To: @misstooni
From: @queenofdragons6
I got this idea around Thanksgiving, so that’s why it’s a Thanksgiving fic. “ZTD Team D/family heartwarming moment (post realizing they’re a family)” is the prompt I chose.
Phi honestly wasn’t sure what she had been expecting when she had agreed to spend Thanksgiving with Sigma’s family, but she sure didn’t expect to be standing in front of a surprisingly large house holding a Tupperware container with something Diana had made inside it. Well, more the size of house than holding the Tupperware.
The three of them walked up to the front door, Sigma taking the lead. Right when Phi started to wonder if coming along was a bad idea, the door opened to reveal a man Phi recognized as Sigma’s uncle.
“Heya, Siggy!” the man jovially yelled with a wide smile.
“Hey,” Sigma replied.
The man’s smile vanished the moment he saw Phi. Not looking away from her, he said to Sigma, “Uh, non-relatives aren’t-“
“I made an exception for her!” a woman called from inside the house.
Almost immediately afterwards, the owner of the voice appeared in the doorway: Sigma’s mother.
Breathless and smiling widely, the woman motioned for them to come in.
Inside the house were at least 15 other people, and Phi was sure that more were coming. Most of them immediately greeted Sigma and Diana, but nobody said anything to Phi. Several people gave her confused looks and a few of the kids waved, but nobody said anything.
Understandable, given what they believed of her.
Phi held up the Tupperware container. “What do I-?”
“I’ll take that, dear,” Sigma’s mother said as she took the container out of Phi’s hands and went into the kitchen.
Phi stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do. It didn’t feel right to just try talking to someone, especially when she technically shouldn’t have been there.
“Hey! Give that back!”
Two children suddenly ran past Phi, one holding up what looked like a toy. They ran up the set of stairs leading to the second floor, and an adult went up after them. Phi stared after them, half-tempted to follow.
“So…” a man’s voice said.
Phi gave a start and turned to look at whoever had spoken to her. It was a man she recognized as another of Sigma’s uncles.
“You…” the man slurred, “…look familiar.”
The man gave all the impression of being drunk, but Phi knew that he probably wasn’t. “The Fourth of July, remember?”
The man stared at her for a few moments before his eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah. Uh…Fi?”
“Phi.”
“Right. Still don’t have anyone else to celebrate with?”
Phi had met Sigma’s family for the first time on the Fourth of July earlier in the year. The original plan was to introduce her to them as Diana’s sister, but the unexpected appearance of Diana’s cousin had forced them to introduce Phi as “a friend we met at Dcom who didn’t have anyone to celebrate with”, which was true, if a bit inaccurate.
Phi looked away from him. “Well, technically I do, it’s just…”
“Not on good terms?”
“Haven’t talked to them in a long time.”
“Foster family or somethin’?”
“…Yeah.”
The man stroked his stubble-covered chin. “Well, I don’t have a problem with a stranger bein’ here if it’s you.”
Phi had mixed feelings about that statement, but the man didn’t seem to notice and walked away.
After a minute, Phi began to feel awkward just standing there and moved into the living room area. Set into the wall was an unlit fireplace and, thankfully, there were no Christmas decorations. Nine people had gathered there, including Sigma.
“What’s she doin’ here?” a guy in the crowd asked.
“My mom begged me to bring her,” Sigma replied with a hint of joking in his tone.
Phi gave him a hard look. “You didn’t mention that.”
He didn’t seem to have heard her, as he didn’t even look in her direction. Phi felt mildly annoyed, but decided to let it be. It ultimately didn’t matter whether or not Sigma’s mother had asked her to come as long as she was allowing Phi to be there.
Phi cautiously walked over to a navy blue couch next to the fireplace and sat down. She still felt like she wasn’t supposed to be there, and it felt awkward to be stared at by several people, even if they didn’t stare for too long.
After a few minutes, a young boy approached her and stared at her intensely. Phi was about to ask him what he was doing when the boy said, “Your glasses have no lenses.”
She blinked. “You’re right. They don’t.”
“But that’s silly. Why would you wear glasses without lenses?”
“They make me look professional.”
They continued on for a few minutes. No matter what Phi said, the boy just couldn’t seem to understand why someone would wear glasses when they didn’t need to. Phi didn’t mind, though. She liked kids, and the boy definitely wasn’t trying to insult her.
“Oh, hello you two,” Sigma’s mother suddenly said. When Phi turned to look at her, she noticed that the older woman was wearing glasses with lenses.
“Hi Aunt Norma,” said the boy.
Her name’s Norma?, Phi internally remarked.
“Sorry to interrupt,” said Norma, “but may I talk to you, Phi? Upstairs?”
“Uh… Sure.” Phi looked at the boy. “We’ll continue this later, okay?”
The boy pouted and crossed his arms, but said, “Okay.”
Norma led Phi to the stairs leading up, the wooden floor creaking under their feet.
0~*~0
The second story was where the bedrooms were, and were, as Phi expected, deserted. Norma led her to the room at the end of the hall, which appeared to be the largest. The bed had two red pillows and a blanket with thick diagonal lines creating diamond patterns. There was also a white ceiling fan, but it was motionless.
Phi turned to face Norma. “So what you’d want to talk about?”
She stared down at the floor, her expression solemn.
“…Is it about Sigma?”
Her eyes flickered up. “Yes.”
“Look, I don’t know how to explain it to-“
“I don’t want explanations. I just want answers.”
Phi’s eyebrows went up as she waited for Norma to continue.
“Something happened to him last winter, at that…wherever it was. He’s different, and yet…I can still see him in there.” She looked pleadingly at Phi. “Phi… Is Sigma still in there?”
“Yes,” Phi said with a nod.
Norma let out a soft but audible sigh of relief. She stayed silent for a few moments before saying, “Can you tell me…what the best way to think of him as is now?”
Phi raised an eyebrow. “What the best way to think of him as is now?”
“Well, I’m…not really sure how to explain it. I guess it just seems that he’s…older, in a way.”
Phi briefly thought about whether to lie or tell the truth. “…He has the mind of a man in his late 60s.”
Norma gave Phi a stare the likes of which she had never seen. She took a few steps forward and put her hands on Phi’s shoulders.
“Phi… Are you my granddaughter?”
Phi could only wonder if she had been wondering that for a while or if that had somehow been kicked off by what Phi had just said, but regardless, she answered, “Yes.”
Norma looked down, hiding her eyes. Her lips twitched into a smile as she let out a soft chuckle.
Phi waited for her grandmother to say something, but she didn’t. After a few minutes, she looked back up, wearing a sad smile on her face. “I…need to go back downstairs. They’ll…need my help with the cooking.”
It took a few seconds for Phi to realize that Norma was waiting for her to respond. “O-Okay.”
Norma let go of Phi’s shoulders and left the room, heading back down the stairs. Phi stood there, unsure of what to do next.
0~*~0
Thirty minutes later, Phi was still in the bedroom, though she had moved to sitting on the bed. She heard the stairs creak as someone came up, and was mildly surprised to see Sigma come in the room.
“Oh, hey,” she said.
Sigma’s expression was more relaxed than it normally was. “Not used to big family gatherings like this, are you?”
Phi looked down. “Not really. Growing up, it was always just me and my foster parents, and they were pretty old. I don’t think they had any other family members to celebrate with.”
She glanced back up and saw that his expression had gone back to its normal seriousness.
“…Your mom’s nice,” she said, hoping to change the mood.
Sigma’s eyebrows relaxed a bit as he nodded. “Glad you like her. She seems pretty fond of you.”
“You didn’t tell me that she had asked you to bring me.”
A flash of guilt went across Sigma’s face. “I didn’t want to make you feel like you had to come.”
A few moments of awkward silence followed.
Phi broke the silence by saying, “So, what’d you come up here for?”
“Well, we’re about to eat, so…”
“Oh,” Phi said before sliding off the bed and following Sigma downstairs.
0~*~0
The rest of the family had gathered in the dining room, and most of them had already sat down. The kids had their own appropriately-sized table. Phi ended up sitting between Sigma and Norma, the latter of whom had saved her a seat.
The sheer amount of food on the table made Phi’s mouth water, but she only took some garlic bread, mashed potatoes, green beans, and what she assumed was glazed ham.
“You can have some more if you want, dear,” Norma said quietly.
“No, I’m fine,” Phi assured her.
And then she realized. Wait, did she just call me “dear”?
Nobody else seemed to notice, so Phi decided to let it go for now. She did, however, feel less reluctant to grab more food as time went on.
0~*~0
“Phi, would you like to have some dessert?”
Phi nearly jumped at the sound of Norma’s voice. She had moved back into the living room area onto the couch after finishing dinner, having no real reason to stay in the dining room.
Norma was looking at her from inside the dining room’s doorway. There seemed to be a slight hesitance in her expression.
“…All right,” Phi said as she got up and walked back into the dining room.
The only other people in the room were the kids, all of whom were sitting at the grown-ups’ table and eating what appeared to be some sort of pie. Most of them were already half-finished with it.
Norma handed Phi a plastic plate with a piece of pie and a fork on it. Her expression made Phi raise an eyebrow, but she didn’t comment on it.
Phi sat down in the same spot she had during dinner and started eating it. The taste nearly made her moan in pleasure.
Upon seeing Phi start eating the pie faster, Norma asked, “What do you think?”
“It’s delicious!” Phi exclaimed with her mouth half-full.
Norma smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”
By the time Phi finished with the pie piece, Norma was gathering up the messy plates the kids had left behind. Phi handed Norma her plate and fork and went back into the living room area, licking her lips.
As she sat down on the couch, cheers came from downstairs, presumably from the men watching sports (Phi was silently glad that Sigma wasn’t one of them).
She looked over at the now lit fireplace and began to feel relaxed for the first time since she had entered the house.
“Uh, hey…”
Phi glanced up and saw one of Sigma’s uncles, the one she had talked to earlier. “Hey.”
The man crouched down and gave her a serious look. “I take it ya don’t…understand the significance of that dish ya just ate.”
Phi tilted her head. “Apparently I don’t.”
The man put a fist against his hip. “Well, it’s sort of a tradition in the family for the grandparents to give that particular recipe to their grandkids.”
Phi raised an eyebrow. “Huh.”
“And only their grandkids.”
Phi didn’t respond, only staring at him with wide eyes.
“How old are you?”
“…21.”
The man looked surprised, but continued. “I don’t know if Norma knows that, but as my sister, I know she doesn’t see people…like…”
The man trailed off, staring at her intently. He leaned in closer to Phi, carefully studying her facial features.
After what almost felt like an eternity, the man moved back, looking very thoughtful. “Hmm.”
He then got up and walked away, leaving Phi to stare after him in mild bewilderment.
0~*~0
They could not have left soon enough. As much as Phi genuinely appreciated Norma’s gestures of acceptance, she still had a hard time dealing with all the people there, especially after they had learned that Norma had given Phi that pie. Nobody had said anything, but it was clear that each person had varying degrees of suspicion towards her.
When it was finally time for Phi, Sigma, and Diana to leave, Phi rushed to get ready.
“See you later, Phi,” Norma said as Phi was putting on her shoes.
“Bye, Norma,” Phi replied as she slipped on her last shoe.
Norma began walking towards Phi while holding out her arms.
“No thanks,” Phi said, and Norma stopped and dropped her arms.
Diana, holding a bag of leftovers, looked in and said, “Ready?”
“Coming,” Phi said as she passed Norma and followed her parents out the front door.
Once outside, Phi almost speedwalked to Sigma’s car and climbed into the backseat as soon as Sigma unlocked the doors. She stared out the window as the other two got into the car, her chin resting in her hand.
It wasn’t until a few minutes after Sigma had started driving when he asked, “So, Phi, what did you think?”
Phi didn’t even glance in his direction. “…Your mom’s pretty nice.”
Sigma didn’t reply. Neither did Diana.
Phi continued to stare out the window, watching the houses that passed by.
She was exhausted.
0~*~0
Phi was honestly a bit surprised to get a text from Diana around noon asking if Phi would be willing to come over for dinner. But she saw no reason not to and sent a reply saying she would.
That evening, she didn’t suspect anything as she walked up to the front door, the sound of chirping insects surrounding her. She rang the doorbell and the door opened to reveal Diana, smiling and looking a bit flustered.
“Hi,” Diana said breathlessly. “You’re early.”
“Is that a problem?” Phi asked.
“No, no, of course not.”
Phi looked over Diana’s shoulder. “Where’s Sigma?”
“He’s in the kitchen. Come on.”
Diana led Phi by the hand into the house, taking her into the kitchen/dining room. The moment Phi saw the table, she let out a small gasp.
On the table was a full Thanksgiving dinner, complete with a turkey and some of the leftovers from the previous night. The table was just barely big enough for all the food. Sigma was standing nearby with a shy, awkward smile on his face.
There were only three placemats on the table.
Sigma and Diana had made a Thanksgiving dinner that was just for the three of them, just like the ones Phi used to have.
Phi looked away, blushing. “…Thanks.”
ZEcret Santa 