capsize me and douse me in your bay

epilogue

A Few Months Later

Toni walked through the apartment door, closing it behind her and shivering at the unusual chill in the apartment. It was Christmas Eve and Cheryl had come down with a cold just last night. The first one she'd ever had, too, which made things even more interesting. Having to teach a grown woman how to blow her nose and swallow pills was something Toni never thought she would ever have to do, but, of course, she didn't mind. Especially when her girlfriend was impossibly cuter when she was sniffly and fatigued.

Glancing around, she found the source of the chill easily when she saw the door to the balcony wide open and a head of red hair tied in a bun standing outside.

"Cher, it's freezing out, what are you doing?" she rushed over and out the door, trying to gently tug her back inside. She was wrapped in a fluffy blanket with clothes bundled on underneath, but she still shoudln't have been outside. Especially when it was starting to snow.

"Look, Toni," the younger girl smiled, looking out at the snow that had started to fall while the pinkette was at the pharmacy, "It is raining, but white. And cold."

"It's snow," Toni chuckled, watching as she reached a hand out from under the blanket she was wrapped in to catch a few of the large flakes on her fingertips, "And trust me, there will be plenty of it for the rest of the winter. You should be in bed."

Pouting, Cheryl allowed herself to be brought back inside and ushered back to the bedroom where Toni tucked her back into the same spot she had been in before she left.

"I got you some liquid medicine," she sifted through the small shopping bag as she sat on the edge of the bed, pulling items out to show her red-nosed girlfriend, "It'll be easier to take than the pills, but it might taste worse."

The redhead grimaced at the memory of trying to take a pill yesterday. After watching her struggle and nearly choke three times, Toni decided that maybe liquid medicine would be a better choice. She pulled out a few more items such as a new box of tissues, thermometer, and a little bag of cough drops. Each item put a new twinkle of curiosity in Cheryl's sunken eyes, as if being sick for the first time was some kind of adventure.

"Oh, I got you this too," Toni pulled a red stuffed bear out of the bag with a smile, handing it to her.

Cheryl's eyes lit up even more as she cuddled the bear to her chest, nuzzling into its fluffy red fur. "Toni, it is not Christmas yet, I am not supposed to get gifts early."

Toni chuckled as she repeated the rule that she'd told her multiple times back to her. She'd explained the concept of Christmas to Cheryl a few weeks ago. And while she wasn't religious, she still liked to participate in some of the seasonal traditions. They'd gone out to look at lit up houses and picked out a real tree that currently resided in the corner of the living room dressed in lights, tinsel, and a mix of new and old ornaments.

"We are bringing the tree from outside to live with us?" Cheryl asked curiously, albeit very confused. She didn't understand why they could bring a tree in from outside, but Toni wouldn't let her bring in the raccoon she had met by the mailbox a few weeks ago.

"Just for a little while. We're gonna decorate it and make it look pretty," Toni explained as the employee at the tree farm strapped the seven six foot Douglas-Fir to the roof of her car, "And then after Christmas, we'll put all the decorations in storage until next year."

"The tree will go in storage too?" the redhead's forehead wrinkled in confusion as she clung to Toni's arm. Humans had such strange traditions, though she didn't find them any less fascinating.