Snow Day

JANUARY 12TH, 2016

0945 EST
MACKENZIE-RABB RESIDENCE
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

With snow swirling around outside, Mac enjoyed the view from the warmth of indoors. Harm and the kids were asleep, unusual for a Tuesday morning. The only reason Mac had gotten up early was to check and make sure schools were closed. Since schools were indeed closed, and there was no way the cars were getting unburied, it would be an at-home day for everyone in the household.

Mac was the only early riser. Harm and the kids all slept like the dead, making it easy for Mac to sneak into all their rooms and turn off their alarms. The kids would be in infinitely better moods if they were able to sleep in, and Harm was going to need all the energy he could get in order to keep up with them in the snow. Mac surely wasn't going out.

When they lived in San Diego, Mac did miss the Virginia seasons, but one thing she didn't miss was snow. It would be just her luck that their first winter back on the East Coast would have back-to-back blizzards. This particular one was the third one that winter.

That didn't mean it was any less exciting, though. For Harm and the kids, at least.

After almost an hour of calmness, watching the snow, Mac began to hear the first stirrings coming from upstairs. Those soft footfalls and creaking floorboards soon turned into three pairs of feet clamoring down the stairs headed straight for Mac, who kept her coffee mug close to her chest for safety.

"It's snowing!"

"Is school closed?"

"Mommy, look! It's snowing!"

Mac smiled at her kids' excited reactions, watching as they gathered around the kitchen window to watch the flurries outside.

"I know," she nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "You guys got another snow day."

"Can we go outside?" Adam asked.

"Sure. You can go see if your dad wants to go out with you," Because God knows I'm not going out in it.

As Adam and Lily were dispatched to go wake up Harm, who would no doubt match their excitement about the winter wonderland forming outside their home, Clara pulled out a stool next to Mac. Mac watched with amusement as Clara grabbed a mug from the cabinet, walked over to the coffee pot, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Was nine hours of sleep not enough for you?" Mac asked as Clara sat down next to her.

"I don't know," she shrugged. When she took a sip of the coffee, her face twisted at the bitterness, and Mac laughed.

"There's some creamer in the fridge," Mac said, sipping at the black coffee in her own mug like it was nothing. "I always forget that I'm the only one who drinks black coffee."

Clara stuck out her tongue in disgust as she opened the fridge. "How do you drink that stuff?"

"It's a requirement for the Corps," Mac replied wryly. "You have to love it."

"Ew."

Mac smirked. "It's not that bad," she watched as Clara poured an overly generous amount of creamer into her mug, almost to the point where it was overflowing.

"Oh my God," Mac looked at Clara with raised eyebrows. "That looks like a glass of milk."

"It's fine, Mom."

"Honey, that's pure sugar."

"Then what is that?" Clara nodded towards Mac's mug. "That's pure death."

Mac laughed. As much as she loved the cute baby stage and the silly toddler stage, she liked being able to have a substantial conversation now that her children were older.

"Are you going to go out in the snow with your dad and the kids?" Mac asked, and Clara shrugged.

"Probably. I'll just walk around for a little bit," Clara looked at Mac over the rim of her mug. "Can you take some pictures of me?"

"Pictures?" Mac asked.

"Yeah," Clara nodded. "For Instagram. Dad can't take them right."

Mac sighed and rolled her eyes teasingly. She had social media, but couldn't begin to understand her daughter's generation's obsession with it. At least posing for pictures in the snow was better than some of the stuff Mac was doing when she was a teenager.

"I'll take some for you, but I'm not going out in the snow," Mac told her. "You can meet me halfway and come on the porch."

"Why do you hate the snow?" Clara asked. In an eagerness to get out, she'd already drunk over half the coffee in her mug.

"I just do," Mac shrugged.

"That's not a valid answer."

"Yes it is."

The Rabbs' back porch was screened-in, so Mac was able to sit on the patio in her robe and slippers without entirely freezing to death. As much as she loved to participate in family time, the frigid temperatures made her perfectly content to sit and watch.

It wasn't something she was entirely not used to. Being a family of five, one parent would always sit out when teams were required in order to keep things even. Unless the teams were kids vs. parents, then Harm and Mac would need as much of each other's help as they could get.

In the backyard, the snow was more than knee deep on Harm, which was saying something. It had snowed all through the night and it was still coming down steadily, so the likelihood of the neighborhood being snowed-in for the rest of the week was high.

Lily was dedicating her time in the snow to creating snow people for everyone in the family, as well as the dog (or kitten, or parrot) she so desperately wanted. Harm and Adam were making an igloo. Clara was helping them, while also documenting things for posterity and Snapchat.

"Mom! Come help us!" Adam called, cupping his gloved around his mouth.

"No thanks, I'm good here!" Mac replied. As if on cue, a shiver ran down her back. She drew her robe tighter around herself, but soon found that wasn't enough. After going inside to retrieve a quilt and coming back out, she found Clara waiting for her.

"Here," Clara held her phone out for Mac. "Take my picture."

Mac raised an eyebrow.

"Take my picture, please."

"That's better," Mac took Clara's phone from her and swiped up to get to the camera. It was accidentally on the front-facing camera, and Mac frowned when she saw how bad she looked. Quickly brushing her bangs out of her face, Mac focused on the task at hand.

"So how do you want me to hold the phone-"

"Mom, you can just take the picture," Clara said, already over her mother's lack of Instagram-photo-taking-knowledge.

"Okay, okay. I was just asking."

Mac began to take pictures, and Clara posed accordingly. Mac didn't comment or critique anything; she was just grateful Clara was no longer in the phase where she hated having her picture taken. It had gotten to the point where Mac's coworkers were starting to believe that she only had two children.

"What are you doing?" Harm asked from the bottom of the porch steps.

"Taking pictures," Clara replied, looking over her shoulder at Harm just as the flash on her iPhone went off.

Harm rolled his eyes, and Clara rolled her eyes in return. She turned back to Mac. "I could be doing drugs, you know," she told him.

"She's right," Mac added. She gave Clara her phone back. "How do these look?"

While Clara was looking down at her phone, a snowball came hurtling out of nowhere, hitting her square in the back of the head. She gasped, whirling around to try and find the assailant. Adam, standing next to the half finished igloo, looked awfully guilty.

"Oh my God, what is wrong with you?" Clara demanded.

Adam shrugged. "It was just a joke."

As Clara stormed off to go after Adam and his igloo, Mac smirked to herself. Feeling another chill, she once again pulled her robe tighter around her. Gathering up her quilt from the patio coach, Mac turned to head back into the house. She had one foot over the threshold when she felt something ice cold smack her right in between her shoulders.

Mac whirled around, her eyes immediately went to glare at the pile of snow behind her, then to her son.

"Adam Harmon Rabb-"

Adam, who was standing next to his now-demolished igloo, pointed to Harm. "It was him."

Harm looked up at Mac sheepishly. "Hi honey."

Mac shook her head. "You're not funny."

"Come on, Mac-"

"Nope. Not funny," Mac closed the screen door behind her, shivering again and looking over her shoulder to glare at Harm through the glass.

Later that night, after the kids had gone to bed, Mac was scrolling through her iPad on the sofa, the television playing softly in the background. It was some show Harm liked to watch that Mac only half-paid attention to. She'd put it on with the intention of him coming downstairs and cuddling with her while he watched it.

So when Harm appeared in the living room entryway, bundled up in his hat, coat, and boots, Mac was confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Going outside," Harm answered. "What are you doing?"

Mac looked down at her iPad. "Scrolling through Pinterest."

She received no reply, but soon there was a large figure looming over her. Harm was looking down at her, a gloved hand outstretched. Mac blinked up at him. "Come on," he said. "Let's go?"

Mac's eyebrows shot up. "Huh?"

Harm beckoned to her with his hand. "We're going out in the snow. Come on."

She sighed, turning her iPad screen off. "Harm, I hate the snow. You know that-"

"Just for a few minutes," he gave her that smile he knew she couldn't say no to. "It'll be fun, I promise."

With another sigh, Mac sat her iPad aside and took Harm's hand. He helped her up and begrudgingly Mac donned her purposely well-hidden snow attire. While she huffed and complained, Harm only watched with amusement.

Harm noticed Mac was having a particularly cumbersome time getting on her snow boats. "Here, let me help-"

She held up a hand, stopping Harm in his tracks. "I got it," she said. When she looked up, Harm caught a glimpse of the smile that had made him fall in love with her. "Did you forget you married a Marine?"

"How could I forget?"

When Harm and Mac stepped outside, they were met with dead silence. The entire street was silent, covered from rooftop to sidewalk in snow. The storm had cleared off in the late afternoon, so the night sky was clear. The fallen snow almost seemed to glitter under the moon and stars.

"It's so quiet," Mac observed, her breath forming into a small cloud in front of her face.

"I know," Harm began to slowly make his way down the front steps, offering Mac his hand for balance. Harm had gone down the steps too quickly earlier to get the mail and had slipped and fallen. Or, to use Mac's words, he'd busted his ass on the sidewalk. Despite Harm's wounded pride, he was thankful his ass had taken the brunt of the fall, and not his back.

Once they were standing in the middle of the yard, Mac stuffed her hands in Harm's pockets, seeking out the warmth of his gloved hands. In Harm's hurry to get them outside, she'd forgotten to put on gloves.

"Are you cold?" Harm asked with a smirk.

Mac smiled. "A little," Harm took his hands out of his pockets and wrapped his arms around Mac, pulling her against his chest.

"Have you thought about switching up our vacation this year?" Harm rested his chin on top of Mac's head. "Maybe we could go to Alaska instead of the beach."

Mac chuckled. "You're funny."

"I thought earlier you said I wasn't."

"I changed my mind," Mac untucked her head from Harm's chin so she could look at him. "Why did you bring us out here, anyway?"

"For this."

Harm leaned down, placing a kiss on Mac's lips. She immediately responded, kisses between her and Harm almost always being perfectly in sync. His lips were warm against hers, a stark contrast to the cold air around them.

When they broke apart, Mac looked at him wryly. "For that?"

"Uh-huh," Harm nodded. "I thought it would be romantic."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

They kissed again, this time for longer. Mac slowly began to feel her hands, not to mention the rest of her body, heat up. "You know," she gently nuzzled Harm's cheek. "I don't think I mind the snow that much."

Before Harm could respond, their fairytale moment was interrupted by a low creaking sound nearby. Harm and Mac looked up just in time to see a tree branch too laden with snow, come breaking off the tree in their neighbors front yard. The branch hit the power line, sending sparks flying everywhere.

On instinct Harm yanked Mac back, away from the sparks from the power line. In the process of doing this, the two of them lost their balance, tumbling into a snowbank left by a snow plow that came by earlier. The two looked at each other, their breaths coming out in quick puffs.

"What were you saying about liking the snow?" Harm asked.

"I'll take it back."

They sat there, watching as all of the lights on their street went out in unison. Suddenly, the snow day didn't seem so fun. It was a good thing Harm and Mac were so keen on cuddling, because they would certainly be in for a long, cold night.