Chapter 31

The first day and night of Winter hit Sunset Valley hard. I couldn’t recall when I had seen so much snow falling in such a short time. It was blizzard like.

 

And luckily for the kids it caused a snow day. I woke the girls up and told them the news. Greta was excited and Gabby just wanted to go back to sleep.

After breakfast and bundling up, we all headed outside to play in the snow.

 

I worked on a snowman by myself while Gil made several snow angels in the yard. We may be getting older, but I believe you aren’t truly old until you stop doing things you can have fun with.

 

Gil built an igloo with Gavin, carrying on the tradition Gil started when Gavin was a child.

 

Gavin and I hung out on the swing set together while the twins built a snowman together. They’re very good at team work. Guess it comes from sharing a womb for nine months.

 

Gil also taught Greta and Gabby how to build an igloo. They really wanted to learn after they saw what their Dad and older brother did and Gil was more than happy to teach them.

After playing in the snow at home, we warmed up for a few hours before heading to the Winter Festival.

 

Greta and Gabby enjoyed spinning on the ice together.

 

Gavin was my spinning buddy that day. He decided to skate with his Mom instead of some of the girls there. I was flattered, since he is a teenage boy.

 

That evening after everyone got home, the twins went to play in their room and I sat down with Gil at the Kitchen table. He enjoyed a muffin that Gabby baked and I was enjoying some hot cocoa. Gavin put some dishes in the dishwasher for us. We used this time to start discussing some plans for Christmas/Snowflake Day.

 

We took the kids around the neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. I really enjoyed this tradition for our family and the kids didn’t complain, so I took that as them enjoying it. Or at least tolerating it. Though the twins did seem to really enjoy all the different colors of the lights reflecting off the snow.

 

One morning, very early morning, Gavin begged Gil and I to go with  him to the Winter Festival so he could try out snowboarding before everyone else got there. And since Gavin is a good kid, we agreed to his request. We dropped the twins off with Lisa and Conrad and took Gavin to the Festival grounds. Gil helped prep Gavin for the snow boarding and Gavin did pretty good at it. In fact he seemed to be having fun and so was Gil. I on the other hand was  nervous wreck watching my son fly around on that snowboard.

 

Gavin took a cab to go hang out at Lisa and Conrad’s house, so his parents could have a little alone time at the Festival. The pond there was thick enough that we got to skate on it instead of sharing the rink with everyone else.

 

One evening I couldn’t find my husband or my son. I checked out back and found them embroiled in a snow ball fight. Both claim they won to me later on.

 

“Oh I’m so excited! I don’t have to cook!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands together happily. Gavin had volunteered to cook dinner. It was going to be Mac N Cheese, but still I wouldn’t have to cook.

“You never get this excited when I cook….are you trying to say my cooking is bad?” Gil asked, teasing me.

“No. No your cooking is not bad. I quiet enjoy your musclecakes.” I told him, smirking. Since my slip up years ago, when Gil makes pancakes, they are called musclecakes.

“Want some  musclecakes later on tonight?” Gil asked, in a flirty tone. I could hear Gavin sighing as he stirred the noodles. Poor kid. Having to listen to his parents flirt.

 

The twins seemed to appear out of nowhere after that.

“I smell food.” Gabby commented.

“Mac N Cheese? I need to wash my hands.” Greta added onto Gabby’s comment, before going over to wash her hands.

 

We sat down to dinner that night as a family. Gavin’s Mac N Cheese turned out very good. I was proud he didn’t burn it.

 

Since Gavin had cooked, I cleaned up the dishes and let him go do whatever he wanted. Gil came to me after I was done cleaning up and pulled me into a kiss. I got muslecakes for dessert that night.

 

Misty did better than I expected after loosing all her playmates. We made sure she had plenty of toys and paid lots of attention to her. I felt a little bad that she was the only pet, but didn’t think I could bring myself to get another pet yet. Plus I thought it was something we might need to decide as a family. I didn’t want to upset one of the kids by bringing in another pet too soon.

 

Lisa and Conrad invited us to a party at their new home. They had actually moved not to far from us, which I was happy about. Ethan was also there, as well as Darlene’s sister-in-law, Kalynn.

 

While at the party, Gil surprised me with a bouquet of flowers. They were beautiful, though I think Jessica was a little envious. But I can understand. I was a teenage girl dreaming of romance once too.

 

The next evening Gil took me to the former vampire lounge in town for a night of dancing. I hadn’t been there since I had first arrived in town and it had undergone some ownership changes since then. And there were no longer any vampires in town, so that aspect had changed as well. Gavin had volunteered to babysit the twins for us.

 

Gil and I both love our kids, but sometimes it really is nice just to get out of the house and spend some time with one another.

 

After we got home, Gil worked on cleaning up some laundry off the floor and I was heading for the fridge. I was hungry and didn’t even remove my winter coat and pants before I got to the fridge.

“Why does Greta have ice cream? I want ice cream…” Gabby pouted.

“She ate her dinner earlier, so that’s her dessert. You can have some ice cream after you finish your dinner if it’s okay with Mom and Dad.” Gavin told Gabby.

“It’s cool with me.” Gil said. I added on “It’s fine.” And grabbed myself some food from the fridge.

 

Christmas Day arrived quickly and we sat the kids down before everyone arrived to set down some ground rules. Such as no running outside in your dresses for the twins and no pulling girls under the mistletoe for Gavin.

 

We invited the Bunch family and a new family that had just moved to town. The Hayes family. They had two kids in school with the twins. The twins had come home from school one day going on and on about Adele and Slash. I tracked down the number for the family and started chatting with Lizzette, the kids’ Mother. Since they were new to town, we decided to invite them over to make them feel welcome to the town. Gil hit it off with Axl, Lizzette’s husband,  the moment they met.

 

Slash seemed to be a bit shy I noticed as I chatted with Lizzette. They were a bit different, but frankly I loved that fact about them. I also invited Shane. Kiki had passed away a few months ago. While I had many issues with Shane’s parents, I never had anything against him.

 

Gabby pulled Adele off in a corner so they could tell jokes and gossip about school.

Soon though it was time for presents. At the last moment Judy called and told me she couldn’t make it, that she was sick in bed with the flu. I was sad she wouldn’t be able to come, but understood.

 

 

 

 

Everyone was happy with their gifts, so I counted that as a victory.

After everyone left and we had moved the chairs back into storage, the twins put on their ballerina outfits and showed off some moves they had learned. Both had been enrolled in ballet as an after-school activity.

 

 

Both pulled off some impressive moves for us. I probably would have fallen on my bum if I tried half of the stuff they showed us.

 

After we cleaned up, somewhat, and the kids went to bed, Gil pulled me into a hug. Spring would be here before we knew it and so would something else. I had a feeling Gil might not be prepared for it anymore then I am.