Set after Heart of Winter, before Winter's End
Heather Lisinski held two little girls, Mary Jo Watson and Liza Williams, by the hand. Despite the cold, the little girls were bubbling with excitement. They hadn't been able to play with each other for months! Mary Jo began humming 'Skip to My Lou.' Heather grinned down at the girls and all three broke into a skip, continuing all the way back to the Greens' house.
"What would you like to do? Do you want to play outside a little longer or go inside?" Heather asked.
"Outside, outside!" the little girls cried.
Heather retrieved the Green family football. She held it up to the girls. "Who wants to play catch?" Heather stationed the girls a short distance apart from each other and herself, making a triangle. She demonstrated how to hold the ball and threw it gently to Mary Jo. Mary Jo just managed to catch the ball and tossed it to Liza. Liza completely missed the catch, but her throw back to Heather was good.
Jake heard giggles coming from the yard. He peeked out the window and saw Heather playing in the yard. He smiled as he grabbed his own jacket and joined the girls outside. "Can I play?" he asked.
Heather looked at the girls. "Should we let Mr. Green play?"
"Yes, Ms. Lisinski!" Mary Jo exclaimed. She was an 8 year old flirt and attached herself to Jake for the rest of the day.
After about half an hour of catch, Heather shooed the girls inside to warm up. She went into the kitchen and made hot chocolate-it was a lot of work without a microwave, but Heather thought the chocolaty treat was well worth it. She carried the steaming mugs to the dining room table and called the girls over. "Let's have a tea party!" Liza said.
"Yeah!" Mary Jo agreed. "You sit by me, Mr. Green," she commanded. Jake did as he was told with a slightly bemused look on his face.
All too soon for the girls, it was time to go home. Heather escorted them, playing 'follow the leader' the whole way.
She returned to the Greens' home, thankful to get inside. She pulled off her gloves, hat, scarf, boots, and coat. She still had 'Skip to My Lou' stuck in her head and couldn't help humming it as she put her things away.
Jake grabbed her from behind and swept her to the living room. He flopped down in front of the fireplace and pulled her down next to him. "I didn't know we were having company today."
"It was a last minute thing. I overheard Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Williams talking about how much they missed daycare. They needed to get some things done without the kids around, so I volunteered to take the girls for a little while." Heather snuggled into Jake, appreciating his warmth.
"What was all that 'Mr. Green' stuff?" he asked. "I kept wanting to turn around and look for my dad."
Heather smiled. "It's the teacher in me, I guess, making sure they speak respectfully."
"You must miss school," Jake said.
"Now and then," she replied. "It's such an emotional job. Some days it just warms your heart. Other days you want to pull out your hair."
They both fell silent as the fire crackled. "Do you want kids?" Jake asked, somewhat abruptly.
Heather glanced at him in surprise. "That's a serious relationship question."
Jake flushed a little. "Well, I just-talking about school-you like kids, it just made me wonder if you wanted your own." He shook his head. "This is weird now."
Heather smiled at him. "A little bit, yeah, but we'll get over it." She gathered her thoughts for a moment. "I did want kids. I imagined the whole thing-white picket fence, 2.5 kids, dog, mini-van." She shook her head. "Then there were the bombs. Seeing April worry just emphasizes that this is not a world I'd want to raise a child in." She frowned. "Besides, our kid would more than likely end up fatherless."
"What do you mean?" Jake asked, concerned.
"You're constantly doing something dangerous. I know, someone has to or we'd all die. You step up to protect other people. I love that about you. I don't think having a kid would change that. And since I have no intention of being a single mom, Mr. Green, there are no children in our foreseeable future."
"Yes, Ms. Lisinski," Jake said in his best third grader imitation. "You know, I never thought about having kids before," he said, turning serious. "I'm pretty sure I've screwed up my own life enough-I don't want to be responsible for someone else's."
"I think you turned out ok," Heather said.
Jake shook his head. "Only the past few years. Before that, I was irresponsible and self-centered and never thought that anything I did had consequences for anyone else." He became quiet, thinking about Chris Sullivan* and a twelve year old girl in a small village in Iraq.
"Well, maybe your mom will be happy with one grandkid and we'll be off the hook," Heather said, thoroughly unconvinced.
The front door slammed. "Hello," April called.
"We're in here," Jake replied.
April joined them in the living room and sighed as she sat down on the sofa.
"We have some hot chocolate left if you'd like," offered Heather.
"That sounds wonderful," April said. She started to get up.
"No, no, you stay right there," Heather ordered. "You've been taking care of people all day. Let me take care of you."
April smiled her thanks as Heather went to the kitchen. "You have a great girl, there, Jake. Don't do anything stupid and lose her, ok?"
"I promise," Jake said.
