Since I haven't been able to update much I thought I'd give you guys a little New Years special. This is a shorter little snapshot into the future (since the story currently takes place like 2015 or something). Also, don't know how long I'll leave this up.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season :)

Set New Year's Eve 2020.

"I might murder your kids, Chris."

"Please don't," Christen groans and wraps the blankets tighter around her. She really doesn't want to get out of bed. The house always feels freezing in the mornings. She listens in hopes the muffled argument will fade or cease, but it only gets louder. Knowing Julie wouldn't wake up to a hurricane, she forces herself out of bed. She murmurs to herself all the way out of the room.

Tobin turns away from the now empty spot in the bed beside her. She makes a mental note to give Mal and Rose a good earful for taking away her source of heat. As soon as Christen has left and shut the door behind her, the door clicks open again and a wave of anxiety sweeps the room.

"Alex," Tobin moans, stuffing her head into her pillow. "Get out. It's too early for this."

Alex waves her phone. "It's Ellie."

"She's fine, Lex. Go have some coffee or something and chill."

"She texted me this morning. Like early this morning."

Tobin pauses. She begrudgingly rolls over and sits up. She murmurs through sleepiness, "What time was it sent?"

"A little after six."

Tobin rubs her face, trying to shake the cob webs out of her head so she can think. "She napped a bit yesterday. Probably messed up her sleep schedule a little. Or maybe she just couldn't sleep."

Alex relaxes a little. "And she hasn't responded since then, so she must have fallen asleep again."

Tobin doesn't mention that Alex's freak out was pointless and just lays back down with a muted thump. "And I'm gonna do the same. Go start the coffee and take a chill pill while you're at it." She never had the energy to be kind in the mornings.

Meanwhile...
Ellie looks out the window, admiring the pinking sky. She thinks about the families that are already up getting ready for their big New Year's Eve parties and running last minute to the store during the limited holiday hours.

Her New Year's Eve had been planned to be just as normal. She was supposed to spend it at her parents like she usually did, despite how much she had argued.

"I want to spend New Years with you," she snapped when Tobin and Alex mentioned what time she'd be getting to the airport the following day.

Tobin wordlessly eyed her with a clear warning but said nothing as Alex explained, "We talked about it and—"

"Well nobody asked me what I wanted." She kicked a box of decorations aside and moved to the back of the tree.

"Eleanor."

"What?" She snapped.

She was so mad when they made her leave for home.

"It isn't fair. All of you guys get to stay here. No one's making you leave." Ellie ranted, trying to yank the stuck zipper on her suitcase.

Morgan rolled her eyes. "We're adults. You're a child."

"I'll be eighteen in a few months." She snapped back.

Mal repeated snidely, "Yeah, she'll be eighteen in a few months."

Morgan shut her laptop and swung her legs over, so she faced the pouting teenager. "Ellie, your parents have been isolated, so it's safe to see them. You're lucky."

Ellie sighs. She didn't agree then, and she doesn't agree now. She wants to be at the cabin this New Years. They can't be too mad, right?

Miles away...
The group has just finished up a "family" breakfast and are taking an hour or so before they start getting food ready for the "party" they are having that night.

Julie is on the phone with Zach. He's still in Philly and unable to make it to the cabin. They also don't want to take any risks with baby Charlie who had come up with her dad a couple days previously. They had waited until the fourteen days had passed to bring the baby to the isolated mountain home just to be safe, and the newly parents are relieved everyone is serious and careful about giving their girl a safe New Year's.

Alex and her husband Servando are taking a little breather from the parenting life and are sucked into an intense game of FIFA. Christen plays on the floor with Charlie, making the seven-month-old explode with fits of giggles. Rose is settled on the couch, sipping a mug of hot chocolate, with her dog Wilma on her lap. Tobin sits out on the porch in one of the wooden seats with a cup of coffee and admires the tall trees dusted with snow.

In the kitchen, Mallory and Morgan are bickering again but are oddly conscious of keeping it low and quiet. Suddenly, Mal blurts out for the whole house, "We don't have sour cream!"

Julie comes out of her room typing on her phone. "Yeah, we do. I got it when Alex and I went to the store to restock."

"It's not in the fridge," Morgan adds. "I looked."

Julie raises an eyebrow. "You helped her look?"

Morgan shrugs. "I thought she was being dumb and couldn't find it. Plus," she adds. "You know I can't live without sour cream."

Mal glances at the clock. "Morgan and I will go grab some more." She grabs Morgan by the collar of her jacket and pulls her toward the door.

Julie follows them. "Wait, wait, wait. You should let one of us go with you," she says referring to the older girls. "We're pretty far off from the nearest town, so they don't salt the roads very well."

"Morgan's coming," Mal insists.

Julie hesitates and can't help the feeling that they were playing at something. "What is really going on here?"

"I have an addiction to sour cream. Might be one of my New Years resolutions but for now, I need it." Morgan offers a smile, and Julie can't place what's off about it.

Mal grabs the keys off the hook and calls out, "Bye, Mama J! We'll try to remember the sour cream!" And then Mallory and Morgan are gone.

Tobin catches sight of the two running down the porch. "Hey! Slow down, the steps might be icy."

"Can't talk now Aunt Toby. We've gotta go!" They get in the car and drive off.

Tobin blinks and then goes inside with her now cold cup of coffee. Julie is still standing in the entrance confused.

"What was that about?" Tobin asks.

Julie shakes her head. "I don't know, but I don't like it."

Alex calls out from the kitchen, "Who threw out the sour cream we just bought?"

A few hours later...
The ones at the cabin begin to worry when there is no sign of Morgan and Mal. Reception around is spotty and contacting them would be unlikely since they are out and about.

"I shouldn't have let them leave. I knew something was up," Julie mutters.

Christen tries to reason. "They're probably okay. Probably couldn't find where the sour cream is. Or they got distracted. You know Mal."

They both look at Rose. "Do you know anything?" They ask for the umpteenth time.

Rose pouts and hugs Wilma tight. "No, they didn't tell me anything." She can't help feeling left out.

In the other room, Tobin and Alex analyze the six AM text and the silence after it. Now, Tobin is really starting to get worried.

There is a knock at the front door and all the inhabitants rush to the foyer area. Servando and Charlie are the first to get there. Servando was wandering the house to keep Charlie away from all the worrying. He's convinced she can read everything that's going on with her bright, watchful eyes. He pauses turning the handle when he sees three people outside instead of two.

Before he can open the door, he is pushed aside by Julie. "Watch it, I'm holding a baby!"

"I swear to . . . oh my gosh, Ellie? How are you—"

It is Alex's turn to push Julie, and she freezes up with shock. Or cold, considering the temperature felt like it had dropped since that morning. "You're alive."

Ellie blinks. "Wait, what? Why wouldn't I be?"

Tobin nudges Alex a little to the left, so she can see for herself. She shakes her head. "Your mama thought up about 71 ways you could have died in the 5 or so hours it took you to get here."

Ellie fidgets, looking every bit the fifteen-year-old she was when they first met. She had grown up a bit since then. "You're not too mad are you?"

Tobin and Alex look at each other. Ellie bites her lip and looks down. Suddenly, she is engulfed in a group hug. "You scared the living daylights out of us." Tobin grips her firmly, but her face softens and she winks. "But now isn't the time to be mad."

Ellie sighs in relief. "I just really wanted to be with you guys." She leans into them.

Alex rolls her eyes and swats the teenager more playfully than anything. "Oh we will talk about your crazy stunt eventually. But like Tobin says, we've got a new year to celebrate."

Tobin shakes her head but can't help the smile on her face. "I'll call your parents."

Tobin and Alex, although they know they can't let her get away with her craziness today, are happy to momentarily forget about it. The night is filled with family and memories. Ellie carries Charlie around the whole night, the two refusing to separate from each other. The group plays rounds of cards until the competitiveness gets out of hand. The New Year's Eve TV program plays in the background.

It isn't ideal. They can't be surrounded with the family they usually have and don't have all the individual traditions they usually do. They make the most of it and some may argue, had one of the best New Year's ever.

2020 wasn't all bad.