The Ties of Family (RotG Fanfic)

Chapter 8

The early morning sun bore down relentlessly on the people of Burgess as they hurried to their destinations, going about their daily routines. The long-awaited summer had finally arrived, but now that it was in Burgess, the people wished it was autumn. The year's summer was hot, reaching up to almost 40 degrees.

School was out for the summer and Mrs. Bennett was pestering her son to get a summer job. Jamie never liked the heat of summer; he preferred winter, playing in the snow, building snowmen, sledding but most of all, winter reminded him of a certain friend of his whom not everyone could see.

As he lay in bed, wide awake, but too lazy to get out just yet, he stared up at the ceiling. His thoughts wandered to the events of two winters back. The stay at the Warren. His aunt's manor was called 'the Warren' which was just ironic as the realm of the Easter Bunny was of the same name and they were so different. One place was cheery and bright and brought hope to anyone who set foot in it (although Jamie had never actually seen it before, he heard a lot about it from Jack Frost and Sophie) while the other was dark, foreboding and gloomy.

Jack Frost. Jamie had never stopped believing in him, or any of the other Guardians for that matter. But every time he thought about the winter spirit, it was a different feeling altogether. He couldn't forget the fact that he was actually related to him. It felt so strange, so abnormal. But of course, whenever he met the Guardian, all those thoughts vanished as they went out to have a little fun.

It was summer, and Jamie wasn't sure if Jack would visit him ever so often. He didn't think the winter spirit would be able to withstand the hot weather. But Jack could ride with the wind, right? Jamie scrambled out of bed and headed towards his bedroom window. Looking out, he observed that the plants and trees were perfectly still. No wind. No such luck.

"Jamie Bennett!"

Jamie groaned. He hated even summer mornings for he would be forced to rise early. Despite being almost seventeen years of age, he was still under his mother's thumb. He dragged himself to the bathroom and was in the dining room several minutes later.

"Guess what, Jamie?" beamed Sophie when he came down. She held up a tooth. "My last tooth!"

"So you're hiding it under your pillow tonight?" Jamie asked, as he got himself some breakfast. Waffles. Well, something new at least.

Mrs. Bennett chuckled. "Jamie Bennett, you're sixteen, going in seventeen. Surely you don't still believe in all those fairy tales? Even Sophie doesn't, anymore."

Jamie gaped at both his sister and mother. "How can you not believe?" he gasped.

Mrs. Bennett raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Jamie?"

Jamie pointed a rather accusing finger at Sophie. "You're still only eleven! How can you not still believe? Don't you remember the Easter Bunny? You hung out with him a lot when you were little!"

Mrs. Bennett turned to face her son. "Jamie, what is wrong? Why are you so keen on all these fairy tales? Even two years ago, when we were at your aunt's manor, you keep insisting they were real! Grow up, Jamie!"

"Yeah, grow up!" Sophie agreed, earning herself a glare from her brother. Jamie watched, horrified, as she dropped her tooth into the wastepaper basket. "I don't need it," Sophie said, looking rather pleased.

Jamie's fury had gone up a notch and he tried his very best to stay calm as he ate his waffles. Once everyone was out of the kitchen, he rummaged through the contents of the wastepaper basket, not caring how dirty or slimy they were and didn't stop till he found his sister's tooth. He then proceeded to rinse it and wash his hands thoroughly as well.

Tooth would always know whenever there was a new fallen tooth. One of her baby teeth would come and Jamie would hand it to them.