Raine Collindale
June 18, 2021 5:53 AM
Playdate 6, 5-ish years old by Raine Collindale
Christmas was always a busy time for socialising. That was true for everyone, but Raine was definitely feeling it with Christmas itself being bookended by the annual playdate with the Xaviers beforehand, and Noelle's first birthday afterwards. She had briefly considered just inviting the Xaviers to Noelle's birthday and just being done with it, but that had its own complications. Firstly, they were trying to keep it small, so inviting non-family members would most likely raise questions about why they were included when certain actual blood relatives were not. She also didn't trust her family not to be hideously embarrassing even if they weren't being hostile and passive aggressive over the whole Summer thing. They had all accepted that Summer living with Raine and Dante was a permanent arrangement and one that made the most sense, but it didn't stop them debating whether it was her fault it had happened. There was also the fact that Noelle's birthday was supposed to be about her. On the whole, Summer loved her sister (they were going with 'sister' for convenience) but she did rather like being the center of attention. They were already anticipating some jealousy over Noelle getting a second day of presents, though hopefully Summer’s Christmas gifts would be fresh enough in her memory to mollify her. Perhaps having a guest at the party who was more there to see her than Noelle would also have helped, but equally it could have gone very, very wrong, with Summer wanting her agenda catering to even more – after all, she tended to think Dora visits were big and exciting (and definitely about her). Therefore, they had opted to keep it as a separate occasion.To emphasise this (and to have something to remind Summer of if she was grumpy on Noelle’s birthday), Noelle had been left at home with Dante. As it had been in so many years past, it was Summer and Raine. They were even riding together on Raine’s broom, though she wasn’t convinced this was going to last another visit. Summer had been scooting around on a toy broom, one that could do barely more than hover, for a couple of years now. That had seemed perilous enough, given that she couldn’t see, but it had been slow enough and tame enough that they had been able to manage the situation. It had even been quite a motivating way to get her practicing using her cane. But then, against some of their better judgement, she had wrangled a toy broom out of her biological father for her birthday. Somehow, their attitude that Summer could do anything she wanted seemed to have caught on with the rest of the family, though the actual practicalities of how to see it through would be entirely down to them.
They landed in the back yard, and Summer hurried eagerly forward, swinging her cane a lot more purposefully than she had the year before. It bumped against something solid enough to send a slight ricochet up her arm and bring her to an abrupt and unsteady halt. Raine knew that this was unlikely to have an impact on how fast she tackled the next unknown she came across. She navigated the remaining distance to Uncle Xavier and Dora as Raine jogged up behind her.
“Hello! I finded you all by myself,” Summer stated, reaching out and patting him to make sure it was really him and that he was paying attention. “What toys are there?” she asked Dora.
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Raine Collindale
Playdate 6, 5-ish years old
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