It was already almost night time when Father and Nexa finally came back from the village at the base of the mountain. I don't know how, but Father was carrying a load of boxes and items by himself while Nexa, though carrying much less, was still more than anything I think I could carry by myself.
"Alright, we're back! Zen, did you-"
"I didn't do anything wrong today. In fact, I'm pretty sure I did Mother a favor by playing with her and having fun."
"I see. Elaina, did he-"
"Zen didn't do anything wrong, and he actually told the truth this time. I know, quite shocking, isn't it?"
"Hey, we didn't rehearse that part!"
"You REHEARSED it?!"
Frick!
Mother, why did you have to do this to me!?
"Okay, Nexa, calm down. Remember, we're going to be entering the New Year very soon, so we shouldn't fight, alright?"
"Okay, Turner."
"Yes, Father."
"Oh, and by the way, I think it is time we go down to the village and celebrate there with all of the other people."
"Yes!"
"We are!?"
"How did it come to this?!"
As you can gather from everyone else's reactions to Father's news, you can probably guess that the first person to celebrate was Mother. The second person who sounded surprised was Nexa. And, of course, the last person who was lamenting their lack of social interaction was me, Zen.
"Turner, why are we going down? Didn't we always celebrate here before?"
"Well, when we went down, we didn't wear all of our winter clothing, and yet it wasn't as cold, right?"
"Well, yes. I suppose the temperature has risen but-"
"Also, there are fireworks! When we passed by the ornament shop, we saw some boxes filled with them, right?"
"That is also a good point, but won't there be an avalanche if there are fireworks that are exploding near by? Not to mention the fact that there will be a MULTITUDE of those explosions?"
I can't believe I'm saying this, but Nexa, please talk Father out of this! I can't go outside, no matter what! If what Father says is true, then the people outside of our little mountain home should be ultra-scary, right?! Well, I mean the bandits, but what if there are bandits during the celebrations!?
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I ran some calculations on the probability of an avalanche happening and the results were exactly 0%."
"What if your calculations are wrong and our house gets destroyed!? Also, how about all of the other people who will be there?!"
Personally, I could care less about some random people I have never even met before, but if Nexa wants to keep them alive, then sure.
"Just trust me, alright? I know what I am talking about and if anything happens then-"
"How will you be able to redeem yourself after letting people do dangerous things without even trying to stop them?!"
Wow, Nexa is really blowing her top over this matter while Father is trying to win the argument without getting heated. I look at Mother and notice that, by the look on her face, she is also wondering whose side to take.
Hey, wait a minute.
Aren't you supposed to be the one arguing with Father right now instead of my 15 year old sister!?
And so, their argument continued for some time, but with Father's amazing persuasive abilities, Nexa finally conceded and allowed us to go to the New Year celebration that will be happening in 2 days. After we all finished our dinner, Father pulled me aside so that I could help him out with setting up the decorations with Mother.
"Make sure you are all able to finish up fast so that we can wake up early again tomorrow. Also, no slacking off allowed."
That was Nexa's last reminder before walking to her room to sleep, which is basically also my room. She would look a lot more intimidating when she said that if she wasn't wearing her pajamas, which make her look a lot more fluffy. Anyway, it seems that I will have to work in Nexa's place because she did lots of stuff today.
Usually, I don't like work, but if it helps her catch up on sleep, I'll gladly do it. We split up to work separately on the different parts of the house. When I looked outside through the window, I saw that it was REALLY dark outside and knew that I wouldn't be able to play the Elements Game with everyone else.
I decided that we'll do it tomorrow before I start working. That was when I turned around and saw Father cleaning up the floor.
"So, Father, what made you want to go down to the village to celebrate."
"I said it was because we had never gone there before, but well, Zen, keep this a secret from everyone else."
"Okay."
After I agreed to keep his secret, I leaned in towards him so that he could whisper it into my ear without Mother hearing.
"The truth is that I wanted to go for myself as I never get to relax and have a fun time anymore. I figured that if all of us went then, it would be an even better occasion."
Oh.
I thought it would be a really juicy reason, but I guess Father really does care a lot for all of us, even though he himself said that he wanted to relax.
"But, didn't you go to festivals when you were younger?"
"No, actually. I never did say that in any of my stories, right?"
"Um, right. But, how long has it actually been since you have, quote-unquote 'relaxed'?"
I figured this would be the best time to get an answer from him on how old he is while his guard was still down.
"Oh, I think it has been-"
At that moment, Mother called us to her place but not before I saw Father's mouth moving when Mother called us. The way he moved his mouth looked like he said '-ty' in it and then the word 'years'.
So, that must mean that it has been a minimum of 20 years, huh? Man, I really think Father should take a break sometimes.
"Your mother is calling us. Let's go, Zen-"
I leapt onto Father and hugged him tightly.
"I hope you'll be able to relax in the New Year. To help you out with that task, we can play together tomorrow!"
...
"Thanks for caring about me, Zen."
"Of course! After all, one of the lessons you told us in your story with the Hydra was that family always comes first, right?!"
"Haha! Yes, family always comes first. And, because family always goes first, let's finish things up fast so that we can all have a fun day on New Year's, alright Zen?"
"Yup!"
I may hate doing work, but if it is for the sake of everyone's happiness, I would be able to work nonstop forever, especially if it lets everyone in my family relax for just a few more days.