Chapter Text
Evan scrunched his nose up as he was pulled out of sleep. Something soft and fluffy was tickling his neck.
“Maple,” he groaned. Carefully sweeping the cat off his pillow, he pulled her to the side and rolled to face her. She mrphed at him, tucking her front paws beneath herself. Evan blinked sleepily at her.
She nosed delicately at him, and he smiled, any irritation at being woken up forgotten. Maple, short for Maple Syrup, was just out of her kitten years when they found her. Well, when Evan found her, and she decided she was part of their family. They hadn’t been able to get her to let go of him, so his new dad and papa had bowed to her demands.
He loved her a whole lot, and his insides always felt very warm and fuzzy whenever he remembered that he was her clear favorite.
Reaching out, Evan scritched behind her ear, and she immediately started purring.
“What’re you doing, waking me up so early?” he mumbled. “Someone’s had to have fed you by now.”
He heard footsteps coming down the hall and stopping just inside the apparently open door behind him. “We sent Maple to give you a wake up call,” Gregory said. “Did she fail in her mission?”
Someone else giggled, and Evan twisted around, confused for a second. Peering around Gregory was Cassie, a new girl who’d joined their class at the beginning of the year. The three of them had become quick friends, nearly as quickly as Evan and Gregory had. Nearly.
“Did you forget what today is?” she asked, grinning.
Evan blue-screened for a second before yelping and fighting his way out of the covers. “No!” he cried, very believably. Maple cuddled up to Goldie in Evan’s absence as he rushed to the pile of clothes on top of the dresser that he’d set out the night before.
“Breakfast is waiting!” Gregory called as he pulled the door closed. “And Cassidy’s gonna be here in fifteen minutes!”
Today was Friday, and the start of Christmas break. Gregory’s old friend Cassidy, who Evan had met over a video call, was going to spend the next two nights at the Bayers’ house, and so was Cassie. They were due to head to a sledding hill after breakfast—which Evan had totally not forgotten about—to kick off the weekend.
Left to get dressed, Evan alternated between fighting his socks and making sure his stuff was cleaned off the floor for the air mattress that someone would set up later. Cassie and Cassidy would share, and if Evan knew Gregory at all, he would abandon his top bunk to join the rest of them.
Evan scooped Maple up before hurrying out of the room. He didn’t want to be the one to keep Cassidy waiting.
“Looks like someone overslept,” Michael teased him, sitting at the kitchen island with Roxy.
Now that he thought about it, Evan did vaguely remember Gregory shaking him awake, and he’d grumbled that he was up, he was up, go away. And then he apparently fell right back asleep.
Leaning back against the counter beside the coffee machine, Vanessa snickered. “Dad’s keeping your waffles and hash browns warm in the toaster oven.”
Evan stuck his tongue out at his brother as he passed him, hurrying to grab a plate.
“We won’t leave without you, munchkin,” Roxy said, watching with a smile as he hustled around to grab his food and a glass of orange juice.
“I know,” Evan said, skidding to the table. “But I don’t wanna hold everyone up.”
People came and went from the kitchen as Evan ate, and he reveled in the warmth of it all, something he hoped he’d never take for granted. There was no chilly silence in this house, no feeling like he had to hold his breath. Chica expertly navigated around anyone who got in her way as she made what had to be three different desserts for later. M&M was following her around, as was Monty, both begging for a tasty morsel in their own way. Moon ruffled Evan’s hair as he passed by, on the phone with Sun, who woke at dawn and disappeared most mornings to who-knew-where.
Vanessa alternately complained about her first semester of college to Michael and spoke fondly of her roommate, Annie, and a friend from one of her classes, Luis. Michael listened attentively, and Evan knew he didn’t know what he wanted to do just yet, but that, if he did decide to give college a try, he planned to go to Vanessa’s university. So he wouldn’t be alone.
Maple sneakily jumped up onto Evan’s lap under the table, and she maybe wasn’t technically supposed to do that, but Evan let her curl up on his legs out of sight, purring away and gently making biscuits against his stomach.
Gregory and Cassie’s laughter came from the living room. Evan imagined the tree in the corner, the embroidered skirt overflowing with presents of all shapes and sizes. It was covered in homemade ornaments, and it was the farthest thing from a color-coordinated department store tree that Evan had ever seen. Similar decorations filled the rest of the house, fairy lights lining the ceiling and mistletoe hanging in Freddy and Bonnie’s bedroom door. Paper snowflakes were taped to all the windows, and two new stockings had joined the already crowded mantle.
A bright, simmering joy lit up Evan’s insides. It wasn’t a rare occurrence anymore.
Bonnie entered the kitchen, patting Michael’s shoulder as he passed. He waved a receipt at him and Evan. “And with that, your presents are officially on their way! The worker seemed confident they’d make it in time, too.”
Evan breathed a sigh of relief around his hash browns. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if Elizabeth got their presents after Christmas, but he’d have felt bad anyway. Especially since hers had arrived for them two days ago.
“Thanks, Bonnie,” Michael said.
Evan nodded along, hastily swallowing. “Thanks, Papa.”
“Of course, kiddos.” He smiled at them. “I think she’ll like what you two picked out for her.”
“She better,” Michael muttered, but it wasn’t meanly. With distance, he and Elizabeth had settled into a sibling style of a frenemy relationship, which Evan didn’t really get, but to each their own.
For his part, he and Elizabeth had more or less started over, which wasn’t hard, considering how little they really knew about each other. Like, he hadn’t known until two months ago that she had wanted to take dance lessons for as long as she could remember, and she finally was. Or that her favorite ice cream flavor was strawberry, and she was constantly torn on whether her favorite color was red or pink.
She… was actually a pretty good penpal.
They’d meet up for the first time since everything next summer, so after a full year apart. And Evan was okay with that, was more than okay with that. He had a feeling they’d both be a lot different by then.
“Cassidy’s here!” Gregory hollered. Evan ate faster. The front door opened, and there was a bunch of happy yelling for a few minutes, giving him more time to finish his breakfast.
Evan was just scooping up the last of his hash browns when Gregory and Cassidy entered the kitchen behind Freddy. Freddy smiled at Evan as he beelined for the coffee machine. Fair—Evan would too if he was looking at a long weekend packed with the sort of chaos that Gregory was an expert in. Especially with multiple enablers around.
“Hi, Cassidy,” he offered, just a bit garbled from his mouthful.
“Sheesh,” Cassidy said, looking between Evan and Gregory. “It’s even freakier in person. Are you two sure you’re not actually related?”
“We’re sure,” Evan, Gregory, Vanessa, Michael, and both their dads all said, more or less at the same time.
They’d been asked that question a lot.
Cassidy’s expression spasmed from surprise to delight, and she burst out laughing. “Dang,” she said breathlessly. “That was so perfect.”
Chuckling himself, Michael explained, “Mom gave up the guy’s name at Freddy’s insistence, so yeah, there’s no relation.”
With an impressed look at Freddy, Cassidy asked, “You couldn’t have just done a DNA test?”
He sighed; he’d been asked that a lot too, Evan knew, snickering to himself. “We needed the information for the sake of having an accurate medical history.”
“Lucky brat doesn’t have to worry about inheriting ole Willie’s health problems,” Michael muttered.
Evan raised his glass of orange juice in cheers. “Sucks to be you.”
What a strange world he lived in where he didn’t even think twice about saying that to his older brother.
“Good to meet you in person,” Cassidy belatedly told Evan. She offered him a fist bump as he passed her on the way to the sink with his dirty dishes.
Papa took his plate and glass with a smile, and Monty called out, “Go to the bathroom now, heathens, or you’ll be stuck fighting your snow pants!”
There was a mad scramble for last-minute preparations—putting on their warm socks, checking everyone had their hats and gloves, stuffing a bag full of snacks and setting an entire case of water bottles by the front door, cracking open hand and toe warmers—and before Evan knew it, there came a honk from outside.
Evan gaped for a moment at the mini bus DJ had parked on the street. It made sense, he supposed. There were over a dozen of them, not to mention the snow gear, snacks, and handful of sleds.
He and Gregory and Cassie and Cassidy all wiggled into their snow pants and stomped their boots into place. Evan was already starting to sweat as he got his coat and mittens on. Freddy settled his hat into place for him, teasingly tugging on the braided yarn trailing from the ear flaps.
There was absolute chaos as everyone filed outside and got the bus loaded up, first with their sleds and then with themselves. Michael flicked the pompom on top of Evan’s hat, and Evan swore revenge during the snowball fight that would inevitably happen at some point during their outing.
Evan waved at Maple, who was sitting primly on the living room windowsill, watching her humans waddle around in the cold. She leaned up, batting at the glass. M&M leapt onto the couch back behind her, tail wagging.
There would be a warm fire and hot chocolate to look forward to later, when everyone sported a red nose and wind-bitten cheeks and had gotten snow down their shirt. Monty and Roxy were most definitely going to try and surf down the sledding hill. Chica would probably show everyone up on the ice rink that was part of the winter sports park. Freddy and Bonnie would fondly roll their eyes but give in when the kids begged to be dragged up the hill on their sleds. Evan bet Vanessa and Michael would start the snowball fight, but Gregory would be the one to turn it into a war.
Cassie and Cassidy settled into a seat together, chatting about their favorite video games. They both seemed to like fighting games, as opposed to Evan’s preference of Animal Crossing. This wasn’t much of a surprise to him.
Gregory slid in beside Evan, grinning. “Ready?” he asked.
Evan looked around the bus, at the great big, loud, happy family he’d found himself part of. He briefly made eye contact with Michael. Michael grinned at him, eyes bright, from where he was twisted over the back of his seat to talk to Moon.
How big a difference a year made. In him, in Michael, in everything.
Eyes welling up, Evan faced Gregory again. Gregory, who still, even now, carried spare tissues in his pockets. He pulled one out and handed it over with a knowing sort of look.
Sniffling just a little, Evan beamed at him. “I’m ready.”