A/N - I know. I know, it's way past Christmas. My apologies. I wanted to get this done in time for theholidays, but it didn't get done.
Disclaimer: I am ghilliekitten, I own nothing
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Kicking up little flurries of snow alongside the road, Will dutifully followed his mother back from the morning Christmas church service. It was cold, so he pulled his jacket tighter as the two of them walked through the winding streets of London. He already knew where he was going, so he didn't pay too much attention, at least until his mother stopped to talk with someone.
"Jane! How lovely to see you!"
"Yes, it's been too long, hasn't it?" his mother replied, but Will knew neither of the women were particularly happy to see each other. His mother hadn't seen her cousin in years, and even then they hadn't liked each other too much. Both of them however surprised Will as they made pleasant conversation rather than offer socially acceptable excuses as to why they had to leave. They didn't say too much that Will found interesting so he zoned out, and wished his mother would allow him to play in the snow. He thought about what he would do if he were allowed to play in the snow, and when he ran out of ideas, he thought about his father, and wondered when he would be home again. Will had hoped that his father would be home – he couldn't think of anything that would make his mother happier, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Would you like to come over and have some tea? It's so cold out …" This brought Will back to the conversation. He couldn't remember anything like that ever happening. He wondered what his mother would say.
"That sounds wonderful, thank you" His mother shot him a look that told him she expected him to be on his best behavior, and without another word he followed her.
The tea passed without incident, except that Will thought it was even more boring than the conversation. He tried to find a way to entertain himself as his mother and her cousin just sipped tea and talked, which, being forced to sit at a table and not say or do much of anything, wasn't easy.
Most of the rest of the day passed in a blur and Will couldn't remember much, except that when he finally got a chance to look out the window to see the snow, he was at first disappointed to see that it had stopped falling, and the only snow that was there was lying in blankets on the ground. Disappointed, and wishing that his mother would let him go out and play in the snow he was about to turn back when something else caught his attention – a familiar figure walking up the street. Excited, he ran to his mother who was putting another log on the fire.
"Mother!" he took her by the hand and led her to the window "Father's back!" this excited pronouncement was followed a few seconds later by a knock at the door, and his father entered the room, greeted by a hug from Will and many kisses from Will's mother.
"Here, Will" his father said, reaching into his pocket, taking something out and putting it into Will's hand "Something for you" His father had always brought something interesting back for his son when he returned, and Will was suddenly curious about what it was. When he brought it into the light cast by the fire he saw a glint of gold. When he walked closer to the fire to get a closer look he saw that it was a medallion, and not only that, a pirate medallion. It had a skull, and what looked like a spider's web around it, and it hung on a relatively thin gold chain, to match the gold of the medallion. When Will put on the medallion, the chain was so long that it wasn't necessary to use the clasp in the chain, he could just slip it over his head. As he did so, he got the feeling that this wasn't just another something interesting … this was different, somehow … special.
Soon enough, he was distracted from the feeling. His father, much to his mother's dismay, and in response to Will's constant inquiries was soon telling Will with stories about his most recent adventures on the high seas. As usual, Will listened with rapt attention as each of the stories unfolded. Some, like the story about being captured by cannibals, Will was sure was exaggerating what actually happened – of course, he wasn't even sure what a cannibal was. Nonetheless, he knew that some of them were true, they just had to be. Maybe he would even have adventures and stories of his own … some day.
Later, after dinner and more stories, his mother told him that it was time for bed, and, unhappily, Will complied, and was soon warm and very sleepy. But before he went to sleep, Will turned over to look at the room one last time. The fire had diminished to coals, and he could see his mother and father sitting at the small table sipping the last of their tea, but still continuing to talk, both of them were happy – his mother was the happiest he had seen her in a very long time. He noticed the snow was falling , but the room itself was nice and warm. For just a moment, he could enjoy his father being home without thinking about the goodbyes that he knew would eventually come, for a moment he could enjoy the warmth and not worry that the cold and worry that followed would only make his mother's cough worse. For a moment he could be a boy and not have to take on the responsibilities of a man. His last thought before falling asleep was that everything was finally right with the world, even if only for a little while.