Good evening! Welcome to day 6. Thank you so much to everyone reading and reviewing, you make my day :D Thank you to Hawk for your lovely reviews, I'm sorry I'm not able to send a proper review reply, but I appreciate them hugely!

This story is inspired by 'The Snowman' by Raymond Briggs

'Daddy!' Holly yelled. 'I need a carrot! Please,' she added sweetly, and Mac grinned.

'We'd better go see what's in the kitchen huh?'

'Uh huh!' Holly raced ahead of him into the house. Following, Mac winced at the sight of snowy footprints through the hall, but gave a resigned sigh – they weren't the first and wouldn't be the last.

'Daddy!' Came an impatient shout from the kitchen and he hurried through, finding Holly already tugging out her step-stool and placing it in front of the fridge.

'Let me help you.' Mac opened the door and pulled out the vegetable box so Holly could root through it.

She rejected a few too skinny and too knobbly carrots, before pulling out just the right one with a triumphant cry.

'Looks like a good one.' Mac smiled.

Whooping and hollering, Holly dashed out to the yard, and Mac hastened after her. He found her jumping as high as her five year old legs could manage, which was not quite high enough.

'This calls for some daddy / daughter teamwork,' Mac said and lifted her up so she could poke the carrot into the snowman's face, completing his expression.

'Woo! He is SUPER AWESOME!' Holly squealed, throwing her arms around Mac's neck.

'He sure is,' Mac wheezed, managing to loosen the near choke-hold his daughter had him in. 'How about we let him settle in, go and get dinner ready for mommy, and then we can show her your snowman when she gets home.'

'Aww, but I want to play out here with Snowy.' Holly pouted, but Mac booped her nose.

'After dinner you can. We need to warm up a bit first. What do you say to some special hot chocolate?'

'Ooh!' She clapped her hands, and released from her hold Mac breathed in deeply. 'With marshymallows?'

'Probably,' Mac said. 'Let's go see if we have some.'

A little later, Stella returned from work to find Holly with hot chocolate all around her mouth; very happy and very sticky. Greeting her with a kiss, Mac grinned and told her that Holly had someone special to introduce her to.

'Oh?' Stella raised her eyebrows.

'Better keep your coat on,' was all Mac said and went to fetch his own and Holly's coat.

'Have you chosen a name for him yet?' Stella asked, holding Holly while she pointed out the snowman's features.

'He's called Snowy,' Holly said and Stella chuckled.

'Perfect. You know what, sweetie? I think he's the best snowman I've ever seen.'

'He's actually the best snowman in the whole world,' Holly said with a breezy confidence Stella and Mac could only aspire to.

'I just hope he lasts for a little while, so we have time explain to her what happens to snow eventually,' Stella said later that night to Mac once Holly was safely in bed.

Mac nodded. 'Fingers crossed for sub-zero temperatures tonight…'

The Taylor family woke to brilliant winter sunshine, and a sea of slush outside. Mac was awake first, crossed immediately to the window and turned to face Stella's anxious gaze with a sorrowful shake of his head. Before either of them could explain to Holly, she had pulled on her coat and boots over her nightclothes and raced out into the yard. Mac looked at Stella, and they hurried after the little girl.

Outside, Holly skidded to a stop, looking around in bewilderment.

'Where's Snowy? Where is he?'

It nearly broke Mac's heart. He scooped Holly into his arms and tried not to look at the lump of slush where the snowman had been.

'Sweetie, I think he's… he will have gone to join his friends, all the other snowmen.'

'But... but why didn't he stay? I wanted to play with him,' Holly wailed. 'Where's he gone? I want to go, too.'

'It's a long, long way away, koukla,' Stella said, smoothing Holly's wild curls. 'Close to where Santa lives… all the snowmen go there to help him when it's near Christmas.'

'I want to go there, I want to see Snowy and his friends, and help Santa, and… and…' the little girl dissolved into sobs, burying her face into Mac's chest. He rubbed her back, murmuring comfort to her, until a glint of something in the heap of snow caught his eye.

Keeping hold of Holly, he knelt down and investigated, his fingers closing around something solid.

Lifting it from the slush, he glanced at Stella who reached out to take the small object in her gloved hands. Eyes wide, she gave Mac a questioning look as she handed it back. He shook his head, as puzzled as she was as to how it had got there.

'Baby, I think this is for you,' he said to Holly, struck with a sudden thought. 'You want to take a look?'

Holly sniffed loudly and nodded. Setting her down, Mac held out a small white heart-shaped stone to her. 'I think Snowy must have left this for you, sweetie.'

'Why, daddy?' Holly sniffled, clutching the little heart

'Because…' Mac took hold of her hand, wiping away a tear from her cheek. 'Because even though he's gone to be with his friends, he'll always be in your heart.'

Thank you so much for reading! Do let me know what you think, and send any requests my way, too! Lily x