unsure of how to approach her mother. She saw Pam standing across the frozen field talking to Gus but could not bring herself to go over and speak to her. It had been half a season since the schoolteacher moved out of the trailer after Pam had locked her inside "for her own good." Penny was unsure would ever forgive her mother, but that did not mean Penny would avoid the woman forever.
Then again, was half a season really that long in the grand scheme of things? Maybe I could wait another week… Procrastinating would only make the conversation more awkward. The logical part of her knew that she should just rip the bandage off and go speak to Pam, but her emotions glued her feet to the earth like heavy stones.
Jas tugged at the hem of Penny's coat to get her attention. "Miss Penny!" the girl shouted, snapping Penny out of it.
Penny blinked and found an extra pair of eyes staring up at her expectantly. "Who is this young man?" the teacher asked, bending down closer to his level.
The dark-haired boy's lips twitched slightly, and his eyes widened.
Jas decided to introduce her new friend. "This is Tim," she declared, shoving the boy forward a bit toward her teacher. "He came with his dads and new baby sister." The girl frowned impatiently. "Miss Penny, do you have anything we can use for our snowman's nose?"
The woman nodded and fished a handsome orange vegetable from her pocket. "I brought a carrot just for the occasion!" Penny announced, yielding it to Jas.
Squealing with delight, Jas accepted the carrot and ran off with it, firmly planting it in the center of their snowman's head. "It's perfect!" the girl proclaimed with a happy chirp, bringing her gloved hands together in a muffled clap as she stepped back to admire their work.
Tim, who had stood frozen in his spot, gazed up at Penny. His cheeks went pink. "You're really pretty, Miss!" he yelled before darting off to find the other children. Penny heard Vincent object to Tim's confession and chased the boy around the snowman as Jas did her best to defend their hard work from destruction.
"Who knew my Penny would be so popular with the boys?" Pam chuckled.
Penny jumped, surprised that her mother had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The young woman's eyes glanced back toward Gus who was now chatting with Elliott. Had her boyfriend encouraged Pam to approach her instead? Penny felt both grateful and irritated by the idea.
"Hello, Mother…" Penny replied coldly, pointedly staring at Leah as she sculpted a mermaid out of ice to avoid looking at Pam. "It seems you're doing well."
Pam shifted uncomfortably. Good. Penny was not usually so spiteful, but the damage between them was left festering for too long and now she was stuck in a foul mood concerning her mother.
"It's nice to have my job back," the curly-haired woman acknowledged honestly. "I don't like loitering around with nothing to do like a leech."
Penny nearly objected to that statement, but Pam persisted. "I can't say that I'll ever be the kind of mother you deserve, Penny," the shorter woman conceded with a heavy sigh. "I can't help but wonder how far you coulda gone if you've had a better start in life." The brunette could tell that her mother was struggling to get her words out. Pam was a proud woman and to come here and admit such things was worse than physical harm in her mind.
The schoolteacher observed the tears welling up in her mother's eyes. "I know I shouldn'ta done it," Pam sniffled, "but I was so darn scared you'd either leave and never come back." Penny finally turned to her mother, and she was her tears running freely, streaking the cheap mascara on her eyelashes down her cheeks.
"You're the only family I've got left, Penny," Pam wailed. "If you leave me, I'm done for!" Penny did not know what to say.
"You seemed so ready to leave me the first chance you got," Pam shuddered, balling her fists at her side. "It made me feel abandoned all over again. I couldn't take it. I'm sorry, Penny…"
Ironically, Penny had heard about her own family history second-hand from Elliott's conversation with Pam. First, her maternal grandfather died. Pam's father had been ripped from her at a young age. The first major loss. Then, her father left Pam pregnant and alone. Another betrayal. Finally, her maternal grandmother had kicked her mother out when she found out she was pregnant with Penny, which deprived Pam of her remaining family. Penny was truly the only family left in her mother's life.
Once the wall that Pam put up began to crumble, Penny could not help but feel some sympathy for her mother. But a piece of her heart had hardened over the years of having to deal with her mother's drunkenness and poor choices. "I appreciate you coming to me first," Penny stated cautiously, her emerald eyes fixed on her snow-covered boots. "And for your apology."
Penny bit her lower lips as she contemplated her next words carefully. "I don't know if I can forgive you for locking me inside our trailer like a criminal," the woman reported with a heavy sigh. She saw Pam droop with disappointment. "But…" Her mother's expression froze, too frightened to be hopeful.
"Even if I don't forgive you for that, it does not mean I want you out of my life completely," Penny revealed with a pout. She wrung the end of her scarf in her hands. "After all, you are the only family I have, too." Her eyes turned their attention toward her mother, who smiled weakly.
Pam sniffled, wiping her face with the sleeve of her coat. "I stand you not wanting to live with me anymore, so long as we talk every once and a while." Penny's mother wrapped her arms around her. "I love you, Penny."
Penny flushed; her arms pinned to her side by Pam's hug. She could count on one hand how many times her mother had said "I love you" to her and she could not help but cry from the flood of emotion that overcame her.
"I love you, too, Mother."
The two sobbed quietly in the middle of the festival, though no one seemed to notice. Then again, they could have just been giving the two women space to reconcile and pretending not to see or hear their conversation. As soon as the two began to dry their tears, Elliott approached with a handkerchief for each of them and Shane made the announcement that it was time to begin the ice fishing competition.
"Wish me luck, Miss Penelope!" Elliott requested, giving Penny's hand a reassuring squeeze that confirmed he had been the one to encourage Pam to approach her.
Penny gave him a peck on the cheek to thank him for his meddling, then called after her mother. "Good luck!"
The blonde sniffed in amusement, deflecting the well wishes. "I don't need luck to beat that silly poet." Pam pointed toward Willy and broadcasted her intentions, "I'm gonna beat you this year, you crusty old sailor!"
Willy erupted in laughter and from a good number of the other villagers. "I'd like to see ya try, Pam!" the fisherman hollered back.
Abigail and Sam had incidentally become babysitters during the ice fishing competition, as both of Tim and Sasha's fathers were invited to participate. The baby had woken up after being passed around to several of the villagers to be held and admired and Abigail was at a loss on how to handle a child so young.
"Ew! She threw up on me…" the amethyst-haired woman whined as she desperately looked around for something to wipe her coat. Sam pulled a burp cloth out of the bag that Martin and Jonathan had left behind.
"Here, give her to me," Sam instructed, throwing the cloth over one shoulder, and taking baby Sasha in his arms. "She needs help getting all the gas out. Babies are no good at it on their own without barfing."
Her boyfriend lifted the baby up to one side of his body and began to hit her back, alarming Abigail. "Sam, be gentle!"
Sam shook his head. "It's not as bad as it looks, I promise." After a few more slaps on the back, Sasha belched and cooed with relief. Abigail regarded the skater in disbelief.
"Why are you so good with babies?" the rookie witch inquired suspiciously. "You aren't someone else's baby daddy, are you?"
The blond cackled at the accusation and waved his hand in front of the baby's face. "Abi, Vince was born when I was a teenager. I helped my parents out with him a lot." Sasha latched onto Sam's finger with her tiny hands and some part of Abigail imploded at the sight. Still, she had zero confidence in herself with a child.
"I forgot about that," Abigail confessed sheepishly, embarrassed that she had not considered something so obvious. Sam was good with Vincent. Her boyfriend looked up at her and his mouth stretched back in one of those stupid, dorky smiles of his.
He raised his eyebrows comically high. "What? Does this make me look like hubby material all the sudden?" Sam teased her.
Abigail scoffed and shoved his shoulder, but not as hard as she usually did. She did not want to upset the baby. "No way!" she countered. "I'd be a terrible mother; I have zero maternal instincts."
Sam shrugged. "It's a steep learning curve," the blond admitted, "but I think you'd be a cool mom once you got the hang of it."
She rolled her cerulean eyes. "You're just horny as fuck right now," Abigail shot back, forgetting whether to check if the other three children were in earshot. Luckily, they were enjoying a snowball fight just out of range to hit the adults watching the ice fishing competition.
The spiky-haired blond smirked. "What?" he asked innocently. "You'd be a total MILF!"
"SAM!" Abigail giggled, batting him away as he began to nibble on her neck. "You're holding a baby."
"I can multitask…" Sam insisted.
A sharp whistle pierced the air, indicating the end of the competition and Sam reluctantly pulled away from Abigail.
Shane's voice rang out to make the final call. "And our winner is… Willy!" Pam's displeased shouts could be heard even from where the young couple stood, inciting chuckles from several of the villagers.
Abigail was flustered by how quickly Sam's kisses got her all worked up along with the fear of being caught. She looked around for a place they could sneak off, but in a large, open field like this, they would have to leave the festival altogether.
Then, something clicked. "Sam!" she whispered as soon as her boyfriend handed baby Sasha back to one of her parents. "Igloo?"
Sam flashed a charming, toothy grin. "I like how you think, Abi," he agreed with a wink. "Meet me in the furthest one in five?"
Harvey knew he was paranoid, but that did not stop the intrusive thoughts telling him that the enemy soldiers would somehow find out about their plan prior to its implementation. The bespectacled man jumped at the slightest movement in his peripheral vision, as if someone were ready to drag him away for his schemes.
But Talla was the mastermind behind the actual plan and assured him that so long as he did not breathe a word to anyone, they would succeed. Harvey and Talla would release the prisoners from the camp the night after their supposed departure home. The contract work that Harvey was hired to do only lasted until the end of the week, after which he and Talla were free to return to Pelican Town. They would break their fast on Sunday morning, after which they would be seen leaving the camp and heading northward back home along the river.
Then Talla and Harvey would double back the way they came in secret, with the syren camouflaging them from sight with her magic as they swam downstream. The demigoddess assured the doctor that she would not let him drown, so there was little room for Harvey to object. Better for the Gotorons to believe they have already left than leave them open to suspicion.
Once night fell, Talla would sing to put the mortal guards to sleep, and they would infiltrate the camp while everyone was unconscious. The song's spell should give them plenty of time to find the prisoners, wake them with a few buckets of cold water, and lead them out of the camp to safety all before any of the guards awoke.
It was a good plan, but Harvey could not help but worry that something could go wrong. Talla seemed so confident in her idea that the doctor felt guilty for doubting her ability. He was a firm believer in Murphy's Law and while it made him an anxious man by nature, Harvey would rather expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised by a positive outcome than be a disappointed optimist. When working with patients, the mustached medic had to find a happy medium between his desire to catastrophize and his duty to keep hope alive for the people he treated.
Besides the plan to free the prisoners of war, Harvey was anxious how things might have changed back in Pelican Town. Had Maru been able to run the clinic all by herself? She was certainly a capable young woman, but it was a lot of hours to run a business and a great deal of pressure to be the sole healthcare professional in charge of any population.
Had Alex and Maru started to date or was the local nurse still single? Harvey knew in his heart that it would be unfair to Maru to pursue her romantically, no matter how many fine qualities she possessed. His assistant was young and still establishing herself in the world. But part of him wanted to know whether he needed to prepare his heart to witness her together with another man.
Maybe, if Maru had run the clinic well in his absence, Harvey could pass the business onto her and he could continue traveling as he had done since Fall began. At least then he would be busy most days, helping those who did not normally have a chance to receive the kind of medical care he could provide. The man hoped that maybe if he poured himself into meaningful work, he would forget his dreams of settling down with a wife and their children. Harvey was not an old man, but while he was a doctor, he was not a wealthy one. The clinician knew that women his age would expect a man to be able to provide for their family and Harvey was not confident that would ever be the case should he return to Pelican Town as their local doctor.
Harvey hung his head in shame. How could he even consider leaving his neighbors for good? Kent would surely need attention after being released from a POW camp, even if his scars were not all to his physical body. And while Maru could very well care for Evelyn and George while their conditions were stable, what if George's health took a nose-dive? Harvey would be guilty of dumping all that responsibility onto Maru.
No, I couldn't do that to them, Harvey decided grimly. He would not abandon his neighbors, no matter how tempting the idea to live a nomadic life in which he would not be held accountable to anyone but himself. From now on, Harvey would have to be brave. The rescue mission was just the start.
Author Note: I want to thank you all for your patience on this chapter. I just couldn't get into the right head space to write for a few weeks. But hey, I wrote this chapter in like, three days once I finally got out of my funk. Enjoy!