Sacramento was one of the warmest cities in the country, and the Chan household had one of the best heaters money could buy. Even the coldest winter months were nothing to worry about in Sacramento.
Unfortunately, this didn't do them any good while they were in Vermont. Especially when the ski lodge was perfect except for its clunky old heater, which had chosen one of the coldest nights in December to stop working.
"We're fixing it," the repairmen had promised them six hours ago. Suzie understood it could take a while to fix a heater, but this was getting ridiculous. She glanced around the room at her siblings; Mimi and Scooter were nestled against Pop, Nancy and Anne were huddled under two large blankets, Flip was leaning against Stanley's back and Tom against Henry's shoulder. Only Alan sat off to the side, fooling around with some blueprints; most likely trying to figure out how to build a heater for the time being.
"Hm...no, that's not gonna work either," he muttered, stifling a sneeze. Suzie frowned, Alan had been sneezing quite a bit since the heater broke and the last thing anyone wanted was for him to catch a cold on the ski trip they'd been looking so forward to.
Suddenly, he stood up and walked over to her, placing a hand on her cheek.
"Yeow! You shouldn't be sitting here all alone, Suzie, you're colder than the snow!"
Suzie snorted.
"You're the one who's been sneezing all evening and you're worried about me?"
"It's allergies," Alan claimed. Suzie rolled her eyes.
"Nice try, but you're not Tom, Mimi or Flip."
"Hey, they're not the only ones who can have allergies," Alan protested, just barely managing to finish his sentence before he sneezed again. "...it's nothing!"
Suzie gently tugged on his arm and pulled him down onto the sofa with her, wrapping the blankets tightly around them both.
"There. Now we'll both be warm," she said. Alan smiled, huddling close to her.
"Thanks. I think Annie might be right about me and my male bravado," he sighed. "I wish Pop would let us light a fire in here."
"Too dangerous, I guess. What if we fell asleep while it was still burning?" Suzie yawned. "I'm sure the heat will be back soon."
It did indeed come back...two hours later, after everyone had already fallen asleep. When they woke up, they were just glad not to be freezing anymore.