Happy (almost end-of) July 4th! Nothing much happens in this chapter but I have plans for Kasey and I'm very excited for them. Hopefully you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Kasey

"She looks just like Lumi did at that age..."

Claire's voice was the quietest Kasey's ever heard it. Her bright blue eyes were misty as she watched Mara and Gideon chase her brother's dog around the farm. He'd never say it out loud, but he was worried about her. She's lost some weight since the last time he saw her. It's clear she hasn't been doing well, but he had no clue how to bring it up since they weren't exactly close.

It wasn't all sadness and depression with her, though. She'd been happy to see the kids at first. Even more ecstatic to show him around town to prove her brother wrong when he said Mineral Town was boring. And she had that familiar fire in her eyes as they walked past the chicken ranch next door. When he asked why they weren't going there, she snapped at him and told him he could introduce himself later.

Her emotions were like a rollercoaster, but one thing was consistent: the sadness lingering in her eyes. It's something Kasey was far too familiar with. How often did he hide his sadness or push it away so he could be strong? He didn't let himself cry at Dad's funeral, and he felt too numb to do much at Lumina's funeral except breathe and exist. Claire nearly bit his head off, thinking that he didn't care.

"Yeah?" he asked, voice nearly matching hers in volume. "Do you have any pictures?"

"You don't need any pictures," Claire scoffed, finally looking up at him. There was a bit of light in her eyes now. Still not enough to hide the pain hiding just beneath the surface. "Just look at Mara. The only difference is your dumb freckles and the fact that it looks like you barely know how to brush her hair."

"Her hair's not that bad!" Dumb freckles?

"Her ponytail's crooked."

Now that it had been pointed out, it was impossible not to notice. Mara's hair was easier to manage when it was in a cute little bob. Ever since it started to grow out, she's been wanting to do more to it. Braids, pigtails, space buns. He's gotten the hang of braiding her hair now, but she preferred ponytails since they didn't take anywhere near as long to do. She may be the calmer of his kids, but she's still a five year-old with limited patience.

Funny how it's the simpler thing Kasey still struggled with. Molly made it look so easy. She could toss her hair up into a quick ponytail without even thinking about it. Maybe he was just overthinking it. Wouldn't be the first time.

"Gideon got the short end of the stick. Poor kid looks just like you." Claire shook her head and gave a mock sigh of pity. Aunt Dee said the same thing when he sent her a picture of the twins. It was part of the reason she was so excited to meet them. He still felt a bit bad about not going with his sisters to Oak Tree. It's been so long since he's seen Aunt Dee, and he knew that Fritz missed him too even though Molly was his favorite.

But Mara and Gideon had people they wanted to see as well. It wouldn't be fair to keep them away from everything they've ever known. Especially when he hadn't given them much of a choice when it came to moving to Castanet. He just took the job and hoped they'd be okay with it.

He could lie and say it was for Mara's sake all he wanted, but he was just being a selfish bastard. He wanted to be with his sisters. There was a part of him, small but loud as ever, that worried Angela wouldn't be much help when it came to Molly. Their sister was delicate. At least, that's what he thought. He's still so used to viewing her as something fragile. He remembered how much she struggled after awakening from her coma. Her tearful apologies when she asked for help with anything.

And she needed a lot of help. He didn't think a week was that long, but she had to basically learn how to function as a human again after her coma. Walking, talking, eating... She could barely even hold a spoon! He tried to not think of how much worse it could've been if she'd been unconscious for much longer. The doctors had begun to worry about permanent brain damage and examined her closely when she did finally wake up.

She was fully recovered now, of course, but the idea of her running an entire farm after going through that sounded ridiculous. It's only natural that he'd be opposed to it! He had to wonder if Angela had seen what he couldn't: that Molly was stronger than she seemed. The nurses at the hospital were surprised by her fast (compared to other coma patients) recovery. One even remarked that she must've had a guardian angel.

Mara came over, cheeks flush from running around so much. Kasey felt an intense urge to check her over. At her last check-up, Jin mentioned hearing an irregularity in her heartbeat. A murmur, he said it was called. Kasey panicked, thinking of Lumina's bad heart and how it failed her, but the doctor was quick to reassure him and tell him that Mara should be just fine. Apparently she had the "harmless" kind of heart murmur. Kasey didn't see how anything not natural with the heart could be harmless but that's why he wasn't a doctor.

She looked between the two of them and frowned as her gaze focused on Claire. Without saying a word, she launched herself at the blonde and gave her as tight a hug as she could manage, considering her size. Her height was another thing Kasey worried about at the doctor. Turns out Mara's just tiny for her age. Claire rested a hand on her sandy-brown hair and smiled, eyes misty.

"Don't be sad, Aunt Claire," Mara muttered into her legs. "I get sad when you're sad."

"Sinclaire!"

They all looked towards the entrance of the farm. Someone was walking over, holding a large brown chicken in their arms. Claire's face warped into a furious scowl, her tears long forgotten. Mara took a step back and tilted her head as the green-clad man approached. He seemed just as disgruntled as Claire. Do they not like each other? The chicken was dropped into Claire's arms with a soft huff.

"Bobbie got out again. You should keep a better eye on her so I don't have to stop my work to bring her back." His gaze softened when he looked down and noticed Mara. "Hey there, Mara."

"Hi, Mr. Rick."

"If it's such a bother to you and your busy schedule, Rodrick, maybe you should ask Poppy to do it. Not like you let her do much else." Claire's voice was downright venomous. Kasey was glad he was no longer on the receiving end of it. She whirled around to return the chicken to the coop. Kasey stared after her for a few seconds before turning to introduce himself to the man, only to find him storming off as well.

Kasey was left blinking in confusion but there was one thing that stuck out in his mind most of all.

Sinclaire?

"Claire and Rick? Those two got into an argument a few weeks ago."

"What about?" Kasey was curious even though he knew it was absolutely none of his business. He blamed his relation to Angela for this. Something in their blood seemed to tell them to butt into things that didn't concern them. Unfortunately, the only person he felt comfortable asking about this was Gray, who didn't seem the slightest bit interested in the conversation. Kasey couldn't have picked a worse person to go to for gossip but he didn't know anyone else in town.

"How the hell would I know, Kasey? Why don't you just ask Claire? She's tolerating you now, right?"

Yeah. Tolerating being the key word. They're getting along for the twins' sake and he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the fragile peace they were in. And there's no way on earth she'd open up to him about the chicken guy.

"Never mind." Kasey checked his watch and glanced down at the last bit of sandwich in Gray's hand. He felt bad for bothering the kid on his lunch break. He'd poked his head into the blacksmith during his tour of the town and saw how hard Gray worked. He deserved a decent break, so Kasey decided to leave him alone.

Maybe I should leave this Claire thing alone, too... He didn't understand why he cared so much. Claire wasn't his friend or anything. He only had her number so the twins could talk to her. Even so he couldn't help feeling a bit protective of her. She was Lumina's best friend, after all. Surely she'd want him to keep an eye out for her. Would keeping an eye on her include trying to help her resolve her disagreements?

He kicked at a pebble, unsure of what to do and how to pass the time. Maybe he could go back to his room at the inn and work on some of his future lesson plans. He almost envied Gill quitting so he could focus more on his administrative work at the town hall. Almost. Desk work sounded like a drag. At least with teaching, he could find ways to make his lessons entertaining. Being a teacher was fun when all the kids were behaving.

Ange would bite my head off if she knew I was working, though, he thought with a grimace. She had some sort of sixth sense and would definitely get on him the second he called. Besides, making lesson plans would almost certainly involve Gill, who liked to check over everything. Despite hiring Kasey for the job, he clearly didn't trust his judgment. The guy was a pain in the ass to work with. He's Molly's age but acted like a little old man.

And he's somehow more mature than his father, the mayor of the town.

Kasey looked up at the sound of little feet pattering against the pavement and saw his daughter running over, hazel eyes wide and bright. He glanced around curiously but she was alone. Where'd her brother and friends go? He knew there was nothing to worry about since the town was so small, but the idea of his petite five year-old running around unsupervised gave him just a bit of anxiety. Mara stopped in front of him and rocked on her heels.

"Daddy, can we go back to the room? I wanna get my drawings so I can show Ms. Ellen." She paused, a frown on her cute little face. "I think she gets lonely."

Kasey met the elderly woman briefly during his tour of the town. Claire stopped by the little house and spent a few minutes chatting with her, waving off his concerns that they were bothering her. She'd been in the middle of some sort of physical therapy with who he could only assume was the town doctor, judging by his white coat, and a kind-eyed brunette who reminded him just a bit of Molly. Claire insisted that it was fine as long as she didn't get in the way. She liked giving the tiny woman encouragement, though it looked like the doctor wasn't exactly fond of the interruption. Kasey just stood awkwardly near the door and tried not to get involved.

"Sure, Rosie. Uh... Where's your brother?" He grabbed Mara's hand and started walking back to the inn. Her nose crinkled in the cutest way.

"Looking for bugs with Yu and Ms. Jennifer. I told them it was yucky and that I wanted to find you instead." Kasey wasn't sure how to feel about his son hanging out with that Jennifer chick. Next thing he knew, Gideon would start talking about crystals and their healing properties or some nonsense like that. Not that he was trying to judge a book by its cover or anything. It's just... she had a kinda weird vibe.

"What about Mei?" Kasey asked. He'd been hoping that Mara would spend some time with her friends on this trip instead of latching onto him like she usually did. Not that he minded too much. He liked having his baby girl at his side. But it was starting to get a bit concerning. He didn't want her to completely rely on him like Molly used to. It took ages for his sister to stop escaping her class at recess to come find him.

While Gideon was friends with all the kids on Castanet, Mara seemed to only really like Paolo. Sometimes he'd see them sitting together during breaks at school. And while that was fine, Paolo was also friends with Chloe and Taylor and couldn't seem to convince Mara to join them when they played together. Instead she'd just sit on her own and draw pictures in the dirt. Sometimes she'd talk to herself but whenever Kasey asked who she was talking to, she'd say that it was a secret not meant for grown-ups.

Jack said that she probably just had an imaginary friend that she didn't want him to know about. Kasey would prefer it if she had some real friends.

"She said she had to talk to Mr. Carter about something per... purposeful."

"Personal?" Kasey suggested. Mara pouted at the correction.

"That's what I said, Daddy!"