Work Text:
Simon
I'm sitting on the sofa with Baz's legs in my lap. Swithin is on his lap, so we're one big stack. The twins are piled up on the the sofa on my other side. We're watching our third holiday special of the morning. I haven't seen most of them, and they're all absolutely bizarre. I'm laughing at how weird the animation is. The kids are laughing at the jokes. Baz is laughing at how enamored I am with the whole thing.
Agatha never liked these. Even when we were just little kids ourselves.
Mordelia has been wandering in and out. She always brings us more snacks when she comes to sit for a few minutes.
"If you two are trying to get all the way back to London this evening, you should head out soon," Daphne says, "It's supposed to snow all afternoon."
"We'll head out after this one, mum. Simon likes the Miser Brothers."
"The plot doesn't make any sense, but they're great," I say.
"You've been great with them," Daphne says, gesturing to the twins.
"They're fun," I say. They remind me of myself and Baz when we first got to Watford. Constantly at each other's throats.
We hug the kids goodbye. Sophie and Petra hang from my wings. I laugh, even as Daphne and Mr. Grimm scold them. Daphne hugs us too and gives Baz a kiss on the cheek. "You're too tall, Basil," she says. He chuckles.
I drive to Lady Ruth's house. It starts snowing about halfway there. "Are you alright to drive in this?" Baz asks.
"I've driven in snow before," I say, although this is a little harder than the last time. And last time was in January. "I'll be fine."
Baz smiles and puts his hand on my knee while I drive. The countryside is beautiful in the snow.
Lady Ruth has cooked for twenty even though its just the four of us. She's also knitted matching sweaters. Baz's is a wine red. I think that might be his favorite color. Either that or the navy blue Lady Ruth has knitted the design with.
Mine is the opposite: navy blue with a deep red design.
Jamie's is dark green. Lady Ruth's is a creamy white. They all have dragons on them.
"These are fantastic, Gran!" I say.
"Oh, good. I hoped you boys would like them."
"It's cozy," Baz says softly. He's always soft around the holidays, and this is his first time having Christmas with Lady Ruth. She's cozy where his family is elegant. I think Baz likes being cozy. He likes hot cocoa and Christmas cookies. He likes sitting by the fire while his siblings open their gifts from Father Christmas.
We make a dent in the food, even though it is just the four of us. Everything is delicious. We eat a full Christmas meal for lunch.
"What did you two get up to this morning?" Lady Ruth asks.
"Sophie and Petra got up around six and got us up with them," Baz says.
"They opened their gifts, then we watched old holiday specials. Roudolph, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and The Miser Brother's Christmas," I say.
"What did you think of those?" Jamie asks, laughing.
"I thought they were brilliant!"
"He really did," Baz says, chuckling.
"You haven't seen any of the really good ones, have you Simon?" Lady Ruth asks.
"Like what?"
"It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th street, the original How the Grinch Stole Chritsmas!"
"Are we going to spend all day watching films?" Baz asks.
"Why not?" I ask. "We're spending the night anyway."
Lady Ruth pops popcorn and we all settle in on her ancient sofas. They don't wobble for me anymore. They don't wobble for Baz if he's holding my hand.
I think It's a Wonderful Life is my favorite holiday film. I like stories about how much people matter.
We eat another full Christmas meal for dinner. I eat enough of it that I can barely get up the stairs. Baz puts an arm around my shoulder and helps me up when it's time for bed.
We strip down to our pants. I wrap a wing around him.
"I missed this last night," Baz says into my chest.
"You're the one who insists we wear pajamas."
"My sisters wake us up!"
"They see me shirtless all the time anyway," I say. That's true. They come with us to Watford sometimes in the summer.
Baz
It snowed all night, just as heavy as it started. There must be eight inches out there.
We have leftover Christmas for breakfast. It's just as good as the first time: all grease and eggs. Simon makes me a mug of butcher shop blood. I make him a mug of tea with too much sugar.
Then we sit in the sitting room with Jamie and Lady Ruth and admire the snow.
"Your mum and I built the best snowman one Christmas," Jamie says to Simon. "Two stories tall! Your mum had to spell the hat up."
"But she didn't think to make it bigger!" Lady Ruth laughs. "Just a regular hat on a snowball half the size of a car."
"There was a hill on the grounds in Hampshire," I say, surprised I remember this as well as I do. "My mother took me sledding there for the first time the Christmas before she died." I remember screaming the first time, then demanding to do it again.
"What's your favorite thing to do in this much snow?" Lady Ruth turns to Simon. He looks at his feet. He's wearing dark blue socks with snowflakes on them. They match his sweater. He's wearing it again today.
"I don't know."
Lady Ruth looks like she's going to say something, but Simon stops her.
"It's alright. I lived in London until I was eleven. There wasn't really a place to play in the snow. And then I was too old."
Lady Ruth and Jamie try to mirror his easy smile. They do a poor job.
"No you're not," I declare. I stand up and pull Simon to his feet.
"I'm not what?" he laughs.
"Too old. Get your coat."
The second he's dressed for it, I pull him out the door.
"Baz! It's freezing!"
"That's the point, Snow!" I make a snowball. It's not that cold. Its the kind of cold that makes the snow stick together in whatever shape you push it into. I throw my snowball at his chest.
I notice Simon doesn't have gloves. I'll have to get on that for when I take him sledding. For now, I cast "Bundle up!" on my own hands, then take the gloves off and pass them to Simon.
He glances at me before he bends down to make his own snowball. Then he hits me squarely on the shoulder with it.
"I'll get you for that!" I make three more snowballs in quick succession, then miss him with two of them.
"Wait!" Simon shouts before I can start making more. "I want a system of defense."
"Like a shield?"
"Like a fort."
We make forts on either end of Lady Ruth's garden. His is a mess, but he's sculpted a window into it. I went inside to get a loaf tin so I could make mine out of snowy bricks, just like I used to with Fiona.
Simon says we have to meet in the middle and go over the rules.
"First to five hits wins. No lying about if I've hit you. Even if I win too quickly."
"Fair. Winner gets a dramatic kiss in the snow."
"From the loser? So no matter what we get a dramatic snow kiss?"
"Yes."
He kisses me on the cheek. "Fair."
He runs back to his fort and starts counting down.
He wins too quickly. I have terrible aim, and he uses his little window to fire at me without exposing himself. He cackles like a demon every time he hits me.
Is this the best day of my life? There are so many contenders. But it definitely makes the list.
"Now what?" Simon says when we're both out of breath and laughing.
"I owe you a dramatic snow kiss." I wrap my arms around him and press our lips together. He's warm, flushed red from being outside for so long.
"That's a good prize," he says. I kiss him again.
Simon
"Do you want to head in?"
"Can we do more?" I ask. This is brilliant. Baz has a look on his face that I haven't seen in a decade. He's cocky and a little silly, even if part of him is trying to stay put together. He's playful.
"You're not cold?" He's so soft I can barely look at him.
"Not cold enough to go in."
"I'll make you cold enough!" he laughs, and picks me up. He drops me in a pile of snow next to the fence. I grab at his scarf and pull him down with me.
"We should make a snowman."
"Do you think Lady Ruth owns a top hat?" Baz asks.
We tear through the house, only stopping so Baz can spell our shoes dry. "Gran! I need a top hat!" I shout while Baz finds a carrot in the fridge. I feel like I'm in primary school, but only the good parts. This is what snow days are like on American television.
"There's one in my closet," Lady Ruth says. "The blue hat box."
"Thanks!" I race up the stairs to find it.
Baz shows me how to make a snowball bigger, then sets me on the bottom one while he starts on the second one. Jamie joins us after fifteen minutes or so. "I'll start on the head then?" he says. "Basil, you've better be ready to levitate that hat."
We're assembling when Lady Ruth brings us cocoa on the porch.
"That looks fantastic, boys!" she says, looking around at the three of us. I'm beaming. She's also brought us buttons the size of saucers. I look down the street in both directions.
"Baz, spell my coat so I can fly."
"Why on earth-"
"I see the perfect arms about halfway up the tree."
Baz gives in. He's giving me that soft look that tells me he'd give in to anything.
Baz
I'd give him the world today. I levitate my mobile and put the camera on a timer so we can take a picture with "Arthur," as Simon has named our creation.
"I might be cold enough to go in," he admits after we have the photo.
"One more thing," I insist, and drag him back to the garden. I lie down on my back and nod at the space next to me. "Since your wings are out, we have to make snow angels."
He's seen enough Christmas films to know this one. He flaps his wings instead of moving his arms. It makes an incredible snow angel.
Then we go inside. Lady Ruth has more cocoa and cake left over from yesterday.
"What's your favorite, Simon?" Lady Ruth asks.
"All of it," Simon says, looking right at me.
"I'm taking you sledding tomorrow," I decide. "I'll find us a good hill." Snow will be a fiend for sledding. I can already hear him laughing like a maniac.
We eat our cake and drink our cocoa. Simon sits next to me on Lady Ruth's terrible sofa and puts his arm around me.
I nod at Lady Ruth. We did it. Mission accomplished. Simon got the kind of Christmas he should have gotten when he was eight. I think he enjoyed it just as much.
I lean in to kiss him. It's nothing Lady Ruth hasn't seen before.
"Happy Christmas, Simon," I say, just before our lips meet.
"The happiest one," Simon says. He smiles the whole time I kiss him, and keeps smiling after.