Winter Legacy -3.5-

Claus and Regan threw a party for their eldest child. She had been working so hard lately, they felt she needed to unwind. The entire family and a couple friends came over and the Winters had a pretty good time.

Claus found himself seated between this two favorite ponytailed girls. Mistletoe told her father what was going on in her life, it was mostly centered around work. Claus observed that his daughter mentioned nothing about any relationships and he was a bit worried about this. She had just celebrated her thirty-fifth birthday, of course the girl was a bit strange but this was ridiculous.

Snowie went on and on about her children. She wanted grandchildren but Chauncy wasn't trying to have any kids right about now. Then she mused about how her three girls were getting ready for prom soon, triple the hair dos, triple the makeup, triple the jewelry and triple the dresses, Snowie was very excited about this.

Later, Regan kidnapped her husband and they had some alone time in the backyard. The pair reminisced about the past. They had raised five children and all turned out well, Rudolph was questionable though. He was a good father who doted on his children, but he seemed to have something against everyone, but it seemed to backfire and in the end he only ended up hurting himself. 

Regan leaned in to her husband, "Honestly I expected to have more grand kids by now." Claus smiled, he did too, they had five kids, so far only two had given them grandchildren. They loved the ones they had but they wanted more. 

Claus told Regan his worries about Mistletoe, then they mused about their two wild cards, Ice and Feliz, they didn't expect those two to ever settle down. Then the pair settled into silence, enjoying each other's company.

Rudolph was in the kitchen bonding with is eldest son, his heir. "What's on your mind kid?" He asked seeing Cupid's far away look.

Cupid shrugged. "I don't know, there's just this nagging feeling I can't explain."

"Come on, lemme whop your ass in hopscotch, that'll clear your head."

Cupid grinned up at his father as he hopped down from the stool, "You're on old man."

Soon Rudolph's and Cupid's laughter and playful taunting echoed around the yard, in a an hour though Regan came to break it up. She scolded Rudolph for allowing Cupid to stay up past his bedtime and Cupid for taking advantage of his father. 

Cupid's room was upstairs but he had taken to sleeping in Navidad's old room. That was where Regan met him, she sat beside him on the bed and read him a bedtime story. Cupid was not sleeping when she was done, instead he started bombarding her with questions, Regan smiled knowingly and gently told him to hush up and go to sleep.

The next day Claus decided to use the neglected telescope. The small device was rather strong, he could see the park from their house.

Claus located his wife who was playing with Cupid standing near Snowy who strummed away on her guitar.

Cupid was outside pretending to be a Pirate-Hero, he rode one of the pirate ships and squealed uproarously. His noise got Rudolph's attention and he was called in to do his homework.

Rudolph took a shower then sat with his son at the table. "Let's talk about this legacy heir thing."

"Mmm-hmm."

"You know what this means right?"

"Mmm-hmm, it means I get to be the king of the legacy."

"Uh...okay. That comes with a lot of responsibility though. Look, I want you to understand this now, when I became heir I wasn't ready and I made a lot of mistakes. I want you to understand, in cause you don't want this. I won't force heirship on you or your brother."

Cupid scribbled on his notebook then looked up at his father. "I know Dad, but I want this. If I'm king I get to marry a princess and make her my queen."

"There's more to it than that."

"Daddy, I said I understand and I want this. It'll be cool to take over from you."

Rudolph smiled at his son, he was so proud. He would make sure that when it came Cupid's turn to take over the legacy his son would be married.

Shayne grew up quietly alone, he got a lot from his mother, but he did have his father's eyes. 

For the time being the two boys avoided each other, Cupid liked to spend his time outside alone, while Shayne could usually be found pinned to Regan's side.

Claus and Rudolph were rather surprised one day when they came outside and found the boys playing together. "Well, look at that." Claus commented.

"I know!" Rudolph patted his father's shoulder. "I'll go put on some clothes and carry you to the hospital."

Claus frowned. He had torn the tendon in his leg on the water slide but he was too prideful to wear a brace or walk with a cane, and lately his leg had started to give him some trouble.

The boys' moment was ruined when Regan came and tried to pinch their cheeks, Cupid was faster than his little brother so he bolted. 

"No!" Shayne whined when Regan made to pinch his cheek again. "It hurts Grandma!"

That night Regan found her husband in the sitting room, she patted his knee and sat beside him on the couch. "What did the doctors say?"

"Well, I'm gonna need a cane for the rest of my life."

"I'm not surprised, that limp got terrible." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Now you're going to be my distinguished gentleman."

"We're officially old." Claus observed.

"Honey, we were officially old the day Navidad left the house. We've raised our children now it's time to settle down and have fun with our grandchildren."

"I guess you're right."

"Being old is not a bad thing, I've finally got an excuse to sleep until two in the evening." Regan joked.

"But you don't." Claus stretched his aching leg. "I guess I can start working on my art again."

"I'll like that."

The next evening the Winters went to Cupid's scouts ceremony, Rudolph joked about his father's walking stick, Claus whacked his son on the behind none too gently. Regan wagged her finger at them telling them to behave in public and not embarrass Cupid. 

Regan baked key lime pie and gave Cupid a big chunk for being a good little scout. "You spoil him!" Claus said. He had already eaten his so he stole a piece of Cupid's.

Cupid told his grandfather about school and scouts, Claus asked Cupid about girls and Cupid answered with a disgusted sound which made Claus chuckle.

Bright and early the next morning Snowie passed by to hail her brother and his family. "Why don't you ever bring the girls with you?" Claus demanded.

"Because they're teenagers, they have better things to do than hang out with  a couple of old people."

"Snowie!" Regan bounded over to hug her sister-in-law. "What are you doing here?"

"I got tired of the house, the girls are out doing their own things and Chauncy is out having a life."

"So she came to hang out with some other old people." Claus put in then limped away to the bathroom.

"So, what is my baby brother worrying about these days?"

Regan scoffed. "Age. He's gonna worry himself right out of this world. What have you been up to?"

"Trying to keep tabs on all the teenage boys around town so I'll know who to threaten."

"Oh leave those kids alone Snowie." Regan wagged a finger at her.

"I can't, I have daughters. I've always worried about who's going to take care of them once I'm gone. That's what I get for waiting so long to have kids you know."

"It's not your fault. They've got all this family around, everyone will take care of them. Why are you talking like that anyway?"

"I haven't been feeling so hot lately Regan, sometimes it's all I can do just to get out of bed in the morning. Then there was the cancer, it drained me." Snowie sighed. "Don't tell Claus about this."

"I won't. But don't talk like that Snowie, you're going to be fine." The conversation ended abruptly when Claus came back into the living room, Regan left to clean the kitchen and start dinner.

The pair reminisced about their childhood. While chuckling about their kids and Claus' grandchildren they realized that they were pretty well behaved children.

"Claus remember when you never shut up? You used to stalk people to chat with them, you were one crazy child." 

"Yeah, they were the good old days. Hey we've got a water slide, one slide for old times sake? I already broke my hip on that thing so you be careful."

Snowie borrowed one of Regan's swimsuits and raced outside, she looked back and was surprised to find Claus limping slowly behind. She slid once as slowly as the slide would allow.

Regan came outside to monitor the two, Snowie and Claus sometimes forgot about their age, which was how Claus messed up his leg in the first place. "We're not going to have dinner for an hour Snowie but Rudy just came home from work and he's starving so he's going to eat now."

"Okay." Snowie hadn't had a good talk with her nephew in a while and she wanted to slap him upside the head for the embarrassment he had put his parents through.

"Make it quick." Rudolph said after he took a look at his aunt's face.

"Rudolph what is wrong with you? You completely embarrassed your parents and this entire family. Do you know what it was like to be your aunt and work with you? All the rumors!" Snowie went on and on with everything she wanted to say to him ever since he was a teen. Once she got it off her chest she smiled and Rudolph went to the kitchen and came back with two plates heaping with salad.

The pair sat down and had a nice dinner together. Snowie told him about her cancer and how she was doing now. She asked him a couple questions about Chauncy and Ice, when he was unable to answer Snowie ordered him to spend more time with his family.

"Family is important Rudy, I don't know what I would have done with triplets if it hadn't been for your mother and father. And take care of those two boys, they'll be your rocks when you get older."

"Yes ma'am."

The next morning the Winter household was plunged into mourning with news of Snowie's passing. "I knew something was going to happen, I knew it!" Cupid was telling Shayne who poked at his soggy cereal.

Claus heard his grandson's shrill voice and went into the kitchen, he sent Shayne to the bathroom so he could talk to Cupid. "Aunt Snowie's dead Grandpa, we're never going to see her again."

"Cupid, death is a part of life. It's what we do, we get older and older until we die. Death isn't necessarily a bad thing, your Aunty Snowie lived a full life, she has a lot to be proud of."

"Grandpa, are you and Grandma gonna die?"

Claus rested a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "Yes, even you will have to die some time."

Later Claus and Regan went to the graveyard to pay their last respects to Snowie. Regan was an emotional wreck, she and Snowie had been close, she had lost friends but she couldn't imagine not having Snowie in her life.

"You okay?" Claus asked.

"She's dead Claus. Yesterday she was alive and well and laughing, but today she's dead."

Claus wrapped an arm around Regan's shoulders, the two of them stood in silence for a while. Snowie was a big part of both of their lives, Claus' especially. She had been there for them through the hard times when they were just starting out, she was there through the good times to laugh and smile and she was there through the bad times to lend an ear and provide advice, she will be greatly missed.

Regan turned and kissed her husband, mere words weren't enough to express how much she loved him. "You just keep on living Claus, because I can't without you."

The ride home was a silent one, both Claus and Regan were lost in their own thoughts, both missing Snowie, replaying memories over and over in their minds knowing that they too must cross that bridge from one world to the next.