Thank you for your reviews! Busy day today, but Christmas tomorrow! Review please! This is the lat one. :O Richie's 13, Hannah's 9, Freddie's 5 and still as mental as ever!
Jesse dragged himself out of bed, trying not to wake Rachel. He wandered into Richie's room, where his son was still asleep.
"Come on Richie." Jesse said quietly, shaking him. Richie groaned and rolled over.
"I don't want to get up." He moaned, burying his head under his covers.
"What, and I do?" Jesse asked, going to the curtains and opening them. "Ah. You might want to get up actually."
"No, I really don't." He heard Richie grumble a reply.
"Oh, I thought you loved snow." Jesse said, suppressing a grin as he heard Richie shoot up into a sitting position.
"It snowed?" Richie asked, getting himself out of bed and coming to the window.
"That is has." Jesse put a hand on Richie's shoulder, both of them watching the white outside. "Go downstairs and check whether your schools and mom's theatre are open."
Richie nodded before running downstairs to boot up the laptop. Jesse and Rachel took turns at performing, and Rachel had recently started her run in her latest show, so Jesse was now in charge of the kids until she finished and he got his next role.
Jesse entered Hannah's room, where his daughter was already awake. Hannah actually listened to her alarm, like her mother, but Richie never bothered with it, much like Jesse.
"Hannah, before you change go downstairs." Jesse commanded, opening her curtains as he heard Hannah gasp.
"Snow!" She exclaimed, bouncing on the spot before running to the window to get a better look. "And it's really heavy snow!"
"Richie's checking about your schools, go sit with him." Jesse told her, and she ran out of the room. Jesse just laughed and went to Freddie's room.
"Freddie." He said, stroking his son's hair. "Get up mate."
Freddie rolled over, mumbling incoherently. Jesse smiled. Freddie was really cute when he wasn't running in circles.
"It snowed Freddie." He told him, and Freddie immediately opened his eyes.
"Really?" He asked, blinking slightly, his hair all over the place.
"Really." Jesse confirmed, and Freddie shot out of bed and ran around the house. Jesse sighed and followed him.
"My school's closed." Richie announced as Jesse entered the kitchen, where he, Hannah and Freddie were crowded around the laptop.
"What about the others?" Jesse asked him.
"I haven't checked them yet." Richie answered, clicking around. Jesse laughed slightly at the fact his son has chosen to check his own one first.
"The other schools are closed too." Richie said, and both Hannah and Freddie ran off yelling in excitement.
"Guys, be quiet you'll wake you mom!" Jesse told them, but they started a chant of 'Snow day! Snow day!'
"What about your moms theatre?" Jesse asked Richie above the noise.
"It says it depends on whether or not the cast can get there." Richie answered, and Jesse nodded.
"You guys, shut up a minute and listen." He said. "Get dressed and wrapped up and we'll go outside. I'll go wake your mom."
The kids ran upstairs, even Richie going faster than he usually would, and Jesse followed them before entering the master bedroom and sitting on the bed.
"Rach." He said quietly, stroking her hair. "Something wonderful has happened."
"What?" She grumbled. "Did Hannah or Freddie get offered a role for their Broadway debut?" She asked. Richie had already starred in a few shows, and Hannah was reaching the age where Rachel thought it acceptable to allow her child to perform.
"Not quite." Jesse replied. "I highly doubt anyone would hire Freddie. It's snowed."
Rachel groaned. "I thought you said wonderful." She said as she sat up. "I admit over the years the fact that we've been followed by this kind of weather has made me warm to it, if you ignore the oxymoron of that sentence, but I'm still not snows hugest fan."
"Well, your theatre is depending on how many people can get in, and I don't think many will be able to." Jesse told her. "So I was thinking we could have a family snow day."
"Sounds good." Rachel smiled, kissing Jesse's cheek. Jesse opened his arms and Rachel shuffled into his embrace, and Jesse nipped her neck. She was about to turn to give him a proper kiss when the door burst open.
"Mommy, mommy it snowed!" Freddie yelled, running in and launching himself onto the bed and into Rachel's arms.
"I know honey, daddy told me." Rachel said tickling him.
"Are you going to come out in the snow mommy?" Hannah asked, nearly bouncing on the bed.
"Yes I am." Rachel said, smiling at her daughter.
"Seriously?" Richie asked from his position by the wall. "You hate snow."
"Hate is a strong word Richie." Rachel cautioned. "Anyway, why ruin a lovely family day?" She asked, as the kids broke into cheers.
Rachel walked across the snow, a show face fixed in place. The kids were running ahead, and Jesse was waiting for her to catch up with him.
"Richie, Hannah, Freddie, slow down!" Rachel yelled. "Don't slip over!"
Jesse chuckled as Rachel finally grasped his outstretched hand. She was in wellies, a long coat, hat, scarf, gloves and many layers.
"Dad! Come on!" Hannah called to him. "Leave mom, then she'll hurry up to catch us!"
Jesse thought for a moment, flashed a grin at Rachel and then ran off to join his kids, all of whom high fived him.
"Jesse!" Rachel shouted after him. "No, come back!"
The kids just laughed, and Jesse shrugged his shoulders. He then turned round to talk to the children.
"Hey guys, I have a plan." He said in a low voice whilst Rachel still tried to get over to them. "You three go and make some snowballs, I'll get your mom into the centre, then you can all snowball her." He grinned.
"Yeah!" Hannah and Freddie said, jumping up and down. Richie nodded in approval.
"Okay, take one side each." Jesse instructed, and they went off to create the snowballs.
Jesse reached out for Rachel again, and she happily staggered over to him. He smiled, taking her hand and guiding her to the centre of the road. He distracted her by playing with her hands, and then saw Richie giving him a thumbs up over Rachel's shoulder. Richie then put his other thumb up; signally that Hannah had done the same.
Jesse released his hands from Rachel's, and stepped back. She frowned for a moment before the first snowball hit her, and she squealed and hid her face in her hands. Richie got a few accurate headshots in, and most of Hannah's shots hit the target, although anyone standing about a yard away from Rachel should have been more scared of Freddie's random throws.
When the bombardment stopped, Rachel looked up in time to see Richie throw Jesse a snowball. He smiled as he strolled towards Rachel, as Richie and Hannah came in to grab her arms and hold her to the spot. Freddie hung onto Rachel's sleeve uselessly. Jesse glanced at the snowball in his hand before looking back up at Rachel.
"Do it." Rachel said, and Jesse gave her a sad smile, as he knew they were both getting flashbacks from that fateful moment so long ago. "Break it…" She didn't finish the sentence, although the words echoed in both Rachel and Jesse's ears.
Jesse smashed the snowball down on Rachel's head, and the kids cheered, breaking out Rachel and Jesse's trances. She offered him a small smile as he pulled her into a hug. She knew he still felt guilty for that, years later.
"Gees, can't you even snowball her without feeling guilty?" Richie asked, whilst Hannah and Freddie pulled faces. "You are so whipped."
"Number one, where did you learn that phrase, and number two, don't meddle with things you don't understand." Jesse said as he released Rachel, flicking some snow at Richie, who scooped some up and threw it back at Jesse.
"Oh, it's on!" Jesse announced, grabbing a handful and throwing it at Richie.
"Kids versus adults!" Freddie yelled, as he, Richie and Hannah retreated to make snowballs.
Jesse grinned at Rachel. "Let's show those punks how it's done!"
Rachel grinned back, finally ridding herself of her show face. "Damn straight!" She said, trying to ignore that having fun in snow went against what she'd been saying for years.
The teams fought an even battle, everyone ending up covered in snow, although Freddie wasn't from being hit, he'd taken to rolling around in the snow giggling whilst Richie and Jesse and Hannah and Rachel fought.
Eventually, Richie and Hannah managed to pelt Rachel, and she dramatically fell to the floor, as they insisted she'd been killed. They then backed Jesse into a corner, snowballs raised.
"Hey now." He said, arms held up in surrender. "You don't have to do this. You've won. Your mom's dead on the floor and you have me prisoner, no need to throw them at me."
They ignored him, and he got snow shoved into his face. He roared, before chasing the kids, grabbing them and spinning them round. He and Richie started a play fight in the snow, although they both stopped for a moment when Freddie threw himself in their midst. Then the fight started again, and Hannah and Rachel left them to it, choosing to go and make a snowman instead.
"Finished being idiots?" Rachel asked as the three boys, now red faces and sniffing, came to see what the girls were doing. "Oh, wait. You'll never stop that."
For that comment she earned a snowball over her head, and she screeched, lobbing some snow over her shoulder at whoever the culprit was.
"I think we should go inside now." Jesse said; as he saw Richie wipe his nose on his sleeve and Freddie sit in the snow, already soaked.
"Really? I'm having fun Jess." Rachel gave her snowman the finishing touches, and she allowed Hannah to crown it with a carrot for a nose.
"Everyone's freezing." Jesse replied, dragging Rachel to her feet. "Who'd have thought you'd be the one begging to stay outside?"
"I know, mental isn't it?" She said as she picked Freddie up, who had been trying to bury himself in snow. Rachel smiled and took Jesse's hand as they went into the house.
The St James family gathered around the fire, hot drinks in hand. Jesse was in an armchair with Freddie on his lap, the child's arms around his neck. Rachel sat on the sofa cuddled with Hannah, and Richie had opted to sit in front of the fireplace.
"I love snow days." Richie said as he took a sip of his drink.
"Our snowman was clearly superior." Hannah announced, and Jesse smiled at her choice of words, meeting Rachel's eyes as he mouthed 'clearly superior idea's.'
"Well, I think we all had fun." Jesse smiled, and Freddie mumbled in agreement.
"You know what?" Rachel said eventually. "I think I actually like snow. It's kinda fun." She beamed and Jesse blew her a kiss. Finally he'd got her to say those words.
Okay, there's the ending! It has been fun. :) This is actually one of the very first chapters I planned. Review please! :3