And so cometh the final day of our little family vacation to Whitehood. We've come a long way with my folks in this past week - From not even knowing I had a brother to actively talking to him for the majority of the day, from my parents holding an at most begrudging neutral stance towards my wife and son to Cecily and mom always talking on the sofa and dad and Cene always playing out in the yard. Granted, Cene's still a bit bored, and the fact that he's still wary of Flip after he bit him is all too apparent, but he seems to be way less reckless ever since the incident. He learned some very important life lessons from this too.
"Mm! Cecily, your meals are simply a delight!" Mom nodded as she took a bite of her breakfast, "I'm gonna miss having someone else take care of breakfast at times for a change..."
"Now now, mother, I'm not all that." Cecily laughed, "No really, I'm just below average in terms of cooking."
"Still beats having to see my wife toil away at the kitchen all by herself every day." Dad approved, "We ain't a picky bunch, sweetheart. We've eaten worse."
That's... certainly one way to praise the cook. Well, he means well, and I think everyone gets that, but dad really should learn to compliment people better, cause his current way with words is more like a bird with its feathers plucked out.
"Hey, if you feel so bad about me making food all the time, how about you learn some recipes yourself?" Mom suggested with a smug smirk.
"Hell no, I ain't built for the culinary arts." Dad was pretty darn honest about his inability to cook, "Latham's got potential though."
"What? I've never cooked in my life." Latham blocked it, "I'll burn the house down."
"I wonder if that's more of a threat or a warning." I chuckled as I took a bite of my food, only to immediately spit it back out, "Blegh, what the-!? Sugar in the salt shaker!?"
"Ah, you fell for that one, I see." Latham smirked, "Finally, I was beginning to think you weren't ever gonna use that damned shaker."
Usually, I'd have some qualms about Latham's pranks and their intentions, but I just can't get mad at this one. Indeed, ever since my little revenge prank I pulled on him and Cene the other day, the severity and intensity of his pranks has gotten a lot more tame and just overall meant to be taken in stride instead of desperate fear for your life. I'm proud of my younger brother's growth.
"Well, it's a good thing you got your payout today, at least." I chuckled, "If I didn't grab it now, then I definitely would've gone home without getting pranked."
"Ah, that's..." They got kind of quiet, "Lune, you guys are really going back to Cardina tomorrow?"
"Won't it be a difficult journey for you all?" Mom asked out of worry.
"Yeah, you guys can stay a bit longer, can't you?" Latham too objected to the idea.
What, what? You guys were so obviously against us being here in the beginning, and now you're suddenly all for it? Man, I feel like the boyfriend that finally got approval from his girlfriend's family to date their daughter. Except, my girlfriend's family is my family, so that makes me... my own girlfriend? Uhh, where was I going with this?
"We wouldn't wanna worry Ed and the others too much, and I already told them we'll be back in about a week." I explained, "Visiting isn't all that cheap sadly, neither time wise nor money wise, but we'll look into our options for the future."
"Mn..." Mom and dad looked at the situation reasonably from our standpoint before sighing and agreeing, "Alright, we understand..."
"Awe we going home finally?" Cene was all but ready to leave right this instant, "Yaaaay!"
What a heartless boy, to so blatantly show his relatives just how much he wants to leave them... Not. I know Cene likes my parents and Latham, at least to a somewhat positive degree, so when he says this, he's talking more so that he misses Ed, Anna and the others.
"So then, kids, when are you gonna go tomorrow?" Dad asked.
"We'll be going early in the morning. I'd say around 7 should be good enough to evade the majority of the traffic in the borders and dock." I added.
"And will you be bringing any food with you for the road?" Mom asked, "Do you have enough money?"
"What kinda question is that?" Latham glanced at her, "They're as loaded as a double-barrel shotgun."
"Don't worry mother, we have everything ready for tomorrow." Cecily reassured her.
"And that?" Mother nudged her, "When are you gonna showcase that?"
"S-Soon..." Cecily looked awkward.
Again with this mysterious topic they're hiding from the rest of us. I used to just think it cute that her and mother are hiding something away from me, but it's already the last day of our stay here and she's so enamored by whatever that thing is that she even asked for us to stay a while longer. Besides that, she's also never been one to keep a lie for too long, especially if it's something minor. This tells me it's something she'd keep to her grave if she had to, which is actually kind of worrying. I wonder if it's a problem, and if it is, can I even hope to be of use to her and help her fix it...?
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"Well then, we'll be heading to bed early tonight." Cecily picked Cene up, "We've got a big day tomorrow. Good night, everyone."
"Good night, kids." Mom finished up her knitting, "We'll try to get up and see you off before you go."
"Mhm." Dad nodded, "But no promises. I've got work tomorrow."
"Just wake me up as well." Latham said, "I got something to do."
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Yet another prank?" I chuckled.
"Nah, but I'd like to send you guys off with a gift."
"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Latham. You really didn't have to." Cecily smiled, "Then, see you tomorrow."
"Yep, sleep tight." They all said.
Geez, already the end of the day? Just like that, it passed in the blink of an Eye, dammit... I wanted to do a lot of things today, seeing as this was the last day I'd get to see my parents and brother for a good long while. I'm not sure when our next trip to Whitehood is, just that it DOES exist in our plans. Still, Trivis Numerica is a long journey to make from Centralis City, so we really can't afford to make short burst visits like you would to say, Lichtenstelle or something like that.
"Hey." Cecily suggested as she helped Cene change into his pajamas, "Say... N-Nevermind."
"What?"
"It's nothing, don't worry."
"Cecily, just tell me what you wanted to say." I urged her, "Don't do me like that, now I'm all suspenseful."
"Like I said, it's just something stupid." She dejectedly sighed, "I just wanted to show you that surprise ahead of time, but I realized that'd ruin the entire point, so I backed out. There, you happy now?"
Ah, so she's finally reached the point where she can't keep it a secret any longer. Right, I was beginning to wonder when this day would come, but I'm still surprised she managed to keep things under wraps for this long. Don't get me wrong, if I pursued the case, I would have cracked it in no longer than a few days, but since this surprise was aimed at me, I didn't wanna just spoil it for myself and ruin it for the both of us. I do have to wonder what exactly she has in store for me, but I'll wait until she's comfortable to tell me herself, which is...
"Not now." I shook my head.
"Hm?"
"If the surprise isn't ready, then isn't that a good reason to not show me it yet?" I elaborated, but also gave her the option to choose for herself, "But still, if it's something like a gift, then I'll be happy even if you showed me the blueprints. Do what you think is right."
"Blueprints... Heh, the Sol in you is peeking out." She giggled.
"He's not." I shook my head, closing the distance between us.
"Well yeah, obviously, I was just jok-"
Hugging her without even letting her finish the sentence, it seems I've made her quite a bit awkward. She kind of froze up in the moment, unsure of what to do in this situation. I could already see it in her Eyes, she regretted mentioning Sol midway through. Cecily doesn't have any good memories from that time, especially since she wasn't there to begin with. No, the reason she wasn't there is exactly why she has no pleasant memories of it. She's made her unhappiness with mine and Marina's relationship all too apparent, and for good reason too, but she still chose to go out of her way and mention it. Why?
"Sol died back in Lichtenstelle... with Marina." I explained as I carefully pet her hair, "And unless someone else does, you never usually mention that time."
"Lune...?"
"Cecily, what's the thing you and mom have been preparing for the last couple of days?" I asked.
"That's..." She glummed up, "Sorry, but I... I'd like to show you when it's finished. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tease you like this on purpose."
"No, I said I'd be happy either way, just so long as you're the one to choose." I added with a light chuckle, "Besides, where's the harm in keeping me in suspense for a bit longer? It adds to the suspense."
"Yeah, I guess." She sighed.
Cecily wants to show me something. Something she seems to be proud of, but also ashamed to admit she has it for me. As if it's a dodgy topic, she just can't seem to get the words out properly when it comes to this exact topic. For every other part of the day, she's just as carefree as ever, but it's only when we're talking about this supposed gift that she gets all flustered. I need to make sure I seem approachable from now on so that she can more casually hand it to me.
"But then, when exactly can I see the gift?" I thought to ask.
"Sometime after we make it back home." She revealed.
"Huh!? That long!?"
"Well yeah, it's still not finished, and I can't exactly work on it on the ride back home because we're sitting right next to each other." She added, "And hey, what ever happened to you liking being kept in suspense?"
"Not for that long, dammit!" I then gave up before going to change as well, "Ugh, I guess I'll wait then. I'm gonna go change in the other room real quick."
"Sure." Cecily returned a warm smile, "Lune, dear?"
"Yes, muffin~?" I replied just as warmly as a sort of joke.
"Thanks for being patient with me." She truthfully showed her gratitude, "This gift was supposed to be something to make you happy, but I feel like the only thing it's been good for is making you worry about me."
"...You're having fun making it with mom, right?" I asked.
Nodding without so much as even saying a word, she kept staring at me with intrigued Eyes as if waiting to hear out where I'm going with this.
"Then I'm happy too." I chuckled as I closed the door to the room, "And I'll wait as long as I need to if it means you'll be just as happy with the end product as I will... Oh, but I'd be way happier if you could just hurry it up a teensy tiny bit."
"Haha, I'll try." She flashed me a thumbs up.
After changing into my sleepwear, I brushed my teeth and returned to bed without starting any more convos. Mom, dad, Latham and Cene were all asleep by now, and Cecily was feeling a tad drowsy as well now that we know this trip is coming to a close. We talked a bit more in bed about how we're excited for tomorrow and how nice it'll be to see Anna, Ed and the others, but made no efforts to keep each other up for any longer than that. I love these nights where everyone's just... not angry.