White as Snow | Paul Lahote

14. Winter Break (Free At Last?)

The day before her parents left it was quiet all day. Sarah hadn't felt like going out so she stayed home and helped her mom clean up, and do some last-minute gift selection from their wide stash of gifts Aish kept hidden for when she had to go visit her family.

They finalized all the packing, then Aish made some dishes to freeze for Sarah to eat while they were gone. They also finished up all the last-minute tasks like booking their rental car for Toronto, as well as finding seats for the flight home that was not too expensive or too long.

The day was very peaceful. They all ate dinner together then fell asleep early.

On the day of the flight, Sarah was awakened by the sound of the pack in her kitchen, eating breakfast while simultaneously breaking out in conversation with both of her parents. In the mix of conversation, she could also hear the voices of Billy and Sue, as well as Kim and Emily. She ran to the bathroom, got ready then went downstairs. "Morning everybody!" Sarah yawned as she walked down the stairs.

"Morning Sarah!" various people replied. "What's going on?", "We're here to help your parents out with whatever they need. Packing, transportation, babysitting, anything" Billy said. "Babysitting? Come on Billy, Jake and I are the same age, yet he still acts like he's twelve" Sarah joked around. Billy laughed his hearty laugh then rolled away to talk to Sue. "What time's the flight?" Embry asked. "Not until 4 today, but since we're flying out from Seattle International, we're gonna have to leave in an hour," Charlie said. Sarah looked at the clock hanging in their kitchen, it read 9:30 a.m.

Everyone finally died down, "How're you guys getting there?" Quil asked. "Probably taking a cab" Charlie shrugged. "Nonsense. That's why we're here. You can ride with me and Emily in our truck, and Billy and Jake can help with luggage" Sam offered. Billy nodded his head in agreement. "We don't wanna impose on anybody. Besides, Seattle is a long ways away" Charlie said. "It's only three and a half hours away, with the way Billy drives, you'll be there well before time!" Billy laughed again. "If you guys are sure..." Charlie looked guilty. "Of course! We'll head out in half an hour. Sue, do you wanna join us?" Billy asked. Sue nodded.

Around 10:00 am, most of the pack shuffled out of the Kaniehtiio's house one by one, until Jake, Paul, Sam, Emily, Sue and Billy were the only ones left. Paul offered to help with the lifting since he was the strongest, naturally. Jake stayed behind with his dad so that he wouldn't be alone on the drive up from Seattle. At exactly 10:30, Billy, Charlie, Sue and Aish climbed into the Black's truck and headed for Seattle. Sam, Emily, Jake, Paul and Sarah loaded their bags onto Sam's truck then followed behind.

The ride up was a lot of fun. Paul and Jake mainly argued about who was the better wolf, to impress Sarah, then argued over whose music was best suited for the group. After a long argument, Emily shut them both up and gave the aux to Sarah. Sarah, being humble enough, asked everyone if they had any requests, then would give each person a turn to choose a song. Almost two hours in, Billy called up Sam and said that they forgot to get snacks, and needed to fuel up so both cars pulled up to a gas station somewhere in Olympia. Jake got out to help fill up Billy's tank while the girls all went inside to use the washroom and grab some snacks.

They finally reached the airport around 1:20, as Sarah and the guys unloaded Sam's truck as Sue, Billy and her parents went to check-in. Once all the luggage was unloaded from the truck, Sarah gave the bags to her dad to check-in, then they walked to the gate. Security was not busy that day, so they had some time to themselves to say their goodbyes properly.

At exactly 2:20, her parents headed off towards security, waving goodbye as they walked past the glass and were no longer visible. Sarah's eyes welled up before a single tear shed down her cheek.