Before she could even ask what was up with this package, the mailman was long gone, not burdened with the all-day cooking daze that held its grip firmly over the Ashers, including poor Riley that still stood in front of an opened door, package in one hand and a couple cookies in the other, only finally driven to close it by a chilly gust sneaking its way inside.
"What did you get!?" Timmy's cheerful squeak broke the shared silence, the adults getting back to their cooking tasks as she tried to investigate the box in her hands, setting the down the cookies in front of Maddy as she took a seat at the table, getting to the package afterwards.
It was definitely on the smaller side, only a bit larger than the box she got her phone in, hard cardboard only covered by several wrappings of adhesive tape, a 'FRAGILE' sticker, all four of them, and another one with what looked to be actual delivery details scribbled on it-
'''
CLAR-LUX MN FACILITY
3971 Quebec Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55427
---
RILEY ASHER
18 Bright St. Grand Lake, MN 55779
'''
Well that told her precisely nothing.
"I've... no idea. Guess there's no way like opening it to find out, eh." Riley remarked curiously, getting back up to grab a knife before carefully cutting through all the adhesive tape that held the whole thing together, soon cracking the mystery enough to be able to open-
...foam peanuts?
A couple of them had spilled out with the excited way she'd opened the box, leaving her dumbstruck as she processed the unfamiliar packing material, eventually deciding to set the box down on the table, sliding all the cooking tools away from its spot, both Maddy and Timmy trying to peek what it contained while Riley crouched down to gather the few stray peanuts.
Soft. They almost looked like the corn puffs that aunt Izzy had for lil' Aurora, but a quick taste test later proved they definitely did not taste the same, Maddy heroically managing to hold in her giggling at the sight.
How do you manage to have less flavor than corn puffs?
Whatever the answer to this pressing question was, it could definitely wait until after Riley figured out what the deal was with this package.
With the escaped foam peanuts back in their cardboard prison, Riley had a chance to slide her hand inside the mass, managing to eventually pull out the actual contents of the mysterious box-
A black rounded... case? It had hinges on one side, so it definitely opened out some way, what about-
Huh, didn't think they'd be here so soon.
With more care than Riley had exerted ever since she held Aurora on the day prior, she lifted up the black framed glasses and inspected them in detail.
Sure enough, the sweet, slim black and white frame was just the one they'd chosen all the way back at the store, making her smile a bit as she inspected the actual lenses, the wonkily shaped pieces of glass raising her eyebrows in doubt as to how would that even work as she tried finally putting them on-
W-well, this didn't look too different for Riley as she inspected her hands or the box, maybe the lenses weren't fit that well or whatever-
And with a look around the kitchen that illusion vanished immediately, the furniture that looked in focus and detailed up close managed to stay detailed further away, Riley's mouth slowly opening in awe as she realized just how... focused everything looked. Everywhere.
An impressed whistle made her look over in Maddy's direction, spotting more detail in her fur and clothes even from up close- though a soft, amused smile that crept onto her face was definitely not hard to spot to begin with.
"These look great~"
Riley looked away with an embarrassed blush, letting her notice Rick's tail as he chopped some more veggies, all the little motions of each tuft of fur, the barely noticeable idle waving, the... sheer amount of gray hairs she could now see downright stunning. If she tried hard enough, she could probably count every single one of them up.
"Riley, why are you wearing glasses?" Timmy asked with a tilt of his head, making Riley gasp quietly once she'd turned towards him and... just could see him in detail instead of the roughly skunk-shaped blur he used to become outside her arms' reach.
His lil' forehead spot looked even more adorable at a distance.
Timmy's excited squeak drew everyone else's eyes to her, Riley blushing from all the attention before even more was piled on as Lily made her way downstairs before letting out an excited gasp upon seeing Riley's cool specs.
"They're here! Oh, hey Maddy!" Lily shouted excitedly before running up to her sister and almost tackle-hugging her, taking care to keep her head down so as to not slam it into the glasses.
Surprise at Lily's enthusiasm gave way to gentle amusement as Riley held her, slowly petting her back before moving her hand to scritch the excited girl's head, savoring the brief moment of closeness.
Before their dad's dumbfounded question snapped Riley out of the moment, that is-
"Where did you get these from?" He asked as he blinked his confusion away, walking a bit closer and smiling softly as he made out the pattern on the frames, reaching in to scritch Riley some himself as she tried to respond-
"Got a pres-mmmn-prescription at the checkup and grabbed it when you were cooking i-inside-eeemmnn-goodness this feels good..." She let out a bit more than she wanted to, the resulting blush making her want to bury her now bespeckled face in Lily's hair, the scent of her strawberry shampoo calming.
Thankfully Rick didn't feel like egging Riley on, chuckling softly as he turned back to wrap up the veggie salad, Lily letting her go as she took a closer look at the frames, her sister's attention being drawn to the excited tyke that had made his way up to her, holding her legs as he squeaked again-
"Can I see them Riley!?"
Of course you can you silly skunk.
She giggled loudly as she crouched down in front of him, sliding them off to show the frames to the lil' kit, eyes cringing at all the blurriness they now saw everywhere they looked.
He grabbed them out of her hands and tried to put the glasses on, the feat difficult with his smaller size, Riley rushing in to prevent him from damaging the lenses as she carefully slid the frames onto his earsies, Timmy taking a sweeping look around the room as his sister held them to his head.
"I can't see anything!" He complained, letting out a quiet 'wow' as he tried to look at the lights, Riley only imagining the dance of sparkles that must've caught his attention.
"Because your eyes are all fine and don't need them, heh." She took them off his head and turned them around, presenting the frames for him to take a closer look. Apparently, he didn't quite notice the meaning of the pattern, just summing it up with 'Cool!' before turning-back towards the table just as the two older skunks were cleaning it up, all the cookies stamped out and ready for baking.
With the glasses firmly back on their owners' nose, she stood up, helping to take care of the last few trays of cookies before washing them one by one, only glancing at Rick calmly carrying the massive pot full of salad outside and coming back without it, two and two coming together at an agonizingly slow pace before Riley finally realized the intention of his action.
Why bother with freezers if the Minnesota winter did the job splendidly on its own.
Though, while Rick might not have wanted to egg Riley's reaction to being scritched on, Maddy did definitely not have the same courtesy, waiting until Riley sat back down next to her before slowly reaching an arm around her and pulling her in, with Riley's resulting freeze being used as an opportunity to get some more scritches on her herself.
Riley by herself was already cute- a blushing Riley with dorky glasses was on a whole other level, especially as she started gradually relaxing against her, and leaning even closer.
They just ended up chilling like that for a while, the human teen slowly reaching her own arm back around the weasel one, their hearts somehow beating in harmony as they ran at a mile a minute- at least until the cooking duty ended up calling in, the two having to disentangle as the cleanup began.
Soon after, all that had to be put away was, cookies have been spread between several plastic containers that were then taped shut, locked up securely for the incoming days, save for a small bowl of them that is, placed on the living room table as the ginger wonders finished cooling down.
Guess it'll just be an extended session of everyone sneaking their way downstairs to grab one, one after the other, innit?
Or at least so Riley thought before a sudden yet familiar revelation filled the room, Timmy's squeak bringing everyone to a pause.
"Mooooom, what's for dinner?"
They had no dinner.
Again.
Everyone took a look at Ella, her kids getting a rare opportunity to see her actually flustered, the decision weighing her down after what had happened yesterday, her eyes jumping between everyone gathered.
Uncertainty in her expression turned into mock anger as she tried to contain a smile from blooming when she noticed Rick barely holding back a shit-eating grin at her misfortune himself, thankful to not be the butt of the joke at least this one time.
After a couple moments of the wordless exchange Ella finally gave in, looking over everyone gathered and reluctantly pulling out her phone, asking rhetorically-
"Pizza?"
***
A quick call later and the food was on its way, Rick's triumphant moment ending when Ella gestured for him to stay downstairs and pay for the meal as she excused herself.
Maddy ended up not asking for anything due to having dinner at home and not wanting to cut into Ashers'- though if the push came to shove she would've absolutely nabbed a slice from Riley and teased her about it.
The rest of the family had made their way towards the living room, Timmy snuggling against Riley as the kits watched the local news, their sheer boredom only interrupted by the occasional pair of paws trying to grab a cookie at the same time, Lily and Andrew dueling fiercely over it.
At least until Riley grabbed the quickly emptying bowl and placed it on one of the armchairs, wanting to at least leave some for her parents.
Not to mention herself, Timmy and Maddy, the latter getting in on it right away and taking a couple for herself.
With Lily's disappointed groan at their source of gingerbread goodness gone and Riley's quiet giggle as she passed one over to Timmy, the scene had mostly calmed down, Andrew's soft, loud yawn only underlining everyone's shared exhaustion.
The warmth of the burning fireplace coupled with the wonderfully shining lights behind them made the atmosphere just as comfy and homely as it was festive, Riley feeling her body relax against Timmy from one side and Maddy from the other some more, their guest not wasting the opportunity to pull her into a hug again- and this time, Riley responded somewhat, trying to snuggle inconspicuously some more.
Gosh she was soft, and cute, and knew how to fluster her just like and made her heart flutter... *yawn*...
Just as Rilay wondered whether they'd even manage to hang on until the pizza gets delivered, the yawner himself climbed out of the couch, stretching as he leaned in to ask Timmy-
"Hey sport, wanna play King of Tokyo?"
King of wh-
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Yes yes yes!" He squeaked happily as he stood up and looked up towards Andrew, his tail wiggling happily.
Guess there's no better way of waking everyone up than through waking Timmy up.
"Sweet! I'm gonna go and grab it, Riley, Lily, Maddy, wanna play with us?" The big bro looked over the scene, younger sister answering with an unclear groan as the older one responded unsurely-
"Guess I can, but I've never heard of it before."
"Oh don't worry it's simple, I mean if Timmy loves it then it's not gonna be rocket science or anything. What about you Maddy?" Andrew chuckled and scritched the kit's head, Riley smiling as she held her overjoyed brother tightly, angling her head slightly further away than usual to make sure the glasses were safe, his squeaks a music to her ears.
"Nah, I'm good I think, plus I should probably get moving in not too long I think, it's getting quite late..."
As Andrew took off upstairs, Timmy gradually calmed down, and Riley's heart sank a bit at the awareness that Maddy would be leaving soon, the kits' attention was dragged back towards the news anchor as the subject changed to something a bit less irrelevant.
"As Christmas approaches us fast, let's take a look back at the county-wide preparations for the celebrations, starting with the postal service! United States Postal Service employees did their best at helping all the little ones write and deliver their letters to Santa, with an estimated total of almost a thousand letters addressed to him going through the hands of St. Louis County Postal Service employees this season."
Riley paid less than half mind to the actual broadcast, slowly stroking Maddy's tail before her attention was snapped out of unconsciousness with an extremely alarmed sounding question-
"Riley, have you sent a letter to Santa already!?" Timmy sounded almost anxious, the sudden shift in tone spooking the girl a bit.
"No, I don't th-"
"*GASP*! You have to do it Riley or he won't visit!" The kit was squeaking as if the fate of the world itself was at stake, an uncertain smile sliding onto Riley's face before she realized he was completely serious about this.
So was she at his age probably.
"But isn't it too late already? Christmas Eve is tomorrow." She asked uncertainly, wanting to slither her way out of an awkward letter writ-
"I don't know!" His squeaks sounded so sad they made her heart hurt as she heard it, not exactly leaving herself much of a choice if she didn't want him to tear up on the spot-
"Alright, how about I write a letter and then we try to deliver it to the post office!" She brought up in panic, not having much of an idea on how to do either.
Fortunately, it was enough to turn the kit's despair into motivation, Timmy sliding off Riley's side and squeaking at her to follow him, his sister wondering what did she just get herself into as they raced upstairs into his room, a glance back at Maddy showing her struggling not to break out into laughter.
Timmy quickly scoured through his drawers, pulling out a large letter page with a Christmas-y pattern, much more intricate than the kind she was used to seeing, as a border around the area intended for writing, wide-ruled paper with what looked like half an inch between each line.
Followed up by a couple of crayons and a lone pencil, Riley grabbing the later as she sat down on the tiny chair of his lil' desk.
"So, what do I write?" She asked unsurely, hand hovering idly above the page as her brain refused to provide her with any worthwhile ideas.
"You ask Santa nicely for the presents and thank him!" Timmy responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, his sister chuckling in response as she brought the pencil to the p-
"Wait, I can't watch you or it won't work!" He squeaked in realization before turning away and covering up his eyes, even his tail wrapping around his waist as Riley got to writing, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as her idea for a present fueled her writing arm.
'''
Dear Santa
Thank you for being there for us,
you sound like a cool guy.
I've no clue what present I would
even want, I'm definitely not used
to any of this, but if there's one
thing I wanna ask for it's that I
can stay with the Ashers forever.
All of them, I don't think I could
take it if I lost them or something
happened to them. Rick and Ella
are the parents I used to ask you
for, many years ago, Andrew is the
big bro I never knew I wanted so
much, Timmy is the sweetest kit in
the world and if something happened
to Lily I feel my heart would break.
So please, let me stay with them forever.
Signed, Riley Asher
'''
With a few swift blinks and sliding her glasses off for a moment to wipe the couple errant tears with a sleeve of her shirt, Riley thankfully managed to avoid signing the letter in another way, folding the page in half as she spoke-
"Alright Timmy, I wrote it!" She forced an excited tone out of herself, leftover tears taken care of by the kit had turned back towards her before yanking the letter out of her hand and racing off, his sister baffled before giving chase out of his room, glasses keeping her only a bit slower than usual.
Fortunately, it wasn't a particularly long chase, Timmy stopping abruptly to knock on Ella's office as Riley just stared at him dumbfounded before the office's owner opened the door and peeked out, sounding sleepy and relaxed as she asked-
"What's up sweetie? What's this thing you're holding?"
"Mom, Riley forgot to write her letter to Santa earlier but now she did, can you give us a letter and a stamp?" Timmy barreled off in record time, both girls taking a moment to process and parse his inquiry. Riley sniffed as she thought she smelled something... weirdly familiar before Ella cut her off-
"...Alright. How are you planning to send it?" Her tone was almost dreamy as she slid her chair back into the room, lighting the small desk lamp for a moment as she went through the drawers, pulling out a couple of stamps and an envelope before passing them to the kit who managed to come up with an response in the meantime-
"Mom, can you help drive us to the post office so we can send it?"
Riley had to hold back a snicker as she saw Ella's expression change in real time at the realization of what she got herself into, paws reaching up to rub her temples as she took a deep sigh before responding-
"Alright, the post office isn't that far from here. Want to come along with me Riley?" Her tone sounded like she was simultaneously groaning and speaking, her daughter nodding slowly in response, not wanting to leave her alone with the unexpected baggage like that, something else popping up in the meantime-
"Oh, and we probably could get Maddy back home while at it if that's alright."
Ella nodded firmly, standing up to stretch before starting to give out commands-
"So, go prepare the letter Timmy while we put something on, not like we're gonna do much outside the car but I'd still rather we have shoes on. Riley, go get ready too." Ella rolled her shoulders as she headed towards her bedroom, Riley standing there dumbfounded for half a moment before Timmy dashed off into his room, his sister following suit to put on something more substantial.
Just a jacket and a pair of worn sneakers, it's not like she was about to sprint in the middle of a blizzard or something.
With that dealt with, she quickly dashed down the stairs and waved to catch Maddy's attention, the weasel girl picking herself up off of the couch and walking up to her-
"What's up Riley?"
"Uh... long story, but we're gonna be delivering a letter to the post office and I figured that would also be a good opportunity to drive you back home."
"That's convenient, I was about to text my mom, hah. When are you heading out?"
"Uh, now."
"Got it."
Maddy wasted no time putting her jacket back on as Riley overheard a conversation from the above floor-
"Alright, gimme the letter sweetie and we can get going." Ella chuckled, her voice noticeably tired as she sent Timmy off with the briefest of head scritches as she turned to head downstairs, the kit grabbing her paw in protest as he half shouted, half asked-
"Can I come too!?"
Well no way he wasn't with that attitude.
His mom eyed him down for just a moment before conceding defeat with a sigh, answering slowly with-
"Just grab a jacket and a hat sweetie, it's still cold even in the car." -As she walked down the stairs, tail a bit puffed up as it glided behind her.
Riley grabbed the letter from the lil' kit as he scaled the stairs and followed suit, silencing Rick's visible confusion on her way by waving the crudely written 'SANTA' in front of him, message gotten seemingly immediately with a quiet chuckle before he helped Timmy with grabbing his lil' jacket from the clothes hook before they all stepped out.
Moments later they were in Ella's car, skunk mom not even bothering to wipe off the slight layer of snow from the recently started snowfall before starting the engine and setting the wipers to full power as she pulled out onto the road.
With Timmy in his booster seat, Maddy was sadly relegated to the middle seat in the back- though she couldn't say she minded one bit, reaching to hold Riley's hand in the dark, the teen's resulting blush obscured as she held it back, leaning over on the taller girl.
"Thanks for the ride Mrs. Asher."
"You're welcome Maddy, you're all still living at that place next to the old preschool right?"
"Mhm!"
The ride went by awkwardly quietly afterwards, Riley too afraid she and Timmy had upset her mom with all this nonsense to speak up. She decided to just stare out the car window into the snow-covered darkness while covertly snuggling against Maddy, occasionally wiping her glasses as her breath fogged them before Ella chuckled and spoke up herself-
"Now that I'm thinking, how'd you get Riley to write a letter Timmy?" There was still tiredness in her voice, but thankfully it had turned into the cheery kind.
Riley took a quiet sigh of relief at there being no frustration in Ella's voice as Timmy happily responded-
"News lady talked about letters to Santa and I asked Riley if she wrote hers and I really wanted her to write a letter so that she didn't get forgetted by Santa!"
Ella reacted with quiet, jolly laughter, not unlike the kind the big man they were sending this letter to in the first place was known for.
"Well, thank you for doing that sweetie." She giggled quietly as she pulled into the parking lot right in front of the local post office-
And finding it closed for the night, just a few minutes late.
Skunk mom just sighed in disappointment as Timmy let out a distraught 'oh no...', him and Riley getting out of the car to examine closer, sadly not finding anything.
"Oh well, guess it'll have to be picked up tomorrow." Riley quietly admitted defeat, walking up to the blue box nearby before being stopped in place as the kit decided to suddenly grab her leg.
"But then it will be too late and Santa won't get it in time!" He whined with noticeable distress in his voice, his sister deciding against her initial plan after seeing Timmy care about it so much, not wanting to disappoint him like that.
As the girl pondered on, she heard a faint mechanical hum coming up from somewhere, running back up to the car and quickly saying 'Give me a moment' before she took off to investigate the noise that sounded not unlike a running engine that definitely belonged to something bigger than Ella's car.
A moment of wandering around confirmed her initial suspicion, Riley breaking off into a sprint as she realized the humming came from behind the post office, the layer of protection for her eyes provided by her glasses definitely welcome.
"Riley, where are you going!?" Timmy squeaked loudly as his sister took off, the kit trying to waddle his way through the wind to follow her.
With motivation surging into her, she quickly made her away around the building, a lungful of frosty air slowing her down with a painful cough before she pushed on, managing to reach her destination just in time, managing to make out a Postal Office-branded semitruck through the fog on her glasses, currently being loaded up with various packages and bags of letters by a couple employees who looked at her as if she was a ghost or something as she staggered up closer.
"I-I'm s-sorry for being l-late-*cough*, g-got one more l-l-letter to Santa..." Riley forced out as she stuck out her envelope-holding hand, the employee closer to her grabbing it wordlessly with her paw and inspecting it under the light of an overhead lamp, her stern expression making the girl lose hope before Timmy caught up to her, himself breathing heavily as he ran up to hug his sister's leg.
The worker's grimace downright melted at the sight, especially when coupled with the crayon-scribbled name of the addressee.
"Well, normally we don't do late letters, but... we're gonna fast track this one to Santa." The employee smiled up at the siblings as she threw the letter into the small bag inside the postal truck, Riley smiling at her before mouthing out a quiet 'Thank you' in a breathless voice, Timmy following up with a much louder "THANK YOU MISS MAILMAN!'.
"You're welcome kids. Now scoot before you two get yourself sick, and have a Merry Christmas!" Riley got the message with a chuckle, waving goodbye at the pair as they slowly wrapped up their shift before turning around and grabbing Timmy's paw as they slowly made their way back towards Ella's car.
Now she really did wish she had put on something more significant than this.
Or was wearing shoes that didn't give in while running through light snow.
Wet cold feet, fun for exactly nobody in the family.
Thankfully it wasn't even half a minute until they were back at the car despite all the snow and fog on the lenses making finding the exact path back tricky. Ella gasped in relief upon seeing them, earning her an explanation from Riley as she gathered her breath-
"H-heard a semitruck running behind the building, turns out they were just packing the letters and so thankfully agreed to take ours in."
Ella could only chuckle at her daughter's explanation as she wiped her glasses yet again before they all strapped themselves back in. She inquired quietly in response, her voice soft and just a bit livelier at Timmy not ending up disappointed-
"Hope you two thanked them for that, not every day something like that happens."
"We did mommy, promise!" Timmy squeaked out excitedly, the happiness dripping from every word, managing to warm Riley up, adding to the fogginess of her glasses.
"That's nice of you sweetie. Now, let's get Maddy to her place, and then head back home, pizza should be there by then!"
Timmy did not mind that plan one bit, quickly strapping in as his big sister tried to warm herself back up in the car- feat made thankfully much easier with a soft tail that wrapped around her soon after the car was back on the road, Riley let her blush fog her glasses as she leaned closer to Maddy once more.
They rode in silence for a while more, Ella eventually deciding to turn on the radio, providing an appreciated layer of background noise- especially since it would let the two stealthy snugglers chat between themselves without being heard for once.
"T-this feels nice..." Riley whispered out eventually, knowing she'd been heard after Maddy pulled her in closer, a light embrace helping hug the cold out of her.
"You feel nice too~ I had a lot of fun today Riley." Maddy responded in kind, hushed tones managing to remain unnoticed underneath the din of engine rumbling and occasionally recognizable pop music.
"S-same..."
"Wanna meet up again sometime?"
"Yeah!" Riley let her emotions get a bit too much, voice rising just enough to be noticeable by the other two occupants of the car- though one didn't care, and the other thankfully pretended to not notice.
Maddy managed to keep her subsequent giggle sufficiently quiet, though that sure didn't help Riley with wanting to burn up in pure fluster.
"How's Thursday sound then?"
"I'd love to~"
"It's a date then~"
Riley held in a squee as she leaned on further, the rumble of the car combined with Maddy's warmth making the remainder of the journey over to her place a very comfortable one, especially as she held the weasel that had stolen her heart closer and closer.
"That's the one, right Maddy?"
"O-oh wh- yeah, that's the place, thanks Mrs. Asher."
"It's no problem Maddy. Is that corner there fine to park at?"
"Yep!"
In not too long, the car had stopped, Riley scrambling out to let Maddy out, about to speak up to say goodbye after she'd left the car as well before being cut off by Maddy pulling her into as big of a hug as she could manage, Riley not missing the cue for once and hugging her right back.
"See ya Riley~"
"Y-you too Maddy..."
"Enjoy your pizza~"
With a wink and a smile, Maddy finally got going, Riley staring in her direction with a big longing before a colder gust got her butt back into gear, the girl scrambling back into the car as fast as she could.
"So, enjoyed Maddy's visit?"
"Yeah..." Riley's response was much dreamier than she'd intended it to be, Ella giggling quietly under her breath afterwards as she drove back out onto the road, homeward this time, letting her girl savor everything that came with being infatuated like that.
"And now pizza!"
And so they took off, the lil' kit's excitement at the prospect of pizza only growing with every minute as they carefully drove back, all three content in their own ways, even if Riley felt a bit empty afterwards.
Though she had one more thing to look forward to now at least~