Title: Winter Wonderland

Author: XFKirsten

Rating: G

Pairing: Robert/Giselle

Summary: When the winter's first snowfall arrives, Giselle gets a lesson in playing in the snow from Morgan and Robert.

Written last month in honor of Seattle's first snowfall of the season. This is my first Enchanted fic, and, well, my first fic period in many, many years! Complete, total, pure, and unapologetic fluff. Consider yourselves warned. XD


Giselle pressed her face to the window pane, staring wide-eyed out at the small, white flakes drifting down from the sky. Her mouth formed a small 'o' as she marveled at the sight. She had only been in New York for a matter of months, and the first snowfall of winter had finally arrived. It had been coming down steadily for quite some time, and was already nearing a foot deep.

"You'd think you've never seen snow before," came a voice from behind her.

Giselle pried her eyes away from the skyline to see Robert leaning against the door frame, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Well, I haven't," she replied, turning back to the window.

Robert frowned in confusion as he crossed the room and perched next to her on the window sill. "What, it never snows in Andalasia?"

Giselle thought for a moment. "I suppose it does, somewhere. I have heard of such a thing. But where I lived, it was usually warm and sunny."

Figures. Robert wrinkled his nose and looked back out at the snow. "You'd better get used to it. It happens a lot around here in the winter."

"It's beautiful," she replied breathlessly.

"It's cold and wet," he shot back.

Giselle looked up at him with a mock-stern look that she had perfected for all the times when she felt he was getting too cynical. "Surely something that pretty can't be all bad..."

Robert was silent for a moment before looking back at her, a conspiratorial smile growing on his face. "Go find some warm clothes," he told her. At her questioning look, he didn't elaborate. "Go. Just trust me. I'll get Morgan. Go on!"

Grinning, Giselle dashed out of the room to change. Robert smiled after her as he headed off to round up Morgan and grab some hats, scarves, and gloves. Giselle's enthusiasm for the things he took for granted always managed to bring a smile to his face.

Ten minutes later, they were headed out the door, bundled up and on their way to Central Park. Out in the open air, Giselle looked up and experimentally opened her mouth, catching the flakes on her tongue. As she blinked the snow out of her eyelashes, she heard Robert stifle a laugh beside her.

"What?" asked Giselle.

Robert shook his head, grinning. "Nothing."

As they walked, Giselle wondered at the way that the snow squished and crunched under her feet. Morgan grabbed her hand and tugged her forward, babbling something about snowmen and fights. Robert followed along behind them, trying to decide which one of the two would be the bigger handful.

When they arrived at the park, Morgan bounded off into the snow, immediately starting to roll a ball.

"The trick to making a good snowman," she informed Giselle, "is to start with a giant snowball." She continued to roll the ball, and it soon grew too large for her to roll on her own. Excited to be learning something new, Giselle jumped in an helped push it a little further. Before long, it was almost up to Morgan's chin, and even all three of them together struggled to roll it any further.

Immediately, Morgan set to work rolling a second ball. "You're very good at this, aren't you?" asked Giselle as she helped continue the snowman.

"I've had a lot of practice," Morgan told her matter-of-factly. They lifted the second ball on top of the first, then made a smaller third one and stacked it as well. "There!" Morgan said proudly.

"It doesn't look much like a man," replied Giselle. She eyed the creation skeptically.

"Of course not," answered Morgan, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's because he needs a face." She dug into her pockets and pulled out a pair of nuts and a small carrot slice that she'd grabbed from the kitchen, which became the eyes and nose of the snowman.

Giselle's face lit up in recognition. "He needs lips!" she exclaimed.

Morgan grinned and nodded at her. "But I didn't bring anything with me for a mouth."

"Hmmm..." Giselle immediately began to look around, but it was hard to find anything useful that wasn't buried under the snow. Her eyes finally settled on a piece of someone's boot lace that had been broken and lay on top of the snow. "Well, it's not very glamorous," she said, "but it will do." She picked up the piece and pressed it into the snowman's face in the shape of a wide grin. "Perfect!"

They stepped back and took a look at their handiwork. The head was crooked and the grin lopsided, but none of them seemed to notice. Giselle and Morgan gave each other a congratulatory hug.

The moment was broken when something hit Giselle with a cold, wet splat. Gasping, she whirled around to see Robert standing behind her with a sly grin on his face. "I couldn't let you girls have all the fun, now, could I?" he said cheekily.

"Snowball fight!" crowed Morgan, and immediately began scooping up handfuls of snow. Giselle quickly followed her lead, packing the snow into a ball and lobbing it back at Robert.

The war escalated quickly. The girls ganged up, taking turns throwing snowballs while the other made new ammunition - Robert never even had a chance to bend down without getting hit.

It was time for a new tactic. He charged at them, scooping Morgan up with one arm and using his free hand to sprinkle handfuls of snow on her head. She squirmed and giggled, calling out to Giselle for help. Moments later, Robert felt an arm snake around his waist, and suddenly something very, very cold against the back of his neck. He let out a loud yelp, and Morgan wiggled out of his grasp, laughing. The ice-cold snow melted and began to run down his back.

Whirling around, Robert found himself face-to-face with Giselle, who had a triumphant, almost wicked grin on her face. "Oh, you are so going to pay for that," he warned her. Suddenly, Morgan barreled into him from behind, and all three of them tumbled down into the snow.

Giselle shrieked as the cold snow slipped down the collar of her shirt. "Serves you right!" Robert told her, laughing. Giselle sat up quickly, trying to brush the snow off of her jacket and out of her collar and sleeves.

Morgan rolled over onto her back, spreading her arms and legs and waving them back and forth. Giselle watched her, eyebrows knitted in curiosity. The Morgan sat back up and backed away, surveying her handiwork. Off Giselle's questioning look, she told her, "It's a snow angel!"

Giselle looked back at the form again, seeing nothing but a lot of packed snow. "I don't see any angel," she replied, confused.

"Here," replied Morgan, pointing. "These are the wings, here, and here's the dress!"

Tilting her head, Giselle studied it for a moment before she saw it. "Oh!" She immediately flopped onto the snow and made a snow angel of her own.

She sat back up and studied it for a moment. Beside her, Morgan giggled. "That looks more like a snow blob," she teased.

Giselle stuck her tongue out, as she'd seen Morgan do on several occasions. "That just means I need more practice, that's all," she replied, mock-offended.

Robert hauled himself to his feet, and held a hand out to help Giselle up. Morgan bounded up beside them.

"We should probably start heading back. It's cold, we're wet, and I think there's some hot chocolate back home calling our names," he announced. Giselle and Morgan nodded in agreement, still trying to brush the snow off.

"This was fun!" Giselle exclaimed as they trudged through the snow back toward home. "We should do this more often."

"Yeah!" Morgan cheered in agreement, kicking up snow as they walked.

Robert laughed. "It was - but trying to keep up with both of you is going to wear me out!"

As they stepped onto the sidewalk, Giselle hit a patch of ice. Her feet slid out from under her, and she pitched forward - right into Robert's chest. He caught her by the elbows, keeping her from falling to the pavement. "You all right?" he asked as he steadied her.

Slowly, she looked up at him and nodded, a sheepish smile on her face. "Sorry..."

He smiled back at her, then leaned down and planted a light kiss on her forehead. "I'm here to catch you."

Flushed, Giselle regained her footing. Robert wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and guided Morgan with the other hand. Together, the three of them headed back to the warmth of home.