Though it felt pathetic to leave mediation to the little Marie, her shout was definitely effective. She had once again silenced her bickering sisters. Anima quickly got between the two of them and tried to calm their emotions.
“Look, Myuke, I got everything you asked for. Once you two make up, we can build a new snowman, okay?”
“Thanks, but I’m good. Bram’s just gonna destroy it again.”
“Why’re you so stuck on that?! I finally came out in the freezing cold, but you’re ruining the whole day for me, m’kay?!”
“Good, then just go inside! Coop up in bed like you always do!”
“That’s exactly what I’m gonna do! I don’t wanna play with you anymore, m’kay?!”
Anima watched as Bram stormed back into the house. His anxiety was building at an alarming rate, as he had never seen the two of them argue before. He would have liked to help mediate the problem, but siding with one of the girls would inadvertently hurt the other. Beyond that fundamentally flawed method, he had no idea how to go about solving the situation.
They’ll make up soon. I hope...
According to Luina, such quarrels were a daily occurrence back when the house was full of children from different walks of life. Whenever she talked about those days, there was a sense of longing in her voice, which suggested that the kids had always made up sooner or later.
Myuke and Bram had a very good relationship. They’d never gotten into such an intense argument before, but small back-and-forths were a part of their everyday life, and those always reached quick resolutions. That wasn’t likely to change even with a bigger dispute.
“I make ’nowman!”
Marie interrupted his train of thought with a cheerful coo.
“Let’s build one together!”
“No! I build! You watch!”
She made a snowball with her tiny hands, then put it down on the ground and started rolling it. Slowly but surely, it plumped itself up.
“Wow, that’s a very nice body. Don’t you think, Myuke?”
“Yeah, sure. Mine was great too, though...”
While Anima pondered whether he should try to keep the conversation going, Marie stopped in her tracks and crouched down. She gathered another handful of snow, kneaded it into a ball, and started rolling it. After a minute or so, it was ready.
“Daddy, top!”
“Of course!”
He gently picked up the plump snowball and set it on top of the snowman’s body. Marie picked up the pebbles and sticks Anima had collected and used them to decorate the snowman.
“Done!”
“That’s a really cute snowman.”
“Thanks! I maked it for Myukey!”
Marie built that snowman to cheer Myuke up, but her act of kindness only tore at Myuke’s soul. Guilt was written all over her face.
“Thanks... We should build a wall around it so it doesn’t get destroyed.”
“Brum won’t! It wassa ashident!”
“Maybe, but... I’ll make a wall anyway. I don’t want the wind to knock it over.”
Myuke crouched down and started working on her wall. She had been having a lot of fun earlier in the morning; her cheerful voice had reached all the way into the kitchen. Watching her work in complete silence without even the slightest sign of a smile tugged at Anima’s heartstrings. Snow like this didn’t come often, so he wanted to make sure that she and Bram made up and made the most of it before it melted.
“You must be getting cold by now, and I’m sure Luina misses you. Why don’t we take a break?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
“I thirssy!”
Anima made his way back inside with the two girls. When they opened the door, they were welcomed by a sweet aroma. Luina was standing in the kitchen, watching a pot of milk as it sat over a flame.
“Are you cold?” Anima asked her.
“If anything, the steam coming up into my face is making me hot. The milk is just about ready; would you help me carry it to the dining room?”
“Of course. We’ll bring everything in; you girls should wait at the table. We’ll be there in just a minute.”
“’Kaaay! Lessgo, Myukey!”
Reacting to Marie’s tugs, Myuke dragged her feet all the way into the dining room. As they made their way over, Anima turned toward Luina.
“Is Bram in there?”
“Yes, she’s at the table moping. I assume they had a fight.”
She seemed to have pieced together what had happened based on Bram’s grumbling. Not wanting to trouble his wife, Anima put on a confident look.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure they make up.”
“Okay. I trust you,” she answered with a smile.
Her trust in him, and her extensive experience with quarrels between kids, calmed his nerves a bit. Everything was going to be okay; all he had to do was to get the others to follow Luina’s lead and show their beautiful smiles.
With a cup of hot milk in hand, he swore that he’d make things right between the two of them.