Snow drifted down from the clouds, covering Gardam Street in a thick white blanket. Hanging down from gutters, icicles glistened like crystals. It was Christmas break in Massachusetts, and Jeffrey had come to visit. He had arrived three days earlier, and was staying for a glorious two and a half weeks. The joy of Christmas grew ten-fold when Jeffrey was around, and this was apparent in Batty's especially hyper behavior and Lydia's decreased fussing. Even Hound was more boisterous usual.
For three days straight, Jeffrey had frolicked in the snow with the little ones, building snowmen with Batty and Lydia and helping Ben in his snowball war. When Skye had emerged from the house to dominate the fight, Jeffrey had nailed her in the face with a snowball. She got revenge by organizing an ambush where Jane and Batty released a merciless torrent while Skye tackled him from behind and shoved his face into the frigid powder.
Now Jane was on frolicking duty and Jeffrey got a day off to recover. He watched everyone play through the window, thankful for the warm house. Skye, who was lounging in her galaxy pajama pants, sat in front of the TV, fixated on a space documentary. Jeffrey half-listened as the commentator droned on and on about science the boy did not understand. He drifted to the piano and played a few notes, but Skye yelled at him to shut up. Wanting attention, he sat down on the couch. After a few minutes of twiddling his thumbs, he started poking his best friend. She jabbed him in retaliation. When he continued she punched him, and he punched her back. They engaged in a furious battle that dissolved into tickling, and both fell on the floor, laughing so hard they did not realize the documentary had ended.
When Skye did notice, she glared at her friend. "Great. Thanks to you numbskull, I missed what Dr. Bryant had to say about the expanding—"
Jeffrey tickled her again to keep her from launching into a science lecture. She threw a hard punch, but the boy dodged it and stood up.
"I brought something better than boring documentaries," he said, disappearing into Batty's room.
"They aren't boring!" Skye hollered after him. Waiting for Jeffrey, she picked up the blankets and resumed her place on the couch. The boy returned soon afterward, holding a stack of DVDs and smiling, his green eyes sparkling with pleasure. He fanned the cases out so Skye could see the title.
"Doctor Who?" She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Isn't that the British show with the flying telephone booth?"
"It's called a TARDIS, and you're going to love it," Jeffrey replied, feeding a disc into the DVD player. "Alec used to watch it when he was a kid, back before they did the reboot. Nobody watches the old ones anymore, but they were great." He smiled, remembering the weekends he and his father spent binging old and new Doctor Who.
Skye nodded, not caring. Just another dumb sci-fi show with cruddy effects.
Sitting down beside Skye, Jeffrey noticed her blatant disinterest and smirked. "Just wait." Like any Doctor Who fan should when introducing someone to the series, Jeffrey started with the first Weeping Angel episode. He knew to hold off on season 1 until she was hooked.
And hooked she was. Though she grumbled at first, the blonde became more and more interested as the plot played out. By the time Sally discovered the secret in the DVDs, Skye was glued to the screen. With satisfaction, Jeffrey noticed she clutched her blanket when the angels attacked the TARDIS.
When the episode ended, she turned to Jeffrey, who looked at her expectantly.
"Well?" He asked, eyebrows raised.
Skye grinned mischievously. "We have some marathoning to do."