"Riley?"
She stirred with a small groan as she opened her eyes, taking in the interior of the car and the garage visible through the windshield.
"Riley, we're home."
After a moment she finally snapped awake and straightened herself out, noticing Andrew giggling as she lifted her head from his shoulder.
"Enjoyed your nap?"
"Y-yeah, your shoulder makes for a nice pillow~" She joked with a chuckle as she unbuckled her seatbelt, and opened the door next to her. She noticed muffled music from behind the garage door, like from an instrument?
"Hello again Riley." Rick snapped her out of her confusion, stepping to the side to let her have access to the trunk.
"So, my plan is roughly this- Riley can take the smaller things, the buckets of paint and other stuff, and me and Andrew will take the boxes. Sounds alright?"
Riley quietly nodded, taking two paint cans and walking over to the door to the living room, pressing on the door handle with her elbow and stepping inside.
"Hey Riley, how did the shopping go?" Ella greeted her from the sofa as she stood up with a slight stretch, including her tail, as Riley made her way past the couch. The soft music she heard was a bit clearer but still muffled, the sounds of a string instrument playing a happy tune making Riley tilt her head as she tried to figure out its source.
"What's that sound?" Riley murmured to herself, slowly moving on as she listened in, enjoying the gentle, uplifting tune.
"Lily is practicing for the Christmas recital at her school. She's doing quite well, isn't she?" Ella responded, more than a hint of pride in her voice.
Riley couldn't help but agree, nodding with a slight smile, happy that Lily felt alright again.
"What instrument does she play?" She asked with curiosity in her voice, stepping aside as Rick and Andrew came through with the first long box, quickly carrying it upstairs.
"A violin, has been for a couple of years now. She's improved so much over the past few months, she's gonna knock it out of the park!"
Riley smiled a bit at Ella's enthusiasm, a follow-up question pushing through her mind-
"When's the recital?"
"In a week at four. Breakfast, then some relaxing, then we all go cheer her on, and afterwards we have the Christmas dinner."
"Even me?" Riley asked a bit incredulously.
"Of course! She'd love to see you cheer her on with the rest of us." Ella responded with a smile and a reassuring smile as Andrew and Rick walked down the stairs back towards the garage, the latter raising an eyebrow at Riley as he walked by, prompting her to get moving.
After a brief sprint upstairs she walked past Lily's door where the music was the loudest, making her smile a bit as she pushed on towards the storage room, putting the cans of paint in the far corner before jogging back down, past the other duo already carrying another box.
After grabbing some more cans of paint and taking them upstairs, she noticed the music had stopped, confused looking Lily peeking from behind her door, eyes going a bit wide as Riley spotted her.
With a soft smile towards her sister Riley pushed on, the heavy cans feeling like they were digging into her fingers before she set them down, taking a chance to inspect their colors.
Matte black? Midnight green? What were these for...
Riley didn't get too much of a moment to ponder as she heard another box being carried upstairs, slinking out of the room and standing to the side as the furniture parts were deposited inside, quickly running back downstairs to grab the last can of paint and a plastic bag full of other supplies.
She inspected the bag briefly after she placed it down, the contents not revealing much. Stencils? A small bottle of white paint? Masking tape?
As another box was placed down, Rick called out to Riley, causing her to get up with a start as her curiosity was noticed.
"Alright Riley, carry the carpet in here and that's pretty much everything for you, we'll take care of the last few boxes and then we're done as well."
She nodded and hasted downstairs, happy to hear Lily's practice resuming, the cheerful tune motivating her on as she tried to pick up the long carpet, surprised by its sheer weight.
With a huff and a puff she managed to balance it on her shoulder, slowly pushing on, just a teensy bit afraid that the weight would break the wooden floor underneath her as she made her way over to the stairs.
Every step was a struggle as she had to tilt the carpet so that it wouldn't bump into the stairs ahead, her palms burning a bit as the material slid through her grasp, having to let go of the carpet so that it wouldn't pull her with it as it fell behind her.
"Fuck..." She grunted in exhaustion, not knowing how would she manage lifting the thing up if it didn't work out the first time.
"Need some help Riley?" She heard Ella ask as the carpet slid down the stairs, the skunk walking up to her and helping her lift the carpet up with a grunt, the split weight enabling the slight girl to actually carry her share.
"T-thanks Ella..." She grunted back as they carried it upstairs, Riley utterly exhausted after they set the carpet down to the side of the boxes, catching her breath.
"I've no idea how did Rick expect you to lift all that alone, we barely even did it together..." Ella added, straightening herself as she spotted the devil himself help carry another box up.
"Oi, sweetie, what's up with this carpet?" She called out to Rick, a bit of an annoyance in her tone as Riley stepped to the side to give the duo some space.
"What?" He responded confused, his expression a it concerned as he looked at the exhausted Riley, a look inside the storage room explaining everything-
"Oh goodness, I-I'm so sorry, I meant the smaller one for your office, not this massive thing..." He sounded apologetic, walking up to Riley with a sorry expression on his face.
"You alright Riley?"
"I-I'll be fine, m-managed to carry it to stairs and it slipped out, E-Ella helped me with the rest of the way..."
"No wonder, don't think I could lift this thing upstairs on my own... you sure you alright?"
"Y-yeah, just my hands h-hurt a bit..." She looked at her palms, pale skin covered with scratches all over, some bleeding a bit.
"I'm so sorry Riley..." Rick sounded almost heartbroken.
"Sweetie, go wash them with cold running water and put some peroxide on them, there should be some underneath the sink." Ella stepped in in with a motherly tone, Riley nodding as she walked towards her room past Rick and Andrew, the latter sharing his dad's expression.
With a press of her elbow she got back into her temporary room and went straight into the bathroom. Cold water felt so good on the small scratches before it was replaced with a stinging burning, peroxide cauterizing them. As she wiped her hands on the towel, tiny beads of blood staining the white material, she heard someone knock on her door, Ella's voice quickly following up with-
"Riley, I got some bandages!"
She let her in, the determined skunk mom quickly getting to work, wrapping some sterile wrapping around Riley's hands, securing them neatly.
"T-thanks for this, Ella..."
"It's nothing Riley, don't worry. How are you feeling aside from that?"
"Just a fair bit tired, g-guess I could eat something..."
"We didn't really make any real lunch today while you three were gone, how do reheated toasts from the morning sound?"
Riley nodded slightly, Ella giving her a wide smile and extending her arms for a hug. With a slight smile, her daughter leaned towards her and let Ella hold her for a while, the gentle rocking to the sides relaxing Riley more than she thought it would.
"You stay here for a bit, gather your bearings and all, and I'll bring you the toasts, alright?" She continued with a cheerful tone as Riley leaned back from the hug, quickly bringing up an objection-
"You don't h-have to Ella, I can bring them here m-myself..."
"But I want to sweetie. You need a moment to rest, and it's not like I'll strain myself carrying a plate up one floor." Ella responded with a giggle, laying her hand on Riley's shoulder before continuing-
"It's really fine sweetie, you're not burdening me, or any of us with anything. Promise." With a reassuring smile she walked out of Riley's room, the girl taking a seat on her bed and rolling her shoulders.
She was unused to anyone willing to give her a hand like that, not even in the... slightly better days. She was on her own, and she prepared accordingly, both with her knife and her mind.
Feeling like this was so weird, with just how everyone seemed to just... care about her. Not as an entry in the database of children to be accounted of, or a mouth to be fed, but as a, as a-
As a person.
The realization caused a tear to roll in the corner of her eye before she noticed something that distracted her, a small scrap of paper laid in front of her door, must have been slid underneath it at some point and she just hadn't noticed earlier.
She picked it up and took a look at what was written on it, the simple question confusing her.
'''
How are you?
'''
The soft tune that kept playing in the background brought her attention to the most likely possibility as to the author of this note, the rounded cursive letters and a tiny heart instead of the dot in the question mark solidifying her guess.
D-does Lily want to talk with her but is too afraid to speak up directly?
After grabbing a pen she slowly scribbled down a response, her writing downright minimalistic compared to Lily's-
'''
I'm alright, a bit sore. You're doing great with your practice. I hope you're not mad I wore your favorite hat.
'''
Her scribbling was interrupted with a knocking on her door, setting down the scrap of paper on her bed as she got up to take the plate of toasts from Ella.
"Thanks, Ella."
"You're welcome sweetie. Maybe playing with Timmy a bit would help you relax? Everyone else is busy, and Rick is taking a nap."
She considered Ella's offer, nodding in response.
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"That'd be nice, but doesn't he need help with the gamepad thing?"
"Yeah, so that's why he's brought out the wooden bricks, dragged the entire box into the play room, hah." Ella smiled in response, closing her eyes and quietly rocking as she listened to Lily's practice.
"She's really doing well, haha..."
Ella's smile widened a bit as she nodded, slowly wiggling her finger around in tune with the music as she reached for the door handle and closed Riley's room, slowly walking downstairs, her steps trying to follow the tune as well.
Riley opened the door just a bit to let the music in as she ate, wiggling a bit on her bed as she crunched through the toast. She was quickly done with the snack, placing the plate on the dresser, too tired to move her rear downstairs to place it in the dishwasher at the moment.
She washed her fingers, thankful that none of the butter got on her hands, before placing the peroxide back under the sink, doing a double take as she saw other stuff that was stuffed there. Who needs so much peroxide? Why is this box of baking soda here? Dish soap?
With a raised brow she closed the small cabinet, shrugging as she grabbed the piece of paper from her bed, sneaking up to Lily's door and sliding the note under the door before making her way over to the play room, Timmy already busy trying to make a tower out of the small wooden blocks.
"Wanna play Riley?" He asked with a smile as he looked up, Riley sitting cross legged on the other side of the tower he was building, a mix of letter blocks and smaller wooden pieces combining into the multicolor masterpiece.
"Sure!" With a slight smile she started building her own tower next to his, trying to balance its weight as she piled the blocks on roughly symmetrically.
"Why do you have these on your hands?" Timmy spoke up, looking at Riley's bandaged hands.
"I hurt them a bit, but it's all fine."
"Why?"
"Why not?" She hoped that Andrew's trick would work here again.
"What?"
She giggled before continuing, managing to get halfway to Timmy's tower before a fresh addition caused his to collapse right in direction of Riley, a few bricks bouncing off her face with the rest crashing into her lap.
"Ow." She responded with a slight grimace, rubbing her forehead and nose a bit, one of the bricks having rekindled the dull pain as it bounced off the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry!" Timmy squeaked as he got up and waded over to her before planting a small smooch right on the tip of her nose.
She blinked a few times at him as she realized what just happened, asking flatly-
"Why did you do that?"
"Mom always kisses my nose when I get an owie and she makes it feel better!"
An amused smile broke her grimace as she reached up and ruffled his hair with a giggle, the lil kit laughing in turn.
"Well, thank you for that Timmy!" She replied with a smile, before getting a sly idea to curl her fingers and try to replicate the scritching Ella gave her. She rubbed the skin of Timmy's scalp with her finger nails, judging by his expression much to his enjoyment.
His giggles made way over to contented chirls as he walked closer to her yet again to her surprise, before trying to hug her, her sitting position and the bricks on her lap didn't exactly making it easy.
"Let's try this..." She cleared her lap of any debris and turned Timmy around, sitting him down on her legs as he faced the same direction she was, one of her arms holding him close and the other resuming her gentle scritches.
He kept squirming in her hold, his soft tail trying to wrap itself around her arm, Riley giggling a bit as she felt the wonderfully soft undercoat brushing against her skin, matching Timmy's soft chirls.
After a minute or so Riley stopped, stopping her strokes and pulling her arm from around him, letting him out before his tail tugged on her forearm, not strongly enough to pull it back on its own, but enough to be noticeable. With a giggle she wrapped her arm around him once more, adding in the other one and hugging him a bit tighter, smooching the top of his head.
"Don't fall asleep on me again, haha." She giggled and decided to prevent that herself, her hands sliding underneath his blouse and starting to gently tickle his sides, the little kit coming alive in an instant as he wiggled and giggled in her embrace, his tail waving happily.
She let him out after a few moments, helping him stand back up and straightening out his blouse as he stuck his tongue out at her jokingly, Riley repaying him in kind, only now noticing that Lily had stopped her practice at some point.
"Wanna build some more?" She got up and stretched her limbs, looking down to see Timmy nodding enthusiastically. As she turned around she was sure she caught a tip of a tail sliding into Lily's room before its door was closed, smiling a bit as she spoke up to Timmy-
"Know your ABC's?"
He responded with a confused 'Eh?', his head and tail both tilting a bit as Riley clarified-
"Letters, do you know the letters of the alphabet?"
"Yeah! A, B, C, D, E-"
"That's great! Can you spell my name out with them? I need to do something, will be right back."
"The toilet is next to the stairs!" He chipped in without being prompted, Riley giggled before explaining-
"Not that something, heh. Come on and spell my name out and yours with these letter bricks."
"Okay!" He quickly got to work as Riley walked out of the room, stepping back into hers and reading the updated note-
'''
It's my favorite because I like looking at it, not because I like wearing it. Were you afraid that I was mad at you for wearing it? (If yes I'm sorry)
Thank you Riley, and I hope you'll feel better soon.
'''
She flipped the note to the other side, grabbing her pen and quickly scribbling a response-
'''
Yes, I was, sorry for that. I guess you could say I was afraid that you were mad at me since we met. I don't blame you if you are.
And thank you Lily. You're sweet.
'''
She walked out and slid the note back under Lily's door, hearing footsteps and the rustle of paper almost immediately afterwards, making her smile as she walked back into the play room, Timmy concentrated on the letter bricks, his tail waving high behind him.
"I'm back, how did it go?" She sat down next to him, leaning against the back of the sofa, taking a deep breath and reaching out to ruffle his hair some more, the lil' kit reacting with a giggle as he showed off his creation-
R-A-Y-L-I.
"I did it!" He cheered as Riley took the word in, suddenly very confused as to the pronunciation of her own name.
"Good job Timmy, you're close but it's spelled like this-"
She rearranged the bricks, grabbing another one until the whole thing spelled out R-I-L-E-Y.
"Reelay?"
"No no, Riley. I have no idea why it's spelled like that."
"How is 'spelled' spelled?"
She blinked her confusion away before reaching for the blocks, spelling out the word in question. Timmy kept asking about more and more words, Riley obliging with each one, correcting his alphabet while she was at it, which somehow included the letter 'K' twice and no letter 'S'. They went on for a while, four year old's natural curiosity manifesting in not stopping even as the sun set, Riley having to turn the lights on in the room as she couldn't make out the letters on the blocks.
The thing that finally took them out of the mind numbing back and forth was Ella calling out for dinner, Riley turning around to see Lily already walking downstairs, Andrew walking out of his room, his tail a bit frizzled before he noticed his siblings playing with bricks, waving towards them.
Riley got up and helped Timmy stand up, looking back at him as he reached up and grabbed her hand, wiping the sleepiness from his eyes as he yawned cutely.
"After dinner, we're gonna clean up and take the bricks back to your room, alright?" Riley asked with a smile, walking down the corridor with Timmy as he answered with a quiet "Yeah..."
Adorable sleepy kit.
With a sniff she felt something very, very nice as they walked downstairs, following her nose as it lead her to-
Mac and Cheese! And it smelled so amazing! And it looked even better!
"Wow..." She quietly whispered to herself as she helped Timmy onto his seat, sitting down next to him and putting a hefty portion of the baked macaroni onto her plate, helping her brother with his before she dug in-
And it tasted even better still!
She had to stop herself from just forcing the entire portion into her mouth, deliberately slowing down a bit, stabbing the macaronis one at a time as she noticed Rick walking downstairs, wearing a slightly stained white overalls, a respirator on his snout before he pulled it down to his neck.
The image of a skunk wearing a respirator made her giggle internally a bit as he sat down next to her, Timmy staring at his dad in fascination before asking-
"What are you wearing dad?"
"Painter gear, was painting Riley's room and don't want to breathe in the fumes."
"Why not?"
Riley chuckled at the question, Rick tirelessly explaining-
"Because they smell bad and make you cough."
"Okay!"
With a soft smile Riley returned to her meal, the wonderful taste making her speed up. She was almost halfway done with her portion before she noticed Ella's amused smile towards her, blushing intensely as she tried to explain herself-
"S-sorry, just got a bit too excited-"
"Shhh, all's well Riley, you just looked like you were eating the best thing you've ever had, haha." Ella giggled, Andrew sharing her smile.
"I mean... it pretty much is, honestly." Riley admitted honestly before stabbing even more macaronis onto her fork, not noticing the surprised looks from the rest of the family, sans Rick.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that sweetie, but it makes me wonder what did they feed you all with at the Child Care Center..."
"You don't want to know. Suffice to say that edibility was optional at times." Riley responded vaguely, seriously not wanting to give family members nausea at the dinner table.
Ella didn't respond, a slightly concerned expression on her face as Riley finished her portion, standing up from the table-
"Thanks for the dinner!"
And sliding the table into the dishwasher, yawning a bit as she went back upstairs, eager to check out how the painting was goi-
The door to her room was locked.
She raised her brow in confusion, trying again. Why would Rick lock the door like this?
Not being able to do much about it right now, she went back to her room, checking out Lily's note as she sat back on her bed-
'''
I'm not mad at you Riley, and I'm so sorry for making you feel that way, and for reacting the way I did on Saturday. I hope you'll forgive me, sis.
You're nice yourself Riley!
'''
She smiled and wiped the stray tears from her face, finding the last piece of free space on the page and responding-
'''
Of course I do, sis. How could I not forgive my sweet sister like that?
Sleep well Lily.
'''
After getting up and washing her tired face with some cold water she walked back into the corridor, crouching in front of Lily's door to slid the note in, freezing when she noticed the girl herself standing in front of the stairs, looking at her surprised.
Riley gulped as she got back up, walking up to Lily with a slightly amused smile and handing the note to her directly, the skunk girl reading it on the spot before smiling up at Riley with glistening eyes, quietly responding-
"Y-You too, Riley."
Before heading to her room, older sister sending her off with a slight smile.
She took a contented breath and leaned against a wall, nodding to Andrew as he passed by, sending her off with a "Sleep well!"
After few more minutes of trying not to doze off against the wall, she finally saw Rick making his way back up, mask already on his snout as she stood in his way, an inquisitive expression on her face.
He stood in front of her for a bit, pulling down his respirator and asking, his voice just a bit tired-
"What's up Riley?"
"Why's the door to my room locked?"
The question took him aback a bit, the older skunk looking to the sides before responding-
"So that a curious girl doesn't accidentally inhale a lungful of paint fumes."
She lifted her brow in doubt, cursing herself for being too tired to form any concrete objection in spite of Rick's excuse feeling much too flimsy.
"Alright, you win this time... what about all the weird stuff underneath the sink in my bathroom?"
He blinked a couple of times, his brows furrowing.
"Like what?"
"So much peroxide, baking soda and the dish soap, if I didn't know any better I'd have thought I stumbled on some drug lab..."
After taking a moment to put two and two together Rick erupted into laughter, having to lean against the wall to avoid tumbling onto the floor, Riley's resolve melting before she broke into giggles herself at his reaction, the large skunk looking hilarious as he laughed so much his tummy started to hurt.
With the laughter and the resulting 'Ow's already subsided, Rick took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself before responding-
"Well that would be one stinking lab, since these are just ingredients for the deskunking formula, haha..."
Riley blushed in embarrassment, his reaction to her question swiftly explained, before he followed up-
"Not gonna lie, that one made me think hard for a moment to figure out what you meant, heh. And before you ask, we only keep the ingredients in the bathrooms just in case, we haven't needed them since Timmy was still running around in diapers."
"Guess little skunkies can't control themselves?"
"Nah, they just get spooked very easily. Thank god for diapers, they're a godsend for this..." Rick reminisced, a tired smile on his snout.
"Sounds... odor-able?" Riley grinned at her own pun, Rick groaning loudly as he became a victim of his own weapon.
"That one is dreadful, I remember when I first used it on Ella she threatened to divorce me on the spot."
"So you used it some more?"
"Of course I did, hehe..." Rick laughed quietly at the fond memories, stretching briefly as he looked down at Riley with a warm smile.
"Anything else Riley?"
"Nah, don't worry, you look like you could use some sleep."
"Oh I will, just need to finish the first coating of paint and then I'll probably crash on the spot, heh. Sleep well Riley!"
She waved at him as he walked to and unlocked her room, before stepping inside, Riley not catching anything from the inside.
"Riley?"
She heard Ella whisper to her from the stairs, sleeping Timmy in her arms, the sight making Riley smile.
"Mind cleaning up the blocks? Guess he really enjoyed playing with you, haha..." She giggled quietly, walking past her and carrying her son back into his bedroom, Riley nodding with a smile and walking back to the play room.
With a handful of yawns she finished cleaning up after their fun, picking up the hefty box of blocks and walking towards Timmy's bedroom, knocking quietly with her foot before Ella opened the door.
The inside was filled with a couple other boxes like that, with Legos and toy cars respectively, as well as a small desk with plenty crayons and paper and some modeling clay. Other than that it was mostly regular furniture for clothes and supplies, but the carpet with roads and buildings on it and a bed shaped like a racecar did make Riley smile a fair bit.
Ella walked back to bed and finished tucking Timmy in, the little kit holding an adorable bunny plushie as his mom smooched him on his little spot.
"Sleep well sweetie~"
Riley thought she heard the tiniest grumble in response before walking out of the room, Ella following her.
"Thanks for the help, back's not what it once was sadly..."
"You're welcome Ella, did he fall asleep at the table?"
"Yeah, not long after you left. That's one sure sign he really likes you, he hates falling asleep when having fun, heh."
Riley smiled at this, Ella responding in kind as she offered another hug for her daughter, Riley accepting and nearly falling asleep in her wonderfully soft embrace.
"Hehe, don't doze off yet!" She gently tickled Riley on the neck, her head jerking as she giggled in response, Ella letting go of her.
"Sleep well sweetie." Skunk mom smiled as she walked towards her bedroom, Riley sending her off with a "Sleep well" of her own before heading back to her own temporary bedroom.
She was ready to just hit the pillow and crash on the spot before she caught a whiff of her own smell as she was taking off her shirt, groaning as she quickly headed to the bathroom.
A quick shower later she was actually ready, having taken off her nose bandaid and hand wrappings, sliding her still damp legs under the covers, falling into deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow, not even having the energy to pull the covers all the way over herself.