Spring Day

fourteen

chapter one hundred and two ~ the one with the realisation
Joey's POV

Snow was falling from the clouds, leaving a perfect white blanket on the ground because no one had trailed through the snow yet. It was peaceful. The air was chilly as it was still winter and there was a cool breeze that flew through the air, biting at noses and stinging fingers. The sun was slowly rising as dawn had only just begun, and apart from the occasional noise of birds chirping, the scene was silent. The trees were bare, with icicles hanging from their branches and the leaves were buried under the blankets of snow, waiting to be treaded through. Waiting to be crunched under big heavy snow boots. It was a beautiful time of year, where the world stood peaceful for once and there was nothing that could disrupt the serenity of the setting; well apart from the screams of two children as they ran through the once undisrupted snow, leaving behind fresh footprints on the once serene landscape.

"Get back here!" A man shouted, carrying a snowball in each hand as he raced after the children.

He raised his first snowball and managed to hit the closest child on the back, not stopping them from running but increasing the volume of screams as he continued to run. The man began running through the snow, catching up to the children, with one snowball in his hand and threw it as far as he could, missing the first child by an inch. Deciding that snowballs were not going to get him far, he raced to match the speed of the younger child; leaning down and collecting the boy in his arms. The little boy squealed as his feet were lifted off the ground, firm hands holding him tightly as he was spun around in the air. The man relished in the excitement, the fun that he was having with his child and couldn't imagine a better feeling than this. Then he felt something cold hit his back, he carefully put his younger son on the ground and turned around, seeing the older son with a smirk on his face, proud that his snowball had hit his target.

Chaos resumed as the man chased after the elder son, trying to keep up with his speed and being spurred on by the giggles that echoed through the garden. The younger son raced behind them, desperate to stay involved with the action and laughing as he watched his Father pick up his older brother, dangling him upside down and threatening to drop him head-first into the cold snow. The man chuckled as he held up his eldest son, dangling him by his feet and tried to shake off the younger one, who had wrapped himself around his legs. Nothing could beat this moment; this was all he had ever wanted and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to be in the position that he was in right now. Nothing could ruin this moment, nothing could take away the life that he had been granted, until they heard the back door opening and someone shouting across the garden.

"Come inside and get warm!" The women cupped her mouth so that they could hear her. "Everyone will be here soon!"

Dropping the elder son in the snow, the man lifted up the younger son and carried him into the house; laughing as the older boy got up and tried to push past him as they dashed to get back inside. Once they had stepped into the house, warmth flooded their systems and they pulled off their thick coats, wiping the snow off their shoes before making their way into the beautifully decorated home. The dinner table had been laid for several guests that would be arriving any time soon, their friends, also known as their family that came by every single year. A tradition that had been going on for a while now. The man chased the boys to the bottom of the stairs, making sure that they ran up to get changed into something warmer; but getting distracted by his beautiful wife, who was busy getting the presents in perfect order under the tree for all the children to open that afternoon.