After breakfast, Anima immediately began cleaning off the table. Luina was quick to jump in and help, but he shot that idea down right away. He couldn’t let his pregnant wife work in the cold kitchen.
“It’s okay, let me handle the dishes. I’m good at washing things. Which reminds me, leave the laundry to me too.”
“I’d feel bad if I had you do all the work.”
“Don’t worry about it; I could do this all day. The most important thing right now is that you relax.”
Myuke strongly nodded.
“I’ll have those dishes sparkling clean in a flash!”
“I do sparkly too!”
“I’m glad my sisters are so reliable, m’kay? Gives me time to chat with Mommy.”
“You should help out around the house too.”
“But it’s cold, m’kay...?”
“C’mon, chop chop. All of us gotta help with the chores or we’ll never get to play in the snow.”
“All right, all right.” Myuke’s excitement must have rubbed off on her, as she reluctantly got up and joined Myuke. “Just tell me what to do, m’kay?”
“Help Marie carry the laundry to the well, okay?”
“Lessgo, Brum!”
Marie was dying to go outside. She’d been brimming with excitement since the night before when Myuke had introduced the idea of playing in the snow to her tiny world.
“Marie, make sure that Bram stays with you and helps.”
“You stay, Brum!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m staying, m’kay?”
Marie took Bram’s hand and dragged her toward the dressing room, which was where they kept the laundry. In the meantime, Anima and Myuke made their way into the kitchen and opened the back door.
“Wooow! It’s beautiful!”
Myuke was completely spellbound by the smooth layer of twinkling snow. Unable to contain herself, she started running through the garden, the snow crunching below her feet as it preserved each step. When Anima followed after her, he sank ankle-deep into the snow. The sun was shining brightly enough to make him squint, yet the weather was still quite cold. It seemed to him that the snow was going to hang around for a while.
“Ah, look!” Myuke shouted. “The bucket’s full of snow!”
“So it is. Try turning it upside down.”
She flipped the bucket over, gave it a couple whacks, then slowly lifted it up. Doing so left a perfect, bucket-shaped clump of snow on the ground. After taking a good look at the result of her hard work, she proudly glanced at Anima.
“Look! A baby snowman!”
“It’s very cute.”
“It’ll be even cuter once I make the eyes and arms!”
“I can’t wait to see it. But first, let’s go wash the dishes. Then your sisters can come out and play with you.”
Anima drew water while watching Myuke stick her finger into the snowman to make its eyes. He then dampened the washcloth, and the two of them started doing the dishes.
“So mush white! Wooow!”
“Whoa! I gotta admit, this is breathtaking, m’kay?!”
Marie and Bram voiced their excitement as they stepped outside. They were wearing warm clothes and matching scarves.
“Daddy, Myukey! Snow! Lossa snow!”
Marie merrily trotted through the yard. Following behind her, Bram carried the basket of dirty laundry. Dressed warmly and completely taken aback by the wintry wonderland, neither of them so much as noticed the cold air.
“The roof’s completely covered too, m’kay? Ooh, did you make this, Myuke?”
“Iss cute!”
“Right?! It’s a snowman! If you think this is cool, just wait till I actually put in some effort into building one!”
“I build ’nowman too!”
“I’ll show you how to build them once we’re done with the chores.”
“I’m more excited about the snowball fight, m’kay?”
Even though the chores were nowhere near done, the girls were itching to play. Anima didn’t mind, though; he could finish washing the dishes and doing the laundry on his own.
“Let me take care of the chores. You girls go play.”
“But...”
“It’s okay; I love doing the dishes. How about you make it up to me by promising to wash my back tonight?”
Figuring that it would rid them of any sense of guilt, Anima gave the girls a way to pay him back. Myuke put on a beaming smile, telling him that his plan had worked like a charm, and the three of them began running happily through the snow, carefree as birds.
“Lossa foo’pints!”
“Aww, yours are so small. It’s adorable.”
“Hey, watch this, m’kay?! Nyah! Look how deep I sank!”
“Crazy that you were inside shivering just a few minutes ago.”
“I can’t feel the cold anymore, m’kay?”
“Just make sure you don’t catch a cold.”
“I’m fine! Running around’ll keep me warm, m’kay?”
The girls’ excited chirps made Anima want to join them, but he still had work to do. After finishing with the dishes, he moved on to doing the laundry. The heavier clothes didn’t need to be washed often, and letting them air out in the sun on occasion was enough to keep them feeling fresh for the most part. Thinner garments, however, had to be washed almost daily. Despite the cold weather outside, it was easy to work up a sweat in the warmth of the dining room, which would get underwear and other delicates dirty very quickly. The thin fabric required extra care to avoid any accidental tears too. He wasn’t good at meticulous jobs like that, but he did his best at it because he knew it would make his family happy. Doing it for their smiles took all the tedium out of the work. More than that, though...
“I can draw with my footprints, m’kay?”
“Wow, that’s actually not bad.”
“Me too! I wanna daw too!”
...listening to the girls’ lively chatter gave him all the power he needed to finish his task.
“All right, the laundry is done,” he said and glanced at the girls with a sense of accomplishment. The three of them were busy collecting snow, then tossing it into the air. They were creating artificial snowfall. “Make sure the snow doesn’t get into your clothes!”
After warning the girls to be careful, he picked up the laundry basket and made his way inside. He entered the dining room through the kitchen, where he found Luina peacefully snoozing at the table. He quietly passed his sleeping wife, but the wooden floor suddenly let out a loud creak.
“Nmhhh... Are you finished with the laundry?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Thank you. You must be cold; let me make you a cup of warm milk.”
“I’m okay. Let’s save the warm milk for after the girls are finished playing.”
“They’re loving the snow. I can hear their voices from in here.”
“Are you lonely?”
“I really want to play with them, but I can’t fool around in the snow while I’m pregnant. It’s not just my health I’d be putting at risk.”
Anima hugged his melancholic wife.
“The next time we have a day like this, be it next year, the year after, or a decade from now, I promise we’ll play all day in the snow together like the happy family we are.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” She looked into Anima’s eyes with a gentle smile as their daughters’ lively voices seeped in through the windows. “Thank you; I feel much better now. I’ll bring the laundry back; you should go out and look after the girls. We don’t want them to wander off into the forest.”
Hunters worked hard to keep monsters out of the town, but the forest was still dangerous. It wasn’t outlandish to think that excited children would wander off to explore their familiar surroundings painted in a new light either. They would likely be okay, especially with Bram and her Jade Dragon stone by their side, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Make sure you don’t catch a cold.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” he reassured Luina, then headed outside.