Chapter 623 - Snowman

Aiden is in the bedroom, lying flat on the bed with his arms behind his head. He is staring at the ceiling and thinking about Sarah.

His mind is filled with her and the events from last 24 hours. When they are together, no matter how much she smiles, he can feel her uneasiness and it's bothering him. Yet when they are not together, he is uneasy, and desperate to hold her and to feel her next to him.

Aiden groaned in frustration because he can't find a way out of this. How can he fix this? Why is it so difficult to breathe? Is this guilt because he hurt her? And what is with this feeling of helplessness?

He feels that Sarah is drifting away from him and the pain of his soul ripping in two is unbearable.

He heard muffled giggles and laughter from outside and he went toward the window.

Aiden wondered how long was he in the bed, spacing out, when he saw that three sisters already have about two thirds of the giant snowman finished?

He sat on the windowsill and watched three sisters play in the snow from the bedroom. They were working on their snowman with occasional interruptions by snowball fights and Sarah and JoAnna even made few snow angels.

He was able to see that JoAnna and Sarah are not letting Sophia bend and lift heavy pieces that make their snowman.

Based on the giggles and laughter, he can tell that they are having fun.

Aiden looked at Sarah and wished that soon he finds a way to fix their current situation so that she directs such a bright and carefree expression toward him.

…

Outside, Sophia is working on snowman's belly decorations while Sarah and JoAnna are making a large snow-sphere for the head.

"OK. Guys are not here to eavesdrop, and I got my emergency snow-fix… what is the status between you and Aiden?", JoAnna asked Sarah when they placed snowman's head in place.

Sarah paused. "I told you… we are working on it."

"How are you working on it? Details?", JoAnna persisted.

Sarah hesitated for a second before responding. "Nothing much. We didn't have much time since yesterday, did we?"

JoAnna was not willing to leave it at that. "Based on what I know, neither of you slept last night. That gives you a lot of time to work out things. What did you talk about?"

"We didn't talk much. We had food and packed for this trip." Sarah didn't lie, she just skipped most of the night.

JoAnna caught on Sarah's unskillful evasion. "How long is your meal? And it's only a four day trip. Considering that you are traveling often, it should not take long to pack, correct? Where did the rest of the night go?"

Sarah didn't respond, she turned to the snowman and was patting it to smooth out the sphere which made its body.

JoAnna gave a meaningful look to Sophia, and Sophia understood that she should provide her assistance. "Sarah, we are only trying to help. If we know what you talked about so far, we can understand better your situation and offer meaningful advice."

Sarah exhaled. "When I woke up, I messed up… OK? I caught him packing a suitcase… and I assumed that he is packing to leave. But then I realized that he was doing it for this trip."

JoAnna scrutinized Sarah. "What happened between you catching him in packing offense and you realizing your mistake?"

Sarah cleared her throat and answered shyly: "Maybe I removed him from group of people who can use Eve… and I locked the whole house down."

JoAnna burst into laugh. "You can't be serious? You locked him up! You can't be in the right state of mind if you are locking up the man you want to keep!"

JoAnna turned to Sophia. "Right, big sis? Only a psycho will lock up a man for whom you have romantic intentions… Why are you not laughing?" JoAnna widened her eyes in shock. "You locked up Felix! When?"

Sophia wanted to hide her face in her palms, but her mittens were full of snow, so she gave up on that idea. "I'm tired… I'm heading inside."

"Oh, no you are not! Not until you explain this…", JoAnna swiftly blocked Sophia's path.

Few minutes later, JoAnna and Sarah were holding their bellies while laughing.

"So… at first, he was running away from you… and you had an itch… so you locked him up!" JoAnna summarized while catching her breath. "I didn't know you are so bold."

"When you say it that way, it sounds very… barbaric!" Sophia sulked.

"Way to go, big sis! It's good to know what you want and just go for it." Sarah praised Sophia and gave her a thumbs up.

"Yup, she went for it, all right!" JoAnna burst into another laughing fit.

Sophia rolled her eyes and looked at Sarah.

In an instant Sarah stopped laughing and took a step back defensively. Just as she feared, Sophia spoke: "Back to the topic. What did you talk to Aiden so far?"

"We didn't talk much.", Sarah admitted.

JoAnna's attention moved to Sarah and her instinct was screaming not to drop the topic. "What did you do then? All night long…?" She sang this last question.

Sarah was not sure how to respond. She was not good at lying, and how can she say that they made love pretty much all night? But she didn't need to say anything… JoAnna read her face like an open book.

"You banged each other all night!", JoAnna exclaimed with glee.

"From where do you get these expressions?!!", Sarah was outraged.

JoAnna gasped. "You didn't deny it!"

Sophia stifled a laugh. "Sarah, as much as sleeping with you man might feel good, it does not solve anything. You two need to talk."

"Well…" JoAnna grinned. "If he is half as good as his brother, it might solve some problems!"

"Anna!", Sophia scolded JoAnna no matter how much she found her comment entertaining. "You never had a filter… but come on, this is serious. You do realize that Sarah and Aiden are having trouble, right? This is not the time to boast about bed-skills of your man."

JoAnna rolled her eyes thinking how Sophia is too serious and spoiling the fun. "And what will talking accomplish? Sarah thinks that Aiden will leave her if there is a danger in order to protect her. Talking about it will not solve anything. The only way to fix this is that they end up in danger and that he stays by her side! Only like that he can prove himself and wipe away her doubts!"

Both Sophia and Sarah stared at JoAnna.

"What you said… actually makes sense…" Sophia admitted.

"Of course, it does!" JoAnna proudly lifted her chin for a second and then faced Sarah with a grin. "Now back to the topic… all night, aaa? That is some stamina worth praising! How many breaks did he take? … Hey! What's with snowballs?! ... Sarah!!! … Sophia?!! You too??! … I'm not going down without a fight!"

And another round of snowball fight started.