Chapter Four
“What type of cookies do you want to bake, sweetheart?” Daddy asked, pulling out mixing bowls.
“Gingerbread cookies! And afterwards, we can make them a house to live in!”
“All right.”
I sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter as he pulled out all of the ingredients that we would need. I patiently watched as he measured everything into measuring cups. Every time that he finished with one, he’d give to me and let me pour the contents into the big mixing bowl.
Up until a few months ago, he used to let me do the measuring, but finally, he said that more ingredients were getting on the floor than in the bowl, so he took over that task himself.
When everything was combined, he plugged in the electric mixer.
“Baby girl, I’m going to do the mixing this time. I don’t want cookie batter to go everywhere—the floor, the ceiling, your hair.”
I couldn’t help the smile that crossed my face at his teasing, which was valid considering what had happened the last time he let me use the mixer. I had mixed the cookies really well, except when I was done, I pulled the mixers out with the ‘on’ button still pressed down and batter went flying every which way. It was a huge mess, but it sure was delicious to clean up.
“Okay, Daddy.”
When he finished, he laid the dough out on the table and rolled it out until it was flat.
“Chloe, would you like to use the cookie cutter to cut out the gingerbread men?”
“Yes!”
I took the cutter and cut out a dozen little men as Daddy put them on three separate cookie sheets and slid them in the oven.
When he was busy with that, I rolled the excess dough into two little balls. When he turned back to me, I handed him one.
I loved cookie dough and have easily eaten both, but I wanted to share with my baking partner since he had worked hard to make the cookies too.
“You know that you aren’t supposed to be eating this, sweetie; it has raw eggs in it.”
“But it’s just a tiny bit. Please,” I begged.
He looked down at the cookie balls and said, “Well, since they are pretty tiny, all right. But we won’t be making a habit of this.”
“Yes, Sir,” I agreed, popping my small treat into my mouth. He did the same and sent me a small smile.
“When the cookies are baking, why don’t we get out what we’ll need to decorate the cookies and build a gingerbread house.”
“Yay!!”
I clapped my hands together as I raced to the cabinet where I knew the sprinkles, chocolate chips, licorice, and frosting were stored. Throwing the cabinets open, I grabbed what I wanted and carried them over to the kitchen table.
“How did you know where I kept the candy supplies?”
My cheeks heated up when I knew that admitting the truth might earn me a punishment. I didn’t want to get another spanking when I had just had two in the past day.
“Might I remind you, little girl, that lying will earn you a guaranteed spanking.”
Not wanting to risk it, I told him the truth.
“Sometimes, when my tummy really wants something sweet, I’ll sneak a piece of candy out of this cabinet. I’m sorry.” I turned my gaze to the floor, not wanting to look at the disappointment that was bound to be on his face.
I was feeling like a naughty baby girl today. I didn’t mean to keep breaking the rules. I only ate the candy when I really needed a piece of chocolate, like when I was on my period. I always craved sweet foods then. Hopefully, Daddy understood that, but I wasn’t sure if he would see it that way. He hadn’t the past two times.
His fingers gently captured my chin and lifted it up until our eyes met.
“Thank you for telling me the truth, sweetheart. I won’t be punishing you for this offense.”
“Really?”
I couldn’t believe that! I thought that he would have tanned my hide for sure. He was always so serious when it came to me consuming candy without permission.
“I’m not punishing you because you didn’t binge on the candy. I check that shelf regularly to make sure that it stays pretty much the same amount that’s there. If you hadn’t gone running to it, I never would have even known that you knew where it was.”
“Thank you. I pinky promise that when I would eat the candy, it would only be one piece to sate my appetite.”
“All right. Next time though, let me know when you have a candy craving.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He placed a small kiss on my head as the timer rang, then went to pull the cookies out of the oven. They smelled so delicious, my mouth watered!
“Honey, why don’t we let these cool for a bit. If we try and decorate them now, all of the candies and frosting will melt on them.”
“All right. What should we do while we wait?”
“Build a snowman.”
“Yeah!”
I raced to the closet to pull out my snow gear.
Last Christmas, Santa had brought me the cutest snow pants and jacket to wear. They were each white with colorful polka dots. Daddy said that he was happy that Santa brought me these because before I had them, I wore layers of pants outside and Daddy didn’t like having to do the extra wash. Plus, he said the extra layers weren’t keeping me warm enough.
Slipping both of my legs into the snow pants, I jumped, trying to pull them up. Unfortunately, I forgot how difficult it was to do and if not for Daddy standing behind me, I would have fallen on my head.
“Whoa, baby girl. Slow down. I don’t want to have to take you to the hospital because you fell and cracked your head open.”
“Sorry, but… they’re… too… tight.” Each word was accompanied by a tug and a grunt.
“Let Daddy help you, baby girl.”
He grabbed my pants at the waistband and pulled, lifting me off my feet as they slid snugly in place. Then, he guided my arms into my jacket. When he zipped me up, I turned, ready to head outside, but was stopped by his hand around my arm.
“Hold your horses. You still need your scarf, hat, boots, and mittens. Plus, I need to get ready too.”
I looked down at my feet and noticed my socks. It wouldn’t have been good if I’d gone outside with just socks on. My toes would have frozen.
“Good catch,” I giggled.
He chuckled and handed me my boots to put on. Since they were only zip-ups, I had no problem with them.
By the time I finished with my boots and all the other winter wear, he was all dressed too. He was a fast dresser!
“Can we go outside now?”
“Yes.”
I dashed off, so excited to be out in the snow. As I flung the door open, a burst of cold went through the house, but I didn’t care.
Racing through the fallen snow was so much fun. I first found an area of untouched snow, and fell backwards into it. Then I moved my arms and legs, giggling.
“What are you doing, sweetie?” Daddy asked, appearing by my feet.
“I’ll show you.” I gave him my hand and said, “Pull, Daddy.”
When he did, I turned and admired my perfect creation. “It’s a snow angel.”
“That’s a very pretty one, baby girl. Do you want to start working on our snowmen?”
“Yes! I’ll make the head if you make the rest of him.”
“Good idea, sweetheart.”
I got down on my hands and knees and scooped some snow in my hands, tightening it into a ball. When I had the perfect size, I placed it back in the snow and began to roll it around. My tiny ball started to grow and grow.
I continued to roll it around in the snow until it finally was about the size of a basketball. Picking it up, I carried it to where he was rolling around a second ball of snow next to a much bigger ball of snow than mine.
“I’m almost done,” he called, as he continued rolling his ball.
Finally, he finished, and put the middle ball of snow on top of the largest ball.
I carried my small one over and tried to place it on top, but it was too heavy and the snowman was almost taller than me without it.
“Need some help?”
“Yes, please.”
He came up behind me and we lifted my ball on top of the two others, giving the snowman a head.
“Did you bring anything to decorate him with?”
“I sure did.”
He walked over to a bag that was on the ground a few feet away, brought it over, and handed it to me.
“Let’s start with his face,” Daddy suggested.
I pulled out two big black buttons and put them on for the snowman’s eyes. Then I put the carrot in the center for his nose. Next, I pulled out a handful of buttons. Five black ones went in a half circle on the lower part of his face for a smile.
The last four, bigger than the others, I used down the snowman’s front so it looked like he had clothes with buttons.
“What else do you have in your bag?” I asked, handing it back to him.
“Let’s see.” He looked in the bag and pulled out a blue Cubs baseball hat.
“That’s perfect,” I exclaimed as Daddy put it on top of the snowman’s head. “Our snowman is a Cubs fan!”
Looking around our backyard, I spotted two sticks that would be perfect arms. Racing over, I grabbed them and came back, putting them on either side of the middle ball.
“There,” I said, taking a step back. “I think our snowman is finished. Except, he needs a name.”
“I think you should pick the name, since you’re the one who gave him his face.”
I thought long and hard. It had to be perfect. I didn’t want to name him Frosty because every little girl named their snowman Frosty. I needed something original.
Walking around the snowman, I tapped my gloved finger to my lips, thinking. What should we call him?
It finally came to me!
“I know. I’ll call him Herbert.”
His eyebrows rose in disbelief. “Herbert? You sure about that? Don’t you want a more Christmas-y name, like Frosty or Chilly?”
“Nope. Herbert Melvin Snowman is our snowman’s name.”
He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “All right, sweetheart, if that’s the name that you want, then that’s what we’ll call him.”
“Yay!! Can we go sledding down our hill now?”
“Sure, I’ll go grab our sled from the car.”
“Super-duper double yay!” I shouted, listening to him laugh as he walked away. We were having the best of days.