Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Adrian
The last day at the cabin dawned crisp and impossibly bright, the kind of mountain morning that made you believe in magic. Fresh snow had fallen overnight, blanketing everything in pristine white.
I stood on the wraparound porch with Connor and Jax, nursing a steaming cup of coffee and watching our girls make the most of their final hours in paradise.
They were fucking perfect.
All three were bundled up in layers of winter gear—puffy jackets, thick scarves, Santa hats with pom-poms that bobbed with every movement.
But despite being covered from head to toe, they moved with that particular mischievous grace that marked them as our girls.
I’d wrapped Isla in so many scarves she looked like a colorful snow burrito, but somehow she still managed to look angelic as she threw herself backward onto a pile of snow.
"I'm never leaving!" she declared dramatically, spreading her arms wide to make a snow angel. "This is my home now. I'll live off pine needles and melted snow."
"Very romantic," I called back, grinning as she stuck her tongue out at me. "I'm sure you'll love it when the bears show up."
"The bears and I will be best friends," she replied with absolute confidence, rolling over to start on another angel. "We'll have tea parties."
Sierra had found a particularly deep drift near the tree line and was attempting to burrow into it like a snow animal.
"A little help here!" came her muffled voice from inside the snow cave she was creating.
Connor was already walking over with a fond gaze to pull her out.
Estelle was lying on her back nearby, moving her arms and legs to create what had to be the tenth snow angel of the morning.
Every few seconds, she'd pop up, examine her work critically, then flop back down to make adjustments.
"Perfectionist," Jax observed with fond amusement, watching her obsess over the symmetry of her snow angel's wings.
"Says the man who spent two hours yesterday making sure his Santa cookie was perfect,” Connor pointed out when he’d successfully freed Sierra.
"That's different. That's attention to detail. Very important quality."
"Uh-huh." Connor's tone suggested he wasn't buying it.
I leaned against the porch railing, feeling that familiar contentment settle over me as I watched the chaos unfold.
This was what made everything else worth it. All the darkness, all the violence, all the blood on our hands... it was all justified if it meant protecting moments like this.
"You know what I still can't get over?" I said, taking another sip of coffee. "Last night. The fact that they had the exact same plan we did."
Jax nearly choked on his drink. “Don’t remind me. It’s too cold out here.”
Connor snorted. "They've been spending too much time around us. They're starting to think like us."
"Scary thought," I shivered with a grin. "Three more chaos gremlins loose in the world."
"Speaking of chaos," Jax nodded toward where Sierra had finally given up on her snow cave and was now pelting Estelle with snowballs, "should we be worried about the fact that our girls are apparently as devious as we are?"
"Nah," I replied without hesitation. "Just means they can keep up."
The morning air was crisp enough to make our breath visible, but the sun was climbing higher, warming the snow-covered deck where we stood.
Icicles hung from the roof like crystal daggers, occasionally releasing drops of water that landed with tiny plops in the snow below.
“Really,” Connor stated, his voice taking on that note of surprise, “I did not expect last night.”
Jax shook his head. "I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Estelle in that getup in the fucking snow.”
"Please," I scoffed. "You loved every second of it. We all did. Our girls, dressed like naked presents, running through the snow? It was like every fantasy we've ever had rolled into one."
"The ski masks were a nice touch, too," Connor admitted quietly. "Added to the whole... ambiance."
"Ambiance," I repeated, grinning. "Listen to Mr. Grinch over here."
"Fuck off."
It was the kind of casual banter we'd perfected over years of friendship, light insults that made us grin.
We'd been through too much together, seen too much of each other's darkness, to just be boring all the time.
"The real question," Jax breathed, settling more comfortably against the porch post, "is whether we're more impressive predators or they're more impressive prey."
"Oh, definitely us," I answered immediately. “Isla nearly ran in circles around the SUV before I had her. We all know they wanted to be caught."
Of course they did. They were becoming as twisted as we were.
Down in the yard, Isla had discovered the beginnings of a snow fort. Her cheeks were bright pink from the cold, and her breath came in little puffs of vapor, but she looked absolutely radiant.
"Look at her," I murmured, not caring that I was being cheesy about my obsession. "She's like a girl on Christmas morning."
"They all are," Connor said, and there was something almost wondering in his voice. “Sierra’s gonna have her first real Christmas morning in a long time.”
Our girls had all been through their share of living before finding us. Seeing them completely relaxed, totally safe, and acting their age for once was rarer than it should be.
"It's the cabin," Jax said thoughtfully. "Being away from everything, just us. No outside world, no threats, no responsibilities except taking care of each other."
"We should do this more often," I decided, already mentally planning our next getaway. "Maybe somewhere with a hot spring next time. I'd love to see Isla naked in the steam.”
"Focus, Catalyst,” Connor scoffed. "You're drooling."
"I am not drooling. I'm appreciating. There's a difference."
"Minimal difference," Jax observed with a grin.
Before I could come up with a suitably insulting response, a shriek from the yard had all three of us snapping to attention.
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, we went from relaxed observers to coiled protectors ready for violence.
Sierra had apparently decided that Estelle's snow angel was too close to her territory and dumped an entire armload of snow directly on top of her.
The resulting squeal was what had set off our predator instincts, even though a split second later it became clear that it was a squeal of laughter, not distress.
“Fucking hell,” Jax breathed, his hand already halfway to where his gun would normally be. "They're going to give me a heart attack."
“Already got one,” Connor muttered, trying to relax as Estelle retaliated by tackling Sierra into the snow, both girls dissolving into giggles.
I felt my own muscles unclenching as the reality of the situation sank in. Not a threat. Just our girls being girls, playing in the snow without a care in the world.
Our reaction was as tame as it could get with us. That's what happened when you loved someone the way we loved our girls—every unexpected sound, every cry of surprise, every moment that might indicate danger sent you into full combat mode.
"We're hopeless," I sighed with a shake of my head.
"Completely," Jax agreed. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Isla had noticed our momentary alert status and was now looking at us with that knowing expression that said she understood exactly what had happened.
She blew me a kiss, then deliberately threw herself backward into the snow with an exaggerated wail of distress, just to mess with me.
Devilish angel.
"She's doing that on purpose," Connor observed.
"Obviously. They all know exactly which buttons to push." I grinned, feeling that familiar surge of pride and arousal that came from being with someone who could match my energy. "God, I love her."
The snow fight that erupted next was epic in scope and wicked in execution. What started as Sierra's sneak attack on Estelle quickly escalated into full warfare, with Isla acting as arms dealer, providing ammunition to whoever needed it most.
"This is better than a movie,” Jax smirked as Estelle executed what could only be described as a tactical flanking maneuver to get behind Sierra's hastily constructed snow wall.
"Better than fighting,” I agreed, watching Isla belly-crawl through the snow like she was infiltrating enemy territory. "Look at that technique. She's been watching too many action movies."
"Or hanging around us too long," Connor added, and there was definite pride in his voice as Sierra popped up from behind cover to launch a perfectly aimed snowball that caught Isla in the shoulder.
The battle raged for a good twenty minutes, with the girls displaying surprising strategic thinking and absolutely zero mercy. By the end of it, all three were soaked, covered in snow, and laughing so hard they could barely stand.
"Truce!" Isla finally called, waving a stick like a flag. "Truce! I can't feel my fingers!"
"Victory is mine!" Sierra declared, raising her arms triumphantly before immediately plopping down.
"That's what you get for gloating," Estelle said with satisfaction, though she was already moving to help Sierra up.
These girls. These perfect, insane, wonderful girls.
As the laughter died down and the reality of soaked clothes and freezing temperatures set in, practical considerations began to assert themselves.
The girls made their way back toward the cabin—back toward us—leaving a trail of snow and wet footprints in their wake.
"Hot showers all around," I announced as they reached the porch steps. "Before you all get sick and I have to explain to Daddy Easton why I brought you home as popsicles."
"My family would probably just be impressed that you got me into the snow. Especially Crew,” Isla said with a grin, shaking snow out of her hair.
"They'd be impressed by a lot more than that," I replied with a wink that made her cheeks flush even pinker than the cold had already made them.
As they trooped inside, chattering about hot chocolate and warm fires, I lingered on the porch for a moment longer.