“Correction,” I say, scooping snow into a neat ball, “they were never on your team to begin with.”
I launch it—perfect hit, straight to the front of his coat. The thud echoes, followed by his stunned silence.
Rose whoops. “Direct hit!”
Theo cheers like it’s the Olympics. Elise falls over laughing, rolling in the snow.
Damien stares down at the small white patch on his chest, then up at me with mock menace. “Oh, it’s on now.”
I duck behind the old oak tree, motioning the kids to follow. “Alright, team,” I whisper, crouching down. “We hit him in waves. Rose, flank from the left. Theo, you and Elise cover the front. He’s big but slow.”
“I heard that!” Damien yells from somewhere behind the snowman.
I grin. “He’s also loud.”
Theo tosses a snowball that misses by a mile, but the effort counts. Rose gets closer, darting between bushes, her coatflashing red. Damien retaliates, lobbing a snowball that bursts harmlessly against the tree behind me. Snow dusts my hair.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have done that,” I murmur, grinning like a wolf.
I scoop, pack, and throw. This one hits his shoulder—another clean shot. Damien stumbles back, laughing. “You’re ruthless!”
“Compliment accepted!” I shout.
Then he moves—fast, for someone his size. Before I can reload, he crosses the distance between us in three strides, scoops me clean off my feet, and spins me around. I shriek, kicking uselessly as he hoists me over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
“Got the general!” he crows. “Surrender or your leader gets it!”
The kids erupt in protest. Rose gasps dramatically. “Put Mommy down, Papa!”
Theo readies his arsenal. “Attack!”
Elise squeals, flinging handfuls of snow that barely reach his knees.
Penny’s laughter rings out from the porch. “No mercy!” she shouts, waving her sign like a flag.
Damien tries to shield himself, still laughing. “You wouldn’t dare hit your Papa!”
Rose hits him square in the hat, knocking it sideways despite the glue keeping it firmly on his forehead. Elise throws snow at his legs until he starts to wobble. I’m half laughing, half breathless, yelling, “Traitors! Don’t hit the hostage!”
“It’s war!” Theo declares, followed by a deep battlecry.
I’m laughing so hard my sides ache. Damien drops to his knees, still holding me but using me as a shield now. “I surrender! Team Mom wins! Team Mom always wins!”
Theo and Rose dive onto him anyway, tackling both of us into the snow. Elise plops down on top like the cherry on asundae, clapping her mittens together. The pile of us collapses into laughter and tangled limbs.
Damien’s breath is warm against my shoulder. “This is mutiny,” he says between gasps.
“This is justice,” I counter, brushing snow from my hair.
From the porch, Penny holds up her sign again, laughing so hard she nearly drops it. “Team Mom forever!”
The front door bangs open, and Cast steps out onto the porch, his voice carrying easily over the chaos. “Alright,mijos!The elves have filled up the stockings!”
The announcement stops everything. Even Damien, mid-laugh, freezes as all four kids turn toward him with wide, sparkling eyes.
“Stockings?” Rose whispers, like it’s sacred.
Theo’s jaw drops. “Already?”
