"So, yeah, I think we had a good holiday," Miranda was saying, "Right?"
"It was good," Mariah smiled reassuringly.
"Snow, an old country house, a roaring fire and a shiny tree with mountains of presents," Aadi laughed. "Girlfriend, tell Aadi the truth... you escaped from a holiday movie, didn't you?"
"It was pretty... magical," Mariah said.
"What about you guys?" she continued. "Do I need to mess up any creepy old guys for you, Genie?"
"No," Genie laughed, "I could handle the businessmen, politicians and lobbyists. Now my parents and sisters, that's a different matter..."
"What about you, Aadi?" Miranda asked.
"Well, no holiday movies for Aadi," Aadi said. "We don't celebrate Christmas like you guys... but it was good. Got together with some friends and karaoke'd the night away."
"We should do that," Miranda smiled.
"We should do what now?" Mariah blinked.
"Go into the city some weekend and do karaoke," Miranda said. "It would be fun."
"Madonna! Don't listen to her," Mariah said, her panic only half-pretend. "She breathed in too much mountain air... gone loopy."
"Karaoke night!" Aadi cheered in a sing-song voice.
"Don't look at me," Genie said, "I don't know any of you people."
"Well," Aadi laughed, "That's for later... What I want to know is what's in that giant pile of presents a certain Tartosan temptress got?"
"It's stuff from Danielle and Londyn," Mariah said, "and what are you doing poking around my room? If you've been in my underwear..."
"Girlfriend," Aadi grinned, "there are two very good reasons why I would never go there... and they are both that I have way more style than your ratty boxers. You need some lacy things, girl. Stat!"
"Proco cane, what do I need lacy underwear for?" Mariah shook her head. "It's underwear. No one's supposed to see it."
"Well," Miranda flashed her a teasing look.
"Anyway," Mariah blustered. "I'm going to check out those packages. Danielle said she found some old pictures..."
----------------------------------------
"Anyway, Danielle's note says she found this memory stick while she was going through some old boxes from when I first moved in," Mariah said, booting up her laptop. "You know, it's probably just a bunch of old junk. You guys probably won't be interested..."
"Girl, you know me," Aadi drawled, "Aadi is always interested."
"If you don't want to open it up with us all watching, that's cool," Genie elbowed Aadi, "we can go."
"No, it's cool," Mariah said. "Probably old homework and stuff."
"You did homework?" Miranda teased.
"Hey, I do... Dio santo!" Mariah gasped.
"Look at you?" Aadi laughed. "I bet that jacket came with a pleated skirt and knee socks too."
"Wow," Miranda grinned. "Stylish."
"Madonna!" Mariah groaned.
"Who's the other girl," Genie wondered.
"That's... Emi," Mariah said, flipping to the next picture. It didn't help.
"Emi, as in your first girlfriend?" Miranda said with a gentle smile.
"Yeah," Mariah nodded.
"She's cute," Genie said.
"Girlfriend, you have a type," Aadi grinned.
"What are you talking about?" Mariah demanded, flipping pictures again.
"Please," Aadi rolled his eyes.
"You have to admit," Genie said.
"Admit what?" Mariah snapped. "I'm not admitting anything."
"Well, I'm just glad I dyed my hair blue that summer," Miranda smiled.
"Anyway," Mariah grumbled, moving to another folder. "Oh mio Dio!"
"Is that you?" Miranda grinned.
"It's Pippi Longstockings!" Aadi crowed.
"Yes, I had braids," Mariah couldn't help but laugh. "I was ten."
"Ooo, who is the hunk 'o hunk?" Aadi asked as the next picture came up.
"That's my dad," Mariah's voice softened in wonder. "That... that's my dad."
A sudden hush fell over the friends as Mariah looked at the picture, her eyes shining.
"Are you OK?" Miranda asked gently.
"Yeah," Mariah sighed, "I'm good. The note said there were pictures of him on here. I... it just caught me off guard... seeing him, you know?"
"Oh look," she added with a hint of bitterness as the next picture came up, "the whole family."
"You look happy," Genie said.
"What can I say?" Mariah sighed, "I was a dumb kid."
"What is that outfit?" Aadi put in, transparently trying to save the mood. "Was your dad a gangster?"
"No," Mariah allowed herself a grin, appreciating their effort, "he was a businessman."
"Sweetie, with that look, your daddy was either a gangster or a spy," Aadi insisted.
"Who is that?" Miranda asked as the next picture came up.
"I... I'm not sure," Mariah admitted. "I kind of remember him, though. I think he was in business with my dad."
"I know him!" Genie almost shouted.
"What?!" Mariah demanded. "What do you mean you know him? You know my dad?"
"No, the other man," Genie said. "Oh, he's got a funny name... like a music name. Allegro? Soprano? Alto! Mr. Alto... He was at the Christmas party. He's one of my dad's contributors."
"This is so weird," Mariah sighed, getting up from her desk. "I mean... my dad's been gone for years... and here you know someone who's in a picture with him. Someone you saw just a few days ago."
"You sure you're OK?" Miranda asked again.
"Your dad... you said he died," Genie said gently.
"Yeah," Mariah nodded. "It's actually... for years, I thought he'd just split but, just a couple years ago, I found out he'd died. It must have been... the same year these pictures were taken."
"What happened?" Aadi asked softly, all trace of their habitual mask set aside.
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