The Christmas Cabin

Rose woke up bright and early the day after the horrible tree and cookie disasters. The former pink ranger was determined to start anew today, as far as Christmas related activities went. As she sat up and stretched her arms over her head, she confidently told herself today would be free of mishaps.

She carefully climbed out of bed so as not to wake Mack. After wrapping herself in her pink fleece bathrobe, Rose collected her paperback and went out into the kitchen.

When the coffee was ready, Rose sat at the table to drink it. She opened her novel to the place where she'd left off and let herself get carried away with the characters.

It was so quiet in the snug little cabin and Rose was so absorbed in her reading that she didn't hear Mack get up. He shuffled into the kitchen sleepily, pausing to kiss the top of Rose's head. Surprised, Rose jumped before narrowing her eyes at Mack. "You couldn't have just said 'Good morning?'"

"What fun would that be?" he retorted with a cheeky grin. Rose rolled her eyes, hitting him playfully before turning back to her book. Mack poured himself coffee and joined Rose at the table.

He was content to watch her, but the tiny pink ranger couldn't stand to be stared at. "That's creepy," Rose informed her boyfriend matter of factly. "Don't you have any other way to entertain yourself?"

"Nope. I like doing this."

"Why?" Rose demanded as she slammed her book shut.

"Because it clearly bothers you," he replied. Then he laughed. "I'm kidding. So…we have the whole day ahead of us. What do you want to do?"

Still annoyed that he'd snuck up on her, she shrugged. She waited for him to come up with an idea, absentmindedly tracing the book's title with her index finger. Mack grabbed her hand, folding his fingers around hers.

"I know that my brilliant Rose has to have something she wants to do while we're up here…this is the definition of 'winter wonderland.' The ground is covered in snow, there are icicles hanging from the trees…" Mack's voice took on a suggestive tone, "Extra cuddling for warmth is practically a requirement…"

Rose's cheeks blushed faint pink. "I don't know. I picked getting the tree yesterday, and look how well that turned out. Maybe you should pick."

The former red ranger relinquished his hold on Rose's hand. He picked up his coffee mug. He slowly left the kitchen, as if moving quickly would affect his ability to think. Curious as to why he had randomly walked away, Rose followed.

She found him standing at the window in the very front of the cabin, the curtains opened. Mack appeared to be looking out at the lake in the distance. "Bingo!" Mack exclaimed brightly, finding Rose's hand with his free one.

Rose knew exactly what Mack was thinking, but it would be more fun (for him, anyway) to explain. She knew from experience that most times, it was best to just indulge Mack. "So what's the great idea?" Rose hid a smile as Mack looked down at her.

"Ice skating," Mack stated. The tone of his voice clearly said it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rose had to remind herself about their discussion last night. 'We've never had a good Christmas, we've never had a good Christmas,' she silently chanted for a moment before letting a big smile cross her face. "That's a great plan," Rose said carefully. "But where are we going to get ice skates?"

It appeared he had been anticipating this question. "I may have bought two pairs before we came up here." Mack grinned widely. "You aren't getting out of this, Rosie."

She groaned softly. "I figured as much. I won't argue, I promise. Want to eat first?"

"Do I ever turn down food?"

0o0o0o0

They crunched through the snow towards the frozen lake, skates slung over their shoulders. Rose wasn't looking forward to skating; she wasn't known for being light on her feet. But Mack was excited – again – and his enthusiasm was both endearing and something of a motive for the retired pink ranger. She reminded herself yet again of their discussion from the night before.

Rose put on a smile for Mack as they folded themselves onto a bench located next to the lake. "I'm glad we're doing this. It might be fun."

Her boyfriend frowned slightly at this statement. "What do you mean it might be fun? It's going to be great. You know, we could probably even go professional. We could be partners and win competitions and do endorsements…I bet any company would love rangers as their spokespeople…"

Mack focused his gaze on her, looking for her reaction to his little joke. A smile crosses Rose's face for the briefest moment, but then her gaze saddened a bit. "What if I fall or something? I mean I –"

"Don't worry about it. If you fall, it's not like I'm going to laugh. Besides, I won't let you fall. I won't let the mean old lake hurt you." The red ranger put his arms around Rose, one around her shoulders and one stretching across her diagonally, his hand resting on her hip.

He refused to let go of Rose until she cracked a smile, and after a minute his words sunk in. A tiny grin flashed across Rose's pretty face and Mack relinquished her. Mack then took off his boots and laced his brand new skates onto his feet.

Once this was done, Mack took two careful steps towards the edge of the lake. He hesitantly tried a few glides across the frozen water, finding that it wasn't too hard. He went across the lake once. "This isn't difficult, Rose; come on!" The red ranger turned to see Rose almost done lacing her skates.

The red ranger glided across the frozen surface yet again. He was almost back to Rose when there was a sickening crunch from somewhere behind him.

The red ranger glanced over his shoulder to see a crack zigzagging over the frozen lake. He looked back to his pink girlfriend, who was staring, her brown eyes wide with horror, at the crack.

If he didn't move very, very soon, he was going in the lake.

Mack leaned forward, skating very fast now. When he was close enough to the snow at the lake's edge, he gave a funny sort of belly flop, escaping from the frozen death trap.

Rose was at his side in an instant, her arms squeezing him as tightly as she was able to. She was more frightened than he had been. Rose's small frame was still shaking against him, her face buried in his chest. "Oh Mack, thank God you're alright."

"I should definitely have listened to you. This was not fun." He draped his arms around Rose's petite form once more, hoping to calm her down. Her shakes subsided slightly, but she did not let go of him.

"Stupid, stupid boy," Rose muttered as she removed her face from its hiding spot.

The former Overdrive leader moved his hand up to Rose's head, his fingers stroking her dark silky hair in a comforting way. "Now Rose, how many times have we been over this? That's right: too many to count. I am, and always will be, a complete idiot."

Rose glared. "Don't I know it."

Mack pulled her closer, cradling her gently. As the ranger couple sat there holding each other, snow flakes gently began to fall on them. Rose still had the strange combination of fright and anger on her face. Mack let out a small sigh. "Don't be mad, Rose."

She tilted her chin up to look at him better. He gave her another smile, this one sweet and comforting. Then Mack gently took her face in his hands and brought his lips down to hers.