*Vi*

Alice was laying in the middle of her siblings' bed. "Try not to come back with any surprises."

Vi's cheeks reddened. "I'll have you know, Alice, that it takes time for that to happen!"

Why did Alice like to push people's buttons so much? Was it that fun for her?

"Go on," Sky said. "We can take care of ourselves fine."

Kai shut the door behind them.

The couple held hands as they walked.

"So, why did you want to take an evening walk?" Vi asked.

"You'll see." Kai grinned as he spoke in a sing song tone. "Good things come to those who wait."

Vi shook her head. It was hard to believe that he was the oldest sibling when Kai acted like that.

Kai brought Vi into a nearby restaurant.

Vi raised her eyebrows. What was her husband planning? Not only did they have dinner already, but Jack was kind enough to pay for it, so what did Kai want?

Kai pulled a folded note out of his pocket and handed it to the hostess. "Evening, miss."

The woman unfolded the note before smiling. "Good evening. Please follow me."

Vi was tempted to glare at her husband. Was he flirting with the hostess to get in her good graces?

The hostess led the couple to a private room in the back.

Vi gasped as her body flew back. She dug in her heels, avoiding behind thrown back. A redhead the size of a young teen had his arms around her, his head rubbed against her left arm.

"S-Star?"

The hostess giggled on her way out. "Let us know if you need anything."

A girl with long braided black hair giggled as she walked closer. "Star, you looked like the pup there."

Star pointed a finger himself and then made the sign for cat.

Vi laughed. "Yeah, Betty, he's a cat, not a dog."

Betty came over to hug her big sister. "I missed you, Vi."

"I'm glad to see you, too," Vi said. "Why are you here, though?"

"Happy birthday to you!" a kid the size of Star sung. He held the left side of a cake, the right side held by a tall guy in red. The young man joined the kid, but it ruined the angelic song with his harsh notes.

"Ugh, Ran. Don't sing, you're tone deaf!" Vi snapped, covering her ears.

Randel narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Don't make me throw this cake at you."

"Just try it!" Vi shouted.

Kai rubbed his head. "Are siblings supposed to argue like this?"

Noah shrugged. "The cats always have."

Kai winced. "I feel bad for you, kid."

Another shrug.

Vi said, "Surprised you came, Randel."

Randel laughed. "Well, Betty wouldn't take no for an answer."

Betty dug her elbow into her boyfriend's side. "Randy."

Del laughed. "Just kidding! I came for the cake!"

Betty dug her elbow in deeper.

"I-I mean, for you!"

Vi sighed. "Guess that Chan and Angie couldn't make it, huh?"

"Well, in my case, Betty pushed me to come."

Betty closed his mouth. "They might show up later."

Vi tilted her head at Randel. What was he going to say?

It would've been nice if Chan and Angie had come, but at least Betty, Star, and the others were here.

"You didn't have to do this." Vi's cheeks reddened. "I just spent two whole weeks with all of you. It would be greedy of me to ask for anything else."

Randel smiled at his big sister. "There's nothing wrong with letting people spoil you once in a while."

"Can we please put this thing down?" Noah asked, "My arms are getting tired."

Kai took Noah's side of the cake.

Vi's jaw dropped. "What is that thing made of?"

It's a tres leches cake. It's winter, so it should be able to keep for a little while."

"Still. Did it have to be so big?"

"We do have a big family." Betty put her finger over her sister's lips. "I baked it with Star this morning. He gave it a lot of care. He used his talker to repeat each step before he did it."

Star grinned as he puffed his chest out.

Vi sighed. "That thing is a lifesaver for you guys, isn't it?"

"I dunno if I'd say that. He has his signs. I think he uses it more when he's out with his pup or really wants something specific."

"What do you mean?"

"Like if he wants to make something specific for dinner. It's easier to tell us with it. Like he was telling Isolde yesterday that he was going to the grocery store with his pup, so he could buy things to make fried rice."

"Oh, right... Using signs for that might be a little too complex for her..."

Betty grabbed her sister's hand. "Anyway, let's eat this cake before it goes bad!"

Vi rubbed her ear. "You don't need to shout."

Star beamed before giving Vi a rolled sheet of paper.

He had drawn a picture of Chiko sleeping on Vi's chest. It was so adorable.

Vi ruffled his hair. "You're such a loving uncle."

Betty took the picture from Star and rolled it back up, putting it in bag.

Kai smiled. "It might be a little cold, but how would you like to play in the snow for a few minutes?"

Star nodded vigorously and made a sound Vi assumed was akin to a yes.

Noah and Ran followed them out.

Betty put her hands on her hips. "Before we go, I'd like to meet the new Key Keeper."

"What new Key Keeper?"

Betty looked at her sister of the corner of her eye. "Your sister-in-law?"

The blood left Vi's cheeks. "Please don't say too much. We haven't told her about that."

"What?" Betty shook her head. "That's the same sort of mistake Ame made with Star?"

"I don't want her to work if she doesn't have to... I don't want her to go through the sorts of things he did. Or the awful things we did."

"She has you and her siblings to support her. I would happily help, too, if you asked. I seriously doubt any of you would let anything of that magnitude happen to her."

"But would that be enough?" Vi asked.

"Violet!" Betty snapped. "If you don't have faith in your sister, then you're setting her up to fail. If you really believe that, then you might as well go home now, because you're endangering your family and yourself."

Vi gritted her teeth. "But what about Kayleigh? She threw all those challenges at us, at Star and didn't lift a finger to help us! If anything, it'll be better if I do it. I still have my key."

Betty threw her arms around her sister. "Violet, I love you. I don't want to see you get hurt. Your husband, son, and our siblings would be sad. Including me." She stroked her sister's hair. "Kayleigh has shown mercy, hasn't she? There were many chances for Star and the two of us to die, but she didn't let us go."

Vi bit her lip. Betty was always more optimistic than her or Angie. Was it because she hadn't experienced the losses they did?

Betty squeezed her sister's hands. "I want to meet your sister-in-law after you finish your cake."

"Wait. What about the others?"

"They took theirs outside."

Vi took a bite of her cake. "I thought you'd already met Lulu."

"I met Kai when we were kids. Skylar, I think his name was, came over for dinner with his other sister a few years ago. I can't remember ever meeting the Key Keeper girl."

Vi sighed. "Alright. We're all staying at a nearby inn. Kai told them we were taking an evening walk, so they might start worrying soon."

Betty giggled. "Is he not very good at coming up with excuses?"

"Not really. He probably would have blabbed about the KKs if I hadn't stopped him."

"I mean she's seventeen, right? She deserves to know. I probably would have been more scared by how things were here if Mom hadn't raised me."

Vi furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, right. Hannah adopted you when you were a baby, so she really is your mom."

"She is for Noah, too. It's pretty unlikely he remembers his mom given how old he was back then."

Right. The kid was only three. Vi struggled to imagine what it was like to not know one's mom.

Vi smiled. "Thanks for the cake, Betty. I'm ready to go."

"I'm glad you liked it. Star and I put our love into it after all."

Vi shook her head as Betty opened the door.

The first thing Vi saw on the other side of the door was her brother's grinning face.

Chandler and Angie smiled at each other.

"What?" Vi asked. They only gave each other that look when they were scheming something.

"Mama!" a voice cried from behind them.

Vi stepped forward.

The two stepped away from one another, revealing their mom. In her arms was Vi's little boy.

"Mama!" Chi said, waving his hands in the air.

Her mom smiled and put him down. "Think you can walk toward your mommy?"

Chi nodded and waddled over to his mama. "Mama! Mama!" he repeated as he ran toward her.

Vi gasped as she scooped up her baby. "Mommy has missed her Chiko so much!"

Hannah giggled. "It's hard to be away from your flesh and blood isn't it? I know the feeling."

Vi furrowed her eyebrows. Betty and Noah might have been babies when Hannah adopted them, but she didn't give birth to them.

Nicola smiled at her aunt. "I want a hug, too!"

Vi smiled and hugged the little girl. "Of course!"

Chi let out a cry.

Betty chuckled. "He sounds like little En!"

Vi blinked. "Little En?"

Angie laughed. "Spending time with the twins must be causing their personalities to rub off on him."

Vi furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh? But En and Star are opposites."

Betty smiled smugly. "You would be surprised by how similar they can be at times."

Hannah giggled. "And Betty would know."

They then went outside.

Star held his arms out and grinned when he saw his nephew.

Chi giggled. "UnSa!"

Edgar wrapped his arms around Vi. "Happy birthday."

"You guys are just spoiling me now."

Ame said, "Everyone deserves it once in a while."

"I'm going on ahead," Kai said.

Del smiled. "I'll go with you."

Star grinned as he carried his nephew.

One of the inn staff tipped his hat to them before opening the door. "Enjoy your evening."

"I'll go ahead to let the others know Betty is coming," Kai said.

Vi frowned as his hand slipped out of his grasp.

Betty squeezed her hand. "You really missed him while you were gone, didn't you?"

"Yeah... But it wouldn't be fair to Lulu for me to be greedy. She deserved to spend such an important birthday with her parents and siblings."

"You really are a good big sister, Vi."

Her cheeks reddened. "Where did that come from?"

Betty smiled. "I just thought that you needed to hear it."

Kai was waiting for them at the door to their room. "Come on in. Sky is excited have a visitor on the road."

Betty giggled. "Sounds like Star."

Kai opened the door for them.

Alice smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Thanks," Betty said.

"You came to see Vi, right?" Sky asked. "You missed her, didn't you?"

"Yeah. It's too bad I can only have a short visit."

Sky hung his head. "Yeah..."

Lulu rose from her chair. "It's nice to finally meet you. My name is Lucy."

"Yeah, it is. I'm Betty. Vi is my big sister."

The girls exchanged a short hug.

"Vi told me that kids have to do a special task when they turn seventeen. Would you mind telling me about yours?"

Lulu sighed. "Mine is kinda hard. I have to travel through the four kingdoms looking for this crown and its seven gems."

"Do you know what kind of gems you need to look for?"

Lulu shook her head. "Dad told us where the first gem is, but De never told me which gems actually go in the crown."

"That sounds rough. Maybe you should look for some folk tales? If it's ridiculously old, people might have a few stories about that crown."

Vi wanted to slap her forehead. Why hadn't she thought of that? books might be hard to come by but surely folktales were plentiful. It was how traditions used to be kept alive on earth.

Lulu grinned. "Thanks for the tip!"

"Of course. I'm happy to help."

***

Happy birthday to Vi! Thoughts on her family? The discussion with Betty? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!