Once upon a December
The frost constructs danced in front of his eye. One a small child with straight-cut hair and a dress, wearing ice skates. The other was a girl, barely a woman, wearing a colonial dress and her hair pinned in a bonnet, one hand laid absently on her slightly protruding stomach. Though there was no sound, he could virtually hear the half-remembered laughter of the women in his previous life.
"Ah, there you are Jack." The boy was snapped out of his reverie, the two constructs exploding into snowflakes. "Others are waiting in main hall."
"Oh, thanks North." Jack nodded, sliding off his perch by the window and had to blink in surprise. He hadn't realized that the fire in the room had long gone out, bathing the room in darkness only broken by the dim light from outside and the tiny flickering lights from the wall sconces.
"What were you doing in dark, mal'chik?"
"Hmm? Oh!" Jack rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, avoiding North's gaze, "Tooth's been helping me with my memories lately, and I was just lost thinking, I guess."
North nodded sagely, "Memories are important, da, but do not forget to live in present as well. Come." The Cossak landed one of his deceptively gentle hands over Jack's shoulder blades and guided the boy out into the light of the hall.
Dancing bears, painted wings
Things I almost remember
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December
"Jack, am I pretty?" Sophie asked, spinning in her baby blue princess gown with reckless abandon. It had been almost fifteen years since Pitch was defeated and it was now time for the winter formal at Burgess High. Sophie, little Sophie with choppy blonde hair and glitter fairy wings, had grown up into a beautiful young woman and all she needed now was approval from 'big brother Jack' before she could go downstairs to meet with her date.
"Yeah." Jack gave a crooked grin, already coming up with plans to haunt the boy until his dying breath if he made her cry. And he'd do it too, Jamie had given his blessings and some tips on how to hide the body last time they had seen each other. "You look like my little snow angel all grown up." Getting a strangling hug in response, Jack laughed and nipped her nose. "Don't forget this, ok?" He held up a matching blue caplet with blue-grey fur trim and 'frost' flower embroidery along the edges and fastened it around her neck.
"Jack, Lord Almighty, I'm fine!" She laughed, tucking stray hairs into her winter bonnet. "And the babe's fine too." She cut in before Jack could say a word. "T'is beautiful out and keeping me cooped up all winter should be a sin!"
"Then don't forget this, ok?" Jack bit his lip, but wrapped his young bride in a blue fur-lined cloak that he had made as a wedding gift. He had even stitched a simple design around the border like his Ma had taught him one winter when he was his sister's age. Carefully closing the clasp and smoothing the cloak over her arms, he couldn't help but smile. "Have I told you that you're the most beautiful snow angel I've ever lain my eyes on?"
She couldn't help but to blush and look away, "Not today, no."
Taking hold of her chin, Jack gave his crooked grin, "Then you're the most beautiful snow angel I've ever seen."He kissed her softly on the lips and then knelt, "and this is the most beautiful snow angel that I can't wait to meet."He kissed her small belly as well and looked up, "I love you, and thank you for taking this fool to be your husband, my dear Em…"
Sighing, Jack watched the young couple walk down the front walk before his frost covered the window and his view of the world outside.
Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory
"…And do you, Sophia Bennett, take…"
"I'm still gonna kill him if he ever makes her cry." Jack sat back in his seat, crossing his legs.
"Get in line, mate." Bunny agreed and the groom shivered. The five empty seats in the front row on the bride's side gave him the creeps, and it seemed unnaturally cold out. The weather forecast said that it would be sunny and warm out. And was that actual frost crawling across one of the chairs? Nobody else seemed to feel anything but post-Easter spring weather.
"Ssh! I want to hear!" Tooth hissed, leaning forward enough to see Jack and Bunny on North's other side. Getting a pair of mumbled apologies, Tooth promptly nodded and went back to happy-bawling into a handkerchief embroidered with a golden 'N'.
"You may kiss the bride." Blushing, both teenagers leaned in and gave a chaste kiss, as much as propriety would allow in such a public setting, their own wedding or not.
"You look like a snow angel." Jack murmured with a grin, turning to present his arm to his new bride. Blushing, she stuck out her tongue before slipping her hand through his and turned to face the town as a married couple.
"I have the honor to present Goodman and Goodwife Jackson Overland!" the priest called over cheers from the entire town as the young couple made their escape under handfuls of tossed grain.
Later that afternoon at the reception, Jack and his young bride finally found a moment to speak. "Lace, fair Goodwife?" He asked, plucking at her cuffs and the delicate white lace that was stitched on.
"It is from Oma and her wedding dress. Mother wore the lace as well. 'Something old', after all." She answered, attempting to tuck a pale blonde lock back under her bonnet. "And you, Goodman? I see that someone has stolen your trousers and replaced them with proper breeches."
Jack stuck his tongue out at that and plucked at the linen. "Don't alert mother, but I prefer my trousers."
"Jack!" A young girl with straight-cut brown hair and the same eyes as her elder brother called across the town square. "Dance with me!"
"Haha, I'm coming!"
Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Once upon a December
"Come, meet your new sister." Papa stuck his head out of the front door and looked around. Chickens pecked the ground, the corn swayed in the wind and the trees- Aha! Curled up under the large maple tree and nearly hidden under a bush was a young Jackson Overland, seven years old and every bit of trouble he could get into. "Ah, there you are." Papa smiled behind his trimmed beard and knelt next to his young shadow. "Worried yourself to exhaustion again, did you not? Come, up you go." He scooped the boy up into his arms. "We can't keep doing this Jackson. You are starting to get too big." His son still had the cherubic cheeks of youth, but his limbs had stretched out recently, promising to cut a tall figure when he finished growing. Of course, none of this got a response, since the boy was deep asleep.
Shouldering his way into the two room cabin, his exhausted wife and the midwife both looked up. "John?" He shook his head and went to the small cot in the corner, placing Jack down on the straw-stuffed mattress.
"Asleep, Felicity. He shall meet his new sister in the morn. As should you. Rest now." John kissed his wife's head, then the sleeping babe's, before turning to the midwife. "Goody Joan, thank you for your help."
"T'was not a problem." Joan nodded, habitually wiping her hands on her apron. "Now, if there is nothing else to be had, I shall be off. It is getting late and I have a husband and my own children to feed. If you have any problems, do not hesitate to fetch me." And with that, she left the young family to their own devices.
"Mmm? Papa?"
John looked over at the corner, to see Jack sitting up on one elbow and rubbing his eye with the opposite fist. "We had thought you had fallen asleep, Jackson. Do you wish to meet your sister?" The boy nodded and rolled out of his bed, nearly tripping on his quilt.
"Sister?" He asked, only half awake, "A girl?" he said with a tone somewhere between disgust and confusion.
"Aye, a girl Jackson, so you'd better look after her, young man."
"Yes Papa." The boy was led over to a large basket on a table pulled close to the bed. Peering inside, Jack wrinkled his nose at the tiny mottled-red thing that was his sister. "She's so…" Small, red, wrinkled, quiet, "Tiny."
"Aye, she is. You were this small too, once."
"Oh." Reaching in, he touched the red cheek with a gentleness he only reserved for the spring lambs.
"Enough of that Jack." Felicity spoke from the bed with a laugh in her voice. "You'll wake her up and we've had such a long day already. Come, give your Mama a hug and go to bed." She held out her arms for her eldest, still lying down on her side. "Gently now, gently." She soothed, kissing her son's forehead. "Now, off to bed. If today was a long day, tomorrow is to be even longer, I should say. Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, Mama. Papa."
Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory
"Hey Soph, ever made a snow angel before?" Catching the three-year-old's attention, Sophie shook her head. "You haven't?" Jack said with exaggerated concern. "Well, we'll just have to fix that, won't we?" he smirked, standing up. "Watch me and do what I do."
The duo found a clean patch of snow in the back yard and Jack spread his arms, promptly falling backwards into the soft powder and making a light indent. "Now your tur-oof! No-not quite Sophie." The girl had fallen on top of Jack and sharp knees and elbows had found tender parts.
After a moment, he helped a giggling Sophie back up, absently brushing some snow from her blonde hair. "Now, let's try this again. This time, when you fall down, go like this with your arms." Jack waved his arms up and down, like he was doing a jumping jack, "Got it Soph?"
"Ok!"
"Great!" Positioning the girl so that she would land in a clean spot, Jack counted, "And a one, and a two, and a Three!" and pushed the girl backwards into the snow, raising both errant snowflakes and giggles. "Now, wave your arms like I showed you!" He called like an over-excited coach. "And your legs!" It only took a few seconds of Jack holding boot heels and moving them to the side and back before she started doing it on her own. "Aaannd… Stop!" Jack called, and she immediately did.
"It looks perfect, Soph. Now, grab on so I can pull you out." He held out the crook end of his staff and gently pulled her out. Settling her on his hip so that she could see, they both looked at the snow angel. Humming in thought, Jack turned to his captive audience. "It's perfect. But it needs something. Do you know what's missing?" She shook her head. "Can you guess?"
She looked adorably serious like only young children could while she thought. "Wings?"
"Nope, she's got those already, see?" Jack pointed to either side of the angel's body, where Sophie had waved her arms around.
"Eyes! Eyes, eyes, eyes." She bounced on Jack's hip and he nearly dropped her before readjusting his grip.
"Eyes?" He mused out loud. He had never heard of a snow angel having eyes before, but it wouldn't hurt. After a moment of contemplation, Jack blew into his fist dramatically. Uncurling his fingers after a moment for Sophie to see, Jack asked, "Will these do as eyes?" On his palm were two pearls of ice, bright blue and absolutely filled with his power.
Sophie nodded and with her permission, Jack placed the two pearls. "There's still one thing missing though. Do you know what it is?" He stayed leaning over the snow angel, letting Sophie get a good look.
Shaking her head, Jack laughed and drew an oval in the snow over the snow angel's head. "She was missing a halo. You can't have an angel without a halo, can you? Now, do you want to make more snow angels?"
Cheering, Sophie practically launched herself from Jack's grip and into the deep snow. He was so glad that there was a foot of his fluffy, snowball-worthy, flakes on the ground to catch her fall.
Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart used to know
Things it yearns to remember
"Hi Emily." Sitting down, Jack crossed his legs and settled his shepherd's crook across his lap. "Guess who finally remembered your name?" He gave a huff of a laugh, touching the gravestone he had sat in front of. "I had a little help though. Sorry it took so long." His hand trace T. "I heard you got remarried to Thomas. He's a good man. I hope he treated you right. You and our… was it a boy or a girl?" Jack had to laugh at himself. "The name, right? It was a boy and took Thomas' name. Like it should be. Or it was a girl and you and Thomas had a boy together. It doesn't matter." Jack shook his head, continuing to trace the headstone as silence fell in the old Tanglewood pre-Burgess cemetery.
"She has your hair." Jack finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "Sophie. Your granddaughter… with quite a few greats tossed in there, actually. And Jamie, James he wants to be called now, I swear he has my eyes. From when I was human, I mean." He stumbled, trying to explain himself to a rock of all things. "They're wonderful kids, both of them. Jamie can succeed at practically anything he puts his mind to, and Sophie." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "If I wasn't already white, I'd be going gray. She's fearless. How did mom and dad deal with me?" They married you off, you troublemaker. Jack laughed, "Yeah, and then you had to deal with me instead."
"I'm sorry, Emily, my beautiful snow angel, for leaving you behind. I didn't mean to." Only the wind bore witness to the tracks that crystal tears drew down his cheeks. "I love you."
Frosting over the headstone, Jack drew his snow angel and drew it out into one of his frost creatures. Carefully blowing on the frost, he slowly, carefully turned it into a delicately detailed ice sculpture, exactly how he remembered her last, but with fluffy angel wings. Settling it into the grass in front of the gravestone carefully, Jack gave a small smile. "Emily, I know I promised to look after you when I married you, and I did a lousy job at that, so can I at least try to make it up to you? I vow to you, right now, that I will take care of Sophie and Jamie, your, our, children, for as long as I can. Even when they can't see me anymore. Deal?" Tracing the edge of the gravestone, he gave it a kiss to seal the deal.
"Goodbye Emily. I will always love you."
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December
Mal'chik- Russian, boy
Oma- German, informal, grandmother
'Once Upon a December' from the movie Anastasia. Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
On a personal note, I'm sorry for the emotional whammy at the end and here's a tissue. Happy Valentine's/ Singles Awareness Day! Please feel free to leave a comment below. Suggestions and critiques are always welcome.