Shark Bait [H.S.]

Chapter Eighteen.

There's just something so special about the first big snowfall of the year.

As I sit on my couch, knitting, with some cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background as the snow falls outside under the dim streetlights, I can't help but to feel blissfully happy.

I could spend all my time like this, separate from the world and reality, peaceful in my own little bubble. I know that's not possible though so I try to enjoy the very little time that I do get like this. Who knows when I'll get to do it again.

It's the first week of December and although fall is my favourite season, I'm impartial to the way the first fall of snow looks as it coats everything it manages to touch. It's so delicate and soft and it looks so pretty that you almost don't want to disrupt it – you don't want to ruin it.

I remember when I was a little girl, I'd beg my mother to take me to the park and let me play in the snow. I'd heard kids at school talking about building snowmen with their families and having snowball fights after dinner – both of which are things I craved to do but never got to.

I never had the proper clothes that allowed me to play in the snow at school either, knowing that if I showed up soaking wet at home I would just get in trouble. That fear was enough to have me staying away from the huge piles of white fluff.

Sometimes though, once my mother passed out on the couch, I'd sneak outside and play by myself on the sidewalk. I didn't know how to get to the park on my own and the dark used to scare me, so my safest bet was to play on the cement under the streetlights. I never stayed out too long though – I knew enough to know that we didn't live on the safest street in town – just enough to get a small taste of what other kids in my class experienced.

Christmas is my second favourite holiday which Jesse doesn't understand because I never celebrated it as a kid, but I think that's why I love it so much now – I've got my own family consisting of him to share it with and that's more than enough to make it special for me.

Even though he doesn't appreciate it the way I do, he always makes sure to make me feel happy about celebrating it. Our best memories consist of him showing up to my place at the ass crack of dawn, banging on my door as he impersonates Santa. He always knows how to make me laugh, it's one of the things I love the most about him.

I've spent my whole day off today decorating my apartment. I don't have many decorations, but I've got enough to make this place feel Christmassy. I put my tree up in the corner but I haven't decorated it yet because that's something Jesse and I always do together.

It's one of our traditions.

I rang him on his lunch break and he promised to stop by tomorrow morning before work. It's been a while since we've been able to fully hang out with Shark Bait taking up most of my time and Jesse getting more clients as the days go on because of his sheer talent. We've both just been so busy. I miss him though.