Riley had a reason to be proud- it was the second time in a row she'd managed to wake up without any person's help.
The speed bump Rick drove into was sufficient on its own, the girl muttering incomprehensibly for a moment as her shocked brain struggled to catch up to her mouth.
"You alright there Riley?" Rick asked with concern as he heard her gibberish, his daughter realizing where she was before speaking up, just a bit cranky at her nap being so violently interrupted-
"N-now I am. Hope at least we're close now..."
"In fact, we're here!" He responded with a chuckle as the car slowed to a halt, taking a spot in the small, makeshift parking lot, individual spots differentiated by precisely nothing.
"O-oh." She wasn't gonna say no to the convenience, unstrapping herself before slinking out into the cold and to her total lack of surprise, very snow filled air.
After Rick had locked the car, Riley followed him and Andrew into the fenced field, a handful of humans and anthros alike strolling through the selection of many, many trees of various sizes and shapes.
How do you even choose any single one?
"What are we looking for anyway?" She asked absentmindedly, baffled by what must've been literal hundreds of trees leaning on the fences and laying on the ground, piled up awkwardly.
Rick quickly pulled out his phone and looked at the note he'd made of the dimensions-
"So, about Andrew's height, and about as thick at the base as... hmm... half the length of your hand, roughly."
Imperial units were one thing, but this was on another level.
"Well that's... exact." Riley responded with a deadpan voice, stepping up to the nearest tree on display.
"I mean, there isn't any real need for super specific dimensions, we're not exactly lacking in space. It's more so just so that the base isn't too wide so that I won't have to saw it down to fit, which just takes forever. Happened last year, and by the time I was finally done with it. Timmy was already asleep and upset we'd decorated without him." Dad answered plainly as she'd leaned in to inspect one of the trees in detail, having forgotten the one small tiny detail with conifers before a couple stings on the palm of her hand reminded her.
The prickling wasn't particularly painful, but she still had no idea how to go about it all when she couldn't even hold the-
"Riley?"
Mention of her name made her snap her head back towards Andrew, taking a moment to notice the pair of very soft looking gloves he was offering to her, grabbing them with a slight blush at his generous gesture.
"Let's just go looking around individually, if anyone finds anything good just shoot the other two a message." Rick sent them off before turning around to take a closer look at some silvery spruces. Well, at least silvery in parts that weren't covered up by snow.
With a nod at his message, she jogged towards the far end of the enclosed field, going through the trees one by one as she tried to find the closest one to Rick's guidance.
As she went through the green-white mass one by one, the sheer intensity of the fresh, clean smell took her off guard, confirmed to be coming from all the trees with a brief sniff.
Even with the size he gave in mind there were just so, so many viable candidates, even with all the different species in mind, Riley having precisely no idea which one she should-
"Whattcha looking for?"
The gruff voice caught her off guard, making her jump before turning around, the unimpressed older man looking down at her in almost boredom, lazily smoking a cigarette.
"Y'alright in there?" He asked the same flat inflection, his expression so stiff and unmoving it almost looking glued on.
"Y-yeah, I-I'm good. Uhh, I'm looking for a tree about this high-" She placed her hand roughly a foot above the top of her head- "And with a narrower trunk if possible."
"Any special considerations?" He followed up in an instant, the whole process so ingrained in his mind he could do it asleep.
"Uh... a young child?"
With the shallowest nod Riley had ever seen he turned around, urging her to follow him with a gesture, walking over to a particular bundle of trees and lifting one up with his bare hand.
"Nordmann fir, soft needles and all."
The tree was definitely one of the tallest, almost bizarrely so considering how narrow its trunk was. On top of that it looked quite dense and bottom heavy, but sure enough it fit the requested size, and smelled quite nice to boot, Riley holding it after the seller had passed it to her.
"I guess it looks ni-"
Her attempt at small talk was cut off as the salesman was distracted by a woman walking up to him and taking him towards one of the other trees a few feet away, presumably to purchase it.
Something about her appearance felt... a bit familiar. Brownish gray fur, soft and fluffy from what she could see, a large tail following her, same color as the rest of it aside from...
A couple of lighter, almost cream stripes.
She bit the tip of the right glove after passing the tree to her left, pulling the hand out of it and reaching into her pocket for her phone, managing to recall how to unlock and navigate to the address book, going through all the less familiar names with the photos attached, something on the back of her head tingling as she searched for-
'''
* Izzy Tate
'''
Riley knew she had seen her before! Wait, wasn't she Ella's youngest sister as well?
Her excitement waned a bit as she realized that she didn't really have an idea what to do with that fact, especially as she was rooted to the ground by proxy.
She was about to fumble her way into writing a message to Andrew and Rick before the former made his way up to her, taking an impressed look at the tree in her hand as he spoke-
"This one looks quite nice! Much better than anything I've found, want me to help you carry it to dad?"
"Y-yeah, I'd appreciate it and all, but... is it just me or does that woman look familiar?" Riley responded as she leaned in to pick the front of the tree up, carrying it relatively effortlessly with Andrew's aid.
"Who do you-" He was about to respond before he spotted her too as they walked right past her, wasting no time in moving the weight of the tree into one arm as the other rose up to wave-
"Hi aunt Izzy!" He greeted her happily, the woman in question turning around with a smile, able to recognize that sweet voice anywhere.
"Andrew! Hey there sweetie, so nice to run into you!" She walked up to him and gave him a gentle hug, forcing their little convoy to stop in place, making Riley turn around to give her newly named aunt a closer look.
Or rather, she would have if something on her back didn't catch her attention first, the sight baffling as she struggled to make out the white on white-
And then the baby turned its head towards her, small pinkish eyes and nosey finally giving something for Riley to focus on as she involuntarily smiled back, able to make out more of the baby skunk's head with the white earsies sticking out on Izzy's coffee fur.
Well, it was most definitely a skunk... and also seemed to be entirely white, the contradiction not sprouting in Riley's consciousness until-
"And you must be Riley!" Izzy's voice broke her train of thought as she realized that her aunt had turned towards her, amusement seeping into her smile.
"Y-yeah, uh... aunt Izzy?" Riley responded uncertainly, not entirely sure whether she would be all friendly or not.
"Oh don't worry sweetie, Izzy is enough, Andy is just a worrybug." She answered with a chuckle before leaning in and giving Riley a gentle hug, her puffy jacket making it a very soft one, only interrupted with a high pitched squeak coming from behind her, Andrew giving off a long 'aww' in the softest voice she ever heard him use, and that's saying something.
Her aunt quickly let her go in response, reaching a hand behind herself to pet the baby's head, her reward being some more squeaking noises.
"Aww, someone woke up from her nap~" Izzy giggled to herself, unzipping her jacket and fiddling with something underneath before the girl on her back was rotated over to her front, only her white head sticking out after her mom had zipped her shirt back up.
Sticking out and looking curiously at Riley.
"Aurora, say hi to Riley, she's your cousin!"
The resulting baby cooing was probably a greeting in some language out there, but no matter which one, it was utterly adorable in all of them.
"Izzy, goodness it's been a while!" Rick's introduction caught her off guard, the girl almost dropping the tree she was still holding as her dad walked out from behind her and hugged his sister-in-law.
"Sure it has Ricky, so glad I ran into you three! Unless you pull a Timmy out of your pocket, teehee."
"Don't worry, it's just us. Is Nick here with you or did he sent you out shopping with a baby to take care of?" Rick asked with a smirk, Izzy rolling her eyes as she responded-
"He's on a business trip, but the whole Christmas tree thing was my idea anyways, wanted to surprise him when he gets back."
"That's so sweet!" Andrew chimed in, much to the two adults' joy at his earnestness.
"Thank you Andy. Now, if you're so concerned Ricky, I'll gladly use help with carrying that tree around, heh." Izzy smirked and tilted her head towards the one laying nearby, chuckling quietly at his defeated sigh.
"Uh... we've been carrying this one for the past ten minutes and my arms would really appreciate if you'd let us know if this one's gonna be alright." Riley cut in towards Rick, his flushed reaction making the other three gathered skunks giggle as he walked up and helped Riley with the load, quickly adding-
"O-oh, my bad, yeah this one's gonna be great." Riley could've sworn she saw him blush after he grabbed the tree, quickly looking around for the salesman, who seemed to not have moved an inch from where he was left off, currently busy lighting up another cigarette.
With both adults paying for their trees and Rick gracefully being pushed into helping carry both trees, one on his own, the group made their way towards the parking lot, trunk of the Asher's car opening up soon after.
However, with the tree's size, both front and back seats had to be lowered to accommodate it, and all the branches made squeezing two people into the back row... difficult.
Rick inspected the back seats in detail, trying to figure out how he'd squeeze two people into a one-man-shaped hole before Izzy walked over and took a small glance at the situation, offhandedly suggesting-
"I can give someone a lift if needed, unless one of you two really enjoys taking the ride in the trunk." She giggled in the direction of the kids, the two exchanging a quick glance before Riley spoke up first, cutting off the timid skunk.
"Sure if it's not an issue."
"Then it's settled! C'mere Riley, want the front seat or the middle one in the back next to Aurora?" Izzy quickly split off towards her own car, a small sedan with a comically large baby seat in the back.
"I can take the back one." She quickly decided, looking away from her aunt to hide her slight smile at getting to sit next to the baby before Rick's loud grunting cut her quiet appreciation off. Riley turned around to see him pushing the smaller tree into Izzy's car, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead after he'd finally finished.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Much appreciated Ricky. Just gonna wait for you to get going and I'll just tail you for a while." She responded with gratitude in her voice as her brother-in-law nodded affirmatively before heading back to his own car, Riley's aunt turning towards her afterwards and tilting her head towards the driver side back door.
With some acrobatics and abusing her tiny stature, Riley managed to slide her away around the baby throne, her seatbelt clicking in affirmation as Izzy helped her baby girl out of her carrier, tiny onesie-clad legsies wiggling around before being sat down.
Riley wondered where did Aurora's tail go before Izzy helped position it into the opening in the seat, the white plume ending up on her own lap, wiggling a bit as the little one was firmly strapped in, squeaking and buckling a bit as her mom scritched the top of her head before strapping herself in.
For a good moment, all three just sat in silence, Izzy presumably waiting for the two Ashers to get going before starting the engine, Riley taking a moment to lean in closer to Aurora's seat- only to reel back a bit as her nose bumped into the baby's wet snout, the other girl having seemingly had the same idea.
Her aunt burst into quiet laughter at managing to catch that, Riley giggling and blushing a bit in response as Izzy spoke up with a chuckle-
"Guess both of you are just so curious about the other, teehee."
Seemingly unbothered by the nose bump a moment ago, the little Aurora was peeking out of her seat, head tilting to the sides as she stared at Riley, a small smile from the latter rewarded with a bubbly squeak from the baby, the girl futilely trying to reach her with her pawsies.
"Y-yeah, would be lying if I said there are some things I aren't curious about- oh gosh these noises are just so cute~" Riley cut herself off at hearing Aurora's squeak, gently reaching over with her hand to pet the girl's head just a bit, the action answered with soft coos and some more all-body wiggling.
"Lemme just get out of this parking and I'll answer the most obvious one..." Izzy quickly chipped in, turning the engine on and managing to squeeze her way out of the block of cars, turning around in a bit of a free space before following Rick out, letting out a breath of relief as she got to explaining-
"Well, all white is just because of albinism, and not because of natural color like me. Aside from that and reddish eyes there aren't any ill effects for her, but she's definitely gonna need glasses. Anything else you had in mind?" Riley's aunt answered calmly, repeating something she had to explain many times before, thankfully having still not grown to hate it.
"Hmm... anything I should not do?"
"Hah, she's not gonna go off at random, so far it's only happened once when I accidentally dropped and shattered a glass, suffice to say all the cleanup was definitely fun after that one. Besides that, uh... she likes being held up to a point after which she can't stand it, hugging people at random and having her tummy pet, and doesn't really like laying on her back or loud noises. That's all I can recall of the top of my head, but with how vocal she is she'll definitely let you know, haha." Izzy giggled a bit as Aurora confirmed her last point, letting out a long squeak after somehow managing to wiggle herself into reaching over and grabbing Riley's nose, the human not really minding, more so surprised she'd been so focused to not notice the baby's arm reaching towards her.
"Uh, could you turn her right side on that seat? She likes rotating like that, and it,s the seat's fault she even can squirm herself that way, but it's still quite unsafe."
Riley quickly nodded and reached over, Aurora complaining a bit with gruffer squeaks as she was forced back in the proper position, before some scritching to the top of her head helped her relax and sit back down.
"Thank you sweetie. So, my turn now, how's it living in a skunk house eh?" Her tone was thankfully relaxed, Riley not catching any signs the question was meant to catch her off guard or anything.
"Soft and snuggly, also the food's much better." The human girl answered her with a smirk, Izzy laughing a fair bit in response, half relieved, and half amused.
"Well, glad to hear that! Wish I had half the cooking skill Ella has, her cakes were always so sweet, mmmmm... Anywho, how's Lily doing?"
"She's doing great! Been practicing for her recital, and is definitely enjoying her new sister after all, ha."
Riley caught her aunt smiling widely in the back mirror for a moment before she responded-
"I'm so happy to hear. Hope you're enjoying her as much as she's enjoying you, she's a sweetheart. Haven't been over there in a year, can't wait to see how's Timmy grown before I have to get home."
"Well, we'll be decorating the tree after we're back, you're more than welcome to stay!" Riley responded to her aunt's... aunti-ness, feeling comfortable enough as a family member to suggest something like that on her own.
"Ya think? Hmm..." Izzy sounded like she was actually considering her nephew's offer, a soft squeak next to her urging Riley to add-
"Well since you've said you haven't been over in a year, doesn't that mean that Aurora hasn't seen her other cousins yet?"
She briefly caught her aunt's surprised expression in the rear-view mirror, looking away with a slight blush as she noticed that Izzy took a glance back at her in the mirror, followed up with a giggle from the driver's seat-
"You're right, nothing to get embarrassed about! Was just surprised you'd caught that, hadn't realized it myself." She genuinely sounded enthused about this much to Riley's relief, some of the fresh excitement rubbing off on the baby girl herself, Aurora reminding everyone of her existence with a loud squeak followed by a good few seconds of constant babbling, Riley just stunned at hearing that all of a sudden, eventually managing to ask-
"Is she... trying to speak?"
"In all honesty, I've no clue. She is at the age where she's trying to imitate talking but doesn't really know any words, and sometimes just goes into these rambles when she's all excited." Izzy answered with happiness in her voice, smiling at her daughter's adorable antics before something popped up-
"Oh, there should be an opened bag of puffs on the floor to your right, feel free to have some and pass one over to Aurora."
Sure enough, after shifting her leg Riley did find the bag and the puffs inside it, grabbing a handful of the crunchy treats and taking a bite out of one, more surprised than she had any right to be at the fact that it tasted like a woodchip.
With a hint of salt.
Maybe.
Still, she passed one over to the baby girl, her action rewarded with an excited giggle-like series of squeaks as Aurora kicked her legsies in excitement before grabbing the puff in both paws and eventually managing to stick it in her mouth. Only took half a dozen tries or so.
"Does she actually like them?" Riley asked, crunching some more on the treat despite the lack of any real flavor.
"Seems so at least! These ones were the only ones left in the grocer when I went to grab some, normally I get her the strawberry flavored ones. Even then they're not exactly the richest food there is in flavor, there isn't exactly many things safe to give to kits with just a handful of teeth."
"I-I see, sorry."
"Oh don't worry sweetie, they're just corn puffs I bought for eighty cents, it's not like I'm attached to them. Still... mind passing a couple over?" Her aunt asked, reaching one paw behind her seat in an expectant way, Riley wasting no time in passing over the rest of the ones she had on her lap.
Before reaching over to grab some more since as bland as they were, they were still fun to crunch on.
Nom nom nom.
As all three girls crunched on, the ride gradually quieted out, Riley spending her time between leaning towards the tree to sniff its wintry smell and scritching Aurora, the girl eventually realizing she could scritch her cousin in return as well.
Or at least try to a bit painfully, but it was much too adorable for Riley to mind as she leaned on her baby seat.
With nothing else to do at the time, Riley subconsciously reached for her phone again, reminding herself of the apparent blunder she had committed earlier that day exactly one moment too late, now forced to witness the consequences of her actions-
'''
Madeline Johnson: Well we're finishing our prep today so I could do that
Madeline Johnson: Haven't chatted with Andy or Lily in a while, your parents are great and I don't think I've met Timmy yet aside from in passing
Madeline Johnson: I'm down!
Madeline Johnson: Riley?
Madeline Johnson: You here?
'''
Oh shit.
It seems that her ill-thought idea had not just not backfired, but it did the reverse of backfiring, downright frontfiring right in front of her eyes.
Hopefully Maddy'd still be interested even if she'd had briefly ghosted her by falling asleep in there.
'''
Riley Asher: yes yes sorry dozed off in car
Riley Asher: And yeah so am i !
Madeline Johnson: Aww, cute
'''
Oh gosh she called her cute.
Any rational part of Riley looking outside in would be baffled as to why would such a simple adjective, one that she normally didn't like being applied to her no less, would make her heart feel so fluttery all of a sudden... but the Riley in the moment didn't care, just going along with it.
'''
Riley Asher: thank yu
Riley Asher: do you need pick up?
Madeline Johnson: Nah, my mom can give me a lift, it's no big deal
Madeline Johnson: Any specific hour you're thinking of?
Riley Asher: probably early how does 1 1 sound
Madeline Johnson: Sounds good!
Madeline Johnson: See ya tomorrow Riley, excited to hang out with you~ <3
'''
A heart!
Riley had to stop herself from squealing in excitement as she slid the phone into her pocket, her breath slowly calming down after the brief exchange as she felt her heart keep on thumping, the change in her behaviour enough for Aurora to squeak out excitedly at the human a couple times and try to reach her pawsies towards her face a couple time, succeeding in making them giggle and squirm at the affection.
Eventually though, even that eventually calmed down, together with Riley's excited heartbeat, the teen about ready to check out for the rest of the ride before a quiet hum caught her attention, Izzy sounding out an unusual tune, unlike anything Riley had heard before, hoping she'd get to hear the words-
"Your heart is a muscle the size of your fist, keep on loving, keep on fighting, and hold on, and hoooold on, hold on for your life..."
Well there they were.
"What song is that?" The human girl muttered out, catching Izzy a bit off guard before she responded-
"Can't recall on the spot, Wilma gave me this one album for my birthday a year ago and since then it's just been stuck in my head. It's definitely her kind of song, quite sad but still uplifting."
"Hmm... sorry to ask but Wilma's the, uh... punk one, right?" Riley cursed herself for having to ask, but genuinely couldn't recall on the spot, having distinctively remembered a very punky photo in her address book, but unable to connect it to any specific name.
"Oh yeah, she's been into that kind of music since I was Timmy's age. Took me to a concert one time and I thought I was gonna go deaf, but she absolutely loved it, I think it even had this song too."
"That sounds, hell, that sounds cool. Always wanted to see what it's like to be at a concert like that and, well... have piercings like she has..." Riley reluctantly admitted, the punk skunk's dye job and piercings being the coolest things in the world to the edgy teen.
"Aww, I'm sure she'll help you with that if you ever want to check them out and actually be willing to go through with it, everyone's wowed before they realize it's their own nose or brow that would have to be pierced." Izzy cackled as she reminded herself of her sister's complaints, booze making the drunk punk skunk slip out sometimes much more than she should have.
"I'd love to at least have the nose and ear ones, more extreme ones sound... unpleasant." The last word made the teen's cheek burn ablaze with embarrassment, her internet surfing definitely leading her to find a handful of photos showcasing some... more out there piercings, eliciting everything from a raised brow of wanting to see more to a loud yielp before the page was immediately closed right after, the second-hand pain enough to make the girl forcefully jerk away from her phone.
Why the fuck would anyone do that to themselves.
"Ha, I know what you mean. Still, some peeps are into that stuff, and Wilma's piercings definitely helped her get through some of the rougher times with her body image." Her aunt added, her tone noticeably quieter this time, making Riley hope she hasn't stepped into some serious stuff on accident.
"I-if you don't mind answering, what do you mean by rougher times?" She asked, curiosity struggling with not wanting to be extremely crass.
"Well, suffice to say she hasn't always liked her body and it took us all a long time to figure out why, thankfully aunt Liz eventually suggested a therapist and the mystery solved itself, and god did she do a one eighty with some years." Izzy's brief grimace quickly straightened itself as the sentence went on, remembering seeing her sweet sister finally happy with herself for the first time making her tear up even now.
"O-oh. Well I'm definitely happy she's gotten better!" Riley responded awkwardly, having had no idea what kind of issue her aunt was referencing, feeling a bit confused as to how a therapist could deal with something so serious-sounding.
Then again talking did help her in finally being able to look herself in the mirror and not want to recoil upon seeing her mother staring back at her, so who knows.
At this point she was about ready to believe that some therapist out there can casually split mountains in half by talking with them very hard.
"As am I Riley, as am I. Should try to convince her to visit you guys at some point, you two feel like you'd have a lot to chat about."
"Yeah. Now... sorry if I'm prying too hard at a family secret or something but- what was that mystery you mentioned that a therapist helped with?"
"Nah, don't worry, my fault for mentioning it if anything, then again she's not really secretive about it, the opposite even, out and proud. Especially when she's drunk and some wanker starts shouting slurs at her." Remembering the initially harrowing memory of her sister being called these words was and the eventual followup of her literally having to hold Wilma back from kicking the guy any harder than she already had did make her smile quite a bit.
Especially since she did sneak in a kick of her own afterwards.
Piece of shit had it coming.
"So... what is it?" Riley's confusion wasn't helped one bit, but the scene her aunt had offhandedly mentioned certainly did sent her mind wandering.
"Oh, my bad. Well, she's trans, that's the long and short of it. Guess someone up there really wanted us to be the five sisters after all, despite having thrown us a curveball."
Riley had no idea how to really respond to that, keeping quiet so as to not embarrass herself. She'd heard the word a couple times before but didn't know what it meant, deciding to just acknowledge the reveal with a quiet nod, and maybe ask the aunt in question some more if she did decide to show up eventually.
Well...
She did have her number after all...
Riley slid the phone out of her pocket and navigated over to the address book, tapping on Wilma's entry and then on 'Compose Message'.
She had absolutely no idea what to say to her beyond the simple fact she'd really wanted to meet her at some point.
Maybe that would work?
'''
To: Wilma Nelson
Hi Aunt Wilma i'm Riley and I was curious if you Could visit sometime soon
'''
Writing on this thing was unnecessarily complicated.
She took a deep breath and pressed 'Send', hoping that the message would still get across despite her awful writing style.
As she slid her phone back into her pocket, Riley did catch a glimpse of some familiar surroundings outside. They were getting very close now.
Just in time as Aurora had quickly started growing grumpy all of a sudden, flailing weakly about with clearly unhappily sounding squeaks, Riley's attempt to cheer the baby up with pets only rewarded with the poor girl breaking into crying, sounding only a bit different than that of a human baby, and just as ear-hurting.
"Awww, I think someone needs her diaper changed. Riley, how close are we to- oh there it is, thank goodness!" Izzy gasped in relief, parking her car on the side of the small local road, just past the Ashers' house, quickly getting herself out before taking Aurora, her loud crying thankfully lowering in intensity to just an occasional anxious sob as her mom held her tightly.
"Mhm, definitely her diaper."
Riley scrambled out of the car as fast as she could so Izzy could tend to her baby hastily, the aunt quickly grabbing her bag before locking the door and jogging towards the front of the house, leaving Riley just sorta there on her own for a while, in front of the car.
After gathering her bearings and feeling a bit less awful about making a baby cry, she followed her aunt inside, realizing she was the literal last person inside, the entire ground floor brimming with activity.
Izzy seemed to be changing Aurora in the bathroom, Ella and Lily utterly surprised by the arrival of their sister and aunt respectively all of a sudden, especially with Izzy having immediately raced into the bathroom with a crying baby in her arms.
What Riley soon realized, however, was that she wasn't the only family member that decided to visit in the meantime, a dark, roughly skunk-shaped blur also looking surprised at the bathroom door before noticing Riley just standing there in the entrance, a soft voice speaking up with a chuckle-
"Does this count as sometime soon?"