Together Let's...

The rest of December and all of January were a little on the down-low for the couple. They hardly had any time to themselves, what with Jack needing to put in extra hours at work, both having to meet up with family and friends, and the spring semester at the college having started up once more.

Life had become hectic, to say the least, and even though the list remained in its place on the back of their bedroom door, it remained unattended.

That is, until Jack actually caught sight of the next ‘task’ was—build a snowman or fort. The snow had already started to melt, another few patches gone from their lawn each morning, and he knew that Alex wouldn’t want to skip around on the list. They were already more than half done as it was.

“Dimples, can you come up here for a sec?” he called out into the hallway. The only sound he received in response was the sound of footsteps thumping up the stairs.

“What’s up?” the younger boy asked as he leaned against the doorframe, his arms raising to cross over his chest.

“The next thing on the list,” Jack explained. A finger lifted to point out the paper, and then Alex was leaning around to look for whatever box had last been checked off. “If we put this off any longer, there’s not gonna be any snow left. How about we do that today, huh?”

Alex grinned and nodded his head as soon as he realized what was about to happen. He spoke a bit too animatedly as the pair got dressed into something a bit warmer, and then he all but skipped down the stairs and from the house with Jack in tow. Nothing, not even the cold air that assaulted his face, was going to put a damper on his mood.

“What do you wanna do? A snowman or a fort?” he question excitedly as his eyes roamed the yard in search of a decent mound of snow.

“Well, we’ve already built a fort. A snowman sounds nice… or, maybe a snowchild… I don’t think we’re gonna have enough to make a full man,” Jack replied. Alex gave out a quiet laugh, but other than that, no more words were said.

It didn’t take long for both men to roll three balls of snow together (even though Jack started a mini-snowball fight that ended with a kiss and handful of snow against his cheek), and Alex was quick to scamper inside in search of some clothing for their child while Jack went on a hunt for sticks and stones.

A scarf, snapback, some pebbles, and two sticks completed the assembly. Alex clapped his gloved hands together out of excitement, looking almost like a child while in the process. It was when Jack suggested that they ‘take a picture of their little family’ that the younger thought he was going to explode with joy.

He wasn’t sure if it was the fact that Jack didn’t seem opposed to the idea of a family with him—even if it was only a snowchild—or if it was the fact that he’d be able to show off his not-quite family, but the grin on his face as he aimed his phone’s camera at the three of them couldn’t have been matched… until Jack leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek as the shutter closed.

Jack almost wasn’t sure if the red that painted his partner’s cheek was due to the cold or not, but he liked to think he had something to do with it. He always wanted to be the only reason Alex had to blush.