Our Home and Native Land

The redhead didn't sleep as well as Cassie did. She was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar land surrounded by unfamiliar people. It didn't matter how nice they had been to her. She still felt like an intruder to their daily lives. She wasn't even sure why she was here. The first sounds of the next day woke her up. She wasn't sure who was moving about. Regardless, her eyes barely blinked at all after opening. Even with the blanket covering her head, she could still make out some light. It wasn't until she heard Cassie shuffling about that Talia pulled the blanket off her head and rolled out of bed. She just wore her night gear which she regretted. Her bare feet were cold.

"Thanks," she muttered as she sat beside Cassie. She still didn't have an appetite but took the bowl of cereal anyways. Marc walked in and talked to the two. She looked at him but let Cassie do all the talking. Or nodding as it seemed. Her assignment caught her completely off guard, however. She didn't get a chance to answer and just stared at the back of Marc's head. Then she stared at Cassie. She wanted to ask her if he had been serious. But since Talia already knew the answer, she didn't. Cassie was the obvious choice but she figured she'd have to pick one of the brothers. Talia chewed a spoonful of cereal slowly. At least it meant she was going to be doing something that could get her mind off of things. It seemed she was here for the full Elliot experience.

"Who should I ask for help?" she asked Cassie. Nick was probably the obvious choice. He was bigger and had been polite to her the whole time. She figured he'd do most of the work. Jacob, on the other hand, didn't like her. Regardless, she wanted Cassie's input. It was her family after all. Talia felt like she was living Cassie's life by being there, and needed her permission to do anything.

Cassie peered upward thoughtfully while she chewed a mouthful of cereal and considered the question. She had flower duty, herself, so that left the boys to pick from.

She wouldn't be able to choose between her brothers. Nick was her big brother sort of big brother, and Jacob was her buddy. She looked up to Nick, and played with Bucky. However, their father would always say, when the kids were complaining about their work, that "I never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself." It was a principle of his that his children learned to use to their advantage.

After pondering it for a mouthful, Cassie swallowed and looked at Talia. She shrugged, and smiled, and ate another mouthful.

Talia shielded her teeth with her lips and bit down on herself. She really hoped the decision could've been left to Cassie. It'd save her the personal guilt if she chose wrong. Calmly, she took another bite of cereal. She had a way of getting around it all. "I guess I'll get to it." Talia put the bowl of cereal down after taking only four bites. She got to her feet, casually waved to Cassie, and headed back towards the bedroom to change. She didn't want to think about just how cold it was outside.

"Fuck it's cold..." Talia muttered to herself. No avoiding the cold now. She had bundled up with an undershirt, a fleece shirt, a sweatshirt, and a thick black winter coat. She wore two layers of sweatpants and thick, white snow boots. It was accompanied by a scarf and pairs of hello kitty earmuffs and mittens. She imagined that she looked like a confused chocolate marshmallow.

She stared at the pile of firewood dumped beside the driveway. And sighed. She rubbed her gloved hands together as if it made them warmer. And got to work. She stacked first three, and then four pieces in her arms at once and trudged her way through the snow to the back of the house. There was still a few pieces leftover from the last batch so thankfully it was just a matter of rebuilding the pile. For now, though, Talia just dumped the logs onto the ground and made her way back to the front to repeat the process. She could stack them all at once when she was finished.

"I guess she really doesn't like us, eh?" Nick remarked as he pulled the curtain aside just enough to see a heavily insulated Talia marching back and forth from the driveway to the house. "She'd really rather move all that wood by herself."

Jacob slouched low in a comfortably upholstered chair by the wood burning stove, his back to the window. "Uh huh." He was glad Talia felt too awkward to ask anyone for help. He hoped she felt too awkward to come back inside afterward.

"Being that you're the one with the problem, you should probably go help her."

"I don't have a problem. I'm perfectly fine with not helping her. And if you're so worried about it, why don't you get out there?"

Nick frowned, and while he was checking out the window again his father walked in. Marc looked back and forth between his sons, and then peeked out the window to see what Nick was looking at. He leveled a firmly parental gaze at both Jacob and Nick.

"Why is she by herself?" He said sternly. He was a little impressed that she would do it at all, even with no one helping her. Though, it was probably a good excuse to get away from them.

"She didn't ask us," said Nick.

"She doesn't like us," said Jacob.

Marc shook his head. "She doesn't know you. And did you think maybe she didn't ask you because she thinks you don't like her?"

"I don't." Jacob said. His father rubbed his stubbly face, and Jacob looked away to avoid being incinerated by his glare.

"Why can't Cassie do it? She's the one who brought her here," reasoned Nick.

"Cassie is helping your mother. I wanted one of you to do it."

"Why can't you?" Said Jacob.

He had pushed his father's patience a little too far. Marc turned to Jacob and pointed outside. "Go. Now. And apologize for making her wait."


In a parka and winter hat, Jacob emerged from the garage and paced up the driveway. The trails he left behind in the newly fallen snow showed that he was literally dragging his feet. He stopped at the end, looking at Talia with his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry I made you wait," he said without conviction.

Talia had taken a good dent out of the firewood but it seemed like an endless task. As she was walking back up the driveway, she heard someone else come out. She didn't turn around until she got to the end of the driveway. It was the person she least expected to see coming out. She could've reasoned any of the other four Elliots coming out, but certainly not Jacob. He also happened to be the one she wanted to see least. "Hi," she replied without even acknowledging his apology. At least she could assume he already knew what he was doing. "So...I guess we'll just keep going."

The redhead turned around and picked up four more logs. She trudged pass Jacob without even glancing towards him. It was already awkward for her here. And she knew it'd get a hell of a lot more awkward as soon as someone brought up something she did. Jacob seemed the most likely to do that in a negative way, if only because everyone else seemed too nice. She didn't want to give him the chance to bring up something bad. Maybe he was like the other Elliots. Maybe he just needed to be distracted.

Unfortunately the only topic Talia could think of was the cold. "Do you have hot chocolate here in Canada?" she yelled from a distance.

Jacob grabbed an armload of wood and quickly caught up to Talia on his way down the driveway. He didn't want to be stuck with her any longer than he had to, so he wasn't taking his time.

He stomped through the trail in the snow already made by Talia's feet to the lean-to shelter that stuck off the back edge of the house. He scowled at the messy pile that Talia had been making. She probably did that on purpose. Out of spite.

He sighed, and put a hand up to stop Talia when she turned around. He grabbed her Hello Kitty mittens and yanked them off her hands, stuffed them in the pocket of his parka, and then pulled off his own gloves, much warmer and better suited to the work, and handed them to her. Did she get those mittens at a gas station?

"Yes, and we have gloves, too. Put these on." He gave her an unamused look.

He had pale blue eyes and faint freckles and a boyishly handsome face, and he was known best as a boisterous and loveable troublemaker. He was well liked. His spirited nature rubbed off on those around him, and he was quick with a joke and a smile. The sullen-faced boy in front of Talia hardly resembled him, though he and Cassie both inherited their mother's ability to be childishly adorable even in a sour mood.

He began kicking logs out of the way to make room, and then got on his knees and began quickly making stacking them. He made a neat pyramid, and then expanded it to the side as he added more wood. The wind blew the light snowfall just sideways enough that it began to slowly whiten the back of his navy blue coat.

Talia dropped the firewood into the pile she had put the rest. Jacob didn't seem to like that one bit. "Hey-" she objected when he took her mittens. He handed her his gloves which she reluctantly took. She stared at the back of his head for a few seconds before putting the gloves on. "Thanks." She really didn't want to overthink things. He wanted to stack them immediately and she wanted to point out that she didn't intend for it to be messy at the end. But she didn't say anything.

The redhead trudged back through the snow to fetch more of the firewood. She tried to be quick about it so she could get back before Jacob finished stacking the pyramid. At least then he wouldn't be sitting there waiting for her. When she got back, she handed out the four logs she had hauled to him. Once again, her mind was stuck on forcing non-instigating but likely dull topics. In this case, how her hands were cold. "Is it always this cold this time of year? Or is this like...exceptional."

That was a stupid question. Everyone knew Canada was cold. "How do you stay warm?"

Jacob shook his head. He tried to think of anything other than the big wintery marshmallow who had abused his sister and was now carrying firewood back from the driveway. He thought that maybe he could call up his friends and make plans to get out of the house for most of the week. Anything that didn't involve Talia.

Of course, his mom would probably flip out. His dad would be all stern and forcefully even tempered. Nick would take the opportunity to explain why it was important for him to be around. Cassie... He had hardly thought of what Cassie would think. That seemed like a problem.

He glanced up at Talia as she rounded the corner with a few more logs. "What? You mean... in the winter?" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's always cold in the winter. In Canada."

He finished stacking the rest of the logs and stood up, rubbing his hands together for warmth. His fingers were red and the tips of his fingers were numb from the cold, but he would never do something as unnecessary as going back inside to get more gloves.

"Usually, I like to wear a coat, and a hat, and maybe gloves. And shoes. And pants. Do you not do that where you're from?" He stepped around her on his way to get another load of wood.

Talia looked away with a frown when Jacob wasn't polite in his response. She figured he hadn't liked her from the start. She just wished he was reserved about his dislike rather than open. Like the other Elliots. She had seen the discomfort in his hands and wanted to give him his gloves back. But she didn't want to say another word to him. Not if he didn't want to talk to her.

She waited for him to be about halfway back to the driveway before she marched on in his steps. At least then they'd be a little far from each other and wouldn't have to walk together. Of course, they'd have to pass each other but Talia was dedicated this time not to meet eye contact. She piled more onto her arms and walked back to the stack. This time she didn't wait around and just dumped the firewood into the snow so Jacob could handle it. She continued doing this until there was only about one armful of firewood left.

Then, without a word, Talia walked into the garage and let herself back into the house. She put the gloves onto the counter before even taking off her coat. She rubbed her hands together and blew into them to try and warm up. Her nose was really red and runny. She had no idea how Jacob had managed to stay warm with less on. Maybe he was just use to it all.

Jacob accepted the silence between the two of them and carried the rest of the wood without a word. His hands were ice before they were done, but his pride wouldn't allow him to do anything about it. He was tough.

He heard the garage door open and shut as he dropped the last of the wood on top of the pile. He glanced into the garage, and then to the greenhouse in the backyard where Cassie was still working with her mom. It stood fifty yards from the house, off to one side of the large clearing in the trees that left them enough space to play football. He pulled out his phone and sent her a text.

"This isn't fair."


Inside, while Talia warmed her hands, Marc entered the kitchen wearing a coat and boots. He set a black gym bag down along the wall and retrieved a water bottle from the cabinet.

"This must be quite an adjustment for you," he said, referring to the cold, though he could just as well have meant anything else. "If you need warmer clothes, you can borrow some of Cassie's. She has extras."

He stuck his water bottle under the dispenser on the front of the fridge and waited while the thin stream of water slowly began to fill it up. "Is all the wood done?" He asked, though it wasn't what he really wanted to know.