CHAPTER 23

                                    

                                          
Sitting on the bench of her front porch, Winter enjoys the beautiful view of mountains and lake. The first night at their new cabin is not that bad. They both enjoys their time together especially when Karina's belly starts to show.
"you haven't heard from Yeji?" Winter sips her nectar.
"she's coming tonight." Karina sits beside her, leaning against her shoulder.
"okay. I'll open up a way for her." Winter then sighs, feeling the peace that they have right now.
"I really love this. the view, the house, you." Karina holds Winter's hand, caressing it with her thumb.
Winter rests her head on top of Karina's. as the sun sets, they can clearly see the silhouette of mountains and trees. Fireflies starts to surround their cabin, as if putting on a show for the couple. They both stares at them peacefully.
"is this your doing?" Karina nudges Winter's arm.
"I guess?" Winter is satisfied. 
Not long after that, Winter secretly calls out to a pack of wolves. Her intention is to protect them tonight. last night, she called them too without Karina knowing. Soon, a pack comes out of the woods, walking slowly towards them.
"are they safe?" Karina feels a little scared. 
"of course. I called them. I still want us to be safe. You have a little child too. I can't let any danger come any close to you." Winter caresses her head.
Then, Karina notices a car comes out of the woods and a white bird flying in front of it. That's Yeji's car. She parked it behind the pack.
"guys! are you okay?" Yeji is too scared to come out.
"we are! Come here!" Karina laughs at her.
"I'll get rid of the dogs. You said she's lethargic, right?" Winter looks at Karina.
"allergic, Winter." Karina shakes her head, stifling a laugh.
"yeah, that." Winter then waves her hand and the pack moves away to the back of their cabin.
"you have a beautiful house." Yeji walks closer to them. They then stands up and lead Yeji inside. "it's warm too!"
Karina and Winter smiles at Yeji's reaction. Of course, it's warm. Winter made sure that there's no flaw on the house.
"perfect, right?" Karina brags a little. "not too cold at night and you have enough air on a hot day.
"I kinda envy you. but, I'm happy that you finally can live your life well." Yeji then hugs Karina. Yeji then pulls away and rubs Karina's stomach. "please tell me it's something I think about."
"we'll have a child." Winter confidently said. "that's why I need to make everything perfect."
"oh my god!" Yeji hugs her again. "I'm so happy for you!"
"thank you." 
-
Waking up to the sound of barking and growling, Karina sits up, rubbing her eyes. the sunlight enters their cabin perfectly, lighting up the whole cabin. She looks outside the window and can see that Winter is playing with the wolves. She then walks towards the kitchen to prepare something to eat.
Winter notices that the chimney is smoking. Before Karina can cook, Winter comes in with a cooked turkey on a big leave.
"I made this." Winter shows her the turkey.
"where did you get that?" Karina gives her a questioning look.
"I don't know. the dogs gave it to me so I just... kinda cook it on the fire from last night. It's fun." Winter shrugs and put the turkey on the table.
Karina just stifles a laugh and fix the table for them to eat. Winter just sits down, looking at Karina. Even right after she wakes up, Karina doesn't lose her beauty. It makes Winter fall in love all over again.
"I love you." 
Winter's words caught Karina off guard. She looks at Winter and smiles. Placing the last cup of drink on the table, Karina walks towards Winter and kiss her head.
"I know." Karina teases her.
Not long after that, they hear the wolves barks and growls. Winter looks back to see Giselle's van.
"we have another guest." Winter shrugs. "looks like I have to help them. Let's eat with them too." Winter then walks out of the cabin. "quiet!" she said to the wolves.
"oh! you're here." Giselle greets her. then, she notices Karina coming out of the cabin. "you live here." 
"come on in." Winter smiles at her.
"babe! Winter and Karina are here!" Giselle shouts towards the van. Vivian comes out with still wet hair. 
"they camp here too?" she asks. Before Giselle can reply, Vivian notices the cabin. "oh god, they live here!" 
"exactly." 
They both approaches the couple. Winter welcomes them inside.
"so you guys are back together." Karina leads them towards the dining table. "join us."
"why, thank you." Giselle sits down beside Karina. "this place is still a forest the last time I came here."
"I cleared it out." Winter calmly said. "made this place for us."
"that's so cool." Vivian sits beside Winter. 
The couple are now sitting face to face.
"I'm vegan." Giselle looks at the turkey. 
"we do have some mushrooms and veggies." Karina responded. "I'll make something for you."
"then I'll call someone to help you. you can't work too hard." Winter then whistles and a couple of birds come inside the cabin. 
Giselle and Vivian are impressed by how tame the birds are. They follow Karina to the kitchen area and kindly help her. Winter starts eating first. She then let Vivian eat with her.
"thanks, love!" Karina said from the kitchen.
"we're having a child." Winter suddenly brought that up. "I will not shut up about it." She chuckles a bit.
"congrats! I'm sure they'll be happy to live here." Vivian said, eating her meal. 
"I'll provide for them, whatever they need."
"even school?" Giselle chimes in.
"oh, we don't need that. we're blessed by Athena since birth. As long as I can guide him to be a great and kind demigod, I think we're good." Winter smiles at her.
"I guess you must be blessed too." Giselle said to Vivian, complimenting her intelligence.
"maybe." Vivian chuckles.
Not long after that, Karina comes out of the kitchen with a pot of soup. She sets it beside the half-eaten turkey.
"looks great. I think I have room for that." Winter scoops out some to her bowl while Karina serves Giselle and Vivian.
"you always have rooms for food." Karina stifles a laugh.
"if you serve this kind of food every day, I can agree with you. this is the best soup I've ever had." Giselle said after tasting the soup. "sorry, babe. Yours will be the second on the list."
"can't blame you for that." Vivian responded. "anyway, we'll camp here for a few days. Will your dogs be around?"
"yeah. They're here every night." Winter easily said. "they're not dangerous. I'll talk to them."
"talk... right." Giselle purses her lips. "I can never adjust to this kind of life. As much as I like nature." 
"believe me, you haven'tseen much."