(A/N: Temperature communicated in Celsius. They’re Canadian after all)
How do you overdress on a snow day? It should be impossible. Yet parked in front of a children’s playground, Hunter feels completely overdressed. All he’d worn was a winter jacket with some jeans. But he was a man who enjoyed layering so the gloves seemed like a good idea. But he also saw a spot of neck peeking out from his pompous fur-lined Root’s coat so he wrapped a scarf around it as well.
But watching the children run around the park–a strange thing for an adult man to be thinking–Hunter looked as layered up as any other child there. Despite not having an overprotective mom dressing him. It was embarrassing and a little demoralizing. But River and Melodie were already standing off to the side, looking around for Hunter’s tall frame, so he had to do this.
Hunter stepped out of the car and raised his hand to wave. Then, at the last second, he tore off his scarf and threw it into the car.
“Hunter!”
Hearing his name, Hunter’s stomach fell. He was caught red-handed. Of course someone noticed his frantic outfit modification and called him out on it. Yet, when he turned around, everything made a lot more sense.
A pink blur was running into his stomach.
Melodie’s hug was incredibly tight despite having to squeeze through down feathers, a sweater, and two shirts. Hunter crouched down to hug her as best as he could and by the time she let go, he was eye level with the small human.
“Are you going to play with us?” She asked, slightly out of breath. Remembering how far away her and River stood when Hunter spotted them last, it made sense she was tired after sprinting over to his car.
“Yes I am,” he grinned. Hunter unconsciously straightened her hat, making sure it covered her dark brown ears. “I want you to show me all the games you know.”
“I don’t think we have enough time for that,” she retorted with her kid brow quirked up high. “But I’ll try.”
Hunter started walking the 6 year old back to the park and River met them halfway. They saw each other most weekdays and had almost reached a double digit number of kisses–Hunter was anal about keeping count–but this greeting felt especially awkward. Hugging a man you were romantically interested in front of his child felt oddly intimate. As if feeling the same way, River settled for a zero contact wave.
“I’m glad you could make it.”
“I’m glad to be here,” Hunter earnestly replied. He’d once again questioned if he could actually forgo work for an afternoon play date, but River’s stoney expression the first time he said no wouldn’t leave Hunter’s mind. And the department leads were unfazed by the extra tasks. So here he was, over bundled and being dragged through the snow by someone half his height.
Hunter eyed the playground structure and braced himself for the embarrassment that would come from two grown men trying to invade the jungle gym. But Melodie skirted right past the cute playground. She walked them deeper into the park, plowing through the snow like a woman on a mission. When the children’s screaming was only a distant background noise, Melodie finally stopped.
“This is where we’ll play the games,” she announced proudly. Hunter looked to River but the older man was just sighing under his breath. Which didn’t seem like a good sign to Hunter.
Within minutes, Hunter came to regret his earlier words. Melodie was smart. Too smart to forget someone challenging her to recall every game she’d ever played. Since twenty years had passed since Hunter was the same age, he’d assumed that “all the games you know” meant tag and duck duck goose. Melodie was introducing games like Cat and Mouse and Alaskan Baseball–which they could barely complete with 3 people.
Weekly soccer games no longer seemed enough when Hunter was sprinting through Torontonian snow. Hunter’s luck was unbelievable. He’d grown concerned over the past several years, watching snow levels get lower and lower. Yet this year, the snow was almost overwhelming, a couple inches from Hunter’s knees and plenty deep for a small child.
Melodie was unfazed by the snow, giggling and screaming anytime she fell into its depths. That was probably how she never stopped moving and Hunter found it harder and harder to keep up. It was a truly embarrassing look for the man since River was often right behind him, laughing at his exhaustion.
“Help. Me.”
Hunter’s wheezed words came from the ground after his buckling knees pulled him into the snow. River stared at the younger man–cropped hair damp from exertion, cheeks bright red from the cold–and laughed.
“Nope!”
Toward the end of their play, Melodie introduced a game Hunter could get behind. Red light, green light: a simple game that allowed Hunter to move as much or as little as he wanted. Little was obviously his preferred option between the two.
Melodie rushed to cover as much ground as possible when River’s back was turned, treating the snow like olympic hurdles in the way of her gold medal. Hunter, on the other hand, just sat and watched. He was incredibly grateful for the break his lungs received.
“You’re it!”
The words zoomed past Hunter’s ear, said by a man running much faster than Hunter expected in freezing conditions. Hunter watched River jog to stop a few feet past him. He was a bit confused because Melodie wasn’t ahead of him. In fact, the little girl was just now running past Hunter, a gleeful smile on her face.
“Daddy, you were supposed to tag me because I was closer,” she explained. Her tone was so exacerbated, it seemed as if she had to explain such distinctions many times before.
“I’m sorry, Melodie,” River apologized, his eyes straying to Hunter’s shocked form. “I just thought Hunter would like to be it.”
Hunter glared recklessly at River who ignored his fiery gaze with a smile.
“That’s okay, Daddy. We all get confused.”
The younger man was certain Melodie found pleasure in bossing them around. She was far too happy to yell “Get in your positions!” when Hunter walked–not ran–towards the “stoplight” spot.
Hunter would admit that it was fun to see what pose they were frozen in everytime he said “Red light!” While Melodie considered herself a professional, she was always shaking when Hunter turned around. After the first time he saw it, Hunter just had to catch River’s eyes to realize that the little girl had an exclusive pass. So Hunter would turn back around and keep the game going.
A bony finger shoved Hunter hard enough to make him stumble and Hunter was certain that Melodie was too short to do it.
So he started to run. River had an enormous advantage being that he was the only other adult in the race. Yet, when Hunter reached out a hand to touch Melodie, River was in the way, grabbing at his chest and pulling him away.
“Hey! I was going to tag her!” Hunter laughed, untangling himself from River’s gloved hands.
“Well I just stopped you,” River chuckled in response. His eyes were cheeky, a daring addition to his soft smile. “What are you going to do about it?”
He fell into the snow with a quiet ‘oof’ when Hunter pushed him. Hunter followed him into the snow, just to see the look on his face when he realized what Hunter did. But the man wasn’t surprised. There was just a small smile and eyes that wouldn’t stop falling down to Hunter’s lips.
In -15 degree weather, surrounded by copious amounts of snow, all Hunter felt was heat. River’s ice cold fingers grabbed his upper thigh and dragged up. A visible cloud of breath carried the sound Hunter made. River’s eyes narrowed and Hunter swallowed deeply.
“River-“
“Dogpile!”
Melodie screamed happily as she jumped on top of the two men. Nothing Hunter experienced in the future could ever top the relief he felt in that moment. Relief that Melodie seemed to have no idea what her dad was doing only seconds before.
It wasn’t Melodie’s weight that made the dogpile unbearable. It was the feeling of her elbows and knees digging into Hunter’s back as she cackled joyously. Being a good friend to this child would not come at the expense of his vertebrae.
River noticed how Hunter’s face contorted in pain and used his dad voice to make Melodie get off.
Melodie was only six years old and Hunter was certain that her empathy shouldn’t be 100% loaded at this age. Yet, she understood two adults perfectly when she said.
“Let’s get hot cocoa!”
———————————
I honestly miss winters in Toronto. I can’t stand the cold but also want to fall into a heap of snow, right?
Anywho,
Check out my socials!
Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, or anything else you can do with this book and I will see you next Friday! Bye!!!
Comment