Ironhide grumbled to himself as he sat in his alt mode. He was not pleased with the situation. Will had decided to take his family on a 'vacation' up in the mountains to a small little town. They were at least kind enough to get a primitive looking house, called a log cabin he was told, that was far enough away from the town so that he could transform without being seen. But that wasn't what was grinding on Ironhide's circuits though, it was the fact that they were so far way from base that trying to keep a decent connection to the Autobots was proving to be difficult. If an attack of three or more Decepticons were to happen it could take hours for his link to get through and backup would take days to arrive with how far away they were!
He couldn't argue though, Optimus had agreed to let William off duty and take his family to the ridiculously small town. Months had gone by with the Decepticons attacks that had caused trouble for both Autobots and humans without any brakes. Will hadn't gotten to see his family in any of that time frame and had barely gotten to talk to them either. He had stated that it was putting a strain on his relationship with his family. Now that the Decepticons were less than active in the last month, with barely any sign of them, that it presented the perfect opportunity to surprise the his mate and offspring with a trip so he could spend some time with them. Of course Ironhide would be there to guard them just in case but when he had found out where exactly they had decided to go he objected. Optimus didn't give him a choice in the matter and had practically ordered him to shut his vocal processors up.
And so there he was sitting in the front yard, surrounded by the forest, besides the little cabin after a day of running the human family around the 'quaint' little town, as Sarah Lennox had described it. As much as it aggravated him through the family seemed to be the happiest he had seen them in along time. If it brought them so much joy, he decided, then he would put up with the week long vacation and wait for it to end without to much complaint. Also Annabelle seemed to be especially happy with living in a new environment for the first time and it offered much to the sparklings learning experience.
By the time the day was ending, the stars where just starting to appear in the night sky when Will finally walked out of the front door with Annabelle on his hip. William looked tired from the day's events but content Ironhide noted. The fur on top of Will's head was messy and he looked like he was about to go into recharge any minute by the way the humans body was slumped. After first adjusting Annabelle's light pink winter jacket Will walked over to him. As soon as he was close enough Ironhide spoke up "Was the first day of your family vacation adequate?"
Will smiled and patted the side of Ironhides hood in a friendly manner. "Yes we had a wonderful time Ironhide. Sarah and Annabelle are both very happy and things are soothing over. We really needed this trip more than I had originally thought." He said as he put down the three year old sparkling.
When little Annabelle got her balance after she was placed on her peds, she ran up to Ironhide and banged her small palms against his tires while smiling up at his truck form. "Snow Iownhide! Snow!" She beamed. He was confused at what snow was and was about to ask when Will spoke up.
"Yeah the weatherman said it was supposed to snow tonight so I came out here to ask you if you're going to be ok outside." Will looked at him with concern and shifted on his pedds nervously. "If you need we could get some tarps and blankets for you."
Ironhide shifted on his tires as Annabelle jumped around excitedly. "I cannot get a decent connection to look up what this snow you are taking about is." He grumbled in aggravation and embarrassment.
Will looked at Ironhide with surprise "You haven't ever seen snow before?! Hmmm well you see when the temperature drops to thirty two degrees to cause rain to freeze into small ice particles, when it lands on the ground it covers everything and makes it white. Its very cold but fun to play with, that's why Annabelle is so excited since it will also be her first time seeing it."
If Ironhide was in his bipedal for he would have frowned. "Cybertronians are not as affected as much by such small changes in temperatures as you humans are. So I doubt this snow will cause much of a problem for me. I doubt that I will require extra protection but thank you for your consideration William."
Will just rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "Well if you need anything just let Sarah or I know. Come on Annabelle its about bed time for you." He said as he tried to pick up Annabelle who had been playing with some leafs. "Nooo I want to pway with Iwornhide!" she whined as she tried to squirm away.
"Ironhide needs to get some sleep too Annabelle. You can play with him outside in the snow tomorrow ok?" Will said. Her lip stuck out as she pouted but reluctantly agreed "Ok" she mumbled. "What do you tell Ironhide?" Will asked. Annabelle looked over to Ironhide's form and waved "Goodnight Iwornhide! Pway in the snow tomarow?" she asked with wide eyes.
After all the time he had spent with the Lennox family, Annabelle had found a soft spot in the gruff weapons specialist spark. He had a hard time refusing the youngling if she asked him anything with her innocent looking optics. He sighed in defeat knowing that he couldn't refuse "I'll play with you tomorrow if you recharge well tonight." He grumbled. The sparkling smiled in delight making Ironhide happy. "Goodnight Will. Goodnight Annabelle" He replied.
William laughed softly to himself at his small victory of getting Annabelle to agree to go to bed so easily. "Goodnight Ironhide. See you in the morning." He said as he walked away.
Ironhide vented softly to himself and settled down to recharge. He would need all the energy he could get with having to play with the sparklings sporadic energy tomorrow morning.
-
Ironhide woke up with a jolt realizing there was something on his grill, covering his frame, and messing with his sincere causing him to be blind! "What the frag!" He panicked. Quickly he transformed and whatever was on him fell off. Whatever it was that was on him had gotten inside of his grill when he transformed. As his frame became warmer, now that he was out of recharge, and suddenly he felt a weird wetness underneath his chestplate where his grill was now located. He squirmed in disgust at the feeling. His optics went wide now he was able to see again. He became confused and started to panic at first. He didn't know where he was. Everything he saw was white! After a moment he slowly realized that he was still at the same area and hadn't moved, instead everything was just covered in white.
Primous it was everywhere! The ground, the chairs, on the house, even in the trees! Bending down he examined the white stuff that had stuck to his frame and everything else, he came the the conclusion that this must be snow that Will had been talking about last night. Standing back up he took a step forward and to his displeasure he found the snow getting in between small parts of his peds and into where his wires and circuits where. It was like having sand stuck in between your frame but instead of a gritty feeling this stuff was annoying in a different way! As soon as it touched anywhere inside his frame it instantly melted on contact and made all the small circuits, that were usually protected within his frame feel slightly chilly. He grimaced at rare feeling. One thing he was sure about now was that he Did Not like snow!
All of a sudden the front door to the cabin flue open with a bang and out ran Annabelle. She was covered from head to toe! Little Pink boots, thick white pants, her pink jacket she had worn last night, two white mittens, a dark pink scarf, and light pink hat where all covering her frame so that she wouldn't get cold. "Iwornhide!" She squealed in excitement as she ran up to him, her breath making small white puffs in the air. "Snow! Snow everywhere!" She giggled and scooped some up in her small servos and through it up in the air. It rained down on her like powder and she squealed in delight.
Looking down at the small girl Ironhide couldn't help but be amused. Annabelle seemed to at least like it. "You like this stuff Annabelle?" He asked as he bent down closer her and wrapped his servo around her to keep her warm. She looked up at him grinning and nodded her head quickly. "Its pwritty!" She stated. "We pway wit snow now? Pweese!" She looked up at him with bit wide eyes and her lower lip sticking out slightly.
Ironhide growled to himself in displeasure. He didn't want anything to do with this snow if he could help it. "I'm sorry Annabelle but I don't know how to play with snow. Why don't you go ask your creator to play with you instead." He said as he spotted Will walking out the front door. Gently he nudged her with a digit in Wills direction to get her to cooperate.
"Nooo yooou!" She whined and grabbed onto one of his digits. As Will walked up to him Ironhide gave him a help me out here look.
Will chuckled to himself when he spotted Annabelle hanging onto Ironhide and Ironhides expression he was making. "Ok what's going on here? I thought you wanted to play in the snow Annabelle?" He said as rubbed his gloved hands together trying to get warm.
Annabelle tried to turn around without letting go of Ironhide as she explained. "Iwronhide won't pway in the snow wift me!"
Quickly he made up an excuse even thought it was true. He really just didn't want to feel the snow melt under his frame any more than he had to but he would never admit that. "I fail to see how you can play with this snow. When you touch it melts on contact. It doesn't seem like it would be vary much fun to try to play with." Gently he pulled his digit away from Annabelle. She stumbled back with a pout, ran over to her creator, and hugged his legs.
Will looked up at Ironhide with amusement. "Its will melt somewhat but not completely. You can make things like snowmen, snow angels, and snow forts." Will told him as he hugged Annabelle back. Will bent down and grabbed a handful of snow. Ironhide watched him as he molded it into a small ball in his hands. Holding it up he grinned as he showed Ironhide.
"And just what exactly is that?" Ironhide asked in confusion. The small ball of snow didn't seem to hold much of a purpose.
Grinning mischievously William said as he through the snow up and down in his hand "Oh this? This is a snowball." Suddenly Will thought the snowball towards Ironhide and hit him right in the face.
"William!" He yelled! Annabell and Will both laughed as he stood up quickly and tried to brush the melting snow out of his optics. Uh! If he thought getting snow under his chestplates was uncomfortable this was way worse! He shuddered in disgust and also at the chilly feeling. "What in Primus's name possessed you to do that?!"
"Its all in good fun Ironhide." He herd Will laugh as he was cleaning his face and optics of the snow. "Snowballs are one of the most favorite activities when there's someone else around to target." Will must have spotted his shudder because the next thing he heard was "I thought that Cybertronians didn't get cold!" Will said as he laughed some more in amusement.
Ironhide vented "That was Not Fun!" he said once he could see again. He scowled down at William. "And I never said that we don't get cold just that it takes lower temperatures for us to become cold. The snow is unsettling to me because when gets underneath my frame it touches my wires and melts making them freeze!"
Will just smirked up at him "Aww Ironhide I didn't know you had a sensitive spot in that big old frame of your." He joked. Ironhide growled down at him but that just caused Will to laugh. Turning to Annabelle, William grabbed her hand. "Come on Annabelle, let me show you how to make a snowman." Looking up at Ironhide with a sad expression she asked "But what abwot Iwronhide?" Looking back up at him Will pause to give him a chance to join them. He huffed and frowned down at the humans and shook his head slightly. "Maybe later Annabelle, Ironhide doesn't seem to like the snow to much."
Annabelle's sad eyes just about broke is spark as Will carried her away some distance. Pushing the guilty feeling away he transformed back into his truck form. Grumbling to himself he was determined not to give in. No matter how much Annabelle begged him he was Not going to get any more of that horrible stuff underneath his frame again. Ironhide sat there and scanned the area doing his usual routine, making sure the area was secure. One he was finished he found himself beginning to get bored and once more turned his sensors to William and Annabelle. He watched as Will showed his youngling how to make a snowball. To his surprise, Will placed it on the ground and started rolling it around making it slowly get bigger. To Annabelle's delight she started pushing the snowball with Will's help to make it bigger also. Once they couldn't push it any more they started over with another snowball and another, making the next ones smaller than the previous. To his confusion he watched them stack the snowballs on top of each other, bigger to smaller.
Ironhide's curiosity finally won out as he transformed and wandered over closer to them. "What are you doing?" He asked quietly. Will jumped in surprised not realizing Ironhide was behind them. Annabelle turned to face him with delight "Were making snowman!" she answered cheerfully. Grabbing more snow she patted it on the side of the snowball. Will looked over at Ironhide with amused expression.
"How could snow possibly look anything like a human mech?" Ironhide ask perplexed. Bending down for a closer look he tried to see how these three snowballs could possibly resemble the human body. He watched as Annabelle picked up some twigs and handed them to Will. He proceeded to stab them into the 'snowman's' sides to look like arms. William lifted Annabelle up and she pulled out a carrot and buttons out of her pocket. He watched as she did her best and made some sort of sloppy face for the thing. Setting Annabelle down Will took off his scarf and hat and put them on the things head. "It doesn't look anything like you humans do! It has no legs, has three uneven body proportions, and has impossibly skinny arms that do not match its much larger roundish frame."
Will laughed up at him causing Ironhide to glared down at Will. "Its not supposed to look like a real human Ironhide. Its just something humans have been making for centuries just for fun." Huffing to himself, he grumbled lowly about how humans and their excessive need to make up pointless things.
Annabelle didn't seemed disturbed by his mood though as she jumped around the snowman happy "Its done! Its done!" Looking up hopefully at Ironhide she asked him "Do you like it Iwronhide?"
Not wanting to disappoint or upset the young sparkling he sighed and gave her a slight smile "Yes Annabelle, he is very...interesting."
"Yeay!" She exclaimed and tried to hug the snowman. Quickly she let go and jumped away "Its cold!" she cried out. Will and Ironhide looked at each other with an amused expression. Suddenly Annabelle sneezed and fell back down onto her rear in the snow. Rubbing her red nose she got more snow on her face from her snow covered mittens.
Will pulled Annabelle to her feet. "Come on Anna, lets go inside and see if mommy will fix us hot chocolate to warm us back up." She eagerly nodded at the thought and started pulling on her dads hand to get him to move.
They both started their long trek back to the house but before they could get very far they found themselves each scooped up in two very large mettle hands. "Ironhide!" William yelped "What are you doing?!" he said as he struggled to sit up.
Ironhide carefully held each human near his warm frame as he started walking back towards their dwelling. Looking down at Will and Annabelle to explain himself "It would be quicker if I carried you to the house and warmer this way for you. Ratchet has told me repeatedly that if humans stay out in the cold temperatures to long they can offline."
William smiled up at him. "True but we haven't been outside in the snow long enough for that to happen. Thanks for the lift though" Will said gave Ironhide's hand a pat.
When he reached their house he carefully lowered his servos flat on the ground to let them climb off. Will hopped off first and held Annabelle's hand as she proceeded to jump off of his servo onto the ground. Straightening back up he expected them to go inside "What do you say to Ironhide Anna?" William asked his daughter.
To his surprise she let go of her Sires hand and ran over to one of his peds. "Thank you Iwronhide!" She said as she hugged him awkwardly as her arms could barely reach around his ankle. He gave her a small smile as his optics softened "Your welcome Annabelle." Giggling, she ran back to William and they both went inside.
Ironhide sighed to himself and walked away over to a big tree. Setting himself down he leaned back against it to relax. Snow to fall down all over him when the tree bent under his weight. He jumped as it got underneath his frame. "Slag!" he vented angrily with a shutter.
-
The next day Ironhide took the Lennox family out to the town for a day of shopping. When they returned, late that evening, Ironhide was pulling into the driveway and he instantly saw something wrong "Uh oh." He said in a low tone.
"What's wrong Ironhide?" Sarah asked him.
"You will see soon enough" he replied. Will and Sarah frowned at each other. Getting out of the car Will instantly saw what was wrong and apparently Annabelle. As soon as she pulled out of the back seat by her mother she saw the damage.
"Nooooo!" she cried, then burst into tears. Her snowman that she had made was smashed to pieces and there were footprints all over the yard of the intruder that had done this. Sarah instantly held onto her and tried to comfort her. "Shhh its ok Annabelle you and Daddy can make another one ok?" Sarah said to try to calm her child.
"No! I w-want m-m-my snow-mannn!" She cried as she clung her mother's shoulder. Sarah looked at William helplessly and carried her daughter, crying all the way inside to try to settle her down.
Ironhide transformed and looked down at Will confused "I do not understand why would someone destroy something that's going to melt in a few days." Ironhide asked with a perplexed look on his face.
Will rubbed his face with his hand and growled to himself angrily "Because Ironhide some people think it's fun to destroy other people's things and they don't care who it upsets or hurts." Ironhide frowned as he thought it over. Glancing towards the house hurriedly William said "I better go help get Annabelle calmed down. I'll talk to you later ok Ironhide." He gave a nod and watched Will hurried inside.
Ironhide looked at the smash up snowman and back at the house where he could hear the sparkling still crying. Although it was a simple thing that could easily be replaced, he knew that sparklings had a tendency to think of certain things as being special. Especially when that something was something that they help create. After awhile Sarah eventually got Annabelle to calm down and into bed. When the lights were turned out and all the Lennox's had gone to bed, Ironhide could still hear the slight whimpers of the sparkling as she tried to recharge. Worriedly he checked on the young sparkling through the window. Her face was streaked with dried tears and she was hugging one of her toys tightly to herself. Although her optics were closed, she had a pout on her face, was sniffing, and restlessly moving around while she recharged.
Anger made his spark flair in his chest at what the unknown human was putting the youngling though. If he ever caught the human who did this, he would make sure that they wouldn't even think of ever touching someone else's property again, much less trespass! With a sigh he turned away and wandered the yard. He wish there was something he could do to make Annabelle feel better. Suddenly he stopped in his track. Looking downward a thought entered his processor. Although he wouldn't like it he would do it if made Annabelle happy...
-
The next day Annabelle woke up early in the morning. The sun wasn't even rising over the horizon and the stars were still shining up in the sky. Everyone else in the house was still sleeping but she just couldn't fall back to sleep. A couple sniffles escaped her as thought about her snowman that was now all smashed up into pieces in the front yard. Getting up and wandered over to the window to see it one more time. When she looked outside, her eyes got wide in surprise. Running as fast as her small legs could carry her, she raced down the stairs and to the front door. Desperately she reached for the doors lock but wasn't tall enough. Looking around she spotted a chair. Pushing it over to the door, she crawled up onto it and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, she quickly went outside onto the cold porch to look up at the giant snowman sitting in the front yard that was as big as the house! She was so amazed by it that she failed to notice Ironhide walk up to the house.
"Isn't it a little early for you to be up sparkling?" Ironhide said as he stared down at Annabelle with amusement. Front the look on her face he knew that he had succeeded in making her happy once more.
"Did you make dat snowmwan Iwornhide?" Annabelle asked in awe as she glanced back and forth at it and him.
Chuckling to himself, he scooped her up in his servo and held her close to his frame to keep her warm. "Yes young one, I did. I thought that you might like another one since yours was destroyed. Do you like it?" He asked as he carefully rubbed her head with a digit.
Annabelle smiled up at his with the biggest grin he had seen yet. "Yes! I wove it! Tank you Iwornhide!" Jumping up in his servo, he was surprised when she tried to hug his chestplate. Ironhide optics softened as he smiled down at her and held the sparkling closer. She looked at the giant (Compared to her) snowman a little while longer befor she let out a wide yawn. She rubbed her eyes and tiredly settled back down in his servo.
"You should go back inside to finish recharging Annabelle. It's too early for sparklings to get up yet." He said.
She looked up at him with sleepy optics and said "Don't wanna go inside. Stay here wif you pwease Iwronhide?" He looked down at the tired sparkling in his servo, she was rubbing her optics tiredly and snuggling against him. A couple hours outside wouldn't hurt her right? Besides he wouldn't let her get cold and would keep her warm. "Just for a little while ok?" He said with a sigh as he gave in. Annabelle smiled up at him and instantly started making herself more comfortable as she laid down in his palm. Walking over to a tree by the house he leaned back against it, careful not to repeat yesterday's mistake. Gently with a digit he rubbed her back until she fell back into recharge once more. He let out a content hum as he held her against his chestplates. When Annabelle instinctively curled closer to where his spark was he smiled down at her. His sparked warmed at the feeling of the small human femme recharging so contently near his spark. She had a happy and peaceful look on her face as she hung onto a piece of his armor while she recharged. Warming up his frame he made sure that it stayed at steady temperature that would keep the sparkling warm while outside with him. Covering her with his other servo Ironhide didn't realize as he too slowly nodded off into sleep with a slight smile on his face.
A couple hours later when the sun just started to rise -
"What in the world Ironhide?!"
Slowly Ironhides optics lit up as his sharp audio receptors picked up a startled voice. Looking downward he spotted Will who looked very flustered. Will had on a pair of boots and a jacket but still had what he had heard Sarah refer to as pajamas on. His processors slowly caught up as he came out of recharge "Is their something I can help you with Will?" he said as he uncovered Annabelle, careful not to wake her, and push himself up so that he sat up straighter.
Will let out an aggravated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair when he spotted his daughter unharmed, asleep in Ironhide's hand. "I woke up to find Annabelle missing and searched everywhere until I see the door partially open. Fearing the worst, I run outside and what do I find? A fifty foot snowman! The least you could have done was let me know where Annabelle was before I had a panic attack." He said yelled quietly so as not to wake Annabelle up.
Ironhide shuttered his optics and looked slightly embarrassed "I am sorry Will, I did not mean worry you. I made this snowman to cheer Annabelle up. She woke up exceptionally early this morning and spotted it so she came outside. I didn't want her to get cold so I picked her up and then she insisted to stay with me. I meant to have her go inside after spending a few hours with me but I accidently fall back into recharged along with Annabelle."
Will gave him an amused look and sighed "Well next time just let me know where she is if she decides to sleep with you again. I don't really mind, I just don't want to have another scare like that."
Ironhide ducked his head "I will not make the same mistake again and once more I am sorry to cause you such distress so early."
William smiled up at him "Thanks Ironhide, I know you had good intentions and I'm happy that you tried to cheer Annabelle up." Ironhides optics wanted to look anywhere but at Will at the moment. He was so embarrassed to not only have to sacrifice some of his dignity at making a snowman but also being caught cuddling his charges sparkling. Will laughed at started walking back to the house.
"Will why is there a giant snowman in the front yard" Sarah's voice yelled from the porch. Ironhide ducked his head once more but relaxed as he looked down at the sparkling in his servos. A slight smile came across his face as he moved to rubed Annabelle's side. She mumbled in her sleep and grabbed onto his digit instead and snuggled against it. He let out a small chuckle and settled back down once more against the tree contently.
My computer's working again :D ...ok only somewhat. But hey I can write! So this was sitting around in my saved file and I'll just go ahead and post it. Hope you enjoy it. Hope to get my other stories rolling again. Once again I'm dyslexic and did my best. Hope you enjoyed it.