The Test of Time

76 ~ Month Twenty Five: December 2027

As I follow Elle and Alex off the bus I shift Danny onto my other hip, careful not to drop him by clumsily falling over. Glancing around I am glad that I've shoved my shades onto my face, the glare from the sun against the white blanket of snow blindingly bright.

"What's that Danny?" I say, pointing towards the hills.

"Snow!" He squeals gleefully and I grin, nodding as I follow his parents towards the large resort. We'd finally made it to Alaska for Christmas after nearly ten years of dreaming. My sister brought her husband and her son, and I couldn't have been happier to be spending the holidays with my family.

"Yeah!" I exclaim, smiling at the sight of his excitable face.

"Can we play?" He asks as I place him down on the ground, Elle stopping and turning back towards us.

"Can we?" I echo, grinning at my tired looking sister.

"Later." Elle warns as Alex grabs hold of their bags, wheeling my giant suitcase behind him. He's such a gentleman.

"You're no fun." I pout at my sister, who promptly rolls her eyes and takes off after her husband.

"No fun!" Danny repeats, grabbing hold of my hand and I giggle at his reply as we follow the adults into the building. I glance around at the gorgeous log cabin interior as soon as we enter, warm, musky tones and lit fires with fluffy rugs in front of them instantly making me smile. I point out the fires to Danny, something he's barely ever seen, never having a need for the warmth back in California.

My nephew was born three years ago, Elle and Alex wasting no time after they married. I loved him from the moment I first held him in my arms, a strange sense of protectiveness washing over me. He had the same eyes as my Dad, bringing a tear to my eye almost instantly. It was perfect.

Having a nephew is great, you can indulge in all your maternal instincts, fully placate any part of you that wants a baby, and then hand them back at the end of the day. My sister has to deal with the tantrums and the riots that I unintentionally create. It's not like I expected him to want cake for breakfast after I secretly handed him a piece one morning. Totally not my fault that Elle had to deal with a screaming child for the next four mornings.

I stay with them every other weekend, desperate to stay close to my godson. And my sister of course. Plus, it gives Becky time to have one night stands in the apartment without having to explain it all to me when I see them sneak out. We had to set some rules, limit the amount of times a week she can bring a guy into the apartment, and exactly which ones she should even be bringing in at all. I don't want any weirdos coming in, having access to my medicine cabinet, my closet. I think Becky scares them enough when they enter our apartment anyway, it's straight into the bedroom, with a quick 'hello' shot my way as I sit on the couch eating ice cream, and then a swift half hour before they run out, shirtless as they fling the door open and make their escape.

Becky isn't one to have breakfast.

"Alright." Elle grins, turning back to face us. "Anna, you're in room 392. And we are in 391."

"Am I staying with Aunt Annie?" Danny smiles broadly up at his Mother.

"No Danny."

"Oh." His little face falls and Elle grimaces slightly before grabbing hold of his hand.

"You're staying in with Mommy and Daddy." I smile at him, "I wish I was."

"You do?" He asks, his little nose scrunched up.

"Absolutely!" I reply, "They're going to read you a bedtime story every night."

"They do that anyway!" He objects, giggling slightly.