Rob's P.O.V.
Snow. Beautiful, pure, freezing- and I appreciated it much more after Lachlan joined me in Canada for winter, and his childish excitement for the stuff I had long grown tired of gave me a slightly different outlook on the things I knew. Being an Australian he really got snow, if at all, so this sort of thing made him incredibly excited, especially since it was also tied in with Christmas.
As the days progressed and the big day got closer Lachlan got visibly more excited, helping me decorate the house with tinsel and lights, making a bomb of pretty colours go off all over the place. I wasn't entirely sure why he was so enthusiastic about decorating considering he could do that at home but it was cute either way, seeing his childish excitement.
We had both decided to take a break of the period of Christmas and New Year's, no streaming, no recording, only uploaded pre-prepared videos so we could spend some time together.
"Lachy!" I called, shaking the frying pan in front of me as the chicken sizzled. "Dinner!"
I heard the pattering of his feet a moment later and he emerged from upstairs, one of my hoodies on and in only boxers other than that. His hair was a mess, rumpled, but he was grinning like an idiot and bouncing up and down.
"Smells good!" He chirped, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. "I'm hungry."
"Great because there's a lot of food here." I laughed, placing one hand on top of his, which was still resting around my waist. "I might have made a bit too much and considering we're gonna have so many leftovers in a few days."
"Oh yeah, Christmas." He mumbled a bit, his head now pressed into my back. "That's in less than a week, isn't it?"
"5 days." I smiled. "You've completely lost track of time, haven't you?"
"Mm, I never remember the date."
I turned around and kissed his forehead, gently nudging him out of the way as I pushed the chicken onto a plate.
"Maybe we should go and do something before Christmas." I mused. "Go out for an afternoon, go to the market or something?"
"We could go ice skating?" Lachlan said, sounding excited. "I haven't been since I was little."
"If you want to?"
"Yeah!" He cheered, perking up even more. "Let's go ice skating!"
"Alright, it's a plan then."
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The rink wasn't as busy as I had expected it would be, but then again it was only 7 in the morning, plus it was two days before Christmas. There were only a couple of others around, two who were clearly practised in the art of ice skating and were whizzing around with ease, and the three or four others were cling to the wall or taking a few first shaky steps towards the middle.
"Ready?" I asked as I helped him tie his ugly, dented, dark blue plastic skates, one hand squeezing my wrist. I could tell he was a little nervous but he was so excited, with everything decorated for Christmas and the cool morning air spiralling from our mouths in misty waves. He nodded.
"Ready." He said with a soft smile.
The second I helped him onto the ice it became immediately obvious that his balance was awful, and if he hadn't bowled himself over at least 12 times before the session ended then I would be mightily surprised. He clung to me tightly, eyes wide with surprise and fear, knees shaking.
"I can tell you haven't been for a while." I laughed, removing his hands from my elbows and instead holding his hands. "But you're still standing which is a start."
"I don't remember it being- being this hard!" He said, yelping as he jolted and clung to me tighter. "I could swear it was easier."
I only laughed now, but I understood. I knew what I was doing, living through 26 Canadian winters and going ice skating enough times to be confident enough to go backwards when surrounded by dozens of others, keep an eye out in case I backed into someone, all while helping a friend learn. Keeping one of his hands in mine the other moved to wrap around his waist, keeping him upright.
"Okay, I know you're going to think I'm crazy right now, but can you try and pick your feet up? Just start like you're trying to walk and I know it's not the proper way to learn, it's just to get you moving."
Lachlan nodded, his lips pinched tightly together. His face would have been white if the cold air hadn't made his nose and cheeks red with the cold. With slow, shaky and hesitant movements he picked up one foot, while I began to move backwards, and placed it down again.
"See, there you go! Moving on your own!" I said happily, glancing over my shoulder.
"Sti-still shaky." He said quietly, now lifting the other foot.
"But that doesn't matter. It'll take some time, but what matters is you've started."
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We stayed almost three hours, finally leaving when it got too crowded for me to teach Lachlan without worrying that I would run someone over. As I expected, he fell over more than a dozen times in that period of time and ended up covered in bruises on his knees and legs by the time we left, but what mattered to me was that he was smiling.
Lachlan even spent a little time skating without holding onto me, a few shaky steps before he swung back in my direction, and he was very proud of himself. I heard his sigh of relief as he pried his boot off his foot, massaging his foot gently- I knew the feeling because after three hours in skates my feet were aching too.
"That was fun!" Lachlan chirped as we got into the car, having limped his way over there. "Now it's time for Christmas!"
"Yes." I laughed. "Now it's time for Christmas. You're helping me cook by the way." Lachlan pouted for a moment.
"Fine..." He groaned.
"Thanks Lachy." I leaned across the centre console and pressed a kiss to his cheek, making him go red. "You're the best."
