Chapter Twenty-Seven
REFLECTION
-- December --
After months of travelling continental Europe, Amy and Matthew ended their incredibly rewarding four-month holiday in the countryside of England.
Their holiday had brought them, if possible, closer together than they had ever been before; any tension that remained following Amy’s suicide attempt had been dissolved, and they now both looked forward to the birth of their first child in the New Year. They were both doting parents-to-be, completely absorbed in the miracle of their situation.
On Christmas morning, Amy woke early to satisfy her craving for pretzels – something she could only do when Matthew was not watching over her shoulder disapprovingly. As she stood in the small kitchen of the holiday cottage, she noticed a strange effect happening through the windows. The dawn light was a musky blue-grey, and after a moment’s confusion, Amy suddenly registered that it was snowing. Even after experiencing a dozen beautiful white Christmases with Matthew in the USA, the occasion still left her awestruck.
Amy raced back to the bedroom where Matthew was still sleeping soundly, shielding himself with the many blankets from the freezing cold. She did not consider his desire for rest.
“Matt! Wake up! You have to come and see this!” she rushed with excitement, shaking Matthew awake.
He woke groggily, and shortly afterwards, began to panic.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” he asked, looking around for any signs of trouble.
“You have to see for yourself,” she said, ignoring his concern, and then raced back out to the living room, trusting that Matthew would follow.
He did so, but as he saw Amy standing safely before the easternmost window, his panic subsided. He approached Amy from behind, wrapping his warm arms around her chest, hugging her tightly.
“Look!” Amy said in awe. “It’s snowing! Right outside the window.”
To Matthew, snow on Christmas Day was not an extraordinary occurrence – it was extraordinary if it didn’t snow. But Amy, having grown up in Australia with Christmas in the middle of hot summers, snow was something to be excited about.
“Merry Christmas,” Matthew whispered into Amy’s ear, before lightly kissing her neck.
“Merry Christmas,” Amy agreed, leaning back into the warmth of Matthew’s arms. They remained like this, silent, for a few moments, until a thought came to Amy’s mind.
“Shall we build a snowman?”
Matthew hesitated – snowman building would mean going out into the wet and cold snow, leaving behind the warmth of the cottage – but eventually agreed to Amy’s excitement.
“Put a coat on first, please,” he said as Amy began rushing towards the front door. He took their two coats off the nearby hooks, handing one to Amy. As they walked out into the bitterly cold morning air, they resembled a pair of Michelin men.
They began work on building a snowman together right outside the living room window. But after Amy insisted that Matthew’s technique was utterly wrong, she began to work on a second snowman right beside his.
YOU ARE READING
Recovering Amy (Amy, #2)
Romance“You’re mine,” it told her in her dreams, “you don’t deserve happiness”. She would wake up screaming most nights, crying, begging for forgiveness that no one dared to offer her. She was sorry – she didn’t mean for anything quite so terrible to happe...
