Ben snuffled into the pillow when he felt Rey climb out of bed that chilly December morning. He didn't bother with her. He knew she'd be back at his side before long. She never liked the cold, and the sleepy Sunday morning held nothing planned for them, so he was planning on catching up on some much needed sleep. His mind drifted back into a doze, barely registering the sound of their front door opening.

Suddenly, his back was splattered with cold.

"IT SNOWED!" Rey cried out, jumping on the bed.

Ben had shot up and was now tackling her to the bed. "That snow," he growled playfully, "stays outside." He noticed that her hair was frosted with snowflakes and little droplets clung to her eyelashes, mimicking the freckles over her nose, which was scrunched up from her mischievous giggles.

"I've never seen snow before!"

"That doesn't mean it gets to come in the house!" He grinned, kissing her freckles and then her cheeks and then her jaw.

"Come play with me in it, Ben!" She laughed, twisting her wrist expertly from his grasp to tickle his sensitive side.

He jerked away from her. "It's going to be like that?" He pulled her up as he got off the bed. "You're going to pay for pulling me into the cold." A draft caught his attention. "Did you leave the door open?"

She beamed and ducked under his arm to the closet. "I want to play in it!"

He smiled and left the bedroom to shut the door and start boiling water. "Dress warm!" He called. "You're going to get soaked."

"From what?" She peaked out the door at him.

"The snowballs, sweetheart." He flexed his back, trying to shake off the snow droplets.

She bit her lip at the sight of his muscular back, imagining warming up after the snow. She was reminded of her goal to go play in the snow as he turned the corner into their kitchen, and she dove back into the closet to pull on the warmest clothes she had.

The morning snow was wonderful. The flakes were large and slow and heavy, and the snow on the ground was fluffy and deep.

Watching her was a treat. Ben's favorite pastime was always watching Rey experience something new. He made a mental note to take her to the ballet as she started trying to make snowballs. He began making a wall of snow, vaguely circular in case she got it into her head that she wanted an igloo.

Children's shouts distracted them from their preparations, and the three little foster children from next door flooded into the street. Rey's eyes glinted at Ben, and she dashed over to lean on the low bush that separated their yards.

"Hi Rey!" The trio called in near unison, waving.

"You wanna have a snowball fight?" She beamed.

The girl, Arashell, bounded through the snow to bush. "You're on!"

"You're going down!" One boy, Oniho, shouted in his thick accent, already collecting an armful of snow.

The last boy, Temiri, looked at the sled in his hand before he tossed it back up to the porch. "Only if we go sledding after."

Rey's eyes lit up and she dashed back to Ben to whisper in his ear. He grinned and nodded. "We'll destroy you later. Let's sled."

"Wait, Ben! What if we got that big innertube from when we floated the river!"

The children perked up and came closer as Ben headed towards his truck.

"That would fit all of you on it."

"Yes! You three!" Rey called, opening their garage. "Come help me blow this up!"

"What are you doing?" Arashell asked as she ran around the bush and the boys hurtled over it.

"Ben's gonna pull us through the snow!"

"In the truck?" Temiri asked, trotting after Rey into the garage.

"Yeah! Pulling the tube!"

"Don't blow it up with your mouths!" Ben yelled as he got into the truck. "We've got the pumps! For the bikes!" He shut the car door and started up the big black truck.

Rey giggled and rolled her eyes.

The morning was spent with Ben speeding through the unplowed neighborhood streets with the three children and his wife squealing and laughing on the tube tied to the back of the truck. When they found themselves soaked and shivering and exhausted, Ben herded them all back into the house where he had pulled out all the hot cocoa and candy canes he had stashed, looking forward to Rey's first snow. He made sure each of them had a mug full of hot water, and Rey was helping the children get out of their wettest outer clothing so they didn't leave wet footprints throughout the house when Ben's phone rang.

He answered his mother's call, just checking in to see how they were doing. She had gotten snow where she was and was wondering if they had, too.

"Yeah, we did," he said with a chuckle, looking up at the collection of children who were now hurtling into the kitchen chased by an equally excited Rey. "Yeah Mom," he continued, "I took Rey and the neighbor kids sledding."

"Not like your father used to?"

"Just like Dad used to."

He smiled at his mother's exasperated laugh. "I'm glad you're happy."

That made Ben pause. He was happy. He was genuinely happy. He had his home. He had his wife whom he loved more than he knew he could. He had the neighbor children that continued to remind him that he might really want one with Rey of their very own. And he was happy. "I am, Mom. I really am."