Your Beauty Never, Ever Scared Me - Wintumn Stories

My Girl, My Girls

Winter woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing on the nightstand. When he reached his arm out and didn't feel Autumn beside him he knew exactly where she would be and exactly what his text was going to say. First thing he saw when he turned on his phone screen was the time. 2:30AM. Not as late as he expected, honestly. Usually he got this text closer to four.

There were a lot of nights that Autumn just gave up on sleeping. On top of all the symptoms she was already dealing with, she had started getting awful heartburn. Everyone told her that meant that the baby was going to be born with a lot of hair. She had spent so long wishing for Rose to end up with Winter's hair, those thick natural curls that she loved so much. If she'd known having a baby with a lot of hair would lead to her sleepless nights though, she wouldn't have wished so hard. At this point if her daughter didn't end up with the most gorgeous hair she'd ever seen she would be quite mad.

On nights like these she spent the extra hours working on Rose's nursery. She decided to go all out and paint a floral landscape on the walls. A beautiful garden for their beautiful Rose. It had evolved into an Alice in Wonderland theme to honor the love of books they hoped to pass on to her. Autumn paid attention to even the smallest details. A white rabbit stuffy, a crown shaped lamp with little hearts on it, and a pocket watch shaped clock were just some of the little touches that nodded to the story. She knew that Rose wouldn't appreciate it, but she did. Autumn wanted to put that extra effort in to make everything perfect for their daughter.

These nights were always accompanied by texts to Winter. The first one was always the same.

My Sweet xx

That was all she needed to say for him to be out of bed, heading down to the kitchen. He knew exactly what that message meant. She wanted a sausage roll. He had gotten that message at all hours of the day and he always found a way to deliver. During her first pregnancy, when that craving first hit, she tripped a stranger because she kept her from them. He wasn't going to test what she would do to him.

He ended up on a first name basis with Dale who managed the Greggs closest to their house. After the third day that he was in five times, buying multiple sausage rolls every time, the worker started to take notice. Winter had started buying extras each trip to keep in the freezer just in case she needed one when the store was closed. One day Autumn actually came with him because she felt bad that she kept sending him at all hours of the day. That's when Dale completely understood why Winter was there so often. He ended up offering to let Winter just buy a case of them from the back so that he wouldn't have to worry about making the trip anymore. He'd never seen Autumn cry more than when he walked into the house with that box.

The late night routine went a very similar way every time. As soon as he'd close the door to the bedroom a second text would come through.

Thank you, my love

He knew how much she worried about waking him every night. She was likely to thank him at least four more times before he even reached the nursery. But he was happy to do it. Winter didn't think there were enough ways to show her his gratitude for everything she was going through for their family. Getting up to make a snack at 2AM was truly nothing. So his response to her was always the same.

Anything for my girls

Just like every night he sat at the counter and watched as pictures of all the new touches in the nursery came through. Responding to each and every one telling her how much he loved it. He would never get over just how talented she was. Every picture showed just how much work she was getting done in so short a time. The wall was almost entirely done even though when they went to bed just a few hours ago she had barely gotten started on them. It was also clear she had started nesting as she sent pictures of all their daughters' books, which were all in bags on the floor that afternoon, now neatly arranged on shelves and her shoes lined up at the bottom of the closet.

He couldn't help but smile at everything she had done, Winter was just so proud of her. He always knew that Autumn was one of the strongest women he'd ever met but seeing her go through this and still be working both at the nursery and at home proved it that much more. He could barely get out of bed when he had a cold and here she was seven months pregnant with heartburn painting an entire wall at 2AM.

When he walked into the nursery he was shocked to see the entire wall completed. It was even more beautiful than what she'd described to him. She was adding the final highlights on the last flower when she saw him. He came over to help her off the floor, pulling her into a tight embrace once she was back on her feet.

"My love, I cannot believe you did all of this. It's some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen."

"Thank you, my sweet."

She gave him a quick kiss, thanking him again as she quickly grabbed the food out of his hands and moved to sit in the rocking chair that was set up in the corner. That was one of the first pieces of furniture they set up. Both of them thought the placement of the chair was incredibly important since that would be where a lot of their time would be spent. So, as with all decisions they made in the nursery, they consulted the real decision maker in their family.

"Alright, how about here my love?"

Autumn stood for a minute, her hand planted firmly on her bump.

"Not there."

Winter moved it to the opposite side of the room and asked again. Again, the answer was no. He lost count of how many times they moved the chair to just slightly different positions before finally he sat it down in the corner by the window.

"What about this? Right by the window, plenty of light, and a great view of the garden."

Autumn smiled as she felt the answer they had been waiting for.

"Rose approves."

And now he stood here, watching his wife gazing out at the moon from the very spot their daughter picked for her. She looked more happy, more content, than he had seen her in so long. The stress and worries of the pregnancy subsided just slightly as she tried to enjoy the last few months of carrying her daughter. Her hand stroked her bump gently between bites.

"You know, my darling, that really is the perfect place for that chair."

"Of course it is, my sweet. Rose wouldn't steer us wrong."

Winter laughed as he took in the sight before him. She was wearing old clothes and was covered in paint but she was still so beautiful. Her glow was just heightened by the pale moonlight streaming in through the window.

Winter always wondered if he overused the term "goddess" when describing Autumn. He worried that, as often as he used it, the meaning would get lost. That people would think he was just describing her looks. And though he would never deny that was part of it, when he said it he meant so much more. He never realized just how ethereal a woman could be before he knew Autumn. She was beautiful, she was powerful, she was intelligent. And all of this was only elevated as he watched her these last few months.

He left the room again, heading back downstairs to put a record on. It was late, but he wanted nothing more than to dance with her, to hold her close and make her feel how much love he had for her. There was only one song that he felt would fit this moment. He set the needle and made his way back upstairs. He got there just in time to start singing to her, altering the lyrics just enough to fit all he was feeling that night.

"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girls, my girls, my girls
Talkin' 'bout my girls, my girls"

"May I have this dance, my love."

She quickly took his hand and they began to sway around the room. She leaned into him more as they did, relaxing completely in his arms. He knew he would never be able to express the extent of what he felt for her. She was his everything. His love for her was unending, it knew no bounds, it was the kind of love people wrote poetry about. He'd do anything to show her that. To show her that he would always be there for his girl. For his girls.