Salty

Twenty-Four | Hot Chocolate & Plaid

⚠️ Sexual Content

Twenty-Four | Ollie

After two hours of nonstop sledding, laughter, and just sharing time with one another, I talked Sloan into heading back to the house. I had to admit; I wasn't ready to end our fun either, but nightfall was fast approaching, and with no sunlight to keep us warm, the cold won.

Of all the muscle aches, bumps and bruises I had from a day of sledding down the hills of my family's farm, my face ached the most. I couldn't remember the last time I had smiled and laughed so hard. Sloan's playfulness in the snow was intoxicating. My sides even hurt from laughing so hard, especially from when I watched Sloan go down the hill for the first time by herself. I cursed myself for not having my phone to capture the moment, but knew I would have lost it in the snow from having to catch her at the bottom. Sloan made it easy to ignore the other two that were out there with us, but I'd be lying if I said I could ignore Mikah and Shelby completely. The day had been a bigger improvement than I had felt in a long time, though—today I wasn't wishing Shelby was laughing with me. Instead, I wished she wasn't there at all.

"I'm freezing!" Sloan's body shivered against the palm I had placed on her lower back as we entered the house. "So worth it!"

My lips curled upwards as Sloan rambled on about how much fun she had and how, by the end, she loved going off large bumps and almost crashing. I knew that was half the fun, reliving my childhood days on the farm, but it also saddened me to know Sloan had never experienced a childhood like mine.

"How was it?" Mom greeted us in the mudroom, enthusiastic for all the details. "I could hear you all laughing from the kitchen."

"Amazing!" Sloan answered excitedly. "Who knew snow could be so fun?"

Literally everyone, I thought.

Sloan pulled the knit cap off, making her brown hair turn into static chaos atop her head, causing me to chuckle while kicking off snow boots. The wet slush at my feet absorbed into my socks, making them even wetter and colder.

"I'm so glad you had fun!" Mom cooed as she retrieved two paper bags with handles from the floor. "And I hope you don't mind, but I got you a little something for tonight." Her hand danced as she spoke—something I knew my mother did when nervous. "It's a tradition around here, and Ollie hasn't been home for it in a while. I couldn't resist."

I knew what was going to be in the bags. Acting like a child, I began groaning, about to throw a tantrum because my mother was embarrassing. It had been years since I had done this.

"Ma, please don't make us wear those."

"Wear what?" Sloan peeked into the bag. I knew already that Sloan was going to love this. She would likely love any holiday festivity that my mother threw at her.

"Well..." Mom's hands waved flamboyantly again. "We do this thing where we all wear matching pajamas, drink hot chocolate and watch holiday movies on Christmas Eve." My mother caught my eyes and grinned with reddened cheeks. "It's silly..."

Sloan's glossed over eyes told me exactly what I already knew... she loved this idea.

"That is a beautiful tradition." Sloan smiled at the red and green plaid in her hands, blinking back tears.

I took the matching bag from my mother and stopped my tantrum. For Sloan, I would wear the damn matching pajamas. Even if I never liked the tradition.

"I will let you two get changed, then." Mom beamed with my surrender. "I'm going to go talk Shelby and Mikah into wearing theirs. Mikah is just as hardheaded."