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Despite how wonderful Christmas had been for all the children living on Albuquerque Circle, it had been another form of hell for Roman, his new sled still tied in a bow and begging to be brought out into the frigid world that was the northernmost part of Washington. Snow had fallen and settled well before December 25, ensuring the youngsters yet another white Christmas, and Roman’s mom had to quite literally lock the front door and restrain her son with an itchy festive sweater in order to prevent him from heading out with his friends.
Patton had pounded on the window after his family finished their dinner, layered in so many clothes that he resembled a tick about to pop and Roman wasn’t entirely sure how he was even capable of talking, let alone moving.
His friend had pressed his face to the glass of his front door, raising his voice so the other could hear. “Come outside! Lo, Virge, and I all got sleds!”
Roman had placed his hand on the door, his mother instantly finding him and scolding him for it. She pulled Roman back and gave a quick explanation to Patton that family from far away was visiting and that Roman would play another time.
Patton watched as Roman was dragged away, clawing at air to get back to his friend.
Roman had hated every second of it, his annoying girl cousins that smeared makeup onto his cheeks and played with his hair while the eldest pinned him to the ground. He was the smallest of them all, not even six years old yet, and they tugged him around as if he were a life-sized doll. But his aunt was worse, and Roman would not wish her bone crushing hugs or slobbering kisses on his worst enemy.
But they were family, his mother insisted every time Roman longingly glanced outside towards his friends. Out of respect for the soul trapped inside of his own palace, they had left their sleds. They instead built snowmen and had snowballs fights, laughing and seeming to have the time of their lives.
Roman thanked whatever entity or entities above when his family from Texas all left, shoveling down the pancakes his mother had made for breakfast and giving her the brightest, most lopsided smile he could manage.
She sighed and with a small nod, Roman had shoved away from the table and nearly tumbled down the stairs to his basement to retrieve his snow outerwear, stepping into his pants and shooing his mother’s hands away as she tried to help him with the suspenders. She laughed but remained close, stepping in even after Roman’s stubborn refusal when he finally realized his fingers were simply to stubby and short to do it himself. She helped him into his boots and with his gloves. She then zippered his jacket and rustled his hair before placing his hat on his head.
Roman was itching to get outside, giving his mother a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing his sled and waddling - as he was forced to do in all his layers - out the door. He only had to look towards his right to see a boy smaller than him, his outwear a pitch black compared to his own bright red, and his smile widened before he broke out into a sprint - a wobble at a slightly faster pace - in order to greet his friend.
“Hey, V!” he exclaimed, pure joy bubbling from every word and his face conveying the same message. His cheeks were already rouge, the bitterness in the air showing no mercy to either of the boys.
“Hi!” Virgil replied, his joy more apparent than even Roman’s. It had not yet been broken by a cruel society, still cradled and coddled by his family members that babied him to no end. Despite his uncharacteristic preference to darker clothing, he glowed more brightly than the other three in their group, even if half were not present to prove the point.
And as most children did, they didn’t need to say another word as they raced to the street with their newly acquired sleds dragging behind them. Roman, the more athletic of the two, arrived first and glanced over his shoulder just as Virgil slammed into him and the two tumbled into the snow, giggling and rolling away from one another as they struggled to rise into sitting positions.
Logan and Patton would be out soon, surely, but the hill was still fresh. The sun was hardly in the sky and if they waited any longer, their hill would be tainted either by a plow clearing the road or other children with the same intentions of racing to the fresh snow.
A quick look and they were off again, Virgil dragging his sled behind him as he quickened his pace to walk by Roman’s side.
They were silent, more inclined to listen to the waking world rather than their own voices.
Or at least Virgil was until Roman began blabbering about his Christmas, the other then keen on listening. Once his rambling was done, Virgil took over. He didn’t bother to restrain his enthusiasm, allowing for his emotions to pour out of his mouth as he described what it was like to see for his older brother hug him tightly and for his sisters to smother him with a thousand kisses before he even made it to the tree for his real presents. And then he had indulged himself with chocolate, the corners of his lips still bearing the remains a day later.
Roman laughed and stopped them to wipe Virgil’s mouth, freezing as over Virgil’s shoulder, he gazed upon a pair of eyes in the woods glimmering in the light of dawn.
Virgil turned, features twitching into a look of confusion before following Roman’s line of sight. The two boys stared, stunned as a doe emerged like a queen revealing herself to her humble subjects. They gaped, watching as she assessed the situation before hopping back into the woods. Roman made a move to follow her but Virgil grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.
“Not one of Santa’s lost reindeer?” Roman asked, biting the inside of his cheek as he glanced back towards the woods where the doe was still in sight.
“I don’t think so, it takes all the reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh and he made it back to the North Pole . . .” Virgil reasoned, giving a small shrug as they walked a bit further until they were at their hill.
Albuquerque Circle, as pretentious as the name suggested, was perched atop of a hill, one that made for the quintessential spot for sledding after a wondrous snow storm.
Of course, it descended into oncoming traffic, but this early in the morning, Roman was convinced that they would be safe. Besides, their snowsuits against the pearly white powder would be easy for the adults to see, Roman swore to it as he seated himself on his sled and glanced to his Virgil on his left.
“Race ya!” he exclaimed, face bright and Virgil, feeding off his joy and refusing to back away from the challenge, nodded.
Without warning, he screamed, “Go” and was off.
Roman swore, a filthy curse he had once heard one of Virgil’s older sisters, utter before he leaned back and pushed, moving his body to the nose of the sled in order to compensate for his the time he had lost.
Virgil and Roman laughed, a sweet harmony jingling like sleigh bells in the quiet, early morning air. They were soon neck and neck, Virgil fixing his technique to mimic Roman’s so he would not fall behind. Determined to win, just as much as his counterpart.
They were nearly at the bottom, both boys straining to be as close to the edge as possible when suddenly, Roman leaned too far forward and rolled out of the safety of his steed, tumbling down the remainder of the hill with his sled behind him. Virgil tried to steer away but he was caught in the mess, ending up pinned beneath Roman and their sleds in the middle of the road.
Roman groaned, Virgil’s nose scrunching as the other breathed down onto him. It was a position they had found themselves in before - their years of play fighting, of course - and neither thought anything of it as Roman pushed himself away and helped Virgil to his feet.
No, it would be years before something as simple as being pressed together would do anything to either boy, first make their pulses quicken and breaths hitch when they didn’t know what it even meant. And then they would find their lips together when they were fifteen, having repressed and denied their feelings by forcing themselves to believe they were attracted to their female peers that sat in classes with them. No, they were to young to have even the slightest idea to what the future had in store for them.
So with a grin, Roman grabbed Virgil’s hand and pulled him back up to go down the mountainous hill once more, and the action was nothing more than one of friendship.