A/N: I know…it's been forever. And I'm really sorry about that. I got the flu, my kids got the flu, Halloween took over for a bit, then hunting season…not to mention pesky writers block. But here's a little something that I felt like putting together because Jack's been visiting a lot around here and leaving his chill in the soon to be winter air. Let's see if I can't make Aster appreciate the cold a tad bit, hm?

Convincing

"Come on. You have to admit, it is really beautiful."

Aster stopped glaring at the snow covered ground bathed in the red glow of the late afternoon sun long enough to cast his girlfriend a skeptical look. "Right."

Sophie leaned against him, looping her arm through his. She was on her second day of being snowed in after what specialists deemed a freak blizzard had hit Burgess early Wednesday morning and Aster was seriously starting to wonder who was crazier – Jack for throwing together a storm of such ferocity or Sophie for finding it beautiful.

"Do you think the moon will be full tonight? I love the way it turns snow that blue color and makes everything look so…peaceful."

"You're callin' a blizzard peaceful, love," he muttered.

"Well, when you're in the right place and snowed in with the right person, it is," she argued, then pulled away and looked up at him, her eyes narrowed in that shrewd way he never entirely trusted. "You're not looking at this the right way."

"Is there some other way to look at a pile of freezing snow?"

Sophie sighed and pulled away from him. "Yes, there is. Do me a favor – turn the couch so that it faces the door and start a fire."

Without another word, she walked away, disappearing into the kitchen and leaving Aster to stare after her in confusion. After listing to pots being loudly shifted around for a bit, he sighed and set to work doing as she'd asked. It didn't make much sense to him, but Sophie always had her reasons.

Once the couch was pulled so that it directly faced the French doors he went to the fireplace fitted into the corner just to the left of the television and threw what few logs she had left into the charred pile of what remained from the last fire.

It didn't take long for the flames to consume the dry timber and by the time he'd settled back, satisfied with his work and silently congratulating himself on not singing any of his fur in the process, Sophie had returned with two steaming mugs in each hand.

She set them down on the end table as she rounded the couch, grabbed his paw and pulled him along until he was sitting with her curled up beside him.

She pulled the large quilt she kept on the back of the couch over them and snuggled close.

"This is how you should be enjoying a snow day."

He gave it a minute then begrudgingly allowed the moment to find its place. With a warm woman that loved him curled up beside him, the heat of their bodies trapped under the thick fabric of the quilt and the fire blazing away in the hearth he had to admit – it made the outside conditions much more favorable.

Sophie moved away long enough to grab the two mugs and pressed one into his paw before settling back against him and taking a slow sip of hers.

"What's this."

The smile she gave him was coy, the look suggestive and teasing. "Hot chocolate…kind of goes with the weather. Still hating it?"

And now she'd introduced an entirely new sensation of warmth to ward off what shred of chill remained.

"Keep findin' ways to convince me," he said, leaning down to nuzzle her neck before taking a sip himself.

"That's the plan."