"Hold it!" Kati bursts out.
Surprisingly, Jamie stops. She's only a few feet ahead of Kati.
"Look, I'm all for trying new things and letting you get us into small amounts of trouble, but no. We can't do this," Kati shakes her head, holding onto a tree branch. "I mean actually can't. Look at that, Jamie."
Jamie follows Kati's arm and looks out at the terrain. She frowns, looking bummed.
"Alright, fine," she sighs.
Manoeuvring sideways, she steps back to the tree line, and they slowly slide through the trees, making their own return path.
"We are never telling anyone we were too afraid to do that," Jamie lets Kati know as they forage their path.
"I'm sure we'll forget about it by the time we reach the bottom and see the search party my Mom has ready," Kati replies dryly.
Jamie giggles and Kati rolls her eyes. Jamie never has to deal with an overprotective parent. Sure, her dad is protective, but not like Kati's parents. She's beginning to think no one's parents are as crazy as hers.
They reach the blue hill again and make their way down, hurrying without stopping to talk about a jump or how fast they got going.
Sure enough, when they reach the spot where all the runs come together to land at the line for the lifts, Kati spots her father, George, Addison and Amelia. Standing beside them is Charlotte.
Kati exhales, annoyed, and hurries to the bottom, grinding her board to a halt a few feet from her mother, spraying snow. But Kati is more focused on the fact that her mother see she that she's agile on a board.
"Where have you been?" Charlotte demands, as Jamie skids to a stop beside Kati.
"It's a long run," Kati replies, looking away from her mother and undoing one of her bindings so she can skit around with one leg.
"A long run?" Charlotte replies.
Kati knows her mother would lose her mind if she knew what just about happened, so she just starts for the lift again.
"Yes, Mom," she calls. "A long run. Sorry we took too long!"
Without needing to be beckoned, Jamie hurries after Kati.
"Officially the first time I've seen you lie to your mom," she whispers into her best friend's ear.
"Technically it wasn't a lie," Kati replies, as they reach the line up.
They meet eyes and grin, and Kati doesn't feel too guilty because technically she did tell the truth. Her mother can always tell when she's lying, and it's not like she flat-out asked Kati where they were. She shakes it off as Addison and Amelia ski over.
"Alright, you two," Addison grins. "What made you 10 minutes later than you normally would be?"
Kati pulls her goggles back on, hiding her most obvious lie detectors: her eyes.
"We stopped to watch some jumps," Jamie replies easily. "And did some jumps, too."
"And didn't fall," Kati adds, giving Addison a So There smile.
Addison raises her brow. "Alright, take it easy. Don't go getting all mad at me."
"I'm not mad," Kati replies, giving her aunt a smile to make her feel better.
"Let's see these jumps," Amelia says.
Kati and Jamie look at each other, and even through Kati's goggles, she knows what Jamie's thinking.
"Okay," Kati shrugs, and they move forward in the line.
"Are you sure they said top chalet?" Addison asks, as Kati expertly scrapes her heel edge to a stop.
"No," she replies, clicking her bindings open. "I just have to pee."
"How could we all have lunch at the top chalet when Charlotte and Violet aren't on skis?" Amelia nudges Addison teasingly.
"Oh," Addison frowns. "Right."
Jamie and Kati race inside, and Addison and Amelia wait for them.
"I think I got a contact high from those guys on the lift," Addison says to Amelia.
"Yeah, they were high as kites," Amelia shakes her head. "Man, I miss college."
"College? They were 14. Maybe. That's middle school," Addison replies.
"Either way," Amelia shrugs. "It doesn't seem to be affecting their snowboarding."
Addison just laughs, and they watch people zip past the upper chalet.
"Hey, there's Cooper and George," Amelia points out Cooper's bright blue jacket.
"Oh yeah," Addison says quietly, watching George.
"Are you ever going to make that move, or are you just content to shamelessly flirt with him?" Amelia asks bluntly.
Addison gives her a look.
"What? You look at him like he's the last pint of Double Fudge Brownie in the freezer," Amelia replies. "I'm not blaming you. The man is hot. Like, severely hot."
"Right?" Addison agrees, and shakes her head. "I dunno. Maybe I just like the chase."
"Oh you absolutely love the chase," Amelia replies knowingly. "But at some point you always decide whether or not it's a crush worth checking out a little further."
"I dunno," Addison repeats. "I'm keeping my options open. Ever since Kevin, I just want to be sure it's a relationship that's worth my time."
"Well then scratch George off that list," Amelia replies easily.
"What? Why?" Addison frowns.
"Because," Amelia answers, as though it should be obvious. "You won't let it go anywhere long term, we both know that. He's got a kid to raise, and that kid is extremely attached to our niece. You won't jeopardize that relationship for Kati, and thus, you will not pursue that sexy, sexy man."
"What sexy man?" Kati asks, announcing hers and Jamie's return from the bathroom.
"Wentworth Miller," Addison replies easily.
"When would you pursue him?" Kati asks, confused. "Did you meet him or something?"
"No," Addison laughs. "I wish."
She changes the subject to lunch, hoping to come across as nonchalant to the girls.
"Last one down buys beers," Amelia says, taking off.
Kati and Addison exchange looks.
"Or deep-fried brownies," Addison offers, and Kati responds with a nod.
"You're on," she agrees. "Beer's disgusting."
She takes off and Addison stares after her, eyes wide with shock.
"Relax," Jamie chuckles beside her, snapping into her skis. "Dr Cooper let her try a sip, and yes, Charlotte was there."
Addison nods, understanding, and Jamie continues to laugh at her expression as she takes off down the mountain.
"Oh my god, my legs," Cooper groans, as the group finds a table in the chalet.
"Finally feeling your age, old man?" Amelia teases.
"I hope not," Cooper frowns. "I better be out here even when Kati's a teenager."
"Oh, please," Violet laughs. "I'm sure at the point, she'll definitely be going by herself."
"No way," Cooper replies, glancing at Kati. "Kati and I are always gonna have Dad & Daughter days. Even when we're both old."
"Yep," Kati nods, dropping her goggles, toque and gloves on the table. "Dad's gonna teach me how to paintball."
"What on earth is paintball?" Violet asks, helping Jamie out of her jacket.
"Exactly how it sounds," Cooper replies. "Gun, balls of paint, and a serious game of tag."
"No," Violet's eyes widen, and she looks to Charlotte.
Surprisingly, Charlotte just shrugs. "She wants to try."
"Getting shot?" Addison frowns.
"You can turn the pressure down on the guns," Cooper laughs, hanging up his jacket. "It's not like I'm willingly going to take my kid out and riddle her with bruises."
Addison kind of shrugs, realizing he's right.
"Still," Violet shakes her head. "Sounds crazy."
"Sounds awesome," Kati counters with a big smile.
As everyone is finally out of their snow gear, Cooper, Pete and George head towards the cafeteria to grab lunch for everyone.
"Where's Pete been?" Amelia asks, confused, watching him follow Cooper and George.
"He always goes off alone," Violet waves dismissively. "It's something he started doing by himself when he was traveling and needed to do something fun, in South America. Now he just prefers to get out there and zoom around alone."
"Makes sense," Kati puts in, surprising them. "It's fun to go alone. It makes you feel like you're flying or something."
Charlotte's wide eyes soften a little.
"What are we doing for dinner tonight?" Amelia asks.
"We're at lunch and you're worried about dinner?" Violet laughs.
"The food here is amazing," Addison supplies. "We're going to the Chateau for dinner, and believe me, you're going to be in heaven."
Amelia gives Violet a knowing smile, and then the guys arrive back with trays full of food.
"Oh good," Charlotte says, examining the contents, as Pete jogs back for drinks. "And here I was worried you'd get something nutritious for the children."
Cooper chuckles, tickling Kati as he sits down beside her.
"It's Christmas," he replies, but Charlotte's unimpressed look doesn't fade.
"It's Christmas, so let's feed our child deep-fried brownies, french fries covered in cheese and gravy, and pizza?"
"Yes," Cooper replies, dead serious.
"I did promise her the brownies," Addison admits.
Charlotte shakes her head good-naturedly.
"Well I'm in charge of dinner," she says. "And breakfast."
"Which is why lunch is so delicious," Amelia stage-whispers into Kati's ear.
Charlotte elbows her, but Amelia and Kati laugh.
They finish lunch and wait a bit before getting back up on the lifts.
"Three o'clock, Cooper," Charlotte reminds him.
"We'll be here," he replies, kissing her cheek.
It's still hard for her to let Kati go do stuff like this, knowing the kinds of things that can happen, but she knows she has to loosen up a bit. Especially since her daughter seems to have a thirst for sports and exciting stuff like paint balling and ATVing.
So while they all head up the mountain again, Charlotte and Violet head back into the chalet to get some coffee and watch from the huge windows.
"Okay, be careful, honey," Cooper needlessly reminds Kati, as she and Jamie eagerly hurry away after getting off the chair.
"Bye Daddy!" Kati calls back.
He and George push off then, too.
They can't see which route the girls took after the main run breaks into four, so they pick one and head down.
His legs are starting to get sore; he's not as young as he used to be, that's for sure. When Kati was just learning to snowboard when she was five, Cooper lasted all day, no problem.
They get to the middle of the run and see a group of skiers and snowboarders, crowded around a fallen person.
"We should check it out," he calls over to George. "See if they need help."
George raises a hand to let him know that he heard him, and they head towards the group. There's about 10 people, and through the crowd, on the ground, surrounded by all of the people, Cooper's chest tightens as he sees a pair of legs in bright rainbow snow pants.