X-Kid

Peppermint Winter

Saturday morning, I was awoken to the sound of my cell phone ringing on my nightstand.

“Hey there, baby sis! What’s up?” The voice of my half brother, Ray, rang through.

I yawned. “Just woke up, thanks to you. What do you need?”

“I was hoping me and the kids could come over and hang out this afternoon. They’ve missed their Auntie ‘Ora,” he mentioned.

‘Ora was the nickname given to me by my nephews, and I found myself smiling at hearing it, beginning to get out of bed. “Yeah, that should be fine. I don’t know what they’ll do though.”

“Are you kidding? There’s enough snow outside to keep ‘em busy for a week!” he exclaimed.

I walked over to my window, opening the blinds and gasping. Sure enough, there was a good foot of wet snow covering the lawn. “Jesus. It hasn’t snowed this much in years.”

“Yeah. The kids are super excited,” he said, and then I heard a crash in the background. “Hey, I gotta go break up a fight, but we’ll be there in about an hour, okay?”

“Alright. See you guys soon,” I replied, pressing the end call button on my phone. I decided to call Jack and cancel our study date, since I’d be occupied with family the whole afternoon.

“Nora? Is everything okay?” Jack asked once he answered.

“Yeah, but I have to cancel our study session. Ray’s bringing my nephews and niece over to play in the snow,” I explained, looking around my room for warm clothes to wear.

“That sounds awesome,” he commented. “I should come over and join in. I mean, I haven’t even met your half brother, so don’t you think I should?”

I immediately pictured my nephews chasing Jack around with snowballs, and I found myself giggling. “Yeah, it could be fun. Besides, you’ll love them. They’re all pretty damn cute.”

“Sweet! I’ll be over soon!” he said excitedly before hanging up abruptly.

I sighed and began getting dressed. I decided on a long sleeved sweater, a scarf, a beanie, and a pair of Doc Martens to keep warm. I was just about finished getting ready when I heard the doorbell ring. It was Jack of course.

“My brother should be here any minute, so just sit tight,” I mentioned.

Jack paused. “Your brother’s not very old, is he? Like, in his 20s?”

I tilted my head in confusion. “He’ll be 26 in December. Why?”

He shrugged. “It’s just a little weird. I mean, how did he end up with three kids so fast?”

“Well,” I began. “He got married at 19, and three years later my first nephew was born. I think he forgot what birth control was for the next two, but we love them all the same. He’s being a single dad now, trying to get divorced from their mom.”

“That really sucks. I hope I’m not dealing with that kind of shit when I’m that age,” he commented.

“You’re not as dumb as my brother is. I mean, I love him, but he’s made a lot of mistakes,” I replied.

Just then, the front door opened and in ran 3 pairs of little feet, Ray’s large ones trailing after. I got down on my knees, arms outstretched to hug the kids. The oldest one, who was 4, was the first to wrap his arms around me, which I gladly returned. Next was our middle child, who was 3, and then toddled over the 1 year old girl.

“Hey there guys,” I grinned. “This is my friend Jack. He’s gonna play with us today.”

My niece, chewing on a finger, stumbled over to Jack and looked up at him. Jack looked nervous under the gaze of the small girl until I swooped her up into my arms. “Can you say hi?” She faked shyness and hid in my shoulder, and I laughed, putting her down.

My oldest nephew began tugging on my arm. “Come on, ‘Ora. Let’s go outside!”

I grabbed my coat and began putting it on, glancing at Jack. “You heard the boy. Let’s move out.”

Jack trailed behind me as we made our way outside, and I began showing the kids how to make snowballs. I conspired with my nephews quietly, telling them to take their snowballs and throw them at Jack. They grinned mischievously at me before running off.

“Hey!” Jack shouted as he was being bombarded.

“‘Ora told us to do it,” the 3 year old giggled.

I should’ve known I’d be ratted out. “You were being awkward. I had to put a stop to it.”

“I’m gonna get you for that,” He said, kneeling down to compact some snow together. “Come on, boys. Let’s get ‘Ora.”

My nephews let out an excited shout before going to make snowballs, just like I showed them. Realizing I was outgunned, I began running around the yard, trying to avoid the attack. I hid behind a thick pine tree, carefully watching Jack and the boys when a pile of snow fell on my head. Ray had grabbed a branch and shook off all the snow.

“Thanks, bro,” I joked, wiping the white powder off my head.

He laughed, but stopped as gazed thoughtfully across the yard. “You know, that Jack kid’s pretty cool. I like him.”

I looked back at my best friend, smiling. “Yeah, I like him too.”

Jack suddenly spotted me, and him and the boys sprinted across the yard. “FIRE!!!” he shouted.

Snowballs pelted me and Ray, beginning a full out war. Soon enough, there weren’t any teams even, but every man for himself. None of us could stop laughing, and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.

Jack fell next to me. “Your nephews are great.”

I grinned. “Tell me about it.”

Seeing that we had stopped throwing snow, my nephews soon joined us on the ground. “What are you doing?” they asked.

“We’re gonna make snow angels. Wanna help?” I asked, and I heard them cheer. “Okay. Just move your arms and legs like this.”

When we stood up, there were two small angels on the ground, followed by two bigger ones made by me and Jack. “They look like they’re holding hands...well, wings,” he said.

“Maybe those angels are in love,” I commented without thinking.

Jack looked me dead in face, his brown eyes piercing through me immediately. “They probably are. I mean, look at them.”

Our moment was interrupted by a snowball flying past my head, starting another brawl. I couldn’t help but think about how nice this was. I could see myself getting used to spending days like this with Jack. All my days with my best friend. What could possibly be better?