Story One. Theme: Sweaters.
Chelsea barely noticed the snow begin to fall as she busied herself within Mirabelle's home. Earlier that day, Julia has asked her if she could help the woman of the shop take out some winter decorations and help clean up around the house for the holidays. Chelsea, who was always willing to help others, quickly said yes. She was currently going through some old boxes that Julia had set around her as she sat on the floor, creating a sort of box fort that made Chelsea feel warm and secure.
"Whoo, and that's the last of 'em," Julia announced, dropping the last box before Chelsea and wiping her brow. "Is it just me, or does it seem like every year there are more boxes to go through?"
Mirabelle simply shook her head and smiled as she walked over to the two girls and handed them each a warm cup of tea. "I can't thank you enough for helping us, Chelsea. If it were just the two of us, we'd never get done until springtime!"
Chelsea took the cup and shook her head. "Oh no, it's my pleasure. I love going through old things and looking at all these cool decorations. It helps get me in the holiday spirit, you know?" she replied, taking a sip of tea.
"Well that makes two of us. I used to love doing this when I was younger," Julia responded, getting herself comfy on the floor before she began to dive into her own box of old holiday wonder. She flipped open the cardboard flaps to reveal dozens of homemade ornaments.
"Jackpot!" Julia laughed as she brought out a few ornaments to show Chelsea. The brunette accepted them eagerly and inspected them. They were cute little snowman and gingerbread men clay figurines with brightly colored ribbon attached at the tops.
"These are so cute! Did you make them?" Chelsea asked, handing them back to the blonde.
"Yup. When I was about seven, I used to love making homemade ornaments to hang on the tree. I thought it gave it a little more character as opposed to simply buying a bunch of those fancy baubles or lights," Julia replied, putting them back in the box and setting it aside for later.
"When Vaughn comes back inside I'll have to ask him to help me put up some decorations." She reached for another box. Chelsea thought it funny that Julia would ask Vaughn, of all people, to help decorate, considering how grumpy the cowboy usually was.
Mirabelle looked over Chelsea's shoulder and into her lap, which held a smaller box that Chelsea had been exploring."What's in that one dear?" the woman asked. Chelsea put her cup down and continued to rifle through the box's contents.
"Ohh just some old holiday greeting cards and winter receipts," Chelsea answered, shifting her hand through the papers until she hit something hard. "Ohh wait, what's this?"Chelsea grabbed hold of the object and pulled it out of the box, revealing a thin square book. Its cover was hard and a dirty maroon color. Chelsea had to brush some dust off to reveal the title of said book.
"'Memories'?" Chelsea said, reading the faded words on the book. Mirabelle and Julia instantly turned their heads in Chelsea's direction.
"Oh! That's our old photo album!" Julia said excitedly, scooting over beside Chelsea to get a better look.
"I've been wondering where that thing went. We haven't seen it for a few winters," Mirabelle chimed in. She grabbed a cushion off of one of the kitchen chairs and seated herself on the floor on the other side of and excitement building, Chelsea flipped open the first page. In neat handwriting across the top of the page was "Julia's First Winter!" As the title suggested, pictures of Julia as baby were neatly placed on the page.
"Oh my gosh, Julia! You were so adorable!" Chelsea sang, pointing to a particular picture of a baby Julia sucking on a candy cane. Julia blushed as Mirabelle laughed.
"She was almost a year old when that was taken. And this one was when she was about three," Mirabelle said, flipping the page and pointing to one with Julia playing in the snow. Her honey blond hair, which was tied in messy pigtails, glowed against the white background as she gave a toothy grin to the camera, obviously proud of the lumpy snow hill beside her.
"What a cute snowman!" Chelsea said. Julia just looked at her.
"It's supposed to be a snow cow!"
Chelsea and Mirabelle both burst into a fit of giggles and Julia's cheeks continued to grow red.
"I was three, okay! Give me a break!"
The three girls continued to look through the different pictures within the leather bound book. At first, most of them were of Julia as a baby, and then a toddler. But they progressively began to include Mirabelle in some shots as the two girls fooled around and took various pictures together. Chelsea was almost to the point of crying as Mirabelle told the stories behind every picture, with Julia putting in her side every once and awhile.
They'd had so much fun together. Just the two of them. Chelsea knew a little about the struggles Mirabella had to go through as a single mother, trying to raise a child with almost nothing. But within her hands was proof that it could be done, and done with a smile on your face and love in your heart. Chelsea envied that.
She envied the holiday smiles that shone through the pictures because this would be her first winter on the islands. And she was going to be spending it alone. Even though Mirabelle and Julia didn't have much at first, at least they had each other.
As Chelsea turned the next page, preparing herself to be sent into another fit of giggles, something caught her eye. For the first time since she opened the book, someone other than Julia and Mirabelle occupied the photos: a certain silver haired cowboy she recognized almost instantly.
"Is that...?" Chelsea started before Julia jumped beside her.
"Oh. My. GOSH! I almost forgot about this picture!" she squealed excitedly.
The picture was taken outside; Chelsea recognized the background as the front of Mirabelle's shop. A pre-teen Julia, with her honey blond hair braided down her back and wearing a rose colored sweater, was grasping onto the arm of a fellow pre-teen Vaughn. Chelsea knew it was him by his silver hair and violet eyes, but it was hard to label this Vaughn as the Vaughn she knew.
He was much younger, with a rounder face and bigger eyes. His hair was short and messier than it usually was when it wasn't covered by his cowboy hat. His brow was furrowed in a familiar way that Chelsea knew, but his cheeks were a bright red as the young Julia, in mid laugh, hung onto one of his arms and pulled him into the photo, obviously against his will. Chelsea soaked in as much as she could from the photo before her as Mirabelle shook her head and groaned.
"That boy. Even back then, he was as stubborn as a mule. Even more than now. Julia could barely hold on to him long enough for me to take that photo." Mirabelle sighed heavily in annoyance. Chelsea's fingers traced along Mirabelle's neat handwriting that sat beside the picture.
Vaughn's first winter with us!
"It's probably because you forced him into that ugly sweater!" Julia laughed, tugging at her own sweater for emphasis. Chelsea looked down at the photo once more and, sure enough, noticed the almost disgustingly bright green sweater that the young Vaughn was wearing. It was a little big on him, which made him look even smaller than he was, and had the words "GOOD LITTLE HELPER" stitched into it with a little elf's hat hanging on the R.
Chelsea probably wouldn't have chosen the word "ugly", but it certainly wasn't the prettiest thing she'd ever seen.
"Well, excuse me if I wasn't the best knitter at the time. I assure you, I've gotten better since Felicia's been helping me," Mirabelle defended herself, puffing out her chest. "And how was I supposed to know that Vaughn was going to be a little boy? I wouldn't have made it so big if I knew beforehand."
Chelsea looked at her quizzically. "Wait, what do you mean?" She asked. Mirabelle exchanged a quick glance with Julia before she answered.
"Well, as you may know, my dear, taking care of animals is a huge responsibility and requires a lot of work. At one point, it became almost too much for Julia and I too handle on our own. Especially since Julia was too young to help transport the animals, and I couldn't go and leave the shop unattended. So we decided to try and hire an animal trader. Someone who could help transport the animals here and help us around the shop.
"Well, we had gotten word of an animal trader who was especially good with animals and wasn't asking for a whole lot of money, just some boarding for a couple of days before they went off again. It was a deal we couldn't refuse. However..." Mirabelle paused, rubbing her cheek.
"We had no idea that the animal trainer was just a 12 year old boy," Julia finished, taking a drink of her tea. "You can guess how shocked we were. But despite what we thought, and his cold attitude, he was actually a really gifted animal trader. And from then on, mom wouldn't let him out of her sight."
Mirabelle shrugged and smiled warmly while flipping another page of photo album, revealing even more pictures of Vaughn and Julia over the years. Some were of Vaughn helping Julia put up decorations on the tree or Julia getting cookie dough on Vaughn's face and starting a flour war. Chelsea's eyes rested on one particular photo of Mirabella kissing Vaughn on the cheek under some mistletoe. Like the previous one, Vaughn's face was almost completely red, but he didn't look as annoyed as he did in the first one.
"We later learned that Vaughn didn't really have any home or family to return to, and maybe it was the mother in me, but that's probably why I clung on to him so much," Mirabelle said, eyeing a picture of Vaughn. He was wrapped up in a blanket next to the window and was fast asleep, a gentle and calm expression on his face.
"The first couple months, it was hard. Vaughn has never been a very social and open person, but he was even more shut in as a child. He'd barely say a word to me or Julia whenever he stayed, and he hardly ever smiled, let alone showed any emotion around us. But that's why this sweater is so special," Mirabelle continued. Chelsea listened intently as Julia nodded her head in understanding and sipped her tea.
"It was the first time Vaughn really showed us his true emotions. And even though it started out as annoyance, it was the first real time he opened up. And I'm so glad he did, because after all, he really is a great animal trader." Mirabelle smiled. "And a great addition to this family."
They all sat there in silence. Snow continued to fall peacefully outside as Chelsea soaked in the warmth of Mirabelle's words. She turned the pages back to the very first picture of Vaughn and his ugly sweater and smiled.
Vaughn didn't know how lucky he really was. He had two people that loved and cared for him so much, and it was evident in every picture just how much that love had changed him. Chelsea had never known that kind of affection from anyone, but just from hearing about it, she felt a warm feeling emanate from inside her. A warm feeling that she never wanted to stop.
It was Julia that broke the silence first. "You know, I wonder where that sweater went, anyway. I haven't seen it since this picture was taken." Before anyone could say another word, a cold wind swept through the room as Vaughn quickly opened and closed the door. His usual black attire was covered in patches of white as he brushed the snow off his hat and shoulders.
"Geez, it's cold out there. Do you know how hard it is to move a wool covered sheep in the snow?" Vaughn said as he entered further into the house. He spotted the three girls huddled together on the floor, surrounded by unopened boxes, and frowned. "Typical. I do all the hard work, and here you all are, goofing off."
"Pardon you, we've been working all morning. We were just taking a small break, that's all," Julia defended as Mirabelle got off the floor and walked over to the kitchen to make Vaughn some warm milk.
"Doing what?" Vaughn asked passively, walking over to where the two girls sat. He noticed the book on Chelsea's lap and furrowed his brow even further. "And what's that?"
"It's our old photo album. We were just looking at some old pictures of mom's and my past winters." Vaughn couched down and picked up the book from Chelsea's grasp to get a better look. He stayed like that for awhile, staring at the page before his eyes opened up wide. Chelsea noticed his cheeks grow a familiar red and an image of a younger Vaughn filled her mind.
Vaughn shot straight up, and would have nearly ripped the page out of the book if Mirabelle hadn't quickly replaced the album with a mug of warm milk. "Where did- Why do we still have that picture!?" Vaughn shouted, almost spilling his drink. "Get rid of it!"
"Not on your life. This is an important moment in history that I will never get rid of. Ever," Mirabelle retorted calmly, sneaking a wink in Chelsea's direction. Vaughn didn't notice.
"Do you know what would happen to me if people saw me in that sweater? People like Denny! Or Lanna! OR DENNY!? I'D NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT!"
"Whatever happened to that sweater, anyway?" Julia asked again, ignoring Vaughn's tantrum. The cowboy got suspiciously quiet as his frown and blush deepened.
"H-how would I know?" he scolded, crossing his arms defiantly with his mug still in hand, obviously guilty.
"Vaughn," Julia said intensely, piercing him with pale blue daggers.
Vaughn turned his head so that he couldn't meet Julia's gaze when he answered. "It- it may or may not have been- accidentally-set on fire and thrown into the well," He quickly muttered under his breath.
Mirabelle slapped him on the shoulder. "Vaughn! I made that for you, and you threw it into a well!?"
"And set in on fire," Julia added in unhelpfully. Chelsea tried her hardest not to burst out laughing.
"I was 12! I'm sorry! I was just embarrassed, okay? You try being a kid and being forced into wearing something like that by people you barely know!" Vaughn admitted, throwing his hands up in the air before whirling around and sitting down at the table. He began sipping on his milk while muttering something inaudible to himself.
Mirabelle shook her head as Julia rolled her eyes. "Well, it looks like you're going to have to make it up to me for throwing away such a precious memory."
Vaughn raised his brow skeptically at the word 'precious', but nodded anyway. "Fine, what do you want me to do? Shovel the walk? Extra stable duty?"
Mirabelle smiled and gave another wink at Chelsea before walking over to one of the kitchen counters and pulling out an old, rustic camera. Julia's and Vaughn's eyes both grew wide, though for separate reasons.
"Ohhh good idea mom!" Julia said excitedly before dragging a confused Chelsea over next to Vaughn, who continued to frown.
"Ohhh no," he muttered as Julia squashed the brunette to one side of Vaughn and herself on the other so that he couldn't get up and make a break for it.
"Oh yes. Since you got rid of such a wonderful memory, then we have to make a new one!" Mirabelle said, raising the camera up to her eye. Chelsea quickly stopped her.
"W-wait! Me too?" Chelsea stuttered. She could feel her own cheeks grow warm.
Mirabelle lowered the camera only long enough to answer. "Of course! I always take a photo of someone's first winter with us! And after all, you are part of the family, right?"
Chelsea knew her cheeks were glowing a bright pink as she stood there next to Vaughn and Julia. The warmth she felt before was nothing to what it was now. For the first time in a long, LONG time, Chelsea felt the warmth of a loving family, and would have burst into tears with joy if Mirabelle hadn't told her to kneel a little bit so as to get everyone in the photo. As she kneeled forward and closer to Vaughn, she heard him mutter something before Mirabelle snapped the photo.
"Stupid sweater," Vaughn mumbled, and Chelsea couldn't help but smile. Even though Vaughn sounded angry, the expression on his face was that of complete contentment and not at all of someone who was annoyed. It was all because of that stupid sweater that Vaughn was able to open up and be a part of a loving family.
And it was thanks to that stupid sweater that Chelsea got to be a part of that family too.