Can't Love Christmas

Twenty Five

Ash woke up to a text on Saturday morning.

The Grinch

Are we still on for whatever you have planned today?

Ash looked out the window and saw the blanket of fresh snow. It was still snowing, making three straight days of fresh fluffy powder.

Ash 

That's up to you

Of course! I figure you have something planned for the snow, but I'm slightly scared to find out what it is.

Do you have a sled or anything like that?

Obviously.

Then we are spending the afternoon outside.

Can I come over and claim part of my share of the spicy cookie village first?

Sure. You can have as much as you want.

I'll be there after lunch. :)

ok

Ash looked at her clock. She had a few hours to kill before Rowan arrived, so she shuffled to her couch and turned on whatever Christmas movie was playing. Twenty minutes in, she felt like she was in a funk, and decided to pamper herself.

She knew there wasn't much of a point in showering and getting ready before tobogganing, but she needed to do something. So she turned to brunch. She went to the kitchen and pulled out half a loaf of french bread, eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon.

Half an hour later, she was sitting at her counter beside the gingerbread village, drowning her french toast in real maple syrup.

As she took the first bite, she moaned, proud of herself for making such a delicious meal. She'd used whipping cream in place of half the milk, and the result was divine. The cinnamon was distributed throughout the custard and the sprinkling of cinnamon sugar was perfection. She looked at their gingerbread house, happy to see that it seemed to be solid without risk of another collapse. She took away the remaining supports and took a few photos. After everything that had happened to give her the Big Feelings, she had pretty much forgotten about the village.

Once the picture was posted, she cleaned the plate and mopped up the rest of the syrup with the last of her french toast. The post didn't give her the same thrill it normally did, and she debated taking it down altogether. Ultimately, she decided to keep it, choosing to remember the good parts of that evening, and not how she felt afterwards.

She still had a few hours to kill before Rowan would arrive, so she scrubbed all the dishes, the counters, and appliances. From there, she continued into the living room, and spare room, tidying things up. By the time she was done, the place was almost unrecognizable, and she'd worked up a sweat, so she had a super fast shower before Rowan could arrive. 

The weather forecast was looking pretty good for a day of tobogganing, and Ash refused to end up in the same position as the snowman building day, so she dug out her old sweat pants to wear over a pair of leggings. She expected to spend most of the time on a sled instead of crawling around directly on the snow, but one could never know what would happen. The rumours she'd heard about the hill were that it was big and fast, and the best place to go in Miska. It would probably be busy, but hopefully not too crowded or destroyed.

-

Rowan rang the doorbell just after one o'clock. She opened her front door to find him standing there, a dazzling smile on his face. "Hey Cinders!"