Jane Morgendorffer (Part 36)
Christmas Eve morning, Daria woke up to a sight she thought she would never get to see except for on television. Snow - there was actual white flakes falling from the sky on CHRISTMAS EVE. She had always wondered what a White Christmas looked like in person and now here it was. Daria stood there silently, watching the snow as some of the flakes stuck to the window. A few minutes later, she was joined by Quinn, who began jumping up and down. Quinn's commotion caused Jane to finally open her eyes and slide out of the bed. By the time Amy entered their room to let them know breakfast was ready, all three girls were staring out the window in awe.
"Why don't you three get dressed and after we eat, we'll go play outside," Amy said as left the room.
Ten minutes later, Jane and Quinn were sitting at the kitchen table. They were through eating by the time Daria joined them, sketchbook in hand. Penny sat down next to her little sister and looked at the picture Daria was drawing. It was the view from their bedroom window. At first, Daria wanted to finish her picture before going outside, but Jane and Quinn changed her mind. Trent and Jake took the girls to go have a snowball fight. Amy, Helen, and Penny stared at the simple drawing for a minute.
"She's a lot better than I was at ten. During the summer class I taught, she did better than many of the adults in the class. Her art teachers aren't going to know what hit them," Penny stood up, grabbed her gloves, and headed for the door to join the fight.
Helen went back to her room to finish wrapping the last of the presents. Meanwhile, Amy continued to gaze at the picture in front of her. Carefully, she ran her fingers across the page as a smile that could only be made by a proud mother came over her face. Feeling a tear roll down her cheek, Amy quickly wiped it off before it could hit the page. She grabbed her coat and went outside, where she was immediately attacked by a barrage of snowballs.
Two hours later, everyone went back inside, tired and cold. Helen was in the kitchen making hot chocolate and coffee. Jake gave her a tiny hug, just as he was putting a handful of snow down the back of her shirt. Amy and her three nieces laughed as they watched Helen trying to get the snow out. Jake ran away as his sister-in-law and daughters gave him a high five as he passed.
"Jacob Morgendorffer - wait 'til I get my hands on you!" Helen screamed as she shook her shirt vigorously.
Once she had taken a bath and changed, Daria went back to her room with her sketchbook. Jane and Quinn were playing Monopoly with Penny and Trent. Staring out the window, she continued to work on the picture she had started that morning. The only noise that could be heard in the room was when the pencil moved across the paper. An hour later, Jane walked into the room, laid down on the bed, and opened her notebook. Soon, the sounds of two pencils working feverishly filled the room while the young artist and writer enjoyed the peace of their own little worlds.