-18-

A certain mysterious gnome moved into the Winter house one day. Agnes became attached to what she thought was a figurine, even calling the little man Hank.

Jaylee's shows had gotten more popular, she found herself having to turn down offers to perform. Luckily she had children she could use as excuses.

Claus was fast asleep, but he had a rude awakening at 12 a.m on his birthday. Shouts of  'surprise' and party horns and noise makers made him jump out of bed. 

Claus grabbed at his chest. "God damn! Is your plan to scare me to death on my birthday? I'm a forty year old man now, my heart can't take much!"

Cupid was still exploring the world, trying to figure out his likes and dislikes. He became attached to the xylophone, he would sit and make music for hours. 

Jaylee realized that she and Claus had a musical genius on their hands. The way he mixed notes, even memorizing what he'd played blew Jaylee away. Sometimes when she joined him with his toy and she hit a wrong key Cupid would frown profusely, "No! Momma, you do it wrong." And he would correct her.

The nursery had turned into a war zone, Sahara being the eldest figured that she should be in charge, she liked to give orders and dominate the toys and Cupid being Cupid would have none of it. Egypt, who had begun spending more time inside decided that the best way to settle her younger siblings' arguments would be to finish them herself. She was the biggest and strongest and Sahara and Cupid knew it. If they were fighting over a toy, she would take it from them, they would pout profusely but pout was all they could do.

Snowie had been sneaking out to see Mathew for weeks. "How old are you? Fifteen?" He laughed.

"Right, you're the one who's scared of Jaylee."

Snowie kissed Mathew and frowned. "You're wet."

"I was swimming."

"At night? There are sharks out there."

Mathew shrugged. 

Mathew really liked Snowie, but he found it strange that she still had her childish innocence. He figured that maybe the girl just had to get away from Jaylee for a while. It was pretty obvious that Jaylee still thought of her as a little girl. "Come on." He said taking her hand.

Snowie had one boyfriend in her life, and he had broken her heart. She and Mathew didn't define their relationship as anything more than a friendship, then why did they hide? Why did she sneak out to see him, why did she sneak back into her own house? She was a woman after all.

To Snowie, it seemed as if Mathew was oblivious to her feelings for him, but she loved it when he touched her. Unlike Tanner Mathew didn't push her to do anything she didn't want to, he just enjoyed her company.

Snowie had no idea when she was stripped down to her underwear. Jack had instilled in her the fear of God where fornication was concerned, but the way Mathew was touching her, kissing her, setting her body on fire she didn't even care.

Snowie moaned in anticipation when Mathew eased her onto her back. Suddenly his whole body became rigid.

"What?" She asked, wrapping her legs around him when he tried to climb off her. 

"I--we can't do this?"

"What?"

"You're so pure Snowie. You deserve better. You don't understand what you'll be getting into if you get involved with me. I'm sorry." 

"You're kidding me?" Snowie grumbled. She rolled over and curled up. "You're sorry? That's it? What's wrong with me?" Snowie wailed, guys always led her to believe that they loved her, that they wanted her and then they dropped her. It was Tanner on the playground all over again.

"Come on Snowie..."

"No!" She shouted and jumped up off the bed, she didn't so much as look at Mathew as she got dressed.