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“Sophie, Sophie! Wake up!”
The familiar call came early in the morning, much earlier than Sophie would have liked. She’d been having such a wonderful dream too…something about sparkly alicorns and starry night skies. That had all been stripped away by the rude awakening, and Sophie did not appreciate it.
“WHY,” she groaned, covering her head with her pillow. “What on earth have you decided is important enough to wake me up at this miserable hour?” Footsteps approached the bed, and the mattress dipped as someone sat down.
“Wow, someone’s in a bad mood.” Despite his teasing words, Keefe was nothing but tender in the way he gently removed the pillow from her face. He brushed aside her hair, and she heard him chuckle quietly at her sour, scrunched expression. “Would you open your eyes? I think you’ll feel a lot better once you do.”
Sophie had to admit that she was curious as to what that meant. Reluctantly, she peeked at her husband. He sat grinning at her, his ice blue eyes sparkling with mischief. But something was off...not with him, exactly, but with the whole room. Everything had a strange, soft glow to it. Confused, she sat up, turned to the window, and let out a gasp.
“It snowed?” She whipped back around to face Keefe.
He grinned, taking her hands and pulling her from the bed. “It sure did.”
He led her to the window, and Sophie felt a smile of her own spread across her face at the scene before them. Their beautiful home, and the grounds surrounding it, had been transformed into what could only be described as a winter wonderland. Everything was enveloped in a thick layer of snow, ice, and frost, making the world sparkle. Icicles hung above the window, their pond appeared fully frozen over, and the blanket of white that covered it all made Sophie feel as if she was looking at an entirely different world, as unfamiliar as it was spectacular.
“What are we waiting for?” she gasped, delighted. “Let’s go outside!”
Keefe laughed, following as she ran to her closet. “That’s the spirit, my love.”
The two dressed quickly, bundling up in cozy sweaters and thick capes. Vertina guided Sophie through twisting her hair into a sleek braid in anticipation of the sledding and snow angel making sure to come. But, when she met Keefe on her way to the door, he surprised her with something even better: a beautiful pair of skates, delicate and ice blue. Her favorite color.
“Keefe!” she exclaimed, taking them eagerly. “How did you know?” Sophie had loved ice skating when she lived in the human world, despite never being very good, but hadn’t got the chance to go since arriving in the Lost Cities. She couldn’t remember ever mentioning that to Keefe, though.
He smiled proudly, producing a pair of his own and leading her the rest of the way to the door. “I was looking through your photo album again a while ago and…well, they were supposed to be for Christmas, but this is just too perfect.”
Leaning closer, Sophie pressed a kiss to Keefe’s cheek, laughing when he turned bright pink. They’d been married for a year now, and yet every affectionate gesture still seemed to surprise and delight him. “Perfect indeed.”
Together they stepped outside, taking in the glittering world with gasps of wonder. It was only a short walk to the large pond that sat nestled in a grove of willow trees, but it took them quite a while to make their way over as they cheerfully threw snowballs and admired their glistening garden. When the couple finally arrived, they were greeted by the tinkling of tiny frozen droplets, hundreds of which coated every leafy tendril cascading from the trees surrounding them. Sophie trailed her hands through them, smiling softly.
Coming to the edge of the frozen pond, the two began to lace up their skates. It was then that Sophie realized just how long it had been since she’d done this. With a sheepish laugh, she turned to Keefe. “I’m not sure if I remember how…”
Standing, her husband gave her a cheery wink. “Don’t worry, honey, I’m amazing at ice skating. You’re in good hands.”
Finished with her own skates, Sophie playfully bumped her hip against his, teetering a little on the thin blades. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
“You dare to question the great Keefe Sencen?” he gasped in mock outrage. Stepping onto the ice, he skated smoothly to the center of the pond and executed an intricate series of jumps and spins. Returning to the edge with arms outstretched, he took one look at her shocked expression and laughed.
“Where did you learn to skate like that?” Sophie sputtered.
“I owe all of my skill to my father, always pushing me to be the best in absolutely everything.” His tone was teasing, but he looked away for a moment, a shadow passing over his face. “I’ve never skated for fun before.”
“Keefe…” She stepped carefully onto the ice, wobbling a little before grabbing his hand, twining her fingers with his. He looked up, a smile pushing away the sadness in his eyes.
“But that’s about to change. Come on!” Drawing her closer to him, he wrapped an arm around her waist. Sophie held on tight as he pulled her along, gliding slowly across the ice. It took a few tries, but soon she was able to skate right along with him (though she was sure she looked far less graceful than Keefe did.)
“There you go, you’re getting it!” he cheered, letting her go and stopping to watch as she skated in a small circle, then turned to grin at him. “The most beautiful ice skating I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.”
She giggled, making her way back to him and shoving him teasingly. The action threw her off balance, and she felt her feet slip, the ice suddenly rushing up to meet her. Just before she hit the hard surface, she felt strong arms catch her, gathering her into a tight embrace. “Whoa, there.” Keefe snickered. “I already know you’ve fallen for me, you don’t have to demonstrate.”
She groaned, taking a deep breath to slow her racing heart. “Thanks, Keefe.” Regaining her footing, she gazed up into his twinkling eyes and found that her heart didn’t seem to be slowing at all. In fact, it only seemed to beat faster as he leaned in closer and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Maybe Keefe wasn’t the only one who still got flustered over the little things.
A few moments later she pulled away, taking in his sweet smile and flushed cheeks. Despite the cold air, she felt warmth spread through her, as if Keefe had lit a fire inside her chest. Tilting her head, she whispered softly in his ear.
“Race you to the other side.”
A surprised laugh escaped his lips as Sophie freed herself from his embrace and began to glide quickly away. “Getting cocky, are we?” he called, and she glanced back to see him already gaining on her. She shrieked with laughter, skating as fast as she could toward the edge of the crystalline pond.
Just as she reached it, she felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind, and suddenly she was gaining speed instead of slowing down. She only had time to yelp, “Keefe!” before the two hurtled into a snowbank, and Sophie’s vision turned white.
After a moment, she pushed herself up, and couldn’t help but snicker when she saw her husband. He lay sprawled out next to her, covered from head to toe in the white powder that surrounded them, giggling like a little kid. He sat up too, and rather than dusting himself off, he scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Sophie.
She gasped as it hit her, a perfect shot straight to the chest. Immediately she retaliated, and before long, the two were engaged in a full-blown snowball fight, their laughter echoing across the pond.
Hours later, they finally made their way inside, their movements tired but their eyes alight with happiness. Keefe built a fire, and they sat before it with steaming mugs of cinnacreme in their hands, laughing and telling stories.
Eventually, the couple drifted off to sleep, wrapped in warm blankets and dreaming of many more perfect snow days to come.