The drive back took a bit longer than the other way around, Ella thankfully recognizing her own exhaustion and slowing down significantly juuust in case.

After all, nobody wanted anything bad to happen just before Christmas.

For the most part Riley just took in the warmth as she stirred in her seat, the car's heater doing wonders from insulating them from the stinging cold of the dreaded outside.

Of course, there's only so much patience a four-year-old can muster even if he really, really wanted to, and eventually Timmy's boredom became really apparent with him asking when will they finally be home.

The answer was twenty-eight seconds, Ella having to keep herself from breaking into giggles upon hearing the tyke ask the inevitable question just as she turned onto the road their home was on.

And it couldn't have taken much more than that from the point Ella parked next to the garage until they were all back inside, the heat from the fireplace melting the brief frost immediately.

"Ha, just in time!" Andrew chuckled as the remaining trio ran inside, a small stack of cardboard boxes catching Riley's attention as it sat in front of the blazing fire, shielded by a glass pane.

She ran up to him after kicking her shoes off, the savory smells drawing her in by the nose as her tummy rumbled on in excitement- at least until her eyes caught something that wasn't quite like when she saw it the last time-

Namely, Andrew's clothes. Comfy plaid shirt replaced with green...

Wait, were those pajamas?

"Well, I thought it would be best if we were all ready for bed before cracking the pizzas open, it's already quite late and all." Rick answered her wordless question as she eyed down Andrew in confusion, the explanation only affirmed as she glanced her dad's own pajama outfit, red fabric matching the goofy pair of reindeer-themed slippers on his feet.

Riley nodded ever so slowly as her brain tried to rev itself back to life against the forces of sleep and hunger, eventually responding with a tired 'uh-huh'. The plan had finally formulated itself inside her two still functional neurons by the time she'd reached the stairs, at least as much as 'do whatever to get to pizza' could be considered a plan in itself. Regardless, her stomach was determined to fulfill it as fast as she could-

At least until her eyes distracted her again, the sight in front of her making her stop abruptly as she futilely tried to hold back a burst of laughter.

Well, now she knew what a blow-dried Lily looked like:

Namely like a stick figure composed entirely of very dark, very puffed up dusters with every little dark hair facing its own direction.

Wearing a lilac night shirt that looked like it got caught up on virtually every strand of fur simultaneously, looking downright... fur-fitting?

And with a tail that looked almost as big as the girl herself.

Lily's initial embarrassment at Riley's laugh quickly turned into hilarity itself, partially at the situation she found herself in, partially at her own fluffed appearance, and partially at her older sister's kettle-like laughter.

After taking an ashamedly long amount of time to calm down from her little outburst that just refused to end, and giving her sister an absurdly soft hug for sticking with her as they both kept laughing at each other, Riley finally made her way upstairs-

Only to see the bathroom already taken because of course it would be. Timmy must've snuck by them while his sisters were too busy giggling wildly to notice, much to his order-of-using-the-bathroom advantage.

Oh well.

With a sigh, Riley made her way to her room, grabbing a pair of gray shorts and an oversized white shirt to change into, the sight of her invitingly warm bed making her doubt her cause for just a moment before a scent of hot pizza made its way into her nose again, stomach overruling the sleepy brain.

A small bundle of clothes in her arms later, she moved herself into the waiting spot next to the bathroom door, taking a seat on the floor as her watch began, with the added assurance that it wouldn't end too soon in form of a solid slap to the cheek to keep herself awake.

Riley leaned back against the wall and tried to listen in on the faint music coming from downstairs, some obnoxious ad jingle that at least provided her something to focus on.

Fortunately, she wouldn't have to rely on just that for keeping herself from sleeping as she heard Ella's voice from the bathroom behind her, heavily muffled and obscured by the sounds of running water and Timmy's excited squeaks.

Guess he is lil' enough to still need help with baths, heh.

And with that realization followed another one as she glanced around the rest of the corridor, quickly finding the door to Ella's office left slightly ajar.

Well, nobody will know...

Riley quietly got up from her seat, gathering her courage to explore the forbidden territory for a few moments before just going for it, steps nearly silent on the thick carpet as she wanted to make the best use of the limited time she had.

Or the worst use?

Probably not, it's not like she'd just start digging through her mom's personal documents, she just... wanted to take a look.

Pinky promise.

The thick, padded door let her in surprisingly easily, opening smoothly despite its clearly noticeable weight, and together with the quickly flipped light switch revealing her mom's secret den-

And how utterly disappointing it was.

Ella's actual desk was one of the largest Riley had ever seen, sitting proudly in the center of the room, all wooden and ornate and stuff, central leg space flanked by a handful of wide drawers on each side and a ridiculously large office chair towering in front of it.

Either Riley was seeing things or the desk was literally so heavy it was bending the floor underneath itself.

Hopefully the former since she'd left her glasses back in her room and had an excuse.

Most of the items on the desk looked familiar if... much higher budget compared to the ones back in the orphanage's office, massive bulky monitors with creamy yellow plastic replaced by a pair of big flat ones, standing side by side.

Underneath them stood a row of framed pictures of seemingly the entirety of her close family, some of the photos obviously quite old by this point.

There was the photo of her and Rick's first kiss, one of two older skunks that must've been her parents, then of Rick's own parents, then all her sisters in order, goodness Izzy couldn't have been older than eight in this one, and then of all her kids.

Including clearly the most recent frame standing in line with the rest, absence of a photo covered with a sticky note that read-

'''

TODO:

get Riley's photo

'''

Riley couldn't help but smile just a bit at the display, especially with how it contrasted with all the gear in front. A massive black keyboard, a stupidly large mousepad covering most of the right half of the desk, couple of coffee stains on its outer parts, a large mouse with... many more buttons than a mouse should have laying on it.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

There were some scattered paper notes on the other side of the desk, as well as on most of the other solid non-floor surfaces in the room, all of which amounted to just a couple of dressers, probably repurposed to hold yet more papers.

And where there weren't any papers, there was a combined printer-scanner-whoknowswhat machine, similar to one in orphanage's office but less... horribly massive.

There was a coffee machine too, half filled, and all stained, the cup seemingly responsible for all the coffee stains standing next to it. The noticeable wear on its handle and the barely legible "World's #0th Programmer" on its side only adding to the atmosphere.

And besides all that, there really wasn't much more in the room. A cork board on the wall that bordered the corridor, a small rug under the desk with pillows on it to rest feet on-

A small numerical lock on the bottom right drawer of the desk, left unlocked with a code of '621'?

Before the conflict of 'should I investigate' and 'should I not' could even get swinging in her head, the loud blowing noise had pierced its way from behind the bathroom door, giving her a clear cue to decide on 'I really should not' and get out of the room.

And so she was back in the same spot next to the bathroom door she started from, just in time to see the door open and Timmy run out.

Suffice to say she wasn't any more successful from stopping herself from laughing the second time around. The sheer amount of fluff looked like it was actively struggling against the confines of the purple pajamas some of it was trapped under, the rest of it free to puff up as much as physically possible, making the tyke look twice as large.

And once he was in Riley's arms, nuzzling her cheek, twice as soft.

***

Her own shower was quick, to the point, and with her own gels this time, much more pleasant, the strawberry scent of her conditioner making her relax almost subconsciously before rinsing, good mood sticking to her as she started dried herself off.

Just as she was about to put on the night clothes and head out, she reminded herself of the mighty loud blowing sound she'd heard a few minutes before, now curious as to how a normal hairdryer was able to pull off something like that.

Her question was answered immediately after turning it on, a stream of hot hair so strong it made her wonder whether she was holding a hairdryer or a scaled down jet engine.

Certainly sounded like the latter.

But for all its deafening intensity, it definitely did its job well, her hair ending up dry just moments later, and just as absurdly fluffed up as the fur of her siblings soon afterwards.

She may have given it another go after ruining her hair with her shirt to make her hair fluffy again, and then yet another one just to make it stick right before she ran back downstairs. Just maybe.

Regardless, the amused giggles of her siblings were more than worth it when she joined them in front of the fireplace, taking a seat right a couple meters in front of the burning fire, head leaning back against the softness of the couch as Timmy snuck his way into her arms again, eventually deciding to sit down on her lap.

Two of pizza boxes have since been opened and nibbled on, with the third untouched one in the center, Riley only realizing she had no idea which one was whose once her hand was already raised and hovering around in confusion.

"Oh, the middle one's your and mom's, seems she ordered the same kind for you both." Andrew spoke up and reached to slide the box in question into his sister's reach before handing her a plate to go with it.

She couldn't help but smile and thank him for the helpful gesture before reaching in to open the cardboard box, the fresh smell making her waste no time as she reached in and grabbed a couple of slices at the same time, quickly moving them onto her plate just for a second before biting in.

So good. So cheesy.

Riley's quiet savoring lasted only a short while before taking another bite out of it, having an opportunity to actually taste the rest of the ingredients now that her stomach wasn't screaming at her to start eating as fast as she could.

There was... a lot of chicken to her surprise, some spicy, some crispy and some sweet, the combination working surprisingly well with olives, peppers and even some crunchy onion.

Nom nom nom.

Taste test over, back to stuffing her face with it.

Fortunately by the time she was nearing the end of the second slice she could feel her stomach start to fill up and slow down its constant nagging, content fulfillment taking its place as she placed the remainder of her second slice down onto her plate.

Warm, snuggly, and most importantly,

Happy.

Happy with her little brother on her lap that slowly nibbled on his own slice. Happy with her sister who had clearly slid closer to her since Riley sat down. Happy with her big brother who was busy with the small board game box he'd brought as he slowly set it up. Happy with her dad who quietly watched over them from his seat behind them. And happy with her mom who'd just decided to lay down on the rest of the couch, head resting on her husband's lap.

And maybe a bit sleepy, laying her head back against the couch as she closed her eyes in content, gently stroking Timmy's tummy before shuffling noises broke the serene silence. By the time Riley had managed to open her eyes once more, all the pizza boxes had been moved to the side with pretty much everyone having had their portion for now, the center spot being filled back up with a small game board shortly after.

"Ready to kick the game off sport?" Andy asked with a chuckle, showing off a handful of small cardboard figurines in Riley's and Timmy's direction, the boy wasting no time before choosing the biggest, baddest cartoon dinosaur she'd ever seen.

"So, Riley, wanna play?"

***

She'd never felt so simultaneously dumb and too concerned about the antics taking place around her to care about being dumb at the same time.

Despite how straightforward the rules seemed, Andrew, Timmy, and more often than not both at the same time had to step in to give her a helping paw, even Rick stepping in from behind to give tips.

She still lost first, almost painfully quickly, all three of her siblings much more experienced at this than she could hope to be, even Lily who was initially almost ambivalent about the whole thing, but quickly grew much more focused as she realized she was firmly in the lead.

Up to and including some good ol' bickering with Andrew for technicalities as they struggled for the first place, Timmy far behind but still firmly in the game, Rick's minmaxing aid now being targeted towards him.

As they went on, each turn started taking longer and longer, the older siblings gradually becoming more pensive and sluggish with their actions as they kept the game going, Riley too concerned with keeping the sleepy kit seated on her to notice the game had stopped entirely, the family having all dozed off one by one.

It took her an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize that nobody has said anything in a couple minutes, eyes shooting as wide as they'd go in her exhaustion as she looked around, having to stop herself from laughing at the realization that *she* was the last one standing.

And then again at the fact that she had five sleeping skunks on her hands to deal with somehow.

When in doubt... wake up the biggest one to take care of the rest.

Timmy got surprisingly heavy when asleep, his big sister straining to hold him in her arms as she stood up and turned around. She let out a quiet chuckle as she saw Rick's head resting on the headrest, mouth wide open, which then turned into an 'aww' as she noticed his tail was covering up Ella and that he apparently had passed out while stroking her cheeks.

Now... how to wake him up.

Guess a prod wouldn't hurt.

After applying one entire prod to his shoulder without any reaction she tried again and again, her collective efforts only resulting in an almost exasperated sounding snore.

Maybe his ears would be more receptive?

Riley leaned as close in as she could while still holding onto the heavy kit, her whispering coming off as a bit strained as she tried to grab his attention from the clutches of sleep.

"Rick?"

A small ear twitch and another scritch on Ella's cheek, but no cigar.

"Rick, c'mon, need some help here."

Another ear twitch, some groaning so quiet she could barely hear it, c'mon Riley think of something.

Something that could wake him up- wait!

"Dad?"

"U-uhh, w-what... Riley?" He snapped out of his sleep immediately, the word ingrained so deeply in his brain it became impossible to ignore, making him look around in confusion for a moment before the pieces fell into place.

Followed immediately by him taking Timmy off of her, Riley's arms forever thankful for the gesture as the rest of her walked a bit further away to give him space to actually stand up and figure out what to do.

And then realizing that Rick's 'what to do' was basically to prod everyone awake to get them to move themselves onto their proper spots, Riley doing her part by cleaning up the board game and helping the siblings to their feet, Lily's half asleep hug a more than welcome interruption in getting everyone to their respective beds.

With all siblings finally in their beds, it was time for Ella, Riley about to ask why Rick hadn't woken her up before he slid his arms under her and lifted her up in a bridal carry-

Or at least attempted to before his arms gave out from under him half a second later, the half foot drop back onto the couch sufficient to wake Ella up on its own. Both spouses looked awkwardly at each other, lit up by the slowly dying fireplace as Riley tried to stop herself from laughing any harder than she already was at the sight.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Both parents asked nearly simultaneously, certainly not helping with Riley's exhausted laughter, slowly breaking down into coughs as her throat had had enough laughs for one day, the girl eventually managing to stand back up straight and head towards the stairs.

"Sleep well!" She reminded herself to say around halfway through her third step up the stairs, a pair of obviously embarrassed sounding 'You too!'s telling her all she needed to know, adding another amused giggle to her throat's list of crimes.

Before she even knew it, she was finally in her bed, chucking sleepily at the sudden realization as she tried to listen for... anything that would confirm her hypothesis about what was happening downstairs.

At least for the entire minute before the softness of the pillow became too much to resist and she ended up dozing off herself, and then, in their time so did her parents, cuddling together after finally making it back to their bed as well.

And so they all slept, preparing themselves for the big day ahead of them, each in their own little comfy way.