Welcome Home

Chapter 28: Warmth

The drive back took a bit longer than the other way around, Ella thankfully recognizing her own exhaustion and slowing down significantly juuust in case.

After all, nobody wanted anything bad to happen just before Christmas.

For the most part Riley just took in the warmth as she stirred in her seat, AC doing wonders from insulating them from the stinging cold of the dreaded outside.

Of course there's only so much patience a four year old can muster even if he really, really wants to, and eventually Timmy's boredom became really apparent with him asking when will they finally be home.

The answer was twenty eight seconds, Ella having to keep herself from breaking into giggles upon hearing the tyke ask the inevitable question just as she turned onto the road their home was on.

And it couldn't have taken much more than that from the point Ella parked next to the garage until they were all back inside, the heat from the fireplace melting the brief frost immediately.

"Ha, just in time!" Andrew chuckled as the remaining trio ran inside, a small stack of cardboard boxes catching Riley's attention as it sat in front of the blazing fire, shielded by a glass pane as it was kept warm.

She ran up to him after kicking her shoes off, the savory smells drawing her in by the nose as her tummy rumbled on in excitement- at least until her eyes caught something that wasn't quite like when she saw it the last time-

Namely, Andrew's clothes. Comfy plaid shirt replaced with green...

Wait, were those pajamas?

"Well, I thought it would be best if we were all ready for bed before cracking the pizzas open, it's already quite late and all." Rick answered her wordless question as he eyed down Andrew in confusion, the explanation only affirmed as she glanced her dad's own pajama outfit, red fabric matching the goofy pair of reindeer-themed slippers on his feet.

Riley nodded ever so slowly as her brain tried to rev itself back to life against the forces of sleep and hunger, eventually responding with a tired 'uh-huh'. The plan had finally formulated itself inside her two still functional neurons by the time she'd reached the stairs, her stomach determined to fulfill it as fast as she could-

At least until her eyes distracted her again, the sight in front of her making her stop abruptly as she futilely tried to hold back a burst of laughter.

Well, now she knew what a blow dried Lily looked like.

Namely like a stick figure composed entirely of very dark, very puffed up dusters with every little dark hair facing its own direction.

Wearing a lilac night shirt that looked like it got caught up on virtually every strand of fur simultaneously, looking downright... fur-fitting?

And with a tail that looked almost as big as the girl herself.

Her sister's initial embarrassment at Riley's laugh quickly turned into hilarity itself, partially at the situation she found herself in, partially at her own... fluffed appearance, and partially at her older sister's kettle-like laughter.

After taking an... ashamedly long amount of time to calm down from her little outburst that just refused to end, and giving her sister an absurdly soft hug for sticking with her as they both kept laughing at each other, Riley finally made her way upstairs-

Only to see the bathroom already taken because of course it would be. Timmy must've snuck by them while his sisters were too busy looking dumb to respond, much to his order-of-using-the-bathroom advantage.

Oh well.

With a sigh Riley made her way to her room, grabbing a pair of gray shorts and an oversized white shirt to change into, the sight of her invitingly warm bed making her doubt her cause for just a moment before a scent of hot pizza made its way into her nose again, stomach overruling the sleepy brain.