Extraordinarily Pleased

Can't Ignore It

The stockings and decor slowly made their way back to storage in the days following Christmas. The tree still stood in the corner, barren of ornaments and gradually losing its needles, gathering in a ring below it.

The siblings finally had the chance to visit friends in the time they had left at home, before they departed New Year's Day. Usually, Felicia would miss no opportunity to try and capitalize her best friend's time away from Farkle. But today, she found herself in her room, given she couldn't even tell Renna about... well, anything. She was tired of huge events happening to her that she couldn't tell anyoneabout.

Felicia pulled the needle through the front of Sir Squeakles's neck again, tightening another stitch that slowly reunited his head with the rest of his body. She sat cross-legged on her bed, her door closed. Her father and brothers' chatter from out in the courtyard floated in through her room's window, their sawing and hammering all muddling together into background noise as she worked. Earlier they'd asked her if she wanted to join them, but she'd politely declined.

She was aware she'd been spending a bit more time than usual in her room the past few days, as well. Perhaps because she knew the more time she spent out with friends, with anyone really, the more she'd be tempted to let loose everything that now occupied her mind.

Or, perhaps it was because this may very well be one of the last times it would be her room.

A few knocks on Felicia's door sent the needle off-course into her fingertip, her concentration so intent that it genuinely caught her off-guard. She inhaled sharply and quickly sucked the puncture, shoving the half-mended doll under her pillow.

"Come in," she called.

Fiona pushed the door open enough to poke her head inside. "Hey," she greeted her daughter warmly.

"Hey," Felicia replied in kind.

"Did you have a minute?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah," Felicia offered as casually as she could, as if she didn't know exactly why her mother was there. Her mother didn't usually come to her room with such... caution. As if any wrong move would shatter the moment.

Felicia had really, really hoped that this - the topic that had triggered the whole Christmas Eve avalanche in the first place - would just be magically forgotten, so that she could be left to magically get over it on her own. She'd been lucky for a couple days, but that luck looked like it had just run out.

"How're you doing?" Fiona asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Good," Felicia replied pleasantly. "How about you?" Her eyes briefly shifted to her mother's middle, then back up to her face. "And the baby?" The corners of her mouth twitched in a small, tentative grin.

"Good, good," Fiona replied with a sigh and a smile, her hand meeting a little jab. "Nice and active. All the voices are still exciting, seems like." Fiona let her smile linger perhaps a little too long, as did her daughter. The two seemed to realize their awkward pause together, and they both exhaled in amused acknowledgement.

Felicia scooted further up her bed, clearing space for her mother to sit, which the older ogress accepted.

Fiona knew that Felicia knew why she'd come in. As Fiona tried to recall how she'd planned to start this conversation with her daughter, her eye was drawn to a spot of faded green sticking out from under Felicia's pillow, contrasted against the beige sheets.

Fiona's eye had lingered on it long enough for Felicia to notice, however. The younger ogress flushed slightly, and pulled the toy out from where she'd shoved it, needle still sticking out of his chin.