Writeblr Garden Advent Calendar
“Rosie, will you help me build a snowman?” Jacqueline asked, hurrying over to her older sister.
“Yes, of course.” Rose said, smiling at her younger sister.
“Louis, let's build a snow fort, eh?” Judas said, grinning mischievously at his younger brother.
“To attack Rose from?” Louis asked, knowing his older brother all too well.
Louis thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay.”
While the boys began to gather snow to build the foundation of their fort, the girls worked to build the base of their snowman. Rose made the snowballs that would in turn be the body and head, then helped Jacqueline stack them.
“It’s so nice to see the children having fun.” Colette remarked, coming to sit on the bench next to her husband.
“Indeed.” Marius said, nodding his head in agreement. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Rose willingly participate in winter activities such as these.”
Colette smiled. “She’s been much happier since she married Vlad.”
“You flatter me, Lady Colette.” Vlad said, appearing behind the couple.
Rose’s parents turned around in surprise, as they had not heard him approach, and Vlad smiled politely.
“There we are, Jackie.” Rose said, placing the last of the rocks in the snow to finish off the snowman’s face.
“Yay!” Jacqueline cheered, then hugged her sister. “Thank you, Rosie!”
Rose smiled and placed a hand on her sister’s back. “Of course.”
“Let’s build a snow-woman next!” Jacqueline said, and knelt down to begin making the base of the next one.
As Rose knelt down next to her sister, Judas threw a well-aimed snowball, and laughed loudly when it hit her square in the back. “Bullseye!”
“That was très magnifique, no?” Judas said, looking down at Louis, who was hiding behind the wall of the fort.
“Sure, but was it worth it?”
A snowball hit Judas square in the chest as he opened his mouth to answer his brother, and he grinned almost devilishly. “Most definitely.”
Louis looked mildly concerned by his brother’s devil-may-care attitude, but handed him another snowball anyway.
“Fore!” Judas called, and launched the snowball at his sister with a strong swing of his arm.
“Judas, you shit!” Rose yelled, while Jacqueline laughed. “I just bought this coat!”
“Let’s hit them back, Rosie!” Jacqueline suggested, scooping up some snow.
“Yes, let’s.” Rose said, now grinning almost evilly.
“Uh-oh…” Louis murmured, then ducked back behind the wall. “You’ve really done it now, Jude.”
“Oh, mon petit frère, this is only the beginning.” Judas said, packing snow into a ball.
“Why do you do this?” Louis sighed, also making his own snowball.
Judas grinned. “Because it’s fun.”
“Oh, come now, dear Louis. Don’t tell me you’re not having fun.”
“Here.” Judas said, handing Louis the already-formed snowball. “Hit Jackie instead.”
“Fine.” Judas shrugged, and took the snowball back. “But don’t come crying to me when she pummels you.”
“She’s not going to pummel me.” Louis said, and Judas snorted. “She’s not!”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, little brother.”
Louis opened his mouth to retort, but found it full of snow instead. Across the way, Jacqueline was cheering, and Rose was laughing.
“Told you.” Judas said, and threw one back at his sisters. It hit Rose in the face, and she angrily wiped it away with a gloved hand. “Louis.”
A larger snowball than the others sailed through the air, and knocked Louis to the ground, while Judas merely sighed.
Rose, who had not thrown the snowball, turned to look behind her, and almost laughed when she saw her husband beginning to make another unusually large snowball. “Darling, what are you doing?”
“So it would seem.” Rose said, smiling in amusement. “But why the large size?”
“Well, I’m not going to be able to do any damage with those absurdly small ones.”
Rose opened her mouth to say that it wasn’t about causing damage, but Jacqueline spoke up before she could say anything.
“Hit Judas next!” Jacqueline said, and Vlad grinned.
“My dear child, it would be my pleasure.”
Judas, who had now noticed that his brother-in-law had joined the girls, immediately knelt down behind the fort. “We are in trouble.”
“Oh, you think?” Louis said sarcastically, wiping off his front.
“Well, you’re the one that got us into this mess, so how do you suggest we get out of it?”
Judas thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Run?”
“Really? That’s your solution?”
“Do you have a better one?”
“No, I was hoping you did!”
Judas snorted. “You think too highly of me, dear brother.”
Vlad’s snowball sailed through the air at that moment, and knocked down half the fort’s wall, which resulted in the two brothers getting covered in snow.
“We won, we won!” Jacqueline cheered, and Rose laughed.
“Who says it’s over?” Vlad said, now making a more normal-sized snowball.
“Are you going to wreck the rest of the fort?” Rose asked, grinning in amusement.
“In that case, let me help.”
“I’ll make the ammunition!” Jacqueline declared, and pulled a pile of snow in to make multiple snowballs out of.
“I think you’re a bad influence on her.” Rose remarked, watching as Vlad threw another snowball at the fort.
“I hardly see how learning new vocabulary is a bad thing.”
Rose gave him a look. “ ‘Ammution’, darling?”
Vlad shrugged as his snowball hit Judas in the face. “It’ll be useful someday.”
Rose laughed dryly. “God, I hope not. My mother will lose her mind otherwise.”
“Okay, on the count of three, we’ll charge.” Judas said, and Louis looked at him as if he were crazy.
“Yes, but I didn’t say which direction.”
“Move it or lose it, little brother!” Judas said, leaping to his feet and taking off in the direction of his sisters.
“Shit!” Rose swore, and grabbed a snowball from Jacqueline. The snow did nothing to deter her brother, even when she threw several of the snowballs in succession, and soon he wasn’t more than a mere few feet away. “Judas, no!”
“Judas, yes.” Judas grinned, and tackled his sister to the ground, while Louis threw a snowball at Jacqueline, who laughed and threw one back.
“Get off me!” Rose exclaimed, but Judas merely shoved snow down the back of her coat. “JUDAS, YOU SHIT! THAT’S FUCKING COLD!”
Judas laughed loudly at his sister’s outrage, but quickly got to his feet when she moved to grab the back of his coat. “If you want revenge, you’ll have to catch me first!”
“OH, I’LL CATCH YOU!” Rose shouted, and scrambled to her feet almost as quickly as he did, but paused to dust off her outfit before starting after him.
“Wow, Rose sure can run.” Louis remarked, blinking at the sight of his older sister chasing their brother.
“Indeed.” Vlad said, and knelt down to straighten out Jacqueline’s hat, since it had become somewhat askew during the snowball fight.
Louis pursed his lips, then held his hand out to his sister. “I’m going inside for some hot chocolate, Jackie. Do you want to come with me?”
Jacqueline thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I want to watch Rosie chase Judas!”
Louis snorted, then withdrew his hand. “Suit yourself.” He turned to walk back towards the house, but stopped before he took a step forward. On second thought… “You know what? I think I will stay.”
Vlad smiled at the two children, who were now watching their elder siblings with interest. “Perhaps I shall make you two the hot chocolate, then, and bring it back out.”
“Yes, please!” Jacqueline said, taking a seat in the snow.
“If you don’t mind.” Louis said, also taking a seat on the ground.
“Not at all.” Vlad said, and then departed with a quick bow. As he walked back to the house, he observed the family with a somewhat affectionate and appreciative eye. Colette and Marius were seated on a nearby bench, their heads resting against each other, and their watchful eyes on their children. Rose and Judas were still running around, but he guessed one of them would soon catch the other. His money was on Rose, though he knew that he was incredibly biased due to the fact that she was his wife. “May the best sibling win.” Vlad mused in amusement, then shifted his gaze to the two younger siblings. They were sitting quietly together by Jacqueline’s snowman, and watching their older siblings run around as if they were the younger ones.
Vlad had not had a winter like this in a long time, and he could say with some certainty that he would likely not have one like it again, because nothing ever remained the same — not even clear constants like family and its dynamics. Still, it was nice to be able to witness such a serene moment in time — even if said serene moment contained a bit of chaos.
It was then that Judas caught Rose, and they fell into the snow with some bickering and a bit of laughter. Rose was clearly over her outrage, though she still gave him a shove as they got to their feet.
“Well done, my dear brother-in-law.” Vlad mused, smiling to himself.
“Children! Time to go inside!” Colette called, and all four of her children began to head towards the house. Louis and Jacqueline ran, while Rose and Judas walked, and somehow the gaits suited everyone perfectly.
“It is a good winter.” Vlad remarked, holding the door open for his mother-in-law.
Colette smiled. “It is indeed.”
“There won’t be another one like it.” Vlad remarked, a somewhat faraway look in his eye.
Despite her only having lived about forty-odd years, Colette seemed to know how he felt, and what he meant. Still, she placed a hand on his back, and offered him a small smile. “No, there won’t.”
