Page 57 of A is for Aftercare

Archie grins. “My brothers and I did the same thing. We never played out all day in the snow, though.” He shivers. “Too cold.”

“Elsie and I never minded the cold. Last thing in the evening, we’d make snow angels. Then we’d come in and warm up in a bath before getting ready for bed. The simplicity of childhood. I can’t imagine spending days like that now.”

“Why not?”

“I’d feel like a daft old man.”

Archie snorts. “You’re not old.”

“Old enough that making snowmen and snow angels is a thing of the past. Anyway, enough about me. Where did you go on holiday?”

“The coast, mostly. My brothers and I would hunt for fossils. Believe it or not, I used to be a total dinosaur nerd.”

“I’m shocked,” I deadpan.

Archie laughs. “What gave it away? The glasses?”

“No, you like Disney movies.”

“What do Disney movies and dinosaurs have to do with each other?”

I shrug. “Nothing, really, but I’m still not surprised.”

“I bet you were into dinosaurs too.”

I suppress a smile. “Maybe.”

“My favourite dinosaur is Ichthyosaurus.”

"Ichthyosaurs were not dinosaurs," I grumble.

“I knew it!” Archie wrinkles his nose adorably. “You’re a dinosaur nerd too.”

“Was,” I correct.

“Sure, sure,” Archie says. “I believe you.”

I roll my eyes.

“Favourite dinosaur?” he asks.

“Dreadnoughtus.”

"Sauropod from the Late Cretaceous Epoch," Archie says knowledgeably. "Discovered in Argentina and believed to be the largest land animal that ever lived."

“I thought you said youusedto be a dinosaur nerd.”

“Okay, maybe I still am.”

I think that's the case, but it's certainly sweet watching him talk about dinosaurs. His eyes are bright. and he's very animated.

“You haven’t told me what your favourite dinosaur is,” I point out.

“From the largest to the smallest, my favourite is Microraptor.”

I snort. “That’s not a real dinosaur.”

"Yes, it is," Archie replies indignantly. "It was found in China and was only forty centimetres long. The archaeologists who found it thought it was probably an adult, making it the smallest dinosaur ever found. It was birdlike," he adds. "Similar teeth and hips, with feather impressions in the fossil."