Love Can Change the Weather

Chapter 4

"Are you sure you wanna do this," Cara asked as she held Ellie's tiny gloved hand, and in her other hand she dragged a wooden sleigh behind her as they trudged to the highest hill in the neighborhood. After much pleading and capturing Cara with big puppy dog eyes, Ellie succeeded in getting her nanny to take her sledding for the day. It started off with small hills and runs where Cara could watch from the bottom as Ellie squealed with delight all the way to Cara's feet. As the day wore on, Ellie started to feel more and more bold, finally making her want to try the tallest hill where only the big kids go.

"Yeah! It's gonna be so much fun! Jack's been here all day with all the kids and he promised that for the last hill he'd go with us!"

"How nice of him," said Cara with more enthusiasm than she actually felt. Even so, she couldn't help but scan the area, not quite sure what, or rather, who, she was looking for. Even if she did know what to look for, she knew it was pointless. Jack Frost wasn't real, as far as she was concerned.

"Come on, Cara, we're almost there," Ellie said, tugging on her hand excitedly, extracting Cara from her thoughts as they climbed the last couple of yards to the top of the hill. Ellie smiled at Jack who waited for them at the top of the hill. He winked at Ellie before he sent one of the kids down the run with a push.

Cara and Ellie watched as several other kids went down the hill using sleigh, trash can lids, boxes, and other various items to make their rides faster. Finally, they were the last ones at the top of the hill.

"A-are you sure you want to do this," asked Cara, pressing a hand nervously to her stomach. The height was making her woozy, wishing more than anything she could watch from the bottom.

"Come on, Cara," said Jack, floating around the nanny. His spirits were high that day as all the neighborhood kids and their families frolicked in the winter snow. "You'll be fine!"

"LET'S DO IT," Ellie exclaimed, pumping a little pink-gloved fist into the air, reaching for the sleigh that Cara still held.

"Hold up for a second, Ellie," said Jack, noticing Cara's sudden rigidity. "Looks like Cara's a little scared. You should tell her how much fun she's going to have and how safe it is."

Glancing up at her nanny, Ellie didn't quite understand how Jack new Cara was scared, but she would do what it took to make her nanny feel better. Taking Cara's hand, Ellie squeezed it gently and smiled at her.

"You know what I do when I get scared?"

"And what is that," Cara asked, crouching down so she would be at eye-level with Ellie.

"When I get scared, I sometimes close my eyes and pretend I'm somewhere else. Then when I open my eyes, everything is better." Ellie smiled and tugged at the soft rim of Cara's red beanie. "You can cover your eyes with your hat when we go down!"

Laughing out loud, Cara stood up and tucked her long dark hair behind her ear. "I'll be okay," she said, her heart warmed by Ellie's intuitiveness. "After this we'll have hot chocolate when we go home!"

"Yay!"

"Good job, Ellie," said Jack, ruffling Ellie's hair as Cara took the sleigh to the edge of the tall hill. Watching Cara position the sleigh at the edge of the tall hill, Jack couldn't help but smile at Cara's slight fear of heights. Yet, he found it impressive that she would still agree to set aside her fear or Ellie.

"Okay, sit here," Cara said, patting the spot in front of her as she scooted toward the back of the sleigh to give the little girl space to situate herself.

"Get ready for the ride of your life, Ellie," Jack said with a wink as Ellie got comfortable.

Squatting beside Cara, Jack stared at Cara for a moment. He noticed that her nose was slightly pink with cold, and that her brown eyes were framed with the longest lashes he'd ever seen. A grin split across Jack's face as he stared at the girl who had momentarily enchanted him. "You look more like you're on a death march instead of enjoying the snow. Let me help you have fun." Conjuring a delicate snowflake out of thin air, Jack gently blew it into Cara's face where it obscured her vision for a couple of seconds. Once Cara could see again, her body visibly relaxed as she found her fears forgotten.

"Ready, Ellie," she said, feeling light as a feather and like a kid all over again.

"Yep!"

"Let's go!"

"That's the spirit, Cara," said Jack as he helped Cara push the sleigh down the hill.

Without warning, the sleigh flew down the slope at breakneck speed. Both Ellie and Cara screamed with delight as Jack flew beside them, reveling in their enjoyment.

"If you think, that's fun, watch this!" Falling behind the sleigh, Jack flicked his staff so that the sleigh veered to the left to go off a jump, making the sleigh go several feet into the air. Making sure the sleigh would not tip, Jack then sent Cara and Ellie in a sharp turn, causing the sleigh to spin a couple of times before it continued the journey down, then finally, just before they reached the bottom, Jack sent the sleigh off a final jump that sent them flying once more before coming to a skidding halt.

Taking deep breaths, Cara scooted off the slide and lied in the snow for a while, laughing to herself. She glanced at Ellie who wore a goofy grin and whose face was red from the wind.

"That was so fun," Ellie yelled, pumping both fists into the air. "Did you see how high we went in the air, Cara? It was even taller than Daddy! Did you see how fast Jack made us go?"

"I saw, Ellie, I saw," said Cara, sitting up and shaking the snow out of her wind-tangled hair. With Jack's mischief still running through her veins she carefully packed a snowball and threw it at Ellie's stomach.

Ellie blinked for a moment before declaring "snowball fight," on Cara, running after her nanny with handfuls of snow. Rushing to her feet, Cara retreated as the little girl attempted to run after her.

"Hey, this isn't a fair fight," said Jack, expertly making a snowball for Ellie to throw at Cara. As Ellie threw the snowball, Jack helped Ellie meet her target, which happened to be Cara's backside.

"Cold, cold, cold!" Cara touched the seat of her jeans, knowing the snow had seeped in past her jeans and chilled her skin. "I'll get you for that!"

Running after Ellie, Cara scooped the girl into her arms and tickled her, causing the girl to squeal with delight.

"That's cute," said Jack, watching the girls laugh in the snow. Again the feeling came back in the pit of his stomach as he watched Cara's dark hair fall over her shoulders, contrasting against Ellie's blonde hair and the whiteness of the snow. He felt his cheeks darken with a blush when he watched Cara throw her head back in laughter.

He had spent the better part of the last couple of months with Cara, and he had come to realize that not only did he want Cara to believe in him in order to complete his mission; he wanted Cara to believe in him for him. He wanted to be part of her life as she learned to delight in snow. He wanted to take her hand and show her all the cool things he had seen in the past several hundred years of living. He wanted all of this, and most importantly, he wanted to tell her how cute she was when she had snowflakes clinging to her eyelashes and long hair.

"Ready to go get some hot chocolate," Cara asked, when she noted Ellie's little teeth chattering.

"Yeah! Can I invite, Jack?"

"You sure can," Cara agreed. She was skeptical about Ellie's insistence on inviting Jack everywhere, but she decided the child's belief was harmless since she functioned normally in every other aspect.

"Hey, Jack," called Ellie, shaking Jack from his thoughts. "Cara says you can come have hot chocolate with us!"

"Awesome," said Jack, waving at the little blonde girl. "I'll be there a bit late, but go ahead without me."

"Jack says we can go without him," Ellie informed Cara as they walked hand-in-hand home.

(-)(-)(-)

Ellie and Cara sat snuggled under Cara's puffy comforter in her room as they sipped hot chocolate. On Cara's nightstand was an extra mug of hot chocolate in case Jack showed up.

"Remember when I worked on the Jack Frost story for class," asked Cara.

"Yeah, did you get an A+ on it," asked Ellie, carefully blowing on her warm drink.

"I got an A, yes," said Cara with a laugh. "But I did promise to read it to you once I got it back from my teacher. Do you want me to read it to you now?"

"Yes please!"

Cara grinned as she got out of the bed to retrieve her project. At that moment, Jack Frost made an appearance and sat on the foot of Cara's bed as she crawled back in beside Ellie.

"Is that hot chocolate for me," asked Jack, pointing to the mug on the nightstand.

"Yep," said Ellie. "Cara's going to read the story she wrote about you."

Cara smiled, choosing to ignore Ellie's talking to what appeared to be thin air. Handing Ellie her project, Ellie carefully looked through each page at the drawings Cara did. Her eyebrows furrowed after a minute.

"Is something wrong," asked Cara.

"Cara, you're not a very good drawer," said Ellie. "Maybe you should practice more, and then you'll get really really good!"

"Maybe I should," said Cara, gently tugging on Ellie's blonde locks. Cara knew she wasn't the best of artists, but she still found herself offended by Ellie's comment. "Hopefully my story will be better that my drawing!"

Snuggling closer, Ellie watched as Cara turned to the first page and began to read. "Once there was a boy named Jack Frost. His hair was as white as snow and eyes as blue as can be. Jack loved to have fun and play pranks. One day…"

Jack grinned at Cara's description of him. He ran a hand through his messy white hair. For a girl who didn't believe in him, Cara seemed to describe him perfectly. Setting his staff on the ground, Jack lied back on Cara's bed, using his arms to support his head. Closing his eyes, he listened to her read to Cara, imagining the story as Cara wove a beautiful tale into the air.

"…with a blow of his cool breath, Jack breathed over the sleepy town, covering the houses and trees in snow for all the children that would enjoy the snow the next day. The end."

"That was really good, Cara," said Ellie, stifling a yawn, as she fought to keep her eyes open. "Read it again?"

"Yeah, Care, read it again," said Jack, propping himself up on an elbow.

"How about you take a nap first and then I'll read it when you wake up," asked Cara, sliding from under the covers, letting Ellie nap in her room.

"But I'm not sleepy," Ellie weakly protested. Soon she was fast asleep within the minute.

"She's a great kid," said Jack, watching Cara collect the empty mugs of hot chocolate.

Cara stared at the mug of chocolate that was meant for Jack. "Better get your chocolate before it gets cold, Jack," she said before taking the empty mugs to the kitchen.

"Oh, Cara dear, is Eleanor asleep," asked Melanie who was starting dinner in the kitchen.

"Yep, sledding today tired her out," said Cara, putting the mugs in the dishwasher.

"How precious," said Melanie, chopping vegetables. "Oh, tomorrow you can have the day off. Greg and I are taking Eleanor ice-skating. We're going to make a day trip of it. You can come if you like, but I figured you might like time to yourself."

"Oh thank you," said Cara. "A day off would be great! Ellie's going to love a little vacation too."

"I hope she does," agreed Melanie with a smile. "Oh, by the way, do you know if Eleanor has any friends named Jack?"

Cara stilled for a moment. She didn't know how to answer this question. "I-I'm not sure," she said carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, because Eleanor often mentions a boy named Jack. She talks about him almost as much as she talks about you."

"Oh," said Cara with a smile. "Lately she's made an imaginary friend out of Jack Frost. Since the snow started, she got it in her head that Jack Frost creates the snow, and from there, she's created an imaginary friend."

"An imaginary friend," asked Melanie. "How interesting…"

"I'm sure it'll be okay," said Cara, suddenly defensive of Ellie. "All kids come up with imaginary friends at some point."

"I'm sure you're right, Cara," said Melanie as she added vegetables to a pot. "Can you make sure Eleanor is awake by the time dinner is ready?"

Cara agreed before she headed back to her room. She watched Ellie sleep for a minute, her stomach gently rising and falling with every breath. Going over to her nightstand, Cara picked up the mug of hot chocolate that was on her nightstand.

"Oh…that's strange. I thought I made a full cup," Cara muttered, swirling the half-mug of hot chocolate before taking a sip. It had now become lukewarm.

"I wasn't finished with that!" Jack was by Cara's bookshelf reading some of the titles of the books. While she was in the kitchen, Jack took the time to look around her room. He noticed her large bookshelf crammed with books and decided that she liked reading. There were also a few paintings done by Ellie that she had on her wall; Jack could easily tell how much Cara loved the girl. However, he couldn't find any pictures of her childhood which was strange.

Watching Cara curl up in her armchair by the window with his hot chocolate, a book, and a blanket, Jack smiled at the skeptical young woman as she watched the snow fall before cracking open her book and sipping the chocolate once more.

"That's okay, I'll let you finish the hot chocolate," said Jack, picking up his staff that was leaning against the bookshelf. "I think I need to pay a visit to the Tooth Fairy." With one last glance, Jack promised Cara he would visit again soon before leaving her to enjoy the snow.

Author's Note: YES! School is out, I've never been so happy to be on Winter Holiday! For me this means reading books, catching up on Community, Merlin, How I Met Your Mother, and of course with wonderful friends and family. For YOU this means more updates! Woo!

Thank you all so much for reviewing this story. It really really helps! So, please continue to do your part and review! :) Merry Christmas, everyone! (Or...Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate!)