It was nearing seven in the morning on a weekday in early January. Belle and Nick lay snuggled together in bed, both of them sound asleep. The sun had barely begun to rise and the moon was still lighting up the winter sky.
The night before it had begun to snow. It was still snowing that morning; the snow was predicted to last for the entire day and likely into the next day. Announcements were made during the evening news that schools were to be closed that day, so Nick and Belle decided to not set an alarm and simply enjoy sleeping in for once. Nick also decided to close the shop for the day, given the inclement weather.
The night before was also Belle's first appearance on Ashley Boyd's television show, Criminally Hollywood. The two of them snuggled together in bed and watched, and they were quite pleased with the episode overall. Nick, as he typically did, grumbled during Belle's love scenes. Her portrayal of the promiscuous Lacey was quite an ambitious turn for her; she was unusually anxious to read the reviews, which she usually ignored. But she had a good feeling about this project. Nick already began to predict an Emmy nomination for her, and Belle had learned ever since her Oscar win not to shrug off Nick's award predictions, because he had been accurate every time.
After the show aired, and they tuned in to the local news to get the weather forecast, Belle and Nick decided to celebrate her latest acting venture, and since they had no need to get up early, they celebrated – as quietly as possible so as not to wake their daughter - until well past two in the morning.
Nick lay with his head on Belle's shoulder, his arm and leg draped across her naked body. They were completely spent from their evening of "celebrating" and neither of them bothered to put their night clothes back on – a decision they were about to deeply regret as they were both awakened by a squealing seven-year-old jumping up and down on their bed.
"Mommy, Daddy, it's snowing!" Olivia shouted as she bounced up and down, startling both Nick and Belle awake. Nick grumbled as he wrapped his arms around Belle, then gasped when he realized that they were both completely naked underneath the blanket that was barely covering them.
"Shit." Nick whispered, and he quickly grabbed the blanket and covered himself and Belle before Olivia saw and they would have to endure answering some questions that the really weren't prepared to answer at this point in her young life.
"Don't swear." Belle said. They had both been trying to curb their language around their daughter for years, especially since one of her first words was quite an embarrassing one that started with the letter 'f', that at barely a year old Olivia repeated multiple times while they had company for dinner. Belle had been much more successful than Nick. A year prior, she had implemented a swear jar in the house, with all of the money collected in it going to Belle's cancer charity. Nick felt like he put half of his income into that jar. Emma also contributed to it quite a bit whenever she came over.
"You owe a dollar, daddy." Olivia said, still bouncing on the bed.
"Yes, what else is new?" Nick remarked.
"Olivia Rose, settle down." Belle said sternly. Olivia finally stopped bouncing on the bed just as their Dalmatian, Pongo, came barreling into the bedroom and flew onto the bed. He immediately put his face near Nick's and started to lick him, his tail wagging rapidly.
"Dammit, Pongo, get off!" Nick shouted, pushing the dog away and still trying to stay covered with his blanket.
"You owe another dollar." Olivia said.
"Why don't I just contribute a twenty to the cause this morning, that gives me eighteen more for the day because I'll likely need at least that much." Nick said, still fending off Pongo's enthusiastic kisses.
"Olivia, take Pongo downstairs. Get your coat, gloves and boots and we'll take him out in the back yard. Then you can feed him. I'll be right down, do NOT go outside until I'm down there, wait by the door." Belle said.
"Okay, mommy." Olivia said. "Come on Pongo, let's go outside!" the little girl shouted, and the dog barked happily and jumped off the bed, following her out of the room. Nick sighed the moment she was gone.
"I thought we were sleeping in today." Nick said.
"Yes, well apparently at some point last night we must have forgotten that we have a seven-year-old. And a dog." Belle said as she scooped her nightgown off of the floor and put it on. She walked over to Nick's side of the bed, picked up his pajamas, and tossed them at him. "Get dressed."
"I'm going back to sleep, love." Nick said, pushing them away.
"She's your daughter, too." Belle said.
"Not at seven in the morning on a day that I don't have to be up, she's not." Nick said.
"Get dressed because odds are she'll be back in here and we really need to remember to not fall asleep stark naked, this is the second time we were almost caught." Belle said. Nick grabbed the pajamas and sat up, putting them back on. "I'll get breakfast ready after Pongo is taken care of."
"You do that." Nick said as he finished putting his pajamas back on. "I'll be down for lunch." Nick pulled the covers over his head and turned his back to her.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Belle remarked as she left the room.
Belle watched from inside the house as Olivia and Pongo played in the backyard. Her daughter did love the snow. She still remembered one snowy day when Olivia was barely four years old. Belle had been writing all day and Nick was working on some looming projects at home. Olivia had been playing on the floor of their library as they worked, and Belle panicked when she looked up from her computer to find that Olivia was no longer in the room. The two of them went searching through the house, frantically calling out her name, but received no response. Belle was nearly in tears when they finally made their way to the back door, which was wide open. The little girl had put on her own jacket (unzipped), gloves (backwards) and boots and ventured out in the back yard to play in the snow. The two of them didn't know whether to scold the little girl or simply hug her tightly with relief. They ended up finding a way to do both.
Belle smiled as she recalled the day that she and Nick decided to purchase their house; it was snowing that day as well, and Belle lured Nick outside in the back yard, and began to playfully instigate a snowball fight, which turned into a bit of a romantic romp in the snow. Belle was already pregnant with Olivia at that point, but she didn't know that. She often wondered if that little play session she and Nick had somehow influenced Olivia's love of the winter weather. Watching her daughter and Pongo play gave Belle an idea – one that would most certainly get her in trouble. But not in a bad way.
"Olivia, that's enough for now! Come inside!" Belle shouted. Olivia whined a bit but grudgingly complied. She stomped back into the house with Pongo following behind. "You can go back out and play later."
"I'm hungry." Olivia said.
"Yes, I'm sure you are. Why don't you feed Pongo and you can get your own breakfast, cereal and orange juice will do." Belle said.
"I want pancakes." Olivia whined.
"I'm not making you pancakes, you've had them three days in a row, that's enough of that. We'll order a pizza for lunch today, how's that?" Belle suggested.
"Okay." Olivia said grudgingly.
"I'm going to go get dressed. You come upstairs after you've eaten AND cleaned up after yourself, you're a big enough girl, you don't need me to do that." Belle said.
"I will." Olivia said. Belle smiled at her daughter. She was very feisty and independent and Nick often joked that she was seven going on thirty-seven, the thought of which frightened him to death. Olivia already had three boys in her class at school that she liked, much to Nick's chagrin. Belle preemptively warned him that pinning seven and eight year old boys against the wall with his cane would not be acceptable behavior.
Once Olivia went off to tend to Pongo and her own breakfast, Belle grabbed her own winter jacket, gloves and boots and ventured into the backyard. The snow was thick and easy to pack. Belle gathered a handful into her gloved hands and formed a snowball. She then quietly snuck back inside, removed her boots and jacket, and proceeded up the stairs with the snowball in her hands. She crept down the hall quietly until she reached her bedroom door. Trying not to giggle, Belle crept over to the bed where Nick had fallen back to sleep. Belle climbed onto the bed carefully. She pulled back the collar on Nick's pajama top and then pounced on him as she slid the snowball down his back.
"What the fuck!" Nick screamed, jolting awake and sitting upright as Belle began to laugh. "What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack? I'm a fucking old man!" Nick reached for the snowball, which had already begun to melt, and tossed it onto the floor.
"You're an old man who likes fucking, you proved that last night." Belle joked. "Your heart is fine."
"You are in a HUGE amount of trouble." Nick said. He grabbed Belle and pulled her down onto the bed, then climbed on top of her. "Where's Olivia?" he asked.
"Eating breakfast." Belle said.
"Good." Nick said, and he pressed her down onto the bed and kissed her. "I'm going to get you back for that, you know."
"Oh, I expect you to. It was still worth it." Belle said, smiling up at him.
"Daddy, why are you on top of mommy?" they heard a voice ask from within the doorway. Both Nick and Belle froze in embarrassment.
"Um – we were – playing a game." Nick said, becoming flustered as he and Belle both sat up.
"Did you win?" Olivia asked innocently.
"I'm really not sure." Nick replied.
"Olivia, you're supposed to be eating breakfast, you can't be finished by now." Belle said.
"I can't reach the milk." Olivia said.
"Your turn. I'm going to take a shower." Belle said as she climbed out of bed.
"I was sleeping." Nick protested.
"You look awake to me. I'll be down in a bit. Get some coffee going too, will you sweetheart?" Belle asked as she flitted out of the room.
Nick and Olivia made their way out of the room and down the stairs. Olivia walked slowly next to Nick, having learned to keep pace with him as he moved about with his cane. She started asking questions about his leg when she turned five; he and Belle decided that it was best that she be told the truth, or an edited version of it, so that she would have no delusions about him ever having some miraculous recovery and walking without the cane. He allowed Olivia to see what his injured leg looked like, and explained how he had several operations. Olivia asked him a variety of innocent questions ranging from how much it hurt to would she have to use a cane like daddy if she ever hurt her leg. Those questions he could handle just fine – he expected them, and expected more as she got older.
"How come you were on top of mommy kissing her? Was that part of the game?" Olivia asked.
This question he was not prepared for at all.
"I um – I was kissing your mum because I love her. I give you kisses too." Nick said.
"You give me daddy kisses. Those are boyfriend kisses. You're always kissing mommy like that. Are you mommy's boyfriend?" Olivia asked as they made their way into the kitchen.
"Um – yes, I suppose I am." Nick said as he reached into the refrigerator and took out the milk. Olivia sat down at the table and Nick handed it to her.
"Andrew Walters sits next to me in school. He's really cute. He said he wants to be my boyfriend. If I say yes is he going to kiss me like you kiss mommy?" Olivia asked. Nick dropped the coffee can that he had just picked up onto the floor. It was open, and coffee grounds spilled everywhere. Pongo heard the noise and immediately ran into the room.
"Pongo, no!" Nick shouted as the dog immediately ran toward the spilled coffee grounds. The dog scurried away. "Shit." Nick whispered, looking down at the mess.
"You owe another dollar." Olivia said.
"Put it on my tab." Nick said, flustered.
"What's that?" Olivia asked.
"Nothing." Nick replied.
"So should I tell Andrew he can be my boyfriend?" Olivia asked.
"Absolutely not." Nick said.
"Why? He's really nice." Olivia said. Nick limped out of the room and over to the bottom of the stairs.
"Belle!" he shouted up the stairs. Belle quickly darted to the stairs, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair still wet and wrapped in a towel.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"You need to get down here." Nick insisted. Belle ran down the stairs.
"What's the matter?" Belle asked.
"Your daughter. Wants to have a boyfriend. She's seven. This is worse than Ruby, I'm locking her in her room after she finishes breakfast. I'll let her out when she turns twenty-one." Nick said. Belle laughed a bit as she made her way into the kitchen.
"So what's this about a boyfriend?" Belle asked.
"Daddy says I'm not allowed to have one." Olivia said, pouting.
"You're damn right you're not." Nick said.
"I don't think that twenty will be enough today." Belle commented. "Olivia – what do you think a boyfriend and girlfriend do?"
"I don't know. They talk. They play video games. Sometimes they play together on the playground at school." Olivia said.
"Well, I don't see anything wrong with that." Belle said.
"And they kiss. Like you and daddy." Olivia said. Belle laughed.
"Well – you're right, they do that too." Belle replied.
"Belle!" Nick shouted.
"But only grown-up boyfriends and girlfriends do that. You have to wait till you're grown up for kissing." Belle said.
"Damn bloody right." Nick said, just as the phone rang. Nick glanced at the caller ID and picked up the phone. "Bae – I take it you're snowed in too." he said when he picked up the phone. Nick listened for a moment. "What? Today, now? Yes, I knew it could be any time but – alright. Yeah, we'll be ready." Nick hung up the phone and turned to Belle. "Ruby's in labor."
"Today?" Belle asked.
"Yeah, that's what I said. Graham had a squad car at home, he got her to the hospital alright – Emma's sending a car to pick us up, they'll be here in about an hour." Nick said.
"Olivia, we need to go get you dressed, your sister is having her baby." Belle said.
"Today? But it's a snow day! You said I could play in the snow!" Olivia said.
"Well, change of plans, we're going to the hospital." Belle said. "Aren't you excited? You get to be an auntie again. I know the boys won't call you Aunt Olivia but I bet Anita will. You'll probably get to hold her after she's born."
"Really?" Olivia asked.
"Well, of course, you'll be her auntie, that's your job." Belle said. "Now go upstairs, I'll be right up." Olivia darted out of the room excitedly. Belle wrapped her arms around Nick.
"Ruby will be fine." Belle said.
"I know." Nick replied.
"Your first granddaughter." Belle said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"You going to let this one call you grandma? I mean – technically you're old enough now." Nick said.
"You're not funny." Belle said. "Come on, let's finish getting ready." Belle and Nick headed upstairs and got themselves and Olivia ready to leave. They all gathered downstairs, their jackets and boots on as they waited for their ride.
"Are we really going to ride in a police car?" Olivia asked.
"Yes we are." Nick said. "I don't think they'll use the sirens though if that's what you're getting excited about." Olivia pouted a bit and remained quiet. A few minutes later, she spoke up again.
"Where do babies come from?" Olivia asked. Both Nick and Belle's eyes widened with surprise.
"Um – babies come from mommies' tummies, you know that. You've felt Ruby's baby kick many times." Belle said.
"I know that – but how does it get there?" Olivia asked. Belle turned to look at Nick.
"If I have a significant amount of additional gray hair by the end of the day, I think it'll be clear as to why." Nick said. Belle smiled at him as she heard their ride pull up outside.
"So much for our quiet little snow day." Belle said. "Don't worry – odds are there will be another one tomorrow."
"I can hardly wait." Nick said as they all got up and headed toward the door.