Your Beauty Never, Ever Scared Me - Wintumn Stories

Pictures of You

No one would have guessed just how sentimental Winter and Autumn could be. They didn't share a lot about their relationship or their lives with their friends. Their privacy was incredibly important to them, but so were their memories. There wasn't a day that went by that one of them didn't snap a candid shot of the other, capturing even the smallest moments together. Their camera rolls were filled with the smiles that crossed their faces when they were finally reunited after work, the laughs they shared over dinners, and the loving looks they'd catch when the other thought they weren't looking.

As much as they loved the pictures on their phone, the couple loved having physical media even more. Neither one loved technology, even though it was a necessary part of their everyday lives, so at home they tried to avoid it as much as possible. That's why they preferred to listen to their records instead of streaming their music and a library full of books instead of a Kindle. They even still had physical copies of their favorite movies, mostly for nostalgia's sake.

But what they took the most seriously were their photos. There wasn't a room in their house that didn't have a picture of the two of them together. No one would have guessed just how important photos were to Autumn. Especially after meeting Winter and talking about starting their own family they became essential to her. She wanted to make sure the life she gave her children was better than what she had growing up. And having someone care enough to take their picture was one of the small ways she was going to ensure that.

Growing up the Knight's didn't really do pictures. They did their one yearly family portrait and school photos. That was it. It wasn't like Roger was following his kids around with a camera and really there weren't any memoires that the kids cared to document either. That left Autumn with only a small shoebox worth of pictures from when she was growing up.

These days all of Winter and Autumn's conversations revolved around their daughter. They were both just so excited to meet her. One night, as they talked for the hundredth time about who they looked like she grabbed her box of pictures to show him what that might look like. He was shocked when he found out that the small pile was all she had from her childhood.

As they looked through them, they decided it would be fun to compare their own baby pictures. All of Winter's pictures were still at his parents house so they decided the next time they went over for dinner, she would bring her photos and they could go through their pictures together. That way they could have an easier time visualizing what a mini mix of the two might look like.

Autumn knew Winter's family took their pictures much more seriously than hers did. She had seen the main photo album that his family kept. His mom brought that out the first time he brought Autumn over. Winter tried his hardest to divert the conversation away from the pictures but Autumn was entranced. That was the first time she learned about Winter's curly hair and saw the pictures from his childhood football matches.

After seeing it, Autumn decided that she was going to start a very similar one for their own family. She and Winter had already spent a lot of time putting it together, adding in pictures from their dates, wedding photos, and a selection of the weekly bump pictures Winter had made her take. Not that she fought him too hard about taking those, she was really glad she had them. But what they didn't know was there were plenty more albums than just that one.

Winter had asked his mom, Renee, to have the album out for them at their next family dinner so they could go through it. When they arrived though, they were faced with a tub filled to the brim. Even Winter didn't know she had that many. He started sifting through the books noticing there was one for every year of his life.

"Mum, I asked for the one family photo album and instead you gave me a photo essay of my life."

"Well, dear, I just thought maybe Autumn would like to see some pictures she hasn't already seen."

Renee was incredibly excited to show off her work. She had put hours into some of the books, captioning pictures with the year and where they were taken. It was obvious that so much love went into making each and every album. Each one had Winter's name and a year written on the front in incredibly detailed calligraphy.

Winter picked out a few that would show a variety of ages before grabbing Autumn's hand and leading her to his old bedroom. He thought she would appreciate taking a moment just the two of them to look through these in case she became emotional. Autumn was more comfortable around his parents than she was with most other people, but he knew that she still didn't love showing too many feelings around anyone other than him.

After he helped her get settled on his bed, placing a pillow behind her back so she was more comfortable than just leaning on the wall, he found himself taking an extra minute to take in the moment. It was insane to think about the fact that he was sitting in his childhood bedroom with his wife. His wife. All he could think about was the fact that his younger self would have fainted if he knew someone like her had even looked at him, let alone been in his room.

Once they were both settled he grabbed the earliest book and opened to a random page. The caption at the top of the page was "November 1990." He looked over at Autumn and watched her smile grow as she examined the pictures from his first birthday party. Her heart filled with love as she looked at baby Winter with a head full of curls and the same smile he still had to this day. The smile that could melt her heart so easily. She could help but point out just how many pictures were of him covered in food.

"You were quite the messy eater."

"It was my birthday and I was one. I don't know why they trusted me with my own food. It was inevitable I'd smash my face in the cake."

They quickly flipped through the rest of the pages of the book. Pictures of him meeting Santa Claus, playing in the yard, and posing for the camera filled every page. They found a picture of Autumn at a similar age and put them side by side. Both of them got emotional over their own thoughts of their daughter. Winter imagined a mini Autumn, Autumn imagined a mini Winter.

What Winter noticed going through the book again was just how few pictures he had with his mum. There were dozens of him with his aunts, cousins, and of course with his father, but there were only three with Renee. He knew it was because she was always the one behind the camera, the one making the effort to document his life. He swore then that he wasn't going to let that happen with Autumn.

The next book was labeled "Winter 2002." He tried so hard to put it to the side but Autumn grabbed it out of his hands. Winter knew exactly what phase she was going to be discovering in this book and it was one he'd rather not have relived. His emo phase. As soon as she opened the book, she couldn't stifle her laughter.

"So was this when you discovered hair straighteners, my sweet?"

"It was a very popular style back then!"

"Oh I remember. And your fringe is quite impressive but I do have to ask," she quickly opened her own box of pictures quickly locating exactly what she was looking for, "would you have fallen in love with this girl at the rock show?"

As Winter looked at the picture in her hand his heart skipped a beat. It was the quintessential high school mirror selfie. Her hair was dyed jet black and she was wearing a tie very loosely around her neck. Had he ever encountered her in their shared emo phases he had no doubt that he would have written some very angsty poetry about her. She assured him that she would have done the same.

They sat there for nearly an hour looking through pictures of Winter performing in shows with his drama club, shots from family gatherings and vacations, and pictures from his first and last days of school every year. Autumn couldn't help but get emotional as Winter told stories and remembered specific jokes that went with each and every picture. This was exactly what she wanted for Rose. She wanted her to be able to look back someday with the person she loved and remember all the good times they had as a family. And she knew that they would.

There was no way that her or Winter or anyone in their family were going to let their baby's memories fit within a single shoe box.