The Way We Were

The Way We Care Package

Mercedes set the package on her bed and used scissors to open it. "Hey, Q? Come look at this."

Quinn rolled out of her top bunk and landed gracefully on the ground. She sat on Mercedes' bunk and crossed her legs. "What is it?"

"Ms. Judy sent us a care package."

"Please don't let there be food in it."

Mercedes laughed. "Stop that." She opened the box and started taking things out. "Here's more toothbrushes. Those are from Daddy. Here's two diaries and a journal. From G-Ma. Ms. Judy must have knitted us blankets!"

Quinn took out the soft grey one. "It's so nice."

Mercedes left the black one in the box and took out the purple one to rub on her cheek. "Papa Mike must have sent the first aid kit."

Quinn rifled through the box. "Is this a tin of cookies?"

Mercedes watched her open it. "I don't think so. Who would send us cookies? In July?!"

Quinn took out a stack of photos. "These are of the twins!"

Mercedes leaned over to see. "Aww! I really hate that we missed their first birthday! But at least they were in Italy with Granddad and Grandmom."

"I miss them." Quinn pouted. "I can't believe we missed their first words."

"I should call Mikey. Where's the others?"

Quinn shrugged. "I know Maddie's group has swim time right now and that Laura is in the craft barn."

"I didn't check if we all had mail. I just went for my name. I'll go back and get them."

"I'll put the pictures up." Quinn went to find pins so she could hang up the photographs on their side of the cabin.

Mercedes walked out the cabin and waved to various camp goers. She made it to the main cabin at the base of the mountain and went to check if her siblings had mail. They did. One was addressed to Marc and Laura and one was addressed to Maddie.

She brought both boxes up to her cabin. "Should we open them?"

"Why not?" Quinn shrugged.

"Isn't it illegal to open someone else's mail?"

Quinn shrugged again. "Nobody'll know."

"Let's go through the rest of our box first." Mercedes set the boxes on the ground then sat on her bunk. She lifted out other things before reaching for a bundle of letters. "Someone wrote us."

Quinn frowned and came back to the bed. "Who writes letters in this day and age?"

"We do." Mercedes looked at her.

"Besides us." Quinn stressed before taking the bundle. She took off the rubber-band and flipped through them. "They're from Brittany, Santana, Puck and Finn."

"No way! They wrote to us?!"

Quinn showed her a letter addressed to her. "Yup. They wrote to all of us. Whose do you want to read first?"

"Let me call Mikey and we can start with Britt."

W.W.W.

There was a knock on the door as Marcy was playing Hide and Seek in her room with the twins. "Come in!"

Louise, her grandparents cook, came inside. "Ms? There is a package for you."

"Thank you so much. You didn't have to bring it up here. I could've gone downstairs for it." Marcy climbed to her feet and came to the door.

"It was no trouble at all. I knew you were playing with the little ones." Louise handed over the box.

Marcy smiled before setting the box on the bed. "Do you have anything to open it with?"

Louise handed over kitchen shears.

"Thank you." Marcy cut into the box and started withdrawing things.

"Do you want me to get your husband?"

"He'll see it." She shook her head. "Daddy just loves unloading his toothbrushes."

Louise laughed. "He wants to make sure you have good teeth."

Marcy continued digging through the care package and found a cookie tin. She recognized it as the one she'd sent her siblings. She opened it and piles of pictures sat inside. Marcy laughed. "Look at them at camp."

Louise looked over her shoulder. "They are getting so much bigger."

"Maddie's growing like a weed." Marcy found two letters addressed to her. She frowned, dumbfounded. Who wrote letters in this day and age? "Santana Lopez? Oh! Santana!" She checked the other letter and it read from Brittany S. Pierce.

"Friend of yours?" Louise asked.

"Yeah. We like to tease each other." Marcy took everything out of the box and saw a stack of letters at the bottom. A rubber-band lay broken beneath it.

She picked up the letters and saw half was addressed to her and the other half to Mal. Half was from Jackie and the other half from Dexter. She smirked.

"I will go get started on dinner. Will you be having any dessert?" Louise turned to her.

Marcy's lips twisted. "Did Grandmom make any orange cake?"

"It's baking now."

"Then yes, I will."

"Good." Louise left.

Marcy piled things back in the box before going to the closet and flinging open the door. "Boo!"