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“It’s an angel,” John cried, then dropped down to do the same. Danielle fell down next to him and began making her own.
“Very nice,” Wade said and Anna looked over to see him standing there with his arms crossed, obviously getting cold.
Daringly, she remembered the snowball still in her hand and before he could react, she threw it at him and watched it explode on the side of his head. His reaction was so funny, she wished she could have laughed.
“Why you little,” he muttered, giving her an angry glare. Then noticing the look on her face, bent down and snatched a handful of snow himself.
Anna’s eyes went huge and she turned quickly on her heel and ran. She heard the children behind her yelling. “Run, Peter, Run!”
Anna glanced over her shoulder and realized Wade was a lot closer than she thought. Picking up her feet, she attempted to run faster, but the oversized boots caused her to trip and landed face down in the sno
w.
“That’s what you get for thinking you could outrun me,” Wade growled in her ear as he hoisted her up from around the waist and flipped her onto her back. But when she looked up into his face, she saw laughter shining in the back of his eyes. Anna felt her heart skip a beat. Her hand automatically came up to cover her chest, but Wade must have thought she had other intentions because he snatched it in his grip. In one swift move he had also grabbed her other hand and raised them both high over her head. “Now see how fast you can run.”
The position had brought him laying nearly outstretched across Anna’s entire body. She could feel every sweet spot where his large frame touched. Above her his breathing coincided with her own as their chests lay flat against each other. His face was so close all she had to do was lift her chin slightly and she would be able to brush her lips against his. Automatically, her eyes drifted down to his mouth.
His smile vanished instantly.
Danielle and John appeared suddenly, leaping on top of their uncle’s back. She heard his small groan and realized it was not the children’s unexpected weight that caused it, but the forced closeness of their bodies. He attempted to shift the lower portion of his body, but this only resulted in the forced rubbing of their pelvises. Wade let out a guttural sound that was part growl, part moan but the children thought the situation only funnier.
“Danielle, John,” he spat out over his shoulder. “Get off Uncle Wade. We’re squishing Anna.”
But Danielle wiggled higher up her uncle’s back to his shoulders laughing even harder. “Who’s Anna?”
Wade’s eyes met Anna’s, then and in one swift heave he went up on all four. The children squealed, but clung desperately to his neck. Anna would have given anything to wrap her arms around that large robust neck as well. Instead, she scrambled out from beneath him.
The children had taken full ownership of him at that point and she watched with delight as he broke out into laughter himself as the children took him down. The three of them fell in a heap back onto the snow.
“We’ve got him Peter!” John cried with excitement. “Come on.”
Anna smiled and wrapped her arms around her midriff. What she wouldn’t give to climb back on the human mountain, but instead she stood back and watched as the trio rolled around in the snow laughing and having fun. All at once, she felt the outsider she was and took a step back.
“Oh no,” Wade exclaimed with mock alarm. “I think Peter is trying to escape.”
Both children’s heads came up and looked over at her. “Get him, Uncle Wade.”
He hesitated, his eyes searching out hers with a devilish gleam, before he crawled out of his niece and nephew’s arms. The thrill was suddenly back on for Anna, and she turned and ran for the house. She heard the children’s laughter dodging her before she felt her body completely lifted off the ground and tossed over a very broad shoulder.
“Time to go in, children,” Wade stated, marching off toward the house, careless of the fact that she was hanging upside down over his shoulder. “I believe there is a turkey to be cooked.”
* * *
When Wade entered the house he had Anna hanging over his shoulder, Danielle swinging from his left arm, and John clinging to his right leg. The children’s laughter erupted the otherwise quiet house, drawing Kathleen and John from the great room to see what all the commotion was about.
“Wade!” his sister declared, her eyes bulging nearly out of her head at the sight of the girl dangling from his shoulder. “What on earth are you doing? Put her down.”
He obliged his sister as she plied away the small fingers of her children from his body. Giving her backside a tug, he pulled Anna off and watched her face as she caught her balance. It was flushed bright red and he wasn’t sure if it was from the position she had been in or being caught in such a position. Her eyes, he noticed however, were still gleaming.
Danielle corrected, breaking into giggles. “Him.”
Kathleen looked down at her daughter puzzled. “What are you talking about, Danielle?”
“You called Peter a her.”
She looked shocked, not having realized her mistake. Wade himself was having the same difficulty. “Of course, how silly. Him.”
Kathleen bent down and began to unwrap her youngest out of his wet clothing. “Who’s Anna, Mother?”
