Chapter Three

Chapter 3

“When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.”

Felix Bernard and Dick Smith, Winter Wonderland

If there was one thing Nathan hated the most, it was being woken up abruptly from his sleep.  The feeling was even worse if he was suffering from a slight hangover from having about ten or twenty too many glasses of spiked eggnogs from the night before. So to assume that the infernal bell ringing and knocking on his front door set him in a horrible mood would be a grave understatement.  He would have ignored the door had Vigo not started yelping in his “ohmygod I haven’t seen this person in AGES” bark.  Confusion further muddled his already hangover fogged brain and he stumbled down the stairs, cursing as he stubbed his toe on a side table.  Yanking open the door, the biting curse that was waiting to greet the inconsiderate visitor died as his brain interpreted who was actually standing there.

“Hi, babe.” 

His girlfriend Destiny was standing at his front door.  In Vermont.  Nathan’s face resembled that of a fish out of water and he blinked a few times before words came out.  “I….”  A grin slowly crossed his face as the realization dawned and she was instantly in his arms, both of them laughing.  “How…why….”

“Your sister.”  The red-head giggled and kissed him with wild abandon.  They stood like that for a long moment, drinking in the familiarity and the joy of being together again.

“I have the best sister in the entire galaxy.”  Nathan pulled Destiny inside where she was almost instantly bowled over by an over-excited black lab. 

And down the hall in the guest room, with her eyes still closed, an older sister smiled at the joy that radiated from her brother and his girlfriend.  She knew she should probably get up and out of bed, and get ready for the day, but she wanted to laze about a bit longer in her warm bed.  She wanted to allow the lovebirds a bit of time to themselves.  A loud banging on the door killed that dream and her eyes flew open at her brother’s excited yelling.  “Brie, Brie, Brie! C’mon, Cheese Head!  Get your lazy ass out of bed and say hi to Destiny.  And I have words to exchange with you later.”

“Tell her to come in here while you take some asprin and send your dog outside to take a crap.”  Brie yelled back with a grin, reaching for a headband to pull her dreds out of her face.  She adjusted the spaghetti straps on her maroon top and grinned at Destiny as she walked in through the door.  “Hello little sister!”  She threw up arms in excitement.

“Hi!”  Destiny leapt onto the bed and the two embraced, giggling like young girls.  Soon they were both seated indian style and chatting away about the flight and the hassle of shopping for Nathan.

“Okay, enough girl talk.”  Nathan bellowed from the hall.  “It’s time for breakfast and presents and for a lesson in why secrets should not be kept from Nathan Reynolds.”

The girls simply laughed at the affronted Nathan.  “We’ll be out in a second.  I need to put pants on.”

“Oh.”  A long pause.  “Well then.  By all means, please, clothe yourself.”  His footsteps faded as he presumably walked to the kitchen.

The girls giggled again and Brielle pulled on a pair of dark grey sweats, slipped a bra on as to not completely embarrass her baby brother, and slid her feet into her slip-on slippers.  They were still giggling and talking when they arrived in the kitchen where they saw Nate standing there, arms crossed over his chest, a faux stern look on his face which sent them into a fit of giggles once more.

“Now, you all seem to be forgetting a very important fact.  This here is my house and you all are guests in it.”  He nodded briskly and quirked an eyebrow, trying to convey the fact he was very, very serious.

The girls just started laughing.  “Oh no.  He’s quoting Firefly.”  Brie tried to catch her breath.  “Ever notice how much he loves Captain Reynolds?”

Destiny just laughed louder.  “You should see him strut around after watching an episode!”  She hooked her thumbs through her belt loops and tried to imitate the pose.  “Show me the Captian-y respect I deserve or you’ll see the airlock!”

“I am not that bad.”  Nate harrumphed, a scowl on his face. 

Brielle grinned at her brother and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to her almost-sister-in-law. “You know why he loves the character so much, right?”

A shake of the head in the negative.

“Obviously, the last name.  Reynolds.  But you know the name of the actor who plays him?”

Another shake negative.

“Nathan Fillion.”

Destiny howled with laughter while Nate grumbled his way to making pancakes for breakfast.    “I swear, the shit I put up with because I love you two.”

 -------------------

Breakfast was quite the elaborate affair.  Pancakes with berries in the batter, some with chocolate chips, and strawberries in juice to pour on the top, and fresh maple syrup that was bought from a local syrup maker, scrambled eggs seasoned to perfection mixed with crumbled sausage and cubed potatoes, and orange slices at the insistence of the girls and the chagrin of the boy.

“Nate, you astound me every time you cook for me.”  Brielle settled down at the table and shook her head at her brother.  “You certainly didn’t learn your cooking skills from Mother or Dad.”

“Like that bitch would ever teach me anything.”  Nate ground out, spearing a stack of pancakes viciously.  “Dad did teach me how to make the pancakes.  Remember that morning when I was 4 or 5?  You had to have been 7 or 8 at the time.”

Brielle laughed.  “Mom was so pissed off at him. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing teaching a toddler how to make pancakes!  Just look at this kitchen!’  Dad kept saying that the lesson included not only how to make pancakes, but how to clean up after yourself but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Then she kept bitching for years about how she had to clean the kitchen from that whole affair.”  Nate frowned.  “Every good memory I have of childhood is ruined with her bitching.  You would think being married to Dad all these years would have calmed her down a bit.  I’m surprised they aren’t divorced yet.”

Brie just raised an eyebrow and stared at her brother.

He sighed.  “You’re right.  Unless it was Mom’s idea, it would never happen.  Dad’s too much of a pushover.”

Destiny spooned some of the egg and potato mixture onto her plate.  “Your dad says hi, by the way.  Your mom had nothing to say except for “You’re going to turn out just like him, Destiny.  You are both such a disappointment” before storming off into the kitchen.  But your dad sends his blessings and gifts for both of you.”

“Bitch.”  It was obvious how bitter Nate still was about the whole affair.  “Just because she didn’t get her own way, she had to…”

“Nate.”  Brielle interrupted.  “She’s ruined so much, let’s not let her ruin Christmas this year, okay?”

He shot angry eyes at his sister before he relaxed.  “You’re right, as usual.”

“And never forget it.”  She quipped, biting into an orange slice with a grin.

He tossed an orange peel at her and chewed his bite of pancake down, returning the grin.  “So, what’s the plan after we have present time?”

“Spontaneity, baby brother.”

He shot a quizzical look at his sister.

Destiny giggled.  “She means do whatever we feel like doing.  We don’t have a plan for today because today is a relax sort of day.”

“I can live with that.”  He nodded.  There was peaceful silence save for the chewing of food for a minute. 

Brielle sat back in her chair and hummed to herself.  “That was excellent.  I vote we do dishes after the tree and stockings and whatnot.”

“Oh shit.”  Nate shot up out of his chair.  At the quizzical looks from the girls, he explained somewhat sheepishly.  “I forgot to wrap your gifts.  I was going to send yours before Christmas, Desi, but decided to wait until after the rush.”

“Go then!”  The girls yelled in unison and burst into giggles when he darted out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

With bellies full and happy, the girls sojourned to the living room where the tree was set, and an eager Vigo pranced around the couch excitedly, barking and wagging his tail.  “Not yet, buddy.  Nate isn’t done with his presents yet.”  Brielle had already placed both her presents under the tree and hung up the stockings the night before and Destiny set about doing the same now.

Vigo settled on the couch with Brie, his head in her lap, paws hanging over the edge of the couch. 

“Do you think we’re getting too old for stockings and presents like this?”  Desi asked as she finished setting up her presents under the tree.  Settling down in the large chair, she brought her knees up and settled her chin on her crossed arms.

Brielle snorted.  “We’re only too old when we start being boring.  I don’t think there’s a law that says we have to stop celebrating with presents and such after you reach a certain age.  I’m 27, you’re what, 23?  Nate’s 24.  Who gives a rip if we’re not kids anymore?”  She motioned to the presents that had obviously been wrapped by her father.  “That’s something Dad always taught me.  When I turned 18, he practically begged me not to become Mom.  The only reason we had Christmas was because Dad was like a kid himself and would buy presents without Mom or her approval.  Christmas was never a particularly happy holiday for our family.”

“That’s so sad.”  The younger girl sighed unhappily.  “Helps me understand Nate a bit better, I suppose, knowing where he comes from.”  She got up to turn the lights on and settled back in her original position.  “Christmas was always a happy occasion for my family.  Even after the divorce, I had two different Christmases.  One on Christmas eve with Dad, and the other Christmas day with Mom.  They got along well enough they were able to talk about me to make sure duplicate presents weren’t bought.”

“Your parents are divorced?”  Brielle was surprised.  “They seem like really good friends whenever I’ve seen them together.”

“Yeah, about that.  I never understood why they divorced if they still were friends.  Mom explained it to me when I turned 18.”  She gave a half laugh.  “Imagine my surprise when I found out it wasn’t because they stopped loving each other.  She supposed that they never really loved each other like that.  Dad came out of the closet when I was 6 and they separated soon after that.  I suppose it wasn’t as much of a shock as I originally thought, though, when I looked back on my time with Dad.  He never had a new girlfriend and he had a lot of ‘bros’ over.  I don’t think anything happened whenever I was in the house, Dad wouldn’t do that to me.”

The girls sat in companionable silence when suddenly Brie perked up.  “I have Christmas music on my iPod!”  Vigo was unceremoniously dumped onto the floor as she dashed to her room to grab the music player.  Unplugging Nate’s iPod, she quickly turned on the Christmas playlist and grinned.  “That’ll hurry him up.”

Sure enough, not halfway through the first song Nate came barreling down the stairs, presents in arm.  “Turn it off, turn it off!  I’m here!”

“No way, Nate.  The deal has always been Christmas music on Christmas day.  That’s what you agreed on.”  Brielle stood guard in front of the stereo and glared at him.

He made a face and arranged his gifts under the tree.  “There.  Don’t be surprised if you get coal, Sis.”

“Ha.  You’re a comedian.”  She turned the music on low and moved back to the couch.  “Deliver presents, Santa.”

“Ho ho ho.”  Nate grinned and tossed a red-wrapped box at his sister, a green box at his girlfriend, and took a silver one for himself.  “Dad’s first.”

The contents of the boxes from Dad always surprised the siblings, even after all these years.  Desi had never experienced a Sam Reynolds present before this Christmas and was horribly confused.  “What on earth…?”

Nate grinned widely.  “My dad, for all his faults, is a genius.  He loves making puzzles and the like.  He likes you; otherwise he’d have never done this for you, too.  He knows Brie and I can handle it, and he obviously believes you can as well.”  He held up a wood box and a piece of paper.  “It’s basically a cryptogram, like what Dan Brown used in The DaVinci Code, only Dad’s been making them since he was 10. Of course, they’re more elaborate now than they were when he made them as a kid, but they’re a lot of fun.  He’s been giving Brie and I one of these for Christmas every year since we were 5.”

Destiny held hers in hand and examined the paper.  “So the riddle on here…?”

“Solves the puzzle.”  The siblings said in unison, already at work solving theirs.

[create puzzle…just not now…]

“Well that was a bit easier than I thought it would be.”  Desi was holding in her hand a gift certificate to [store].

Brielle was examining the gift card to her favorite online nerd haven:  ThinkGeek.com and the gift card to NewEgg.com.  “Dad went way out this year.  I wonder why?”

Nate was in shock at the amount on his Sears card.  “Did he give you 300 as well?”

Both girls nodded, dumbfounded.

“I wonder what bank Dad robbed.”  Nate mused.

“Mom’s, I bet.”  Brielle smirked.

When the presents had finally been opened, the paper tossed, and the living room cleaned up, Brielle glanced outside and groaned.  “There has got to be at least 2 feet of snow out there.”

“Huh.”  Nate’s eyebrows went up.  “Guess it isn’t a warm spell after all.”

“Ya think, genius?”  A shiver went when down her spine. 

A whine at the door alerted all three to see Vigo standing by the door, eager to go outside now that the fun inside was over.

“Time for a walk, I think.”  Nate grinned, tossing a ball up in the air to tease the dog, already all dressed up for the snow.  He tossed Destiny’s winter outerwear at her.  “You go change Sis.  Destiny and I will wait outside for you.”

With a bark, Vigo charged out of the now open glass door, followed by his master and girlfriend.  Brielle made a face at the fluffy white and stalked back to her room. 

“I hate snow.”  She grumbled, pulling on a pair of long johns before her jeans.  Wool socks were quickly slid on and she browsed through her suitcase in search of an appropriate long-sleeved shirt that would work well under her warm jacket.  Stamping her feet into her boots and tucking her jeans into the boots, she zipped up her brown jacket, shoved her Russian monstrosity on her head, wiggled her fingers into her striped gloves, and wrapped her patch-work scarf around her neck.  “Here’s hoping I don’t freeze.”

She slid the door open and stepped out into the chilled air and listened for the happy sound of Vigo. 

“Geez, Brielle.  It’s not a blizzard out here.”  Nate chucked the ball in her direction and Vigo dashed towards her.  He wasn’t wearing a hat, had a simple black scarf, and had a pair of hobo fingerless gloves on and was wearing a heavy sweatshirt instead of a coat.  Destiny was a little more sensibly dressed, that is, she had a hat on. 

“I’m from San Francisco, dumbass.”  Brielle scowled at Nate before bending down and petting Vigo.  Taking the ball from him, she tossed it back in Nate’s direction.

“Were you serious about the road trip next summer?”  Nate asked as she caught up to the pair. 

She nodded.  “Quite.”

“What road trip?”  Desi asked, the quizzical expression on her face slowly transforming to one of excitement.

“We want to take a road trip next summer, the three of us.  We’ll take off two months of work if we can swing it and travel the United States.”

“That sounds like fun!”  She clapped her hands with glee.  “As soon as school lets out, we can go.  I don’t have a summer job lined up yet, so that works just fine.”

“Awesome!”  Brielle laughed excitedly.  “This summer will kick ass!”

A dull thud sounded and wet snow dripped down her neck, causing her to shriek in surprise.  She turned to glare at her brother and instead saw Destiny standing there grinning.  “You’ve gotten weak living in California.”

“Oh you’re on Little Sister.”

A war broke out in the yard between the three nations, with the black emissary who was barking and dashing about between the three.  He didn’t have a side, he was simply enjoying the frivolity.

When they finally ceased the snow fight, they all four resembled moving snowmen.  Brielle shivered and pointed to the house.  “I’m going to go take a nice warm shower.  I can’t take the cold anymore.”

“Baby!”  Nate yelled after her jokingly.  “You’re nothing more than a wimpy Californian hippy!”

Her only response was a middle finger. 

 -------------------

[this will be expanded to include conversation.  I cba to do it atm.]

The week went by very much the same way.  Snow kept falling which meant that the fights happened daily.  The evenings were spent around a table planning for the summer road trip.  There tended to be more arguments about where to go and what to do but eventually, progress was being made.

Nate, being a car person, wanted to hit every racetrack in the United States.  The girls wholeheartedly disagreed with this.  They conceded to visiting the Indianapolis International Motor Speedway, Bristol, and the Salt Flats.  Brielle wanted to visit every National Park and the dating duo nixed that to Yosemite and Yellowstone.  And Destiny wanted to hit every Hard Rock Café and major tourist attractions.  They agreed to visit most of the Café’s and the tourist attractions.

New Year’s Eve came too soon for the brother and sister.  The trio spent the evening in front of the fireplace with the fire roaring and cocoa with marshmallows.

The ride to the airport was filled with excited chatter.  As they unloaded her bag from the trunk, a mournful silence filled the group.  There was a sense of foreboding that the three of them shook off as simply sadness of the parting.  There were hugs and tears and promises of group skyping and calls to keep in touch and to finish the plans for the trip.

Parting is always such sweet sorrow.

*Note.  Thank you, Joss Whedon for the amazingness that is Firefly.  I’m sorry if this offends anyone.  I honestly didn’t realize what I had done with the naming until someone pointed it out and then I simply had to make a joke out of it.  

next chapter >>