So this is kind of a spin off from my main story, The Test, but it can be read without reading that. I will eventually add the last chapter to that story , but i had this idea in class today and i had to write it out! I hope you enjoy it and know it was inspired by me having to walk to classes in a foot of snow today:)
I dislike Thursdays is normally the first thing I think of when I wake up on one, but not today. No, today is going to be perfect because there is absolutely nothing that needs to be done, no ships to work on, no problems to solve, no people to interact with. The exception to that last comment being my beautiful fiancée who has taken the whole day off from the station. So we can have fun. All. Day. Long. Today is going to be good. I roll over in bed to reach out for my swan, when I find that her side is empty. That right there should have been interpreted as an omen. Confused, I look at the clock by our bedside table and find it to be 9:20. Where could the woman be? Not hearing her in the bathroom, I quickly put on pants and go to investigate. I'm not even half way down the steps when I hear sounds coming from the kitchen. Ah. Getting things started in the kitchen would be an excellent beginning to the day, then I could satisfy two hungers at once. With a smile I enter the kitchen and find something immediately wrong with it. Henry is there. Frowning, I look at him and then to the clock on the microwave. 9:25. Thursday.
"Morning Captain!" he says around a bite of poptart. I am still standing by the entrance in confusion.
"Henry? Should you not be in school right now?" At this he smiles and shakes his head.
"Nope! Haven't you looked out the window today?" Not understanding how looking out the window will explain his presence; I make my way over to it anyway and take a peak outside. The entire place is covered with a thick layer of snow. It's quite beautiful but I can't imagine he would skip school just to bask in its wonder. His mothers would never let that fly by.
I turn back to him, "It's just snow."
"Just snow!" he exclaims, "What you are looking at is eleven inches of premium Maine snow. That my Captain, is enough to justify a snow day!" So much excitement, this snow day must be something very important.
"And what is a snow day exactly?" I ask, but am pretty sure of the answer. It is then that Emma decides to make her appearance. She gives me a small smile and explains.
"A snow day means that there is too much snow on the roads for buses to get around town, which cancels school. So all kids get a day off." And stay at home her eyes say. It seems like our plans have been cancelled. I heave an internal sigh, but smile and make my way over to her to give her a quick kiss.
"Another time then," I whisper in her ear. It's not the day I was expecting, but I love the lad and a day spent with him and his mother could be just as fulfilling. If the ring on her finger is any indication, we would have all the time in the world to make up for today.
"So," I say, stealing a piece of Henry's poptart, "what does one do on a snow day?"
Frowning, he slides his plate closer to himself and I laugh, moving to the toaster to get my own. "Well, normally it is a good chance to catch up on sleep, watch a ton of Netflix, and eat an entire bag of Doritos."
"I could be in to that." Emma sits at the table with a bowl of cereal.
"I agree," I say taking a seat next to her. Henry just shakes his head.
"I said normally. But we are anything but normal. We are extraordinary! We are pirates, and saviors, and true believers! We shun the normal and reach for the legendary. That is why today we will do the ultimate snow day activity. Sled riding! And when it is dark, and we can sled ride no longer, we will come home and drink hot chocolate like champions because we will know that we have conquered the day." What the hell? I look to Emma, but she is looking at Henry with the same perplexed look.
"He is spending too much time with Charming," I conclude, "it has to stop."
"Please!" he whines.
"You really want to go sled riding today? It's so cold out." Emma looks at her big fluffy sweat pants and then outside to the snow, and I can tell she would rather stay in.
"I'll make another long speech! I'll even throw some stuff about hope and love into the mix."
"Oh God!" I exclaim, "Not hope and love, anything but that! He's turning into a charming right in front of us Swan. Let's hurry up and take him on this adventurous sled ride. Maybe throw some snow balls at unsuspecting people while we are at it for good measure."
Emma just rolls her eyes. "You know what snow balls are?"
I scoff at her. "I did have an older brother, I know a thing or two about playing in the snow." More like, I knew how to be pelted with the things and be tackled in the snow. I loved Liam, but I believe it to be a universal truth that all older siblings torture their younger siblings with the white precipitation.
"Alright then, to the park to go sled riding I guess." Emma concedes. Henry whoops and rushes up the stairs to his bedroom to get dressed.
"Not exactly the way I thought we would be getting down and dirty today, love."
"Seriously?" she raises her eyebrow at me. "Go put some warm clothes on pirate." She squeals when I throw her over my shoulder and lead her to our room so we can both get dressed.
xxxxxxx
Overall, it had been a successful day. Henry and Emma rode down the hill at the park a couple of dozen times, we made a snowman, and got to hide behind trees and throw snowballs at Jefferson driving him crazier. It was just as we were about to leave that things went downhill so to speak.
"Killian, you didn't go down the hill once!" Henry points out. It's true, I avoided the hill, it just didn't seem safe to me.
"Perhaps another time lad."
"Mom, can we go down one more time. He has to do it!" he implores his mother. She shrugs.
"Kid is right. You have to go down, or the day isn't complete." Really? I think. But I want to get home and out of these cold and wet clothes, so I nod my head and we align our boards to go down.
Henry starts to count down. "One, two, three." And we push off. Now, the hill is of good size, but the whole experience couldn't have lasted more than twenty seconds. The first eighteen of those seconds was really fun and I though this isn't so bad. Sadly, those last two seconds were bloody awful.
xxxxxxx
"What happened daddy?" My daughter Cecily asks with concern in her large blue eyes. Her twin brother, Davey, is bouncing with excitement next to her.
"Well, it was the worst thing ever." I say in a low voice.
"Please," Emma shakes her head at me. "Daddy's board hit a rock and he tumbled out and landed in the snow."
"And he complained about it for weeks." Henry adds.
"Oi, I twisted my ankle! I almost had to get married with a cast on my leg, I was that close to breaking it!" I try to defend myself. Henry rolls his eyes and moves to go outside.
"So you aren't coming with us daddy?" my son asks.
"Alas, no my boy. You will have to go sled riding without your old man. I have put those days behind me." He looks at me like I am insane, which I am, and runs over to join Henry outside. My little girl comes up to hug me.
"I'll defeat the hill monster for you" She says as she lets go. I smile and put the hood of her coat up and lead her outside as well.
"Sure you don't want to come?" Emma asks me right before she leaves to go with the kids.
"Nah," I say and give her a kiss goodbye. "I think we are happy right here, aren't we?" I ask the five old month in my arms, Renee, my newest little girl. Emma smiles down at her, then at me, and walks out the door.
"You believe that I was in danger don't you?" I coo at her. Somehow she gives me a perfect Emma "I'm not buying your b.s" look and sticks her tongue at me. I laugh. "Come my little swan, let's use snow days for what they are really for. Netflix."