Winter Underland

Alannah lay in Stayne's arms, sound asleep. She had been run ragged by Michael the day before, and all she wanted was to stay asleep for the whole night-and most of the next day as well. But that was simply not possible, due to Katarina. Her energetic nature would not allow her to stay still for more than five minutes at a time, and more often than not it took both parents to be able to corral her enthusiastic ramblings, or exploring, as Katarina called it. Alannah had a very high tolerance for this, as she had done her fair share of rambling, but then came the day Katarina had nearly rambled off the waterfall behind Marmoreal. She was saved from a rather nasty fall only by sheer luck, and both Ilosivic and Alannah had been torn between scolding her for her foolishness and hugging her in relief. After that, Katarina had been told in no uncertain terms that if she ever went rambling without someone responsible and, Alannah had added-at least slightly sane- present, she would be grounded.

The door to the bedroom opened a tiny crack, and a green eye peeked in. Slowly, the door opened, and Katarina poked her head in the opening. She sighed as she realized her Momma and Daddy were still asleep, then silently entered the room and walked over to her momma's side of the bed. She reached out and gently shook her.

"Momma? Momma, wake up."

Alannah opened one eye and glared balefully at her daughter. "Katarina, you had better have a good excuse for waking me up, and since I don't hear your brother crying, you can't use that."

Katarina grinned and shook her head. "No, he's still sleeping."

Alannah sighed. "Then why did you…?"

She was interrupted by Katarina blurting out "It's snowing, Momma!"

Alannah gaped at her, and then turned to look out the bedroom window. Sure enough, large flakes were fluttering downward, coating the ground. Alannah grinned.

"So it is!" she exclaimed. 'Thank Time it's not the middle of the night', she thought in some amusement.

Katarina looked at her, excitement in her eyes. "Can we go outside, please Momma? I want to go outside!"

Alannah laughed. "Yes, little one. We can go outside. Let me wake your daddy up first, though."

Katarina nodded eagerly. "I'll go see if Michael is awake yet, Momma."

She ran out of the room, and Alannah grinned before turning her attention to Stayne. She gently shook him. "Ilosivic, wake up."

Stayne muttered something that sounded vaguely like 'dnnwnna'. Alannah shook him again, a bit harder. He mumbled, but didn't stir, and Alannah sighed in slight annoyance.

"Ilosivic, wake up!"

No answer, except for the sound of his breathing. Alannah glared at him, not caring that he couldn't see her. 'I guess I'm going to have to take drastic measures'.

She reached out to smack his shoulder when her hand was suddenly grabbed. Before she could react, she found herself staring at a very awake Stayne, his eye sparking with mischief. Alannah glared at him.

"And just how long have you been awake, husband dear?" she asked acidly.

Stayne gulped, recognizing the dangerous tone in her voice. "Since Katarina left…" he dodged as she threw her pillow at him. "But I wanted to have a bit of fun with you," he added, grinning. His grin faded as she continued to glare at him in exasperation. 'At least her eyes aren't red. Thank Time for that.'

Alannah sighed, deflating. She shook her head, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'MEN!', and climbed out of bed. Stayne decided not to comment, and instead turned his attention to the window, grinning at the snow that continued to cascade down. "It's so beautiful."

Alannah turned to him, a grin on her face. "Yes, and we are going outside. I will get Katarina ready. You get to go wake up Michael. Oh, and since you annoyed me-your turn to make breakfast."

Stayne's eye widened in shock. "But...but…I'm not a good cook, and the last time I tried I nearly burnt down the cottage."

Alannah glared, and then pointed towards the door. "Ilosivic. Go. Make. Breakfast. Now."

Stayne gulped, and Alannah sighed. "Tell you what. You just get the food out, and we'll make everything together. That way I can be sure that you won't set anything on fire that isn't supposed to be. Does that sound acceptable?"

He nodded, and they went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Katarina was sitting at the table, gazing in rapt wonder at the white world outside. Alannah got the stove lit, then heard the unmistakable sounds of a child stirring into wakefulness. She turned to Stayne. "Michael's waking up. Could you bring him out here?"

He looked at her, slightly confused. "I thought you wanted my help with breakfast."

"I can manage. Go get Michael." she replied, smiling. Stayne sighed in relief, and headed towards Michael's room. Alannah laughed quietly to herself, and began to prepare breakfast.

Stayne walked quietly over to the crib, and gazed down at Michael, whose deep black eyes matched his own. "Hello, little lad. Did you have a good sleep?"

Michael gurgled, and reached for him. Stayne picked him up, setting him on his hip, and carried him out to the kitchen. "Michael Stayne, as you ordered, My Lady!" he announced. Alannah laughed, and came over to them. She kissed Michael. "And right on time, too. Breakfast is nearly ready, go sit."

After breakfast, and a brief interlude in which they scoured the cottage for Katarina's favorite scarf, they went outside. The snow was still falling, and Alannah caught a few flakes on her tongue, enjoying the sweet taste. She smiled as she noticed Katarina doing the same.

Michael was looking around in complete fascination. He had only just turned a month old, and this was his first winter. He reached out a hand, and stared at the white stuff that fell onto it. He looked at his daddy in curiosity.

Alannah smiled, seeing that Michael was still in Stayne's arms. "Put him down, Ilosivic. He'll be fine."

Stayne set him down, and Michael immediately began to crawl around in the snow, giggling. Katarina ran over to him. "Isn't this neat, Michael? It's snow. Mommy told me when I was little that it happens when it gets really cold."

Michael gurgled at his sister, and continued to crawl around. Katarina followed him, only turning for a second to glance at her parents. "I'll watch him!"

Alannah nodded. "Fine, but stay in the yard. The last thing I want is for the two of you to end up at the pond."

"Yes, Momma," Katarina said. She ran after her brother, and Alannah smiled. "She's really close to him."

Stayne nodded. "She is. I never had any brothers or sisters, so I never got to experience that."

"Neither did I. It's funny, but in a way I kind of envy Iracebeth." Alannah said. Stayne gaped at her in astonishment.

Alannah explained. "She had Mirana, and while they didn't have the greatest relationship, they were still sisters. It's just too bad that Iracebeth became so…"

"Tyrannically evil?" Stayne finished, bitterly. He still had some rather unpleasant memories of working under her.

Alannah sighed. "Yes." She knew she had touched a soft spot, and gently took Stayne's hand, tugging on it to get his attention. He looked over at her, and she gave him a soft smile. He smiled back, and then pulled her into a deep kiss.

One that was broken a few moments later when something cold and wet hit them both. They sprang apart, and Alannah glared in annoyance at the person who had thrown the snowball. "Tarrant, you had better have a good excuse."

Tarrant grinned, then reached down and began to make another snowball. "Not really, Alannah. I don't have an excuse, but I saw all the lovely snow, and Alice was so excited, and demanded that we go outside, and she said she hadn't seen such beautiful snow before, and I told her that Underland snow was different, and…Umph!"

His rambling was cut off by a snowball, and Alannah grinned at the person who threw it. "Nice shot, Alice!"

Alice grinned. "Well, it's a good way to get him to…Aah!" she ducked as Tarrant threw a snowball at her. It missed, and Tarrant pouted childishly. Alannah laughed at the expression on his face, and then yelped as she felt a snowball hit her. She turned around, seeing Katarina standing nearby, a very innocent look on her face. Michael, who was sitting next to her, giggled, then resumed trying to make a snowball.

"Katarina?" Alannah asked, trying to keep a straight face, "Did you throw a snowball at me?"

Katarina shook her head solemnly, her eyes alight with mischief. "No, Momma. It must have been Daddy."

Alannah laughed. "Was it? Well, then I guess I had better tell Daddy he threw it at me." She looked over at Stayne, who grinned-and promptly dropped a snowball on her head. Alannah yelped, and then mock glared at him. "Oh, you are going to pay for that."

She reached down, gathering up a handful of snow, and slapped it onto his chest. He gasped, and glared in mock hurt at her. "So that's how it's going to be. Very well."

In no time at all, there was a full fledged snowball fight going on. Katarina and Michael watched from the sidelines, giggling madly at the grownups. "They're so silly, aren't they?' giggled Katarina.

"They certainly are little one", came an amused reply. Katarina turned around, smiling at Mirana. "They are being very silly, aren't they?"

Katarina giggled. "They are. Are you going to make them stop?"

Mirana laughed. "I don't know if I could. Let me try."

She glided forward so that she could be seen by everyone, and began to speak, her voice serious. "Excuse me, could you…"

Four snowballs hit her at once. Her eyes widened in shock, but then she laughed, and eagerly joined in the fight.

Finally, the day was over. Alannah gently tucked Katarina in, singing softly and stroking her back, and she swiftly fell asleep. Alannah kissed her forehead, and then went over to the crib, smiling down at a sleeping Michael. She blew him a kiss, and then went into her bedroom. Stayne was awake, gazing up at the ceiling. He turned when she entered, smiling at her.

"They asleep?"

Alannah laughed, climbing in next to him. "After all the playing they did? I'm frankly surprised they didn't fall asleep in their plates at dinner."

Stayne laughed, and then kissed her. "Are you tired, my beauty?"

Alannah smirked at him. "Exhausted, why?"

Stayne sighed in mock sadness, and slowly began to stroke her leg. "Well, because I was going to try and make up for making you so angry this morning, but if you're too tired…"

Alannah giggled, and then kissed him. "You know, I think I can stay awake a bit longer."