"The bears and I will be best friends," she replied with absolute confidence, rolling over to start on another angel. "We'll have tea parties."
Sierra had found a particularly deep drift near the tree line and was attempting to burrow into it like a snow animal.
"A little help here!" came her muffled voice from inside the snow cave she was creating.
Connor was already walking over with a fond gaze to pull her out.
Estelle was lying on her back nearby, moving her arms and legs to create what had to be the tenth snow angel of the morning.
Every few seconds, she'd pop up, examine her work critically, then flop back down to make adjustments.
"Perfectionist," Jax observed with fond amusement, watching her obsess over the symmetry of her snow angel's wings.
"Says the man who spent two hours yesterday making sure his Santa cookie was perfect,” Connor pointed out when he’d successfully freed Sierra.
"That's different. That's attention to detail. Very important quality."
"Uh-huh." Connor's tone suggested he wasn't buying it.
I leaned against the porch railing, feeling that familiar contentment settle over me as I watched the chaos unfold.
This was what made everything else worth it. All the darkness, all the violence, all the blood on our hands... it was all justified if it meant protecting moments like this.
"You know what I still can't get over?" I said, taking another sip of coffee. "Last night. The fact that they had the exact same plan we did."
Jax nearly choked on his drink. “Don’t remind me. It’s too cold out here.”
Connor snorted. "They've been spending too much time around us. They're starting to think like us."
"Scary thought," I shivered with a grin. "Three more chaos gremlins loose in the world."
"Speaking of chaos," Jax nodded toward where Sierra had finally given up on her snow cave and was now pelting Estelle with snowballs, "should we be worried about the fact that our girls are apparently as devious as we are?"
"Nah," I replied without hesitation. "Just means they can keep up."
The morning air was crisp enough to make our breath visible, but the sun was climbing higher, warming the snow-covered deck where we stood.
Icicles hung from the roof like crystal daggers, occasionally releasing drops of water that landed with tiny plops in the snow below.
“Really,” Connor stated, his voice taking on that note of surprise, “I did not expect last night.”
Jax shook his head. "I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Estelle in that getup in the fuckingsnow.”
"Please," I scoffed. "You loved every second of it. We all did. Our girls, dressed like naked presents, running through the snow? It was like every fantasy we've ever had rolled into one."
"The ski masks were a nice touch, too," Connor admitted quietly. "Added to the whole... ambiance."
"Ambiance," I repeated, grinning. "Listen to Mr. Grinch over here."
"Fuck off."
It was the kind of casual banter we'd perfected over years of friendship, light insults that made us grin.
We'd been through too much together, seen too much of each other's darkness, to just be boring all the time.
"The real question," Jax breathed, settling more comfortably against the porch post, "is whether we're more impressive predators or they're more impressive prey."
"Oh, definitely us," I answered immediately. “Isla nearly ran in circles around the SUV before I had her. We all know they wanted to be caught."
