Jane had grown up either at her house or at the Frier’s house, to her the Frier’s were just as close to her as her own family. Dean and Amelia were like second parents and the Frier kids she had grown up with were like siblings to her. Unfortunately the younger kids probably won't remember her as much as the older ones, but that was fine for now. She was here and was looking forward to hanging around with the chaos of the Frier household once again.
The same could be said for how Dean and Amelia felt towards Jane. While they already had seven children, Jane was practically their unofficial eighth child with how much time they had spent together.
That was why tears began to form in Jane, Dean, and Amelia’s eyes before they once again hugged each other in a group hug.
“It's good to have you back.” Amelia sweetly said in a motherly tone.
“Mhm.” Jane could only nod and stand there, taking in the embrace with all she had. Eric was on the side and could only watch with a large smile seeing them reunite with each other.
It was only after the door to their house opened and a younger voice yelled out that they stopped hugging. “Ma when's dinner!” The voice said.
“Give me a minute!” Amelia yelled back before she asked Jane, “Would you like to join us for dinner?”
“That was the plan; come here and see how everyone's doing, eat some delicious food, make sure you're not angry that I haven't visited yet.” Jane replied as she followed everyone while they made their way into the house.
From the outside the house looked like a weirdly put together puzzle piece as rooms stuck out from all sides, but the inside looked quite spacious and comfy. There was a lot of room to run around as it had many wide open halls that connected to the five, maybe six bedrooms on the main floor.
“If you didn't come by tomorrow I would have stormed over to yer place!” Amelia said as she made her way into their large kitchen right next to their dining room. “I'm glad you came today, Eric caught us up with some stuff but I wanna hear more from yer own mouth.”
“Sure, I have plenty of stories.” Jane sat down at the dinner table, which was a long redwood table made by conjoining two similar tables together since that was the only way to fit all nine— ten including Jane— together.
The table was already getting fuller by the second as more siblings streamed into the dining room as the smell of food was already spreading throughout the house. Jane hadn't seen them in a while and boy did most of them look completely different. They were all so big now.
The most familiar sibling she knew and had played with a lot when she was younger, came down the stairs carrying the newest Frier in her arms. Hannah Frier was only fourteen when she left and now, just like Jane, she was an adult.
Like most Frier's, she had golden brown hair and some hue of orange eyes but instead of farm clothes like her parents, she wore an apron full of paint splotches— It seemed like her hobby of painting hadn’t disappeared.
‘Is she trying to become an artist?’ Jane thought and was about to ask but saw Hannah gently put down the three year old Emily and then walk over to her seat.
“Your back.” Hannah tried to look mad by crossing her arms but Jane could tell she still hadn't quite mastered acting— none of the Frier’s were any good at acting really.
“Yep!” Jane got up and hugged the ‘mad’ Hannah who seemed to accept it by not stepping away but she knew she had to apologize. “Sorry. I probably should've swung by yesterday when I dropped Eric off. My bad”
Hannah finally hugged her back and said, “Good, as long as you know what you did wrong… I was scared you didn't care about me.”
“Of course not, you guys are family.” With those words, a smile came to Hannah’s face and she sat down in the empty chair next to Jane.
Now the dinner table was full except for the parents who were busy cooking the food and the oldest sibling who appeared not to be here. Jane sat in the middle, to her right was Hannah and Emily and to her left was Eric and Alex. The other side of the table was for the parents and Bobby and Andrea who were the middle children— the former was nine and the latter was fourteen.
Noise was the main thing that could be found at the table as they all talked, fought or argued amongst each other. She noticed some of them looking at her either trying to figure out who she was because they were too young to fully remember or they remembered her but as it had been a long time and they weren’t comfortable initiating a conversation.
Jane was only really close to Hannah, Eric and Reina who was the oldest sibling, the others that remembered her, and those that didn't, hopefully would break the ice that had been built up over the years and get back to how they used to act around each other.
A few minutes passed as Jane talked with Hannah and Eric, they asked some basic questions like how they were doing but they also told each other a few shorter stories getting a laugh or two from one another.
Then a silence descended upon the table as the children heard the sound of food being carried into the dining room. Plates upon plates of food were brought in waves, the second they hit the table was the go ahead for everyone to help themselves. Most of the food was vegetables as that's what the Frier’s mainly grew, but there were also plates of bread and meats for the taking.
It was almost like a war occurred between everyone as they wielded their utensils in battle for supremacy over the food. Jane couldn't help herself and promptly dominated everyone with her newfound strength— and the fact that no other adult participated in this childish endeavor.
“Hey no fair!” “She's good…” “I won't let you!” The three youngest yelled their frustrations but they couldn't do anything but complain as the rules of dinner warfare stated.
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“Alright everyone, calm down already!” Amelia yelled, seeing as some of her children, including the three year old Emily, about to start another war of words against Jane. “Do you remember Jane? She was the one who came over almost everyday a few years back.”
Emily and Alex shook their heads, they were either not born yet or were a toddler, while Bobby the third youngest asked, “Is she the crazy girl who would come over covered in mud all the time?”
Everyone old enough to remember Jane’s younger self had a good laugh after hearing Bobby say that. Amelia looked at Jane, shrugged and said. “That's the one!”
She then turned and asked Andrea who had her head down and was silently eating away. “Do you remember her honey?”
Andrea nodded her head and looked up to Jane who was smiling at her, causing her to flinch and look back down.
“Are you shy honey? Don't ye remember how you two used to wrestle each other in the mud when you were younger?” Amelia asked and Andrea’s face went red with embarrassment.
“Ma…”
“Haha don't worry, we were both a little wild back then weren't we Andrea?” Jane wanted to close the gap that formed between them and ever so slightly accomplished that as Andrea had a faint smile after hearing her.
“Oh boy do I remember those days, there's probably still mud stains on the floor that haven't been cleaned up yet after all this time.” Dean commented with a mouthful of potatoes.
“Sorry bout all that.” Jane apologized— better now then never.
The meal continued as the plethora of different mouths made their own unique sounds as they went about eating the piping hot delicious food in front of them. Jane couldn't help but think that if this food was good, how amazing would Eric’s food be? He was a hired chef after all.
Most conversation halted during the meal as everyone was more focused on the food then talking amongst each other. Only after everyone was full and most of the younger siblings had already disappeared off to who knows where, did conversation pick back up.
Jane was obviously interrogated about her years at the academy for a couple of minutes and she made sure to catch them up on the main things. She told them about her girlfriend which got excited reactions from everyone who hasn't heard yet, she told them she graduated with high grades which they were proud of— a little shocked though.
As the conversation teetered towards classholders once they asked what she did at school, Amelia couldn't help but ask Jane while cleaning off the table, “So Jane, we heard the announcement, there's gonna be a big celebration then?”
“Yep, a huge town wide celebration!” Jane replied trying to sound enthusiastic but she was still a little nervous on the inside.
“Oh I can't wait! The mayor said you'd start the celebration off with a bang, what are you thinking of doing? Showing off your powers?” Dean said, obviously similarity interested in the fascinating powers of classholders like Eric.
“I haven't exactly decided what I'm gonna do yet but showcasing my powers is a must.” Jane answered. “Why? Curious to see my powers?”
“Hell ya!” Dean nodded. “Eric told us about part of it, but seeing something and hearing about it are two different things.”
“Mmm, well maybe now's a good time.” Jane stood up. “I wish I could stay longer, but I'm gonna head home since I haven't told Ma and Pa where I am— lest they get worried their daughter who had just arrived disappeared for the night. I can demonstrate my powers as I leave, like a warm up for the celebration.”
“Give it a week before your parents stop worrying— Anyways, let's see this!” Dean excitedly stood up and followed Jane out the door into the front yard, joined by Eric and Hannah. Amelia finished cleaning the rest up quickly, made sure Emily was alright by herself, before she ran out of the door to not miss what Jane was about to do.
The moon was already high in the sky and its bright white light created shadows of Jane as she stood in the middle of the yard ready. A cold breeze caressed her long hair and tickled her nose but she confidently grinned and raised her hands above her dramatically. One golden phantom hand she had shown off twice already, materialized underneath her and lifted her into the night sky.
She didn't fly that high, she was low enough that those on the ground could still see her and talk to her since she still had a few more things she wanted to say before she left. Little heads peeked from behind the windows of the house, curious as to what was happening outside.
“So what do you think, pretty cool ya?” Jane smiled and got a fatherly nod from Dean. “Before I go though, are you guys free tomorrow in the afternoon?”
“What's up? We can make some free time for you if you need.” Amelia said, whilst hugging onto Dean’s arm to avoid the ever approaching cold of the night.
“It's a surprise but if you have time come meet me at my place tomorrow at noon! Anyone is welcome! Eric and Hannah, you two better show up!” Jane yelled down as she raised the hand higher. “Goodnight and thanks for the food! See you later!”
They waved at her and watched as the hand flew in the sky away from their place and towards the Bluegold's hill. They stayed outside for a couple of minutes, just relaxing in the moon lit front yard before they headed inside for the night.
“Those phantom hands are pretty cool, I'll give her that!” Dean whispered to himself while he closed the door to the house.
Jane, who was high in the sky, quickly arrived back at her home and quietly walked inside, trying not to wake Abigail up if she was already asleep. She was surprised to see her entire family chilling on the living room couch whilst solving a puzzle, even the little gremlin was participating.
“I'm home!” Jane announced her arrival and the first to react was Abigail who ran up to her for a hug, which Jane would never reject. She could get used to this real quick.
“Aren't you a ball of warmth and joy!” Jane complimented Abigail and tickled her while she was in her arms, getting an immediate reaction of giggling out of her.
“Welcome back! Where were you? The Frier’s?” Rosalie asked while still sitting at the couch.
“Yep, had dinner there, caught up a little with them. I'll probably head over there every other day since there's a lot to talk about.” Jane replied and plopped herself down on the couch next to her parents. Abigail wrestled herself out of her arms and splayed herself across Rosalie’s and Jane's laps.
Jane and Rosalie simply looked at each and smiled. What an adorable creature!
“Are you guys busy tomorrow at noon?” Jane asked them while picking up a puzzle piece and contributing her talents to the puzzle.
“There are always chores to be done but we can make some time for you. Why what's up?” Amelia asked, and Jeff answered with a similar reply as well.
“It's a surprise you'll see tomorrow!” Jane got up and yawned. “I'm heading to bed, goodnight!”
They wished her a goodnight as Jane headed up the creaky stairs into her bedroom where she quickly stripped, threw on her pajamas then dove under the sheets. She closed her eyes and let the darkness of sleep take over.
Another great and fulfilling day over.