“There you go,” Anisha smiled as she wrapped on of the brightly colored scarves around Mahonri’s neck.
Mahonri looked down at the scarf and then up at his mom. The eight year old was slightly confused. “Mum,” he said, looking at his outfit of winter clothes. “Where did all these scarves come from? Did you magic them into being?”
Anisha laughed. “You know that’s not how magic works, Ri,” she said. “No, Grandma LightWing made these for you.”
Mahonri was impressed by the offering. He loved Grandma LightWing, She was always making something really cool.
“Ready to go out and play in the snow, then?” Anisha asked.
“For a bit,” Mahonri’s mom said. “But I have to shovel the driveway and sidewalk. Or a portion of it. Your Uncle Zane gets really picky about the sidewalks being clear.”
“Then I’ll help you!” Mahonri declared with a fierce face.
Anisha laughed. “Alright then. Outside we go then, eh.”
Mahonri nodded and opened the door. Outside there were kids in practically every yard of the street. The 24 kids of wolf street they were called. Mahonri turned and saw his sisters playing with Laurance. Mahonri smiled and almost joined them when he remembered his promise. He ran back to him mom and started helping her shovel the snow.
Laurance noticed and started packing snowballs. He and the girls started chucking snow at the two of them before it became an all out war. Mahonri hunkered by a bank of snow and handed his mom ammunition to throw at her daughters and husband. Mahonri laughed the whole time, glad that they had been able to play in the snow after church. Usually, they stay inside after church but it was the first day of December and there were traditions to uphold.
The fight ended with Laurance catching Anisha and kissing her. Soon after that, they went inside to check on the 1 year old twins. Mahonri sat at the table in the kitchen while mom put 4 year old Kenzi down to take a nap. Da told story after story to his two oldest with actions, voices and everything. Mahonri felt something move in his chest as he looked out a window and saw the Christmas lights on Aunt Aphmau and Uncle Aaron’s house. He felt it. The spirit of Christmas was starting in his small chest.