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"No, get back here. You have no gloves," Ingrid scolded, herding her partner away from the door. Edelgard giggled as Byleth looked afronted from the interaction. "It's cold outside. Really cold. You need gloves."
"Yeah, By," Dorothea said, her hair spilling from underneath her knit hat. She was glowing, even though the winter coat she was wearing was twice her size. It had belonged to Ingrid's father, but she wasn't small enough to fit into Ingrid's clothing like the two others had. "You have to have the proper protection."
Ingrid ignored the wink, closing in on her and pulling her hood up over her head. "You need the hood, too. It's cold." She caught sight of Edelgard, attempting to tie her snowboots with her gloves already on, and sighed. "Okay. All three of you, line up against the wall."
Ingrid made them all stand still as she checked each head-to-toe: tugging mittens on Byleth, tying Edelgard's boots, straightening the collar of Dorothea's jacket so it covered her chin. She felt like she was running a preschool and not helping her partners that were all in their twenties, but she was smiling nonetheless.
It was their first proper snowfall, none of those Adrestian "snow days'' that were flurries at best. No, this was a true winter day in Faerghus, where the storm covered their brand new home with a blanket of snow and ice. Byleth had tried to go outside dressed in only a flannel over her usual clothes, Ingrid yanking her away from the door. She attempted to argue, saying that she had been to Faerghus once or twice with her father, but Ingrid knew that they had never come during the winter, when the snow was unforgiving.
Ingrid checked her girlfriends over once more before deeming them warm enough to go safely outside in the snow. The three practically waddled out the door, Dorothea’s boot catching on the carpet as she nearly toppled face first into the waiting snow. Luckily, Edelgard caught the back of her jacket and steadied her, both of them laughing giddily as Ingrid’s eyes widened.
Dorothea and Byleth both took off running in the snow, wide smiles on their faces as they chased one another while trying to lift their feet in and out of the deep powder. It had snowed nearly two feet that night, leaving quite the impression on the girls. Dorothea was laughing hard, her voice echoing off into the woods that surrounded their little home. They had been reluctant to leave Enbarr at first—the city that allowed them to meet and had housed them for so long—but it had been for the best. There were too many prying eyes, too many people who wouldn’t let them live the way that they wanted.
The home they were currently staying in used to be Ingrid's father's hunting cabin—another person who would undoubtedly shame their relationship, but it was hardly worth worrying about it. Not when she could wake up in the morning to three beautiful girlfriends and cups of warm coffee.
Edelgard didn’t charge directly into the snow, she lingered on the porch step with Ingrid by her side, taking in the sights. There was snow piled up high in the bare branches and their breath rose in the cold air. Her partner already looked freezing, but Ingrid just waited patiently with her until she took her first step into the snow.
It had been a big first step, becoming partners. Byleth and Dorothea had already been dating for years before they met Ingrid and Edelgard both working at the same law firm. It had been a chance meeting, really, a one-time conversation at a crowded concert venue that would change their life. Ingrid had invited Edelgard on a whim that day, Felix backing out and an extra ticket that she would hate to go to waste. She learned months later that El didn’t even like concerts and the loud sounds that came with them—she just wanted an excuse to get to know Ingrid better.
Dorothea and Byleth had been the couple that anyone would be envious of. They had a certainty about them. It didn’t matter how many girls Dorothea flirted with, Byleth looked at her with such admiration. It was impossible not to fall in love with both of them and their trust.
Ingrid not only got to know her coworker better that night, but was invited for a date with the couple by morning.
“Here, watch,” Ingrid said, tapping Edelgard and taking a knee in the snow. She gathered it up in her hands like Glenn had taught her and packed it into a snowball. When she was satisfied with the weight it had, she straightened. Winding her arm back, she whipped it in the direction of their two other girlfriends.
Edelgard laughed when it hit Byleth straight in the back, the snow dispersing and falling into the piles once more.
“Hey!” Byleth whined, beginning to make her own snowball in clumsy motions. Dorothea was laughing hard about the whole situation—Ingrid wasn’t sure if she was encouraging Byleth or commending her aim.
“Stay here if you don’t want to get hit,” Ingrid said to Edelgard before sprinting off into the snow and hiding behind a tree to gather more snowballs. Sure, the city offered its freedom in bars meant for people like them, but even when that community had shunned them— the trees had answered. It answered with a small home to call theirs and new snowfall and sunsets that shone in their eyes.
Dorothea’s snowball hit her directly in the face, Ingrid throwing herself to the icy ground in dramatics as her girls rushed to her side in their mismatched winter gear. Ingrid laughed as she looked up to the grey sky, one that still threatened to snow them in even further, and knew that she had made the right decision.
Edelgard was the first to lie down next to her, then Byleth on her right side. Dorothea lay on top of her, not wanting to touch the cold layer of snow. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do in Faerghus weather, but her loves were learning of her childhood and her home. The motions she had gone through that made her Ingrid; and a future that lay in front of them.