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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 14:42:10 GMT -5
Sean and Dan stood on the doorstep to their parents' home, a home that only a few years ago had been theirs as well.
"Any bets on whether or not Dad's home?" Sean asked his brother, pressing the doorbell that his mother insisted on having.
They had promised to come over on the first day they both had off to help her decorate the tree and hang lights. Sean could never say no to her, so here they were.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 14:53:04 GMT -5
"He might be home," replied Daniel. "After all, he does come home at random times. There's no telling." He gave a shrug. He could never tell his mother no either. He didn't have the heart to tell her 'no'. If he had to climb up on a roof and hang lights and put up a Christmas tree and decorate to make her happy, he would.
Daniel's hands went into his pockets after Sean rang the doorbell. "I hope that mom has some kind of pie, because I've been craving some."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 15:01:14 GMT -5
Sean thought that was rather optimistic of Dan, but said nothing. Their father had given them both a strong work ethic, but it didn't change the fact that the only day out of the entire year that you knew he'd be home was Christmas.
He turned and gave his brother a look. "You can't smell it already? I think she just baked one this morning. Or knowing Mum... maybe three." He smiled. Any boy would tell you there was nothing like going home to a home cooked meal from Mom.
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Post by Eric Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 15:11:26 GMT -5
Eric had only arrived home the night before. His most recent assignment had been much closer to home than his usual assignments, and had involved the breaking of a curse on an ancient Celtic temple recently unearthed in Ireland.
The boys were expected to visit today, and Ellen had been fussing about the house, cleaning and baking. It wasn't even Christmas yet, but you couldn't tell by the way she was acting.
The doorbell rang and Eric looked around for Ellen. He could hear her running around, but couldn't see her. "I'll get it, honey!" he called.
He got up from his spot on the sofa, where he was going through some final paperwork after his mission. He still held a folder in his hands as he went to the door, and opened it.
His smile was genuine, though brief, at the sight of his sons. "Dan, Sean, come in, boys," he said.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 15:34:25 GMT -5
"Well, I can smell it Sean. If she cooked one, I think I could eat a whole one myself. I wonder if she would make another one so we could take it back."
Daniel wasn't expecting their father to answer the door. Part of him thought that he'd probably be late or something.
As the door opened, shock was apparent on Daniel's face as he saw his father. "Hey dad," Dan said after a moment of just staring at his father. He took a step inside waiting on Sean to follow suit.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 15:39:57 GMT -5
The shock was evident on Sean's face as well. Well, that would teach him not to be so quick to make assumptions, he thought. This was good though. Sean wasn't sure if he would be working on Christmas day or not (he said he could), so in the event that he was, at least the whole family was together today.
"Hey, Dad," he said, following after Dan and taking his coat off in the hallway. "I thought you'd be working today. Let me guess, Mom's in the kitchen?"
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Post by Eric Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 15:51:48 GMT -5
"Just got home last night," Eric said, somewhat distracted. "I'll actually be home at least until New Year's, I think." He closed the door and moved back to the sofa. "Your mother's in the kitchen, I think... I'll be with you boys in a little while. I just have a few things to finish up."
He went back to the sofa and grabbed a pen to take some notations on something that was labeled incorrectly in the file.
"Make sure you save some pie for me," he added over his shoulder with a grin.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:19:22 GMT -5
Maybe they would get to spend a little more time with their father if he was going to be home that long. Daniel wanted to stay in the living room and talk with his father for a little bit, but he knew that he didn't really want to be bothered while he was trying to finish up something.
"Come on Sean, let's go see mum before she starts wondering what's taking us so long," Daniel said grinning. As his father made a comment about pie, Daniel laughed. "Oh don't worry, I'm sure that we'll save you some."
He disappeared into the kitchen. "Mum?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:33:45 GMT -5
Sean gave Daniel a look in the hallway. "The man can never stop working," he said lightly. He didn't want to admit it, but Sean was the same way. How many times had Daniel had to tell him to stop talking about work when they were off the clock?
He moved in front of his brother a little. "I smell pie. Tell me it's cherry... please say cherry?"
He had a wide smile on his face for Ellen when she looked up.
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Post by Ellen Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:34:08 GMT -5
It was Dan's voice that Ellen heard first. She was just laying the crust over the top of the last pie she was making, and her smile was one of complete love for her boys.
"Sean and Daniel... look at you two." She wiped her hands on her apron and pulled them both into a hug. "You can both dig into the pecan pie. I'm about to put cherry in the oven."
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:40:51 GMT -5
"Hey mum," Daniel said with a grin as she hugged them both. He kissed her cheek. "It's good to see you."
Daniel observed the pies. "Oh, please tell me that you have an apple pie hidden somewhere." He felt like a little kid when it came to pies in general, but his mother's was by far the best.
"Pecan pie? Yes," he said with a huge grin. "You're the best mum."
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Post by Ellen Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:51:12 GMT -5
"Apple is in the fridge. I made it last night," Ellen replied. Everytime her boys visited, she made three pies. Pecan was Eric's, apple was Dan's, and cherry was Sean's.
"Let me just finish this one up and we'll go join your father... I'll make him put all the papework away until later." She was about the only one who could tell Eric to stop working and not get yelled at.
"Speaking of, how has work been for the both of you?" she looked up, her smile gone. "I heard what happened... the attack?"
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 16:56:20 GMT -5
Daniel knew that their father worked all the time, even at home on break. It never stopped, just like for Sean. Sean was more like their father than anyone. Maybe that was the reason they would bump heads from time to time.
"Work as been, work," was Dan's response. At the mention of the attack, Daniel frowned. "Yeah. The attack. It was pure chaos." His voice had become softer and then he looked over at Sean to speak.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 17:09:06 GMT -5
Sean rolled his eyes, silently and sarcastically 'thanking' Dan for turning their mother's worry in his direction.
"We're both safe, as you can see," he started. His smile was gone, though, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at her. "We were lucky how quickly the Aurors responded. A lot more damage could have been done."
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Post by Ellen Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 17:09:41 GMT -5
Ellen nodded, looking between them. This didn't make her worry any less, of course, but at least they were safe. "All right, I get it. Enough of the sad talk. I just want you two to know that your father and I are very proud of you."
She turned and put the last pie in the oven. "Come on, let's go see if we can get your father's attention. I made him get the decorations out of the attic this morning."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 19:19:32 GMT -5
Sean nodded. "All right." He glanced at Dan. "Are you coming, or are you going to protect the pies?"
He smiled and followed his mother, not waiting for an answer. By the time he made it to the living room, Ellen was already sitting next to Eric on the couch, reaching for his hand. She was saying something, but it was too quiet for him to hear.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 19:30:31 GMT -5
Daniel looked between Sean and the pies. He sighed, knowing that he could have some later and soon walked into the living room. "I figured that the pies would be alright if I wasn't there for a few minutes," he told his brother walking up next to him.
He looked to his parents and smiled faintly. Daniel hoped that maybe one day he could find something like his parents shared. Although, he knew that was probably unlikely in the near future.
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Post by Eric Leviner on Jan 20, 2009 21:27:16 GMT -5
Eric smiled as his wife sat down next to him. He was used to this. She would catch him working and she'd sit down beside him and talk him into putting the work aside for a while. She was the only one who could do it.
He leaned over and kissed her quickly. "I'll be right there, hon, I'm almost finished," he said. He wrote down a couple more quick notes, then closed up the file and put it aside. "There... no more work for today, I promise. Boys, why don't you come over and join us? It's been so long since I've seen you."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 21, 2009 4:27:33 GMT -5
Sean was the first to move towards them, after laughing quietly and Dan's remark about the pies. He had stayed off to the side to give his parents a moment. Like Dan, he was often impressed by their relationship and how it had stayed so strong for this long. He wanted that one day.
He nudged Dan and went to one of the chairs in the room. "It has been a long time... we've all been busy."
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Jan 22, 2009 13:02:18 GMT -5
Whenever Sean laughed at his remark, Daniel just grinned. He looked back to his parents again and smiled.
He waited for Sean to move and then he followed his brother to one of the other chairs in the room. "Very," said Daniel. He looked over to his father. "So Dad, how have things been going with you since the last time we saw you?"
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