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 Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:10 pm
Quote: Prompt 11 (Snowball Mini-Game Tie In): What would winter be without snowball fights? Maybe you were just out walking, maybe you were looking for trouble, maybe it was all your idea--but a snowball fight has started, and you're in the middle of it. Are you an innocent bystander who now has to flee? Do you decide to join in and participate? Or, were you the one lying in wait, preparing to attack someone? Maybe it was random, maybe the target was selected--either way, snow is flying and you need to react, fast.
They were at the park one cold December day a week before Christmas — an excuse to get out of the house together without having to deal with any of the crowds clogging the stores. It meant bundling all the kids up against the snowy weather, but they needed an outlet for all that energy anyway. Out here, they could run around to their heart's content and interact with other kids who weren’t their own siblings.
Unfortunately, even when the magical phenomena was at its most harmless or at a minimum, someone in Destiny City always had to cause trouble. Today, that apparently came in the form of a snowball fight.
The worst part was, Paris couldn’t be sure one of her kids didn’t start it.
“I don’t know where she gets all that energy from,” Paris muttered to Chris. At least they could stay out of it for the most part, sitting on a bench together with steaming cups of hot chocolate.
Elsie was their youngest at almost three; she sat in the snow a couple of feet away making a snowman, blonde curls poking out of her winter hat. Henry, Abby’s twin by birth but Chris’s twin in looks, tailed after Abigail but showed more caution in doing so, only throwing snowballs at his sister instead of engaging anyone else.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:46 pm
Chris laughed, obviously amused by the sudden turn of events. The snowball fight seemed harmless enough, although he was sure to keep an eye on his and Paris's children while also watching the others throwing snow.
"As long as she's using her powers for good," Chris muttered jokingly in response. He held his hot chocolate in one hand and had his other arm around Paris's shoulders, tucking her against his side to fight off the cold.
They had been lucky so far in that their children were relatively uninvolved with the magical nonsense that took place in the city. Living on the outskirts of the city helped, and keeping a low profile over the last few years as they focused more on the children meant less of a chance for the Negaverse to cross their path.
"Mom said she'd like to have us over by noon on Christmas. Did your mom ever tell you what her plans were?" Chris asked, absently but gently tugging on some of Paris's hair as it rested over her shoulder.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 3:43 pm
Paris huffed out a laugh but soon frowned and watched the twins more carefully for a few moments.
Did she want any of her kids to suddenly come into magical powers? Hell no. But she wouldn’t be surprised if it happened, considering nearly everyone in her family was involved somehow, or so it seemed. Luckily, she had a feeling her kids were too young for it. How old had Peter been when he became Oberon? Ten? Eleven? Hopefully they still had a good five or six years before they had to worry about Abby and Henry then.
For now, Paris just kept them away from as many talking cats as possible.
“Mom never has any plans, haven’t you learned that by now?” Paris said goodnaturedly, settling closer as she sipped her hot chocolate. “She’ll show up whenever Momma tells her to, probably with Rhiannon and Lilah, unless Cal has Lilah with his family this year. I forget. Mom does whatever Momma wants her to do, because it means she doesn’t have to cook or worry about any holiday stuff except for presents and making sure Lilah still believes in Santa.”
Paris paused and threw a cautious glance at Elsie, who didn’t seem to notice there’d been a comment alluding to Santa Claus not being real.
“Speaking of which,” Paris continued, lowering her voice conspiratorially, “I was thinking of letting the kids set up a hidden camera to try and catch Santa in the act. How do you feel about dressing up? Or maybe your dad would be better at it…”
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 5:23 pm
"Not a bad way to get through life," Chris said with a small shrug, the tone of his voice sounding impressed that Marissa figured things like that out, although he was also clearly joking. He also did what his mother told him to do, and life was easier as a result. Sometimes he felt guilty that his mother did so much work for everyone else, but she seemed to enjoy it.
"Mom still jokes about adopting your mom, but that would be super weird. And I'm not always sure she's joking…" It would mean Paris was both her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, which was just… yeah no that wouldn't work.
Talk of Santa also had Chris glancing cautiously over at Elsie, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to them, focused on her snowman instead.
"Definitely gotta be dad," Chris laughed softly as he sipped at his hot chocolate and kept an eye on the twins hurling snowballs at each other… and others in Abby's case.
"How much do you want to bet that he already has a costume?" Sure, his father didn't get to be around much when he and his brothers were growing up, thanks to his career, but he seemed quite invested in his grandchildren, which was definitely a good thing.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:00 pm
“Now that you mention it, I think Momma mentioned something about a Santa costume,” Paris said, tilting her head to smile up at Chris. “It might be what gave me the idea.”
Sometimes it still felt weird to be sitting here like this, snuggled up with her husband while watching over their children and discussing silly little things to make those children happy over the holidays. A decade ago, Paris’s life hadn’t been anything like this. She hadn’t known Chris yet. She was still lost and confused about herself. She wasn’t a Senshi yet, though she would soon become aware of the strange things that tended to happen in Destiny City. That first battle in the snow seemed so long ago now. So much had happened since then.
Even now, she didn’t often feel settled. Her life was certainly different, and had vastly improved in many ways, but the war remained ever-present, always lingering in the back of her mind even during moments like this.
Especially during moments like this. Chris and their family were what Paris fought for. Without them, she had very little to motivate her, just a sense of duty and obligation that didn’t always satisfy her.
“I love you,” she said.
She said it several times a day, every chance she got, in case something happened and she couldn’t ever say it again. She never wanted Chris to forget.
He had before, to an extent.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:06 am
Chris laughed softly when Paris mentioned his mother already having a costume, thinking it sounded very much like his parents to already have everything prepared like that, on the off chance they would need it.
He didn't hesitate when Paris spoke again, and quickly leaned close to kiss her, his arm tightening around her shoulders for the duration. Her nose and cheeks were cold, but her lips were warm and tasted like chocolate. A decade ago they hadn't even met, but Chris couldn't imagine his life without her. And now couldn't imagine life without their children either.
"I love you, too," he smiled when he pulled back, then grinned wider. "Remember when we met and didn't bother exchanging phone numbers?" They'd talked about this before, of course. But sometimes Chris liked to recall how crazy they'd been to just leave everything up to chance and fate.
"I don't know why you stayed with me, sometimes. I was kind of a jerk back then," he admitted and cringed, recalling a few times he hadn't been the most supportive. To the point where his own mother seemed she would rather Paris be her daughter than Chris her son.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:16 pm
Paris’s adoring expression shifted into an exaggerated wince.
“I didn’t ask for your number because I wasn’t looking for a relationship,” she teased. “What’s your excuse?”
It was a rhetorical question, not one she needed an answer to. She knew enough about Chris’s dating history before her to know that his reasoning was much the same as hers had been. Neither of them were all that interested in dating anyone the night they first met, even if they’d been attracted to one another.
Plus, Chris had been way out of her league back then. She would have felt like an idiot asking for his number. What would she have done with it?
As for why she stayed with him…
“You were young,” she said, like they weren’t still young; twenty-six and twenty-eight meant they were hardly old. Paris shrugged. She never held any of Chris’s past behavior against him. “We were both stupid and made mistakes.”
Sometimes, thinking they were fated to be together was reassuring. Other times, Paris hated the idea. They put a lot of work into their relationship over the years. It wasn’t easy. Paris didn’t think it was meant to be. Blaming any of it on fate seemed to cheapen it.
But now, with all the old memories she had, there were times when fate seemed like a pretty good explanation.
“Daddy, look!” Elsie’s sweet little voice broke through Paris’s thoughts. Their youngest daughter flopped back into the snow and flailed her arms and legs around. “An angel!”
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:13 pm
Both stupid and made mistakes, indeed. Chris felt as though Paris was letting him off too easily, but he knew it was better not to argue with his wife. It made things easier that way. Just like not arguing with his mother made things easier too.
Elsie's voice drew his attention, and he couldn't stop the smile from spreading over his face. Carefully he pulled himself away from Paris, but finished the last of his hot chocolate and tossed the cup in the nearby trash can when he stood up.
"You're right! There is an angel!" Chris laughed, waiting until Elsie seemed to be done with waving her arms in the snow before scooping her up into his arms. "Right here!" he grinned and gave her a kiss on her rosy cheeks.
"Me too! Pick me up too!" Abby wailed, realizing daddy had just gotten up to play with them.
Chris cast a glance over to Paris for help, knowing he was in over his head with both Elsie and the twins vying for attention.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 7:09 pm
It made Paris’s heart melt to see Chris with their kids. For a while, after Chris lost his memories, she hadn’t even been sure this would work out. To forget so much, only to realize you were married with twins on the way… it was a lot to expect from anyone.
But now the twins were five, and they already had a third baby, who would be three just after Christmas. Elsie clung to Chris — a perpetual Daddy’s Girl with Paris’s blonde curls and blue-green eyes, giggling as he kissed her cheeks. Abby, hopping around at Chris’s feet, begging to be lifted into his arms, had Chris’s eyes and golden hair like Chris’s mother.
Henry followed, quieter than his twin, but with a mischievous glint in his eyes that rivaled Abby at her worst. He was Chris in miniature, and gravitated toward Paris, joining her on the bench in an attempt to seem innocent.
When Abby had her back turned, Henry threw a sizable ball of snow at the back of her head.
Elsie laughed hysterically, safe from the mayhem in Chris’s arms. Though Paris knew she should probably discourage any and all antagonistic behavior, she found herself laughing, too. It was rare that Henry actually acted out, and Abby could give as good as she got anyway.
“Got you!” Henry cheered, looking pleased with himself.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 8:22 pm
"Henry!" Abby shrieked when she got hit with the snowball, and immediately put her arms in the air and stomped her feet to be picked up, well practiced crocodile tears already forming.
Unable to resist, Chris bent down to scoop up his eldest daughter after making sure Elsie was hanging on tight.
"You're getting snow all over me," he laughed, dramatically shaking the snow from his hair so he sprayed it over the two little girls.
This was what they were supposed to live for. This was also something not everyone could experience while the war was still ongoing. He knew that one day, if something didn't happen to end it, his children might end up living in a world controlled by the Negaverse.
He didn't want to think of it, but he knew it was a very real possibility.
But for now, he leaned down enough to let both Abby and Elsie, if she wanted, scoop up some snow into their hands so they could lob their poorly made snowballs at Henry and Mommy.
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