Wynter of Contentment

This is my entry for the Winter Holiday Contest. Please feel free to read, vote, and/or comment. Thank you and Enjoy!

*

Brynn was sitting with her feet up on the couch. Her golden retriever sat at her feet, the cat lay on the back of the couch, and a mug of hot cocoa in her hand. She gazed out the window at the snow falling softly to the ground, covering it in a blanket of white. The dog suddenly got up and trotted down the hall. She sipped the cocoa, glanced at the clock on the wall in the adjoining kitchen, and looked up at the soft voiced "Mommy." Her young son, Trevor, was standing in front of her, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, Trev." She said, as she ruffled his curly hair.

"Is it Christmas yet?" His voice asked, hopeful. She smiled at him warmly.

"Not yet, a few more days. But, guess what?" He hunched his small shoulders and sighed.

"What?"

"It's snowing!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and swinging him in the air.

"It's snowing? For real. Mom you aren't fooling, are you?" He squirmed in her arms until she released him, and he ran down the hall whooping loudly, not waiting for her answer. The dog trotted after her boy. Brynn headed for the laundry room to put her snow gear on, which was likely what her son was doing, as well. She had just bought new ski pants that weekend for herself and a new winter coat for her son. Mice had made a cozy home out of their old winter wear, where it was stored in her shed. She tucked her blonde hair up into the alpaca fur trapper-hat, courtesy of her own small herd.

Trevor came out wearing his blue winter coat and super hero hat and one glove. He looked ready for playing and sledding. "Mom, do you think the 'pacas are OK in the snow?" He was obviously concerned for his fleece-y friends.

"I'm sure they are just fine. But we'll check on them and give them some extra hay." She looked at him.

"Trevor, where are your gloves?" She questioned.

"I could only find one of them." He looked down at the ground.

"The other one has to be around here. You should see if Gloria has it stuffed in her mouth behind her toy. You know how she's notorious for that."

"Note-or-iousaurus? Is that a type of dinosaur?" He asked her. She giggled.

"Notorious, it means "known." Gloria is known for hiding things in her mouth." She replied.

"Oh, good idea Mom. She was sniffing around in my room, just before." The dog came bounding over to them, tail wagging. Trevor grabbed a hold of the toy in her mouth.

"Drop it." He pointed to the floor. "Gloria drop the toy. Give me back my glove." The dog obeyed the boy, which was more than the woman could say for her.

"Nice, dog drool. Thanks a lot Glory!" Trevor wrinkled his nose up as he swung the glove around, hitting his mother in the face with the drool.

"You had to share, didn't you?" They laughed together, as Brynn slipped the semi-wet glove onto his hand. "There, all set now." She looked down at their feet and then at her son's hazel eyes. "Boots" They said together.

"Please tell me you know where your boots are."

"I know where my boots are, maybe." He gave her an impish grin. She swatted his backside and he hurried into the laundry room, tearing through laundry baskets, still brimming with clean clothes. "Found 'em." He hollered out to his Mom who was standing behind him. She was slipping on her own boots. They headed outside.

The yard looked like a winter wonderland. To Brynn, the untouched snow had an almost poetic quality. The earth was white and pristine. The word pure, came to her mind, the land sparkling in the morning sunlight. The snow covered trees bowed down with the weight of the snow and ice and looked like a haven to her. It reminded her of childhood, when life had been carefree. She would run out, make the first snow angel of the day, and then huddle beneath the snowy trees, just dreaming. To her eight-year-old boy, it had the quality of begging to be claimed. She chuckled, watching Trevor launch himself face first into a snow drift. He struggled to get himself upright and grinned at her.

"OK, now we can go feed the animals." He announced. She shook her head at him and they headed for the paddock, where her six Huacaya alpacas were kept. They looked a bit like llamas and rightly so, as they are cousins to each other. But rarely spit (except during mating). They truly were pack animals and followed the alpha female, their heads swiveling on their long necks, watching. They came rushing over to greet the pair. Their fur was curly and soft and resembled teddy-bears, in a variety of colors: brown, tan, cream, black, even a brown and white one.

They were gentle creatures, affectionate, easy to care for, and sweet. Not intimidated by children and not intimidating to children. While they had hooves, they were fur-lined, which made them light on their feet and no chance to be stomped upon, like with a horse. Brynn purchased them as a unique experience for her son and her, to raise them and care for them. But, she could make a lucrative breeding business out of it, one day if she wished. For now, they were part of the family.

Trevor unlatched the lock on the gate and waded in the snow towards them, as Brynn waded over to the storage shed for the hay. She had grabbed her shovel on the way to the pasture and got to work shoveling the snow away from the door. Once cleared, she reached in to tug off a cake from the large bale of hay. She handed the cake to her son. Trevor waded over to the run-in shed and tossed it inside. The youngest of the alpaca, "Opty" trotted up to him and butted him with its head, arching it's neck to be pet. Trevor obliged him and stroked the soft, cuddly fur. He was rewarded with a nibble on his coat. He scolded the alpaca, telling him no bite, checked each of the six, giving them each a quick pet, before returning to his mom.

"Did they have enough water?" She asked, latching the gate behind him. "Yup. They're good. OK, let's play!" Trevor shouted. Brynn turned into a snowball in her face.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that, buster." She shouted, as Trevor leaped away from her. "I'm going to get you!" She threatened, as she plodded through the snow after him. She caught him, with a gleam in her eye and grabbed for him. He tripped and landed back in the snow. She attacked and he shouted and kicked. They were both breathless.

"Let's make snow angels, Trevor."

"Snow angels are for girls!" He stuck his tongue out.

"They are not. Your father and I used to make snow angels all of the time." It was out before she could take the words back. She was so caught up in the moment, she didn't realize what she was saying. She sighed heavily.

"He did?" The boy asked her, wide-eyed. He thrust out his arms and legs, spread-eagle, and scissored them together. She looked down on him and saw shades of the boy who had stolen her heart. She gulped back a sob and plopped down beside her son to mimic his actions. She carefully stood up and pulled Trevor up too. He jumped over the snow angels, so they didn't get messed up.

"Let's make a snow man." That put the uncomfortable, where is my father, discussion to rest. Trevor knew the story, it didn't need telling again, in Brynn's mind. It was painful enough to have been so young, fallen so deeply in love, discovered a baby growing within her, and the boy she loved walk out of her life, before the baby was even born. Sometimes she had tragic romantic notions that they were happy and he loved her enough to stick around, for herself and for the baby...and something tragic happened. She knew it was wrong to think that, but it sometimes felt better that way.

"You get the head, I'll work on the middle. Then when we finish, we'll roll the bottom together." She instructed Trevor. Trevor picked up a handful of snow and began shaping it, adding snow as he went. Brynn did the same. "Trevor it seems that you might get your Christmas wish after all."

"Which one?" He asked her, pausing in his shaping.

"A White Christmas. I haven't had a White Christmas since I was little girl myself. It would be really awesome if we did have one." She considered it, excited at the possibility, herself. "Although, if we do have a White Christmas, that might make it hard to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner. Well, we'll just have to see." She completed the middle of the snow man.

"So, I think we did this opposite. We probably should have made the base first. Set the head down and come over here." They both knelt in the snow and gathered it between their hands. Then, together they started rolling it into a huge snowball. It grew, and grew, and grew until they had a decent sized bottom. "Let's roll it over to stand in front of the Blue Spruce tree. That way when I turn the Christmas lights on, they will glow on it."

"Mom, do you have an "old silk hat" we can put on his head?" Trevor asked, touching his thumb to his fingertips, to frame the snow man. "He looks a little lop-sided." Trevor started singing "Frosty the Snowman." She joined in.

"I don't have a silk hat, but I do have a cowboy hat inside. Would that work?" She asked, looking at the snow man too. "Hmm, come help me. I'm going to hold this side of the snow man. I want you to go around and shove at him with all your might. He won't topple, cause I'll be supporting him. OK? 1-2-3." Trevor pushed and pushed, until she told him to stop. They stepped back.

"Perfect!" He said, high-five-ing her.

"I'll run in and get the hat. You sit on the step and wait for me." She walked through the snow to the door and turned around.

"Mom, I'm not a baby." He was rolling his eyes. "I want to look for some sticks. Make sure you grab a carrot and maybe something for his mouth."

"I'm not suggesting you are a baby. The snow is deep and I want you to be careful." She frowned at him. Her ice blue eyes gave him "the look." "Please, I'll be just a minute."

"OK fine." He sighed and sat on the step, as she ran inside. As she tore through her closet looking for the cowboy hat, she reflected. Trevor was such a bright boy and very curious. She was so lucky to have him in her life. It hadn't always been easy. She was only eighteen when she had him. She was lucky to have her family's support, after the initial shock wore down. Her father and brother were wonderful male role models for her son and so she knew he would be fine in that area. But, he had begun asking more questions about his father and she had to be careful how much she told him. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to disappoint him either.

She had tried contacting him a few times in the last eight years, with no luck, or a cold shoulder. He was a CEO of a company and had no time or patience for his youthful mistakes (both Brynn and Trevor). He had gladly signed over any rights to the baby. Brynn felt secure in at least knowing her son was hers completely. There were no ugly custody battles and unfortunately, no child support either.

She had gone to Vet. Tech. School and became a veterinarian technician. She still dreamed of going back and completing her veterinarian certification, one day. She knew it would happen, this just wasn't the right time, yet. She had no success finding the cowboy hat, but did find her son's Optimus Prime mask. Trevor would be excited about that, she knew. She took a piece of red yarn from her basket. A basket that sat waiting for her to learn how to crochet. She grabbed a carrot and some M&M's on her way out, popping a few into her mouth, as she opened the door.

Trevor was not where she had left him, but was placing two very long sticks into the snow man's arm sockets, smiling sheepishly at her. He had also found a couple of acorns and was placing them on the front of the snow man, for buttons.

"I couldn't wait any longer, sorry." He said. When he saw the Transformers mask, his excitement overshadowed the retort that she had prepared to use on him and the minor scolding.

"Prime!" He exclaimed.

"I couldn't find the cowboy hat." Brynn explained.

"This is much better!" Trevor beamed at his mother. She hoisted him up on her knee so that he could place the mask over the snow man's head. It just barely fit. The snow man stood at about 6 ft.3 in. tall, about a foot taller than her. The phone was ringing from inside the house.

"I'll get it." Trevor volunteered, when she set him back on his feet.

"OK." She replied, surveying their work.

"Mom, can I go sledding with Tom's family? Pleaaase?" Trevor begged from the kitchen porch, even giving her puppy dog eyes. Tom was two years older than Trevor and also their neighbor. His parents, Sarah and Luke, were good friends of Brynn's. She was feeling a little emotional and knew a nap would do wonders for her. She didn't want Trevor to notice or be affected by her mood. She was trying her best to get into the holiday spirit for him.

"How will you get there?" She questioned.

"Luke is going to drive the snow mobile over and pick me up." Trevor wore a serious look on his face.

"Absolutely not! You may go over, but no snow mobile for you." Her voice rose.

"Haha, fooled you. Mom, I was kidding. He's going to drive over in his truck. He has chains on the wheels. It's safe. He said we aren't driving far, just down to the look out." Trevor supplied more information. Brynn sighed.

"Is Sarah going too?" Luke wasn't always the most responsible parent on the block, although he was certainly the most fun. She knew that Sarah grounded her husband and kept his ofttimes immaturity in check. If Sarah was going to be there, she'd feel better.

"Yup! She's bringing a tube." He raced back into the house to get ready.

"Trev, wait we have to finish the snow man." She yelled to him.

"You can finish him." He called back. She shook her head, lifted the mask up onto the ball of snow that was his head, and placed two of the green M&M's for his eyes, stuck the carrot in for a nose, and tried to put the red yarn up for his mouth. The yarn fell to the ground. She'd deal with the mouth issue later, she decided, as she heard the rumble of Luke's truck coming up the driveway.

"Brynn, sweetie, how are you?" The ever amiable Luke asked her, with a cheeky grin.

"I'll be much better once my son comes back to me, in one-piece." She gave him her infamous "look." Trevor tried to duck away.

"What?" Luke held his hands up in surrender. "I'm a responsible adult." She glared at him.

"Seriously, relax." Just then, Sarah stepped off the truck and came over, with Tom. She patted Brynn's back.

"He's responsible when he needs to be." She amended, jumping in to save her husband. "Right honey?"

"You got it." He grinned and ruffled the smaller boy's hair. "When I have to be. Now let's go sledding!" He yelled to the two boys.

Brynn gave her son a hug, made her neighbor's promise to keep him safe, and said a quick prayer to the angels to do the same. She turned her back, wincing at the screech of tires and went back into her warm house.

***

After discarding her outwear, Brynn walked into her bedroom to find something comfortable to wear. She chose a fleece pajama set. It had a powder blue background and was decorated in little snow men, interspersed with snow flakes. She slipped on her alpaca slippers her parents had gifted her with last Christmas, and grabbed her feather pillow off her waterbed. She padded back into the living room, where she flopped down on the couch, reaching for her mug of cocoa, which she had replenished when she was searching for snow-man features.

She picked up a time-travel, wintery romance novel and settled in for a nice relaxing read. After a chapter, she noticed her hands were freezing cold. She blew on them to warm them and grabbed the remote to the gas fire place off the table and pushed the on button. She smiled at the warm glow that was gathering in the stove.

"Much better." She said to herself. "Only thing that could top this is a warm body to snuggle against." She sighed again, something she had been doing more and more lately, she realized. She stared out the window at the snow man. He looked awfully silly with that mask on. He looked even sillier, almost creepy without a mouth, though. She was not going to be able to rest, until she fixed his mouth. She got up, threw her coat and gloves on and went outside.

"What else could I use?" She asked herself. The cup of M&M's lay beside the snow man. "Hmm...maybe." An idea struck her, picked up the cup and started separating all the red M&M's out from the rest. Once she had a handful of them, she placed them in an upward curve on the snow man's face. They were sticking! "Oh Brynn, this might just work." She patted herself on the back for her ingenuity and laughed out loud, as she gobbled up a handful of blue candies.

She stood up on her tiptoes and leaned her face close to the snow man while she tried to get the bow of the lips just right. Her nose bumped the carrot nose, as she tried to reach up and bring the Optimus Prime mask back down over the face. She wasn't tall enough though and had to drag over a bucket from the side of the house to stand on. She stood, balancing herself on the small bucket, and reached up. She just about had the mask over the face, when the bucket tipped and she felt herself falling. She grabbed the snow man around the middle to balance herself, smooshing her face against the cold snow. She closed her eyes, willing the bucket not to fly out from under her.

Something or someone caught her. She yiped as she felt arms tighten around her body and squeaked when she felt an extreme cold touch her lips.

"What the?" She blinked her eyes open and felt soft lips slide against hers. They tasted of chocolate. She was staring into green eyes, the impossible hue of green M&M's. She gulped, as the arms that held her, slid up her back and into her hair; shoving her winter hat off her head. The lips continued to explore her lips and she held herself away.

"Don't step back." Warm breath bathed her face, as he pulled away. Gone was the carrot nose, in its place resided an aquiline nose, the kind that Brynn always read about in romance novels. When she had looked up the meaning of it and learned it meant "hooked," as in a beak, she wasn't sure how attractive it would be. But, on this snowy man who held her and was moving in for another kiss, the small bump on the bridge of his nose and the slight bend looked damn sexy. She moved her arms up to encircle his neck. He wore an endearingly lop-sided smile.

"I'm dreaming. I fell asleep with the book in my lap and I imagined the main character into my dream." She reasoned with herself. A soft, male chuckle followed her words. "Or, maybe I hit my head. Yes, that's it, when I was standing on the bucket, it did fall, and I fell and smashed my head on something." The green eyes sparkled and the lips moved to kiss the corner of her mouth. "A-a concussion." She stammered.

"Does it really matter what or how it happened?" The tenor voice asked her.

"No." She replied, weakly. "Dreamy snow man." She whispered. "Don't stop kissing." He responded by kissing her with renewed fervor. She responded by moaning and parting her lips. His cold tongue slowly entered her mouth and touched hers. She swirled her tongue with his, slipping it back out again to run it along his upper lip.

"You taste like chocolate." She murmured, licking his other lip, sucking on it.

"The M&M's were a tasty touch, if I do say so myself. I'm glad you listened to my mind-speak." He replied, tilting and angling her head so he could deepen the kiss. With the exception of his arms, his body was still very snow-man-ish. But slowly, as the kisses heated up, the snow began to melt. The snow man lowered Brynn's feet to the ground. She looked down, seeing herself standing in a puddle, and looked back up into his eyes. She watched as the snow slid off of his body. She half expected him to melt away, leaving only a puddle in his wake. She watched in wonder. The snow melted, and revealed a body beneath. A naked body. A little thrill ran through her and she shivered at the sight before her. Her first thought was, he must be cold; her second was; it's my mission to warm the naked snow man up; her third thought was, she wanted him. Her body tingled where she hadn't felt tingles in a long time, save from the good vibrations she occasionally gave herself with her toys, (when her son was out of the house).