Pink Roses
#31: Hold her close when she's cold so she can hold you too.
"OK, so tell me why we're here again," Rose hissed through chattering teeth. She shivered violently in the cold December air.
"We're here because we have a three year old," Mack answered. "We have a little girl who we love very much. She's dying to see Santa Claus and here he is." Mack gestured to the man in the Santa uniform some twenty feet away.
"How come we both had to take her? It's freezing," Rose said. "It's freezing and I'm pregnant and I have a thousand other things I could be doing."
"We're both here because Uncle Dax had to give Jamie sugar and so she's very hyper and way too much for one parent to handle." Mack looked down at his daughter, who was indeed bouncing up and down as she tugged at his hand.
"Daddy, how much longer til I get to see Santa?" Jamie demanded. She looked up at her father with wide blue eyes, and she looked so innocent and sweet that Mack felt his heart melt.
He knelt in front of her, meeting his gaze with hers. "Not much longer now, sweetheart. Just be a good girl and think about what you want to ask Santa for." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Go hug your mother, Jamie."
Jamie did as she was told, throwing her arms around Rose's knees. The older Hartford woman did as her husband had hoped- she grinned and scooped their daughter into her arms.
The line to see Santa moved quickly after that, and Mack could see Rose practically counting the minutes. Then, finally, it was Jamie's turn.
"Oh thank God," Rose muttered to Mack as she set Jamie down. The young girl scampered off to sit in Santa's lap as the bitter wind picked up.
"Come here sweetheart," Mack murmured kindly as he wrapped his arms around his freezing wife. She stopped shivering immediately.
Rose smiled up at Mack gratefully. She hugged him back tightly and hid her face in his chest. "It's really cold," she told him unnecessarily.
Mack's response was to pull her a little closer and plant a kiss on her forehead. "Next year we'll find a Santa who sits in a mall."