Do you want to build a snowman?
We rarely get snow in the UK. If anyone has ever seen our news coverage of it, then they will see that this is apparent. But who doesn't love a good snow day!
When I was in school, snow days were prayed for, quite literally, because it meant not having to be up early and you didn't have any work to do. It was a day of fun, with snowball fights and snowmen building contests! Obviously, when we got older, we realised that snow days weren't all that we thought they were. They hindered our ability to get into work or university. It meant thinking before you travelled and sometimes having to stay in a hotel overnight. However, when I had children of my own, snow days became magical once more.
The best snow day I can think of is when we all got snowed in. Anthony was 14, Felicity was nine and the twins were four. So, all of my babies were in school and all of them had the day off as a result. We had gone to sleep the night before with a small layer of snow and thinking nothing of it, had fallen into a deep sleep.
Dan's alarm went off at half five the next morning, as was the norm. I stretched and yawned. Dan sat up slowly and switched the light on. I shielded my eyes against the light and pushed myself into a sitting position. The house around us was silent which meant the kids were asleep but that was ok. I got up and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. The next thing I knew was Dan standing at the door with a big childish grin all over his face.
"What?" I asked, slightly muffled as my toothbrush was still in my mouth.
Dan didn't say anything but he grinned again and left. Intrigued, I rinsed my mouth and toothbrush and followed my husband to the window. I gasped. The little snow that we had overnight had been replaced by thick snow that covered everything as far as the eye could see. It was as if someone had covered the ground in a thick white blanket.
"How thick do you think it is?" I asked, looking at Dan.
"At least a couple of centimetres!" Dan said, grinning.
I couldn't help but smile. I had always been excited by the snow, but Dan became a five-year-old every time, which is what made it so magical.
"Can you get to work?" I asked.
"Why, do you want me to go?" He asked, looking mock offended.
I hit him on the arm. "No, of course not!"
He smiled, "I probably could but I'm not sure how safe it would be. I mean, Harry wouldn't want me to die trying to get into work!"
"I should hope not. You're one of the best members on that team. And obviously, I wouldn't want my husband to die in a tragic car accident!" I replied.
"I'm going to call Harry and tell him we're snowed in." He said, leaving the room.
"If it keeps snowing, we might well be!" I called after him.
A few hours later, all the kids were up and just as excited about a snow day as we were. I had promised them they could play in the snow as soon as it stopped snowing as hard as it was. So while we were waiting, we had breakfast and snuggled on the sofa to watch films. Dan and Anthony had escaped to the garage and I wondered what they were doing as strange noises were coming out of there. But I wasn't worried. I was curled up with Fliss, Tom and Willow. We watched Narnia, followed by Frozen.
"Mummy, can we build a snowman now?" asked Fliss, looking out the window. "It's not snowing as much!"
I looked out the window. "Sure!" and the three of them cheered.
"Last one to the shoe rack loses!" Cried Fliss, throwing the blanket off. I laughed and helped Tom and Willow off the sofa and ran to the hallway.
"Right, wellies on!" Tom and Willow sat on the stairs and we got their boots on. Fliss even stopped rushing to help her little brother.
"Now what do we need?" I asked.
"Scarf!" said Willow.
"Hats and gloves!" added Tom.
"Coats!" concluded Fliss.
"You guys are better prepared than I am!" I smiled.
A few minutes later, we were all bundled up, ready to hit the snow. Then Tom pulled on my sleeve.
"Mummy, what about Daddy and Tony?" he asked, "They can't miss out on the snow!"
"No, they can't!" I replied. "Tell you what, let's head round to the garage and get them."
Tom nodded, seemingly relieved that his Dad and elder brother weren't going to miss the fun. Making sure we could get back in the house but not loose any heat, we trudged round to the front of the house. The snow was up to Tom and Willow's knees so they struggled the most, but with help from Fliss, we made it.
"Now what, mummy?" Asked Willow, holding my hand.
I thought for a second. "Now let's make some snowballs!" We all bent down and gathered up some snow, roughly making it into a ball. Three little faces were looking up at me, wondering what to do next. Grinning, I threw the ball at the garage door. It connected with a dull thud. Beaming, Fliss followed suit, shortly followed by Tom and Willow.
We waiting for a second and sure enough, the garage door opened slowly, revealing Dan and Anthony, holding what looked like sledges but I couldn't remember buying any. Dan was grinning from ear to ear again and he winked at me.
"What are they, Daddy?" asked Tom, wading through the snow to get a better look.
"These, son, are sledges. Anthony and I were working on them while you, mummy, Willow and Fliss watched films this morning."
"What's a sledge?" asked Willow, looking at her big brother.
"You can sit on it, Willow, and either Mum or Dad pull you along, or you can find a hill and slide down it!"
"Wow!" sighed Willow in amazement, "Can I have a go?"
"Sure!" said Anthony smiling at his little sister, "Do you want me to pull you along?" Willow nodded earnestly. Anthony helped her onto the sledge and, making sure that she was safe, he began to slowly pull her through the snow. Willow giggled and laughed as her big brother pulled her around the house and up and down the street. Because the twins were small enough, he even put Tom on the back, behind his sister and the two of them had a whale of a time. Dan put Fliss on the other sledge and pulled her around for a bit too, before she got bored and went to build a snowman.
Dan came back over to me, pointing at the sled. "Your carriage awaits, m'lady!" he said, bowing low.
I laughed. "I'm not getting on that!"
Dan raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?" and before I had time to react, Dan was behind me. He picked me up as if I was one of the children and put me on the back of the sled. He then ran so fast that I fell of the back of the sled and into the snow. Laughing hard, he ran back and helped me sit up. I then grabbed some snow and flung it at him. It was his turn to fall backwards! I stood up and armed myself. I turned around and got a face full of snow!
"Look!" cried Fliss, "Mummy and Daddy are having a snowball fight!" and soon everyone was involved.
In less than five minutes, we were all covered in snow, cold but laughing. In complete and utter bliss, I fell back into the snow and made a snow angel.
Willow was laughing. "What are you doing Mummy! That looks silly!" she said.
I sat up. "I'm making a snow angel! It's good fun!" and I fell back into the snow. Anthony copied. Willow followed suit. She would do anything that Anthony did. Soon, everyone was making snow angels.
All too soon, the heavy snow started again. So, with a bit of protesting (mainly from Daniel), we headed back inside, banging our boots against the door.
"Right, baths and hot chocolate all round!" I said, once we were de-coated.
"With marshmallows?" asked Fliss, excited.
"Of course!" I said, smiling.
"Can I have cinminons on mine?" asked Willow.
"Of course you can!" I replied, happy that my youngest daughter had inherited my love of cinnamon and hot chocolate.
"Can I have rum in mine?" called Daniel from upstairs.
"No!" I shouted back, smiling.
"Spoil-sport!" he called back.
"Maybe later!" I smiled. "If you're good!"
"Yes ma'am!" was his reply.
We ended our snow day, snuggled under the blankets, watching Mary Poppins. Soon, Willow and Tom started to fall asleep, shortly followed by Fliss and Anthony retired to his room to do some school work. So it was just Dan and me, on the sofa, alone.
"Well, Abi, thanks for a fun snow day!" he said, playing with my hair.
"You're welcome. Thanks for staying here and not going into work."
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world." He kissed the top of my head, smiling. "My kids mean more to me than anything. To have a day off work and see them playing together in the snow today, there's nothing that could have taken me away from that."
I smiled, "I know that." I turned to face him. "I just couldn't bear the thought of you driving in all that snow. London can be dangerous at the best of times and in the snow and if anything had of happened, I don't know…"
Dan put a finger on my lips and I stopped talking, smiling a little.
"Abi. I am not going anywhere. You are not going to lose me. Understand? I am going to live to be a hundred and see my great-great-grandchildren playing in the snow. You and I have the rest of our lives together. I wouldn't and couldn't do anything that would risk you losing me. I couldn't do that to Willow or Felicity or Thomas or Anthony. You all mean so much to me and I couldn't bear to be apart from any of you."
I blinked back tears. "I love you." I smiled, "I love you so much that it hurts sometimes."
Dan gently wiped the tears off my cheek. "I know you do. You're such a loving person. That's one of the reasons that I fell in love with you. And I love you more than anything, more than life itself. I want more snowy days like this with you."
I laughed. "Me too."
Then he cupped my hands and kissed me, lovingly and gently. I closed my eyes, feeling myself relax into him.
"Shall we take this upstairs?" he asked, winking at me.
I nodded. I loved snow days. The fun outside, and the fun later inside when the snow lay twinkling under the light of the moon and stars. That's when the real magic happened.
THE END.