Let it Snow!

❄Twenty-Five❄

She could see the cooker and the fridge and all the kitchen cupboards, but it felt weird just making herself at home.

"Of course," Daniel said, appearing in the doorway from the other room, wearing a tracksuit instead of the jeans and jumper he had worn to school. "My trousers were wet from the snow, so I changed," he explained, making her realise again how well he could look after himself.

He really felt old for his age sometimes, and Nora wondered if it was entirely good for him. Maybe he needed a little help to enjoy life like the other children his age did, think a little less about the adults of his world, and feel a little less responsible. She would help him with that, she resolved.

"Great." She smiled at him. "Now why don't you show me where we can wash our hands, so we look in the fridge together and decide what to cook for lunch?"

"'Here!" he said, running across the room towards the window closest to the entrance, indicating a door half hidden by a long velvet curtain that Nora had not noticed at all.

It led to a semicircular bathroom fitted with, like the rest of the flat, antique-looking furniture.

"So what would you like to eat?" Nora asked Daniel as she followed him out of the bathroom and towards the fridge. "You are not allergic to anything I find inside, right?" She looked at him and nodded when he shook his head. Nora was sure that Adele or Martin would have told her if he was, but she wanted to be sure. "Do you like mushrooms?" She took a box of champignons and a pack of diced chicken breast from the glass shelves, setting them on the counter, followed by a carton of cream. "How about a chicken and mushroom pasta, ready in half an hour?"

"Sounds good!" Daniel beamed at her. "And after lunch, I'll show you my room."

"Deal," she agreed, filling a large pot with water and leaving it to boil while she peeled and cut the mushrooms.

After lunch, Daniel drifted to his Lego while Nora washed the dishes and moved the leftover sauce to a plastic container-- there was still more than enough for one person.

The snowfall had thinned a little and she could see the castle's most famous, golden thorn crown topped tower through the kitchen window, and far beyond, in the perfect whiteness at the edge of the forest, her cottage.

A phone rang somewhere while she was putting the dried pots and dishes away, and before she could locate it and decide if it was the case for her to respond, Daniel picked up, leaving the conversation on loudspeaker, his busy fingers full of Lego blocks.

"Hello?" he muttered, only half interested in whoever called.

"Daniel? I've been trying to call your father the entire morning, but he never picked up. How are you, buddy?"

"Uncle Eric!" Daniel called, sounding genuinely excited, making Nora's heart skip a beat. Uncle Eric? She had quite forgotten they were related... "When are you coming? You promised you would."

She could hear Eric laugh at the other end. His voice was quite different... How did he look now, after all these years?

"And so I will, but not just yet. A little closer to Christmas. I definitely won't miss the ball. Have you thought of our masks yet?"

"Not really, you?"

"No, but there's still time. We'll think of something at least as cool as last year." Daniel chuckled at whatever memory his uncle's words conjured up while Eric added, "So, may I speak to my big brother?"

"Daddy's not here," Daniel said, his fingers never stopping rearranging the colourful blocks, "He's with Victoria."

"Of course he is," Eric agreed on the other end of the line without surprise. "And what are you up to with Adele?"

Daniel shook his head as if his uncle could see him. "Adele's gone until January. I have a new au-pair."

"Do you, now? And is she as pretty as the one before Adele?"

Daniel giggled as if he had been expecting such a question from his uncle, and, his eyes meeting Nora's across the vast room, replied, "She's nicer and prettier. Her name is Nora. She lives in a cottage on the castle grounds."

Nora could feel a blush suffuse her cheeks. If Eric had not suffered permanent memory loss, he would know who the woman Daniel just described to him was. She turned towards the window to compose her features even as Daniel added, "But Daddy likes her. A lot."

She had to suppress a smile; it sounded nearly like a warning.

"Oh, I'm sure he does," Eric replied, sounding thoughtful. "Will you ask him to call me back when he gets home?"

"Sure. See you soon, Uncle."

Nora turned around to face Daniel again even as the conversation was cut after a "Bye, Daniel," reaching them from who knew where in the world.

Right, she thought, taking a deep breath. Eric was history. Even if she was to meet him during Christmas, it would not change the fact that he had not requited her love when she had cared about him. Now, she didn't care any longer.

"So... Do you want to show me your room, Daniel?" she proposed after she put the last plate away.