“Nope. Consider it a Christmas gift.”
She snorts and lightly traces a circle on my shirt. “A gift for what? Almost knocking you unconscious twice?”
“For existing,” I say without thinking.
She pauses.
I feel her breath hitch just a little. Just enough to know she heard me in a way that is more than playful.
She lifts her head, gives me a slow smile, and whispers,
“That is a pretty good gift, Heaven. One I will not take for granted.”
I tighten my arm around her and press my lips to her temple.
“Yeah,” I murmur. “It is.”
We stand there for a long moment, watching the lights dance across the snow, pretending neither of us notices our hands tightening together a little more each second.
Because maybe… just maybe…
Today does not have to be the end.
Being snowed in for the holidays is not bad at all.