Early summer 2026.

Simon could smell pancakes even before he got to the main floor of the London town home and knew that there was a big family breakfast underway. He entered just as Uncle Mark was stealing a piece of bacon from the tray and quickly proceeded to carry it straight to his mouth.

"Mark!" his aunt shook her head, her attention still on the stove in front of her. "I saw that," she said. Simon smiled as his uncle let out a gasp as if offended. "I'm quality testing, beautiful." Her eyes narrowed to him. "Quality tested four pieces already......"
Uncle Mark just shrugged. "Consistency is important in cooking. You cannot disagree."

Clara laughed and pulled out a chair for Simon, welcoming him silently into the kitchen.
Simon came past to where Maeve sat in a little chair, banging a spoon against the table. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head as she passed and she lit up at the sight of him. Simon returned her smile.

He was just grabbing the syrup from the cupboard to help with the morning meal when there was a happy at the window. A tawny owl sat outside the ledge holding an envelope within its beak. "Bih-dee! Bih-dee!" Maeve bounced up and down at the sight of it, her long curls moving along with her.

Simon placed the syrup down on the counter and opened the window to take the letter. "Hogwarts?" Uncle Mark asked. Simon nodded. "Please tell me they finally accepted my application," he continued and Simon smiled. "Hogwarts can be absolutely brutal, Uncle Mark. You would not survive Hogwarts."

Simon took the letter over to the chair that Clara had pulled out for him and sat upon it. He found himself just staring at the letter - his class list and needed supplies for the year. This was going to be his seventh year - his final year.

"It's official, huh? Last year," he heard Aunt Maggie say as if she could hear his thoughts. Simon nodded. "It feels stranger. Different," Simon admitted.

"Maeve is going to miss you," Clara spoke up. "So will I. So will we all," she said a little quieter. "And I'll miss all you. But you know, that just means soon I'll be doing my healer training at St. Mungos," he said hopefully, "so I'll still be here in London."

That seemed to ease some of the tension, for himself and the rest of the family and the Prescott-Kincaid family enjoyed a happy morning full of pancakes, fruit, bacon, good conversation, and many laughs.

Later, Simon was out in the garden gathering up some toys that Maeve had left out there. He gathered up a pink watering can and some other supplies that Maeve had played with earlier and then placed the lid back on the sandbox. He didn't want to leave it for someone else to do, nor leave it out too long since London rain would be making an appearance later in the afternoon. Clara must have seen him because she came out to join him. "Don't forget Bunny Bean," she said, picking up Maeve's favorite toy which was a stuffed animal rabbit that Simon had given her. "One never forgets Bunny Bean. In fact, I'm sure Maeve's going to be demanding her presence as soon as her bath is over." "True, not going to nap without that one. It's why I came out," Clara smiled.

Simon nodded, looking toward the door to the London town home and thinking of his family inside. "I'm glad you're part of our family now, Clara." Some things were good to say aloud, even if one was certain the other person already knew.

"I want to run something past you. Back when it was just me and Aunt Maggie, there was a time....I was maybe like eight and even though I was younger little I remember thinking how Aunt Maggie did everything. She made dinner, she helped me with homework and school projects, and she would make sure I had everything I needed. I thought she deserved a day where someone did things for her. I wrote her a note. I picked her some flowers. I made her breakfast. I cleaned the house. I went to the bookstore and purchased a book I thought she might like."

"I want to do it again this year. After this year, ....things will be changing." The real world was out there and he was at the brink of it.

"Back then it was just me and Aunt Maggie - that was my family. Now it's grown and gotten even more wonderful since. I think everyone should be a part of it. I think you and me and Maeve should carry on the tradition of Happy Family Day starting this year until always for Aunt Maggie and Uncle Mark. We'll clean up and we'll decorate and we'll cook and we'll get them a gift and we'll do a family portrait. What do you think? Will you help me?"

Then it set in pretty quickly to Simon what he had just suggested. He wanted Clara to help him organize, plan, and implement Happy Family Day. Perhaps this would be a sore subject for her or one that required a bit more sensitivity. She had lost both her parents to illness. She had lost an older sister as well. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything.

But Clara took Maeve's child-sized spray bottle from the gardening kit and sprayed it out toward Simon. "Obviously," she laughed as he pulled away from the horror of water coming onto his face unexpectedly.

"I want to make sure that they know they're loved and its a day of togetherness to plan it all out from all of us siblings." Clara smiled when he said that last word.

"Okay, then let's make sure they know they're loved."

And it was going to be the start of a new family tradition - something that no matter where the years took him, no matter the distance between them all, they'd keep coming back. No matter the maturity, the time, or the distance - he and Clara and Maeve would annually hold Happy Family Day from this year onward.