After taking a moment to gather her bearings, Riley followed Andrew out of her bedroom, turning right towards the play room. Timmy was already present, busy squirming on the sofa and holding one of the controllers.

"Can we plaaaaaay now Andy?" He asked, sounding a bit exasperated as he looked up at Andrew. She could finally see his features for once, and he seemed to have inherited the spot from Ella and overall shape of the snout from Rick, along with wider stripes on his tail.

"Fine, fine Timmy, sorry for making you wait for so long. Hope you don't mind Riley joining us!" Andrew smiled as he slid a disk into one of the consoles and sat down on the far end on the couch, his tail curled up around him and laying on his lap.

"Is Riley gonna play toooo?" Timmy followed up, looking up at her hopefully as she sat down on the free space, opposite to Andrew.

"Oh no, don't worry, I think I'm just gonna watch for now."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know how to play." She shrugged and chuckled, leaning further into the soft couch.

"Why?"

"Why not?" Andrew chimed in, barely holding back a giggle himself as he short circuited the poor four year old's brain.

"What?" Timmy blinked and looked around at his amused siblings, both trying to pretend they weren't. After taking a moment to gather his confused thoughts, he slid down from the couch and waddled into the corridor, his tail waving high behind him, Andrew calling him out-

"Timmy, I think Dad is a bit busy right now. How about you ask Riley to help you out with the gamepad?"

The what.

He turned around and scrambled back up on the sofa as the TV turned on, showing some splash screen Riley was too distracted to read as he turned towards her, looking adorable as he looked up at her-

"Rileeeey, can you help me out because Dad is busy?"

"Uhhh, I'll try, but I've never even touched a 'gamepad' before, so you'll have to explain it to me first."

Timmy just tilted his head in confusion, Andrew picking up the cue to step in-

"Timmy, can you hold the gamepad for a moment?"

He picked up one of the controllers and held it in front of himself, right paw holding it from the right, thumb covering all the buttons on the right side, with the left paw holding it from the bottom, thumb on the right... wiggly thing.

"He's just a bit too small to hold it the normal way, so usually dad comes around to help him with the left stick, like so-"

Andrew slid his left hand around, holding the left side of the controller firmly, his thumb on the left wiggly thing, guess it's called a stick.

"Come and give it a try Riley." He followed up as he took his hand away.

After a moment of hesitation she tried to mirror him, sliding in her left hand and gripping the warm plastic, her hand a bit too low to do anything but grip the thing.

"Lemme help a bit-" He gently corrected her grip, moving it upwards and lifting the thumb onto the stick. It felt a bit weird, her hand was not that big either and she almost had to lean towards Timmy to actually hold it somewhat comfortably.

Andrew noticed, taking a moment to think before coming up with something obvious in hindsight-

"Well, usually Timmy sits on Dad's lap for this, dunno how comfortable you'd be with that."

"Definitely more so than right now-" She took away her hand and stretched it a bit, looking down at Timmy and taking a deep breath before asking-

"Wanna sit on my lap?"

He wasted no time in scrambling over, Andrew having had to hold his gamepad for a moment since he didn't think to put it down first. He was definitely heavier than he looked like, Riley letting out a surprised breath as he pinned her to her seat, his tail obscuring her vision as it brushed against her face.

"Timmy, tail!" Andrew called over, Timmy responding with a quick "Sorry!" before lowering it and laying it down by his side, still excited judging by how it kept waving. Riley still had to tilt her head to see the TV well from behind his head, with most of the bottom half obscured by his hair, but she didn't mind much.

"Before we start..." The older brother maneuvered through some menus, selecting a "Quick Race" option, whatever it meant. After a loading screens they were brought to the gameplay proper, showing some sports car at the start line of what had to be a race track, Riley taking a moment to realize this wasn't a prerecorded footage of an actual race.

"Hey!" Timmy interjected, realizing this wasn't a Versus Race, looking up at Andrew in confusion, his tail rising a bit.

"We need to teach Riley how to play first, right?"

"Yeah! You have fast cars and race and-"

"Haha, let me teach her, okay? And then we can race for as long as you want, aight sport?"

"Okay."

Andrew nodded and turned towards Riley, starting his explanation-

"So, because of the way you two are holding the controller, Timmy controls the gas and brakes and Riley controls turning." He paused the game before the actual start of the race, looking over to make sure her thumb was in right position.

"H-how do I do that?" Riley asked, feeling just on the edge of being overwhelmed, thankfully Andrew's slow pace alleviating some of the anxiety.

"Pull your thumb to the left or right to turn, like this-" He reached over, placing a finger on top of her thumb, tilting the stick to the left and then to the right, Riley repeating the weird motion, trying to get used to reaching her thumb that far.

"I'm gonna unpause now so that you two can get a feel for each other, alright? Don't worry about crashing or anything, just try to get used to turning, ready?"

Here goes nothing!

With a press of the button Andrew unpaused the game, the actual race starting moments later, Timmy hitting the gas as they neared the first turn, Riley too paralyzed by the speed of the action to turn in time, the car slamming into the seemingly indestructible barriers.

"Turn right!" Timmy shouted, Andrew shooting them both a concerned look as the younger brother pulled into reverse and tried to take the turn again, Riley sliding her thumb all the way to the right. The car successfully took the corner this time, before bumping into the barrier on the right side, Riley having forgotten to let go of the stick after turning.

By the sheer force of driving forward and grinding against the barriers the car managed to straighten itself out before it approached the slight turn left, Riley managing to react just in time to take the turn. She turned just a bit too hard, bumping into the barriers once more, Andrew offering a tip-

"The more you turn the stick the more the car turns, try to wiggle a bit on this straight bit ahead-"

Wiggle!?

Riley tried to apply his words, tilting the rubber stick ever so slightly, smiling in satisfaction once the car snaked gently on the dirt road, preparing for the next turn. Timmy tapped the brakes and she held the stick about halfway to the left, their combined efforts resulting in the car managing not to crash into anything this time.

"Well done!" Andrew cheered them on as they made their way through the forest track, both too focused to respond. They took corner after a corner, Riley quickly getting the hang of just for how long to tilt the stick to take any particular corner, the couple bumps and spins making the eventual successes all the whole exhilarating.

A couple minutes later they managed to make their way over to the finish line, Riley letting out a breath she held in excitement, sneaking a glance at Andrew, who nodded in approval.

"How was your first drive Riley?" He asked, a hint of pride in his voice, his tail waving in the corner of her eye.

"I... didn't expect it to be this fun." She giggled excitedly, definitely ready for more.

"And it's only gets better as you do! Let's do some actual racing now! Ready, Timmy?" After his little brother nodded back, his tail shooting a bit further up again, Andrew navigated to Versus Mode and set both of them a car, Riley and Timmy jointly controlling what looked to be a high end sports car, Andy getting himself an everyday looking sedan.

She lifted a brow in bemusement at the choice of vehicles as they made their way to the race track again, the screen split with a vertical line down the middle, the duo's car on the left.

Any confusion cleared itself once they hit it off, Riley quickly realizing that the difference in cars wasn't a stylistic choice.

It was meant to give them a fighting chance.

While they could overtake him on straighter segments, he just took corners so much better, seemingly without even having to slow down. Riley grit her teeth as they tried her hardest to catch up to him, ending up second by a small margin.

"Again!" Timmy shouted, thankfully seemingly without any anger in his voice, just wanting more fun. Considering that she was directly behind him, Riley was certainly thankful for that much.

Moments later they were already on another track, thankfully much straighter, giving Riley and Timmy a decent edge. They overtook Andrew on every straight section despite his maneuvers, by the virtue of just being so much faster. The older brother did his best to make up on it on the wide corners, but the duo ended up victorious, Timmy letting out a joyful "Yaaaaaaaay!" and raising his hand up, Riley looking at it dumbfounded before Andrew whispered to her the obvious in hindsight-

"High five him!"

And so she did, Timmy letting out another content "Yay" before asking for another race.

They raced on a dozen or so tracks afterwards, mostly losing more than winning, but Timmy seemed to be unbothered and Riley was enjoying feeling like she was getting a grip on it all, eventually wanting to take a stab at controlling the whole car herself sometime.

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Afterwards Timmy seemed to lose interest, letting go of the gamepad and slipping off Riley's lap, much to her lap's appreciation. He walked back to his room, the other siblings sharing a shrug and stretching their arms after an intense session.

"Seems you enjoyed it?" He asked as he turned towards her with a wide smile, laying down his gamepad and getting up himself.

"Yeah. Didn't expect it to be this engaging, hah. How does another go sound, but with me getting to control the car on my own?"

"Sure! Timmy is probably gonna come back with something else to do, but we can do some more racing afterwards if you're still feeling like it."

Riley nodded in approval, before a creaking noise from the corridor caught the attention of them both, Ella walking out of her bedroom and stretching, this time wearing a hand knit sweater. She leaned forward to see the two siblings on the couch, smiling groggily and waving in their direction.

"Morning Mom!" Andrew called out with a wave, Ella making her way over, leaning on the couch as she took in the view.

"So you got Riley to play with you eh?" She reached out to ruffle his hair, the big softie closing his eyes at the sensation and letting out a quiet chirl, seeming to enjoy it a lot.

"Yeah, drew me in with Timmy needing help and now I kinda wanna play some myself." Riley admitted, chuckling at Andrew melting under Ella's touch.

"I'm glad! Hope you'll keep on playing. Where's Timmy for that matter?"

The younger brother himself answered her question as he walked out of his room, holding a cup of crayons in one hand and some paper in the other, dropping them both upon seeing Ella. He excitedly ran up to her and hugged her legs, shouting "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" in a way only a young kid could.

"Good morning Timmy, how are you doing?" She reached down and picked him up, smooching him on the cheek and stroking his hair, the little kit nuzzling her and letting out the same pleasant chirling sounds as Andrew did, only higher pitched. Riley noticed his tail trying to wrap itself around Ella's torso, the detail only adding to the sweetness.

Riley couldn't help but smile widely at the displays of affection, the warmth making her feel good by proxy as she took it in, leaning in deeper into the couch.

"Mommy, can you scritch Riley too?" Timmy asked innocently, drawing in three confounded pairs of eyes over him, neither knowing what to do.

Riley looked up at Ella, who herself looked dumbfounded, her mouth slightly open as she tried to come up with a response, not wanting to overstep her boundaries.

"W-well, if she wants me to, then sure!" She eventually answered, all eyes on Riley now, Ella looking apologetic, really not wanting to pressure her like that.

Riley had no idea how to answer. Andrew and Timmy seemed to enjoy it and all, but maybe that's just a skunk thing? They all did have claws on their fingers, and while she didn't think Ella would willingly hurt her or anything, but on the other hand Riley wasn't enjoying taking a risk like that.

"Rileeeeey, pwease!" Timmy pleaded, reaching out one of his arms like he wanted to do it himself, tail waving behind him.

"Timmy, don't push on Riley like that." Andrew started, a gentle scolding tone- "If she wants to she'll agree-"

"Alright." Riley interrupted, deciding to bite the bullet and just do it, preferring it over the growing tension in the air.

Andrew shot her a concerned look, wordlessly asking if she really wanted it. She nodded in response, clenching her fists and closing her eyes as Ella set Timmy down, walking up behind where Riley was sitting on the couch. Timmy looked up in excitement as the two other skunks held their breaths as Ella brought her paw to Riley's head, laying it down and starting her ruffling.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa-

Wait this actually felt good.

Riley tilted her head back and lifted her shoulders as the groomed and blunted claws gently rubbed the skin of her scalp. She kept her eyes closed, not because of tension anymore, but because of sheer, unexpected pleasure, a small moan escaping her lips.

Ella kept going for a while, Riley squirming under her touch as her body slowly relaxed, fists unclenching and shoulders lowering down. As the stress slowly evaporated out of her she broke a slight smile in her bliss, both the sensation and positive attention making her feel all warm inside.

After a minute or so she took her hand away, Riley keeping her eyes closed for a few more moments before she took a look around, Timmy as excited and happy as ever as the other two skunks shared an amused smile, neither expecting but both appreciating Riley's reaction to the scritches.

"Guess you did enjoy it after all?" Ella finally asked, Riley too embarrassed to do anything but nod as her pale cheeks bloomed with a red blush. All three shared a small giggle, Timmy responding with another long 'Yay!'.

"And since it's after breakfast, I think Riley has a present for you two~" Ella teased as she walked back into the corridor, stopping for a moment as she looked at the mess- "Timmy, please pick up your crayons."

The little kit followed her and picked up the things he dropped as Riley took a deep breath, happy to at least not be the center of attention anymore.

"A present?" She turned around as she heard Andrew ask that, a playful smirk and a raised brow.

"Nah, it's nothing big, just when I was shopping with Rick I grabbed some of that peanut butter candy for you all."

She didn't expect him to get so giddy at that, a massive grin at his face as he wiggled on his seat.

"Guess you really love that candy huh." She admitted deadpan, amused at Andrew's antics as Timmy finally finished bringing the crayons and paper over, laying them out on the table, sliding a sheet of paper in front of each sibling.

"Hehe, can't help it!" He chuckled, grabbing a couple crayons and looking up at Timmy, asking softly-

"Whattcha drawing, sport?"

"Riley!" He responded, the subject of his drawing blushing at this as she was the center of attention once again, snapping back as she grabbed a black crayon-

"W-well, then I'm gonna draw you!"

Timmy giggled, continuing to draw as Riley tried to nail his outline down, including the fluffy tail and excited, round ears that, as she only just noticed, perked up at any noise around.

"Well, in which case I'm gonna draw... you both!" Andrew chimed in, laughing heartily as he started scribbling himself, the trio intensely replicating each other as a follow up question from earlier popped up in Riley's head, the girl quietly muttering out a question in Andrew's direction-

"What is it with you and peanut butter as a whole?" She didn't have many chances to have them, but she only ever remembered having pancakes with some weird sugary syrup and never with peanut butter.

He chuckled a bit and shrugged, continuing to draw as he responded-

"Honestly, no clue. Guess we skunks just love the stuff, haven't met one that doesn't."

"I see." Riley responded as she returned to her drawing, in the end not that surprised she didn't get a solid answer out of him.

After all, they're just people.

All three were focused on their drawings as Ella quickly snuck back into the room, peeking over Riley's and Andrew's shoulders as they kept drawing, letting out a hearty laugh as she realized what was going on, three pairs of eyes looking up at her.

"Nice draw-off you three are having, haha. I've brought something from Riley- Timmy, catch!"

She threw a small pack of candy towards the littlest brother who'd just barely managed to snatch it out of the air, lighting up when he saw what it was, quickly tearing the packaging open and unwrapping one of the pieces, stuffing it inside his mouth and chewing. A few moments later he let out a quiet chirl along with a shudder that seemed to vibrate even through his tail as he enjoyed the treat.

Guess they really did enjoy the stuff, wow.

She passed another pack to Andrew who did the same with almost the same childlike glee, choosing to suck on the candies instead. Candies, because he didn't seem to have an issue with unwrapping three and having them all at once. As he enjoyed himself, his mom quietly slipped a couple water bottles on the table. Gotta stay hydrated, after all.

Ella gently poked Riley's shoulder as she quietly passed her a third pack, the human looking up at her in confusion before the skunk just smiled and winked at her, knowing full well what she was doing.

Riley couldn't help but smile and nod at that, finally being in the mood to have some of that candy herself. She opened the small bag, quite a bit slower than the two brothers, without claws to help her. She grabbed one of the candies and unwrapped it before taking a closer look.

It was creamy white and spherical, the size of a quarter. After the brief inspection she put it in her mouth, the sweet taste melting in her mouth. It was definitely white chocolate, which confused her briefly before she gently pressed on it with her teeth, easily biting through the outer shell-

And realizing that the inside was literally just a ball of peanut butter.

The sweetness cloyed her mouth as she tried to scrape it from the roof of her mouth, the weird, pleasant sensation unexpected, but coupled with the rich flavor of the buttery insides it was definitely clearer now as to why it was such a hit with the family.

After finally dealing with the first candy Riley glanced to her left, realizing Ella was still standing in the door frame, looking at her curiously, brows raised. Riley responded with a vigorous nod and a thumbs up gesture, before grabbing a couple of the candies and stealthily throwing them towards Ella, who appreciated the gesture with a wide grin, even her tail shaking in excitement a bit.

With that out of the way the trio returned to their drawings, snacking intermittently on the candy as they finalized their masterpieces, Timmy rising his in the air first.

Riley had a hearty laugh as she took in the portrait, the four year old having had no idea what color to use for her hair, eventually going with... purple of all things. Guess it fit the hot pink skin and fire engine red lips. Her nose was a lime green triangle, and her eyes brown circles, with her ears sticking out where a skunk's would, also purple.

She loved it.

"It's great, thanks Timmy!" Was all she could get out between fits of laughter, Andrew sharing in the glee before she finally calmed down, making some finishing touches before she showed Timmy her drawing, as rough as it was. It was a bit tricky adding black details on black, so she decided to fill his fur in with dark gray, using black for details like nose, eyes and whiskers.

"Why am I not black?" He tilted his head at the sight, Riley unsure how to frame it in a way he would understand, glancing at Andrew for help.

"Well, why did you make Riley's hair purple?" Andrew responded with a question of his own, lil' Timmy deep in thought before he answered with-

"I don't know!"

"See?" Andrew chuckled, before showing his own drawing, pretty basic but better on colors then either the previous siblings- using a mixture of yellow and brown for Riley's hair, with white and orange covering her skin. Timmy on the other hand was really dark navy blue, with black outlines managing to stick out just enough to be noticeable.

"Wow, really well done!" Riley couldn't help but praise him with how well he'd nailed her hair, smiling and nodding at his efforts, getting him to blush a bit.

"Andy, can we race agaaaain?" Timmy suddenly called out, dropping his crayons and running up to his brother, looking up with pleading eyes.

"Not before you clean up!" Andrew responded softly but firmly, Timmy groaning in response and starting to pick up the stray crayons, running back and forth between the game room and his bedroom until the coffee table was cleaned up.

Afterwards they got back into their racing routine, Timmy having to be again reminded to get his tail off Riley's face a couple times. After a few more tracks he started to lose focus, his grip on the gamepad waning as he leaned back onto Riley, dozing off on her lap.

She smiled warmly at this, finally having the opportunity to do some racing on her own. Focusing only on turning was one thing, controlling several things at the same time took a longer time, Riley needing a half an hour just to stop letting go of the gas at the turns, but eventually figuring it out.

It was all so enthralling she didn't even notice when Timmy woke up, his tail gently waving in excitement as he quietly stared at the screen, still obviously groggy.

After almost two hours of grinding race after race, Riley finally got her first solo win, prompting a loud "Woooooo!" despite the obvious handicap.

"Well done Riley!" Rick chimed in as she peeked into the room, any leftover concern on his face quickly melting as he noticed how much fun she was having.

"T-thank you!" She couldn't help but smile back as she looked over her shoulder at him, only now noticing that Timmy was awake as he turned with her.

"H-how long have you been awake Timmy?" She asked in a deadpan voice, not expecting this at all, Andrew laughing a bit to the side before answering- "He's been up for half an hour or so, don't think I've ever seen him this quiet, haha."

Rick walked up behind Riley, carefully reaching down to lift Timmy up, holding him closely and softly rocking-

"One sleepy kit, aren't you~?" In the softest voice she ever heard him use, father and son slowly making their way over to Timmy's room, presumably to lay him down in his bed.

Riley couldn't help but coo quietly at the sight, her constantly excited brother looking even more adorable in Rick's arms.

After this brief interruption the oldest siblings continued their racing, Andrew rewarding himself with a piece of candy for every victory. Riley of course did the same, but with five pieces at a time to make it somewhat fairer.

Darn that candy was good, if really filling.

As the sun set behind the windows Andrew eventually called it quits for the night, standing up to stretch-

"Thanks for all the fun Riley! I think dinner's gonna be ready any time soon, so don't stay up in here for too long!"

He chuckled before walking off into his room, Riley unsuccessfully trying to race against the AI opponents before wrapping it in for the day herself, cracking all her joints as she finally got up, realizing she didn't know what to do to turn it all off.

She walked up to his room, knocking to a panicked-

"One moment!"

There was a lot of rustling and clicking from the inside, Riley standing back from the door just in case, fortunately so as Andrew flung it open just a bit too strongly, his clothes a bit of a mess as he looked in panic until he'd spotted Riley, as curious as she was surprised.

"W-what's up R-Riley?" He asked hurriedly, his voice a bit shaky.

"What do I do after I've finished playing?" She tried asking as calmly as she could, his disheveled state mostly answering any questions she wanted to ask.

He wordlessly took her back to the game room, pressing a button on the console and then on the TV, quickly adding- "There you go." before jogging back to his room, slamming the door shut.

After... that, she made her way downstairs, seeing Ella, and much to her dismay, Lily, working together on the dinner. She slowly got back upstairs, thankful that she hadn't been spotted yet, thinking on what to do.

Of course, she and Lily couldn't keep hiding from each other forever, despite the tension between them. She had to finally bite the bullet and show herself, even if to just slowly acclimatize Lily to her presence.

Here we go.