Page 56 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas

“Thank you,” I said softly, my mind beginning to slip away on one of its tangents.

I wasn’t a skinny girl—not by a long shot—and I had been that way ever since I turned nine and needed a training bra. From then until sixteen, my parents or other members had restricted my food intake. I’d never taken more than a few bites before my plate was taken away and I was told I’d had enough.

But I saw no judgment in Remy’s eyes. In fact, he seemed downright happy to make sure I had food for later. It was such a little thing, and yet it felt soniceto be taken care of like it wasn’t an inconvenience. Almost like it was second-nature.

“No worries.”

And for once, that might have actually been true.

The boost from that interaction was enough to rejuvenate me for about ten more minutes of heavy socialization, but I was relieved when Remy showed up again with a tin container covered with more foil. He handled the goodbyes for me while I bundled up, then we headed back outside.

I wasn’t a huge lover of the cold, but the bite of it was refreshing against my cheeks and forehead as we stepped out of those impressive main doors. How such a giant building could be socozyand warm was beyond me.

If I had to guess, I would say it was the good food and the people inside. But hey, I was no expert.

“You ready to see the playground?” Remy asked, his hands in the pocket of his light jacket. It always amazed me how little he needed to bundle up, but a lot of guys ran hot. And I did indeed find Remy quitehot.

If he wasn’t looking directly at me, I would have rolled my eyes at myself. But as it were, I gave him an affirmative nod, and we tromped over the thin layer of snow. It wasn’t enough to make snow angels or our own personal Frosty, but it was much better than the sludgy brown patches left in the city where plows had once made giant white mountains in empty parking lots.

Neither of us said much as we strolled, but that was perfectly fine with me. There had been too much talking packed into a relatively short amount of time. I was pretty sure that we had been gone less than an hour, so my ratio of conversation to time elapsed was pretty horrific.

However, it wasn’tthatlong before I began to hear children’s laughter, bright and sharp against the crisp air. It really was a pleasant sound, and kind of made me feel like I was walking into a Hallmark movie.

I probably should have known better.

Instead of a picturesque, saccharine sweet scene of the kids laughing and playing with Christmas spirit dancing in their eyes, we came across a war zone. The children had divided themselves into two fronts on either side of the playground, using a combination of sleds and large sticks to give themselves cover from the onslaught of snowballs they were whaling at each other.

Right, not enough precipitation for bringing a snow golem back to life, but apparently just enough for children to engineer projectiles to throw.

“Mon dieu!”Remy said, and I couldn’t help but agree.

“Surrender now!”

“You’ll never take me alive!”

“You’re gonna run out of snow eventually!”

“No fair!”

“You throw like a girl!”

“I am a girl!”

It was a cacophony of calls back and forth, with only about half of them audible. If I wasn’t so surprised, I probably would have laughed.

Which was exactly what Ana was doing from where she was perched all the way on top of the jungle gym, sitting cross-legged like it was a natural perch. Honestly, I didn’t know whether to be more impressed with her core strength for holding herselfsteady, or the fact that she wasn’t scared of the height like I would be. I had strong legs, but that didn’t mean I wanted to test it by climbing on top of a structure about three times my height.

“Hey there, y’all!” She beamed and suddenly pitched forward. I let out a yelp, my hands covering my mouth, but it turned out that maybe I overreacted just aweebit. She caught a bar below her, spun around it like a gymnast at the Olympics, then landed in front of me with a flourish.

What the—and I truly meant this with all the fervor I could muster—fuck?

“How was the cabin? I see you got your grub!”

“Delicious,” I muttered, still trying to comprehend the impressive display of athleticism. It must have been par for the course for the muscled woman, because Remy seemed completely nonplussed.

“Figured you might want to break,” he said. “Go get some fixin’s and maybe some time to yourself while Jeannie and I watch the kids.”

“I wouldn’t mind some food, but ya sure? As you can see, negotiations have failed, and we’re now in a truly fraught round of conflict between those who believe crunchy peanut butter is best, and those who argue smooth.”