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Snowflakes, deceptively soft and fluffy, are starting to come down harder now and Vic knows it's time to leave, but her goddaughter, Pru, is still having a blast with her new friends and Vic's exactly where she wants to be most, wrapped in Lucas's warm embrace... even if she is starting to lose feeling in her toes.
Lucas though, Lucas seemed a million miles away. Vic stole a glance up at him, the look of pure, unguarded yearning on his face catching her by surprise and sending a nervous chill up her spine that had nothing to do with the cold.
Vic swiped at a snowflake that clung to her long lashes, drawing Lucas's attention. He smiled gently, but it didn't quite push the sorrowful look from eyes."You really want one of those, don't you?" Vic asked quietly, looking away, unable to meet his gaze.
Lucas froze, then ducking his head for a moment, said, "Yeah... and you don't, yeah, I know. I understand, really, and I respect that, you know I do. Besides, Miller's always looking for a babysitter and we've got Jen's kids to spoil & send home when they misbehave. It's just..." He shook his head, smiling wistfully and cupped Vic's pink cheek with his gloved hand. "It's okay, I'm good. We're good."
Vic let out a nervous, trembling breath, twisting around in his arms to face him better. "I'm not saying no, never... like not ever, ever... but well, just like not yet. Maybe we can revisit the idea again soon... but not too soon, okay? Like kinda soonish, but not. Someday down the road a little. Medium soon but not like real soon."
"Okay," he said, nodding thoughtfully, pretending to make sense of her rambling and tilting his head to brush the tip of his icy nose against hers.
"And who's to say we can't practive making one in the meantime, right?" Vic asked impishly, trying to lighten the mood.
This time, Lucas laughed out loud, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Exactly, practice does make perfect after all," he said with mock seriousness, causing Vic to giggle with him.
Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by Pru bounding up and flopping dramatically against their bench. "Auntie Vic, Uncle Chief, do we have to go home? Everybody left but I wasn't done playing yet!"
"Yeah, sweetie, it's getting dark & we gotta get you home and oh, eww... you've got snot!" Vic looked around, panicking, until Lucas passed her a tissue from his pocket to wipe Pru's face. "I bet if we try realllyy hard, we can probably convince Uncle Chief to pick us up a pizza on the way home though, huh?"
Pru cheered up instantly at the idea, leaping to her feet & tugging at their hands. "C'mon, c'mon, I'm starvinggg!" She urged.
When Pru ran out of steam and lag behind on the walk to the car, Lucas scooped the little girl up and swung her onto his shoulders, eliciting squeals of glee. He started forward with his new passenger only to realize Vic was no longer following beside him. She had stopped in her tracks, standing motionless, watching the two of them, her expression unreadable. He turned to look back at her questioningly, holding out his hand for hers.
Vic shook off her moment of reverie and beaming back at him, reached for his outstretched hand.
To any passersby, they might've seemed a happy, picture perfect, little family, laughing and catching snowflakes on their tongues as they wandered along, carefree and unhurried. There was time enough for worry, for fears and for uncertainty another day, but for now... everything was good.