"Cinna! Carolina! Clove! They're here!"

Cress called up the stairs, looking for signs of his sisters' presence. They were probably upstairs doing homework or something, but today was important. The brothers had decided it was time for some new pictures to put on the mantle, ones that didn't have Coriander in them. The ones with Clara would stay, but Coriander's could burn. He wasn't part of their lives anymore, or at least he wouldn't be if they had anything to say about it. And so they had decided to hire someone to help them get some new pictures. Ones with just the six of them. All the members of their little family, finally together again.

Cinna was the first to come down the stairs, quiet as ever. She looked around contemplatively, Rotom by her side, as usual. Her gloves were still on her hands, the white fabric nearly blending with the white of her shirt. "Are you sure you don't want to take those off for the pictures?" Cress offered, but Cinna quickly shook her head. She ran off before Cress could say anything.

Carolina came thundering down the stairs next, a proud grin on her face. Cress could immediately see why, though he wasn't sure he agreed.

"Carolina…" he said with a sigh, noting the leaves braided into her hair. "What is that?"

"Clove did it for me." As if that made it all make sense. "She said it looked pretty, and I already brought them from outside, so—"

"You brought—" Cress stopped himself. Was this really a battle he wanted to fight right now? There could be worse things. She could have brought a Venipede in or something. "Okay." He sighed. "Just go."

Carolina grinned and ran off, Scraggy at her heels. Cress pinched the bridge of his nose. If one more thing happened, he would very well lose it. True, this wasn't a very serious occasion, or at least no one in the house except him seemed to treat it like one, but still. Would it hurt for everyone to look at least a little more presentable?

Cress sighed. It wasn't that important, he told himself. It wasn't—

Someone's arms around his waist caught his attention, and he looked down to see Clove giving him a tight hug. Cress returned the gesture, awkwardly patting her head as she let go. "You look very nice."

"Thank you." Clove giggled. Her hand covered her mouth, and the very obvious brightly colored spots caught Cress' attention. "They're from the markers," she explained once she saw him looking. "I guess the ink kinda gets everywhere. Sorry…"

Cress shook his head. Part of him wanted to tell her to go wash it off, but he knew there wouldn't be any time. Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal, or at least that's what Chili would tell him. "It's alright, just go outside. I'll be there soon." He patted her head one last time, and Clove ran off with a bright smile.

Well, this was shaping up to be a fine-looking picture, Cress thought with some annoyance. Marker on Clove's hands, Cinna's gloves in the middle of spring, and Carolina with the leaves. Coriander would have had a conniption, Cress thought. He could practically hear the yelling now, even though the man was miles and miles away.

Cress shook his head. He wasn't going to be like that. They were small things, really, and it wasn't worth getting upset over. Besides, they were still children. Of course they were going to get into things and not look perfect all the time.

Coriander was gone, and Cress wasn't about to let him back in.

The idea was promptly tested when Chili walked in looking thoroughly disorganized. His jacket was missing, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows. His standard red bow tie was undone, though still around his shoulders and hanging down. Chili had always had a particular way of carrying himself, a sort of elegant scruffiness that still kept the appearance of some thought put into his appearance. There was none of that here, or at least distinctively less than normal.

"Chili…" Cress hissed, glancing at the back door that led to the garden.

"What?" Chili grinned fiendishly and reached up to fix his hair a bit. "I think it looks fine."

Cress sighed and glanced at Cilan, who was standing in the doorway. The Grass-type specialist just gave his brother an awkward grin, and Cress sighed. "Fine," he muttered. As Chili headed off outside, Cilan was obviously trying for a reassuring smile.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright." Cress just shook his head. "It's difficult not saying anything."

"I know." Cilan smiled. "But everyone's happy, right?"

"I know." Cress bit the inside of his cheek. As annoying as it was not having everything just so, he knew it wasn't that big of a deal. Besides, his nitpicking almost ruined his relationship with Carolina, and even if he still did nitpick at her sometimes, he didn't want to go overboard with it. He'd learned by now picking his battles was paramount in dealing with the girls, and this was not one he wanted to deal with. Better happy with leaves in her hair than unhappy and looking perfect.

"Besides, if Father ever sees that picture he's going to have a fit." Cress grinned at the thought, as did Cilan. Even the thought of their father seeing such a picture with such glaring imperfections was enough to give Cress a feeling of twisted satisfaction.

With a contented smile and a quick adjustment of his tie, Cress headed for the door. Even if they weren't the picture-perfect family Coriander always wanted to portray, at least they were all happy.

A/N: And with that, that's a wrap on this fic, and it's also the last thing I'm going to post on FFN. Everything else will still be up in its entirety, I'm just not going to be posting anything new to this account. The constant spam emails wear on a person after a while, and I don't want to deal with clearing out my inbox every time I update.

If you want to find me or my new content, I'm posting on AO3 under the same name. That account also includes fics found here on FFN. But I probably won't be looking at this account much anymore.