What happens in Vegans Definitely didn't stay there

Chapter 18: Happy Holidays

Sylvie rings in the holidays working, Kelly and Stella are revealed to 51, and Kelly asks for advice from the only romantic he knows.

They'd been lucky enough to work the day before Thanksgiving, meaning they had Thanksgiving and Black Friday off work. Sylvie got into her car as soon as her shift ended, waving goodbye to Matt and Kelly as she drove the four hours to get to her parent's place. She hadn't been home since just after she and Antonio had split up, and with the way her shifts would go over the holidays this was her one chance to spend time with her parents and brother.

As soon as Sylvie got on the freeway she put the windows down, blasting a Carrie Underwood album as she drove. There was little traffic on the road once she was out of Chicago, and she enjoyed seeing the built up area get quieter and quieter until she was surrounded by fields with the occasional house popping up. It wasn't until she saw the familiar "Welcome to Fowlerton, population 1,572" sign that she felt that pit in her stomach return.

She'd been gone from Fowlerton for two years, she'd been held at gunpoint, fallen in love, fallen out of love, gotten married. The more she returned to the town she thought she'd spend her life in the more she realised it truly wasn't where she belonged. She'd become a Chicago girl, and the big city suited her down to the ground. She laughed as she realised, her body shuddering as she made it up the potholed drive.

As soon as she made it up the driveway her mother was throwing the front door open, running down the porch to give her a hug. It was eagerly returned, and Sylvie was welcomed into the house with more hugs from her dad. Coffee and a breakfast sandwich was pushed into her hands as soon as her mom realised that she hadn't eaten before leaving 51 to get there. She was pushed up to her teenage bedroom to nap before coming back down to help with dinner.

They served up at five, the Colts game on tv as they ate. Sylvie just laughed, she still supported the Colts but had lived with Bears fans for the last few years, it was rubbing off on her. It was weird answering questions about Chicago with her family, and it felt like she was a teenager again. Her little brother kept asking her if she'd seen guns on the street, but she smiled and insisted only on cops. She just knew that telling her parents the truth about everything that had happened since she moved to the city was a bad idea. Her mother worried enough as it was.

Instead they ate and ate, ending the evening in the living room with Christmas movies on the DVD player, laughing at Sylvie's dad as he kept sneaking out to the kitchen for 'water' and returning with a handful of stuffing. Sylvie didn't head to bed until midnight, enjoying the time with them too much to want to lose any of it.

The next morning she got up early, giving her dad a hand with some of the farm chores. It'd been too long since she'd gotten on a horse, so he let her exercise them as he fixed some posts. The weak November sun made her grin as she rode around, enjoying while she could, but her time at home was drawing to a close.

She had to leave by three to make it back to Chicago in time to prep for her shift, and she watched as her mom packed up all the leftovers she could for Sylvie and her roommates. Her mom had baked extra pies and cookies for Sylvie to bring into work the next day as well, and she ended up with several bags of food. Her mom had been worried about Sylvie living with two men, but the constant Instagram posts of the three of them being ridiculous together - and the often addition of Stella in them - soothed her mom's worries. It also helped that Sylvie was very careful with what she shared about her life in Chicago with them, but she wasn't an idiot.

The drive back to Chicago had a similar effect to her drive to Fowlerton, but instead of calming her it riled her up. She missed the energy of the city, the easy access to nearly anything she wanted. It was hers and it was home, and it was a place where being known as "the woman Harrison left" wasn't a thing. She was PIC Brett, a member of the Chicago Fire Department, and she'd made a reputation for herself that didn't involve the number two fertiliser salesman for the Midwest. She grinned as she swung into her parking space at home, feeling the weight lift off her shoulders that she was back.