(Untitled)

[ooh_lily]

In that weather, the rink wasn't the best place to be, but the rink was home, so that was where they were. Lily stood in the doorway of the rink, watching the rain, sipping from a steaming cup of coffee and, behind her, Emmy was playing on the ice

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[moraldyslexic]

"Wow, it is ever raining out there," Lennox announced as he burst into the rink, although he doubted Lily needed him to tell her that. Shaking off his dripped jacket, he stripped out of it and left it on the bench by the door, grinning as he walked alongside the sheet of ice.

"Getting in some practice?" he asked, watching Emmy with her rock.

[ooh_lily]

"James Lennox, stating the obvious," said Lily, grinning, bending down to pick up the stone. She lifted it with a soft 'oof' of effort.

"I wouldn't care if it still felt tropical." She hefted the stone a little, motioning for Emmy to move towards Lennox. "I'm not prepared for the cold anymore."

[moraldyslexic]

"Oh, man, I hope it snows again in winter," Lennox said, shaking his head as he reached out for Emmy. "Even if it's just for a month, it's kinda cool. It's like having a real Christmas. C'mon, kiddo, get out of your mom's way so she can throw that awesome stone just for you."

[emilyiris]

Emmy knows that if you scoot across the ice without lifting your feet, you don't fall on your bum so much. She scoots over to Uncle Jim, her boots squeaking on the ice.

"Stone!" she says, and throws both of her hands in the air.

[chris_cutter]

"You wanna tell me how I'm supposed to take that?" Chris remarked from the doorway, lips pulled into a twisted grin as he ran a hand through his rain-wet hair.

As usual, the rink was colder than outside, but while normally it was a relief, this time, it only made the weather feel that much more acute and Chris shivered slightly as he made his way over to the sheet.

[ooh_lily]

"Well, I love her and I love you. How bad can it be, right?"

Lily reached up to pull her toque down more firmly over her hair. She bent down and picked up the stone with both mittened hands. She made a soft 'oof' sound. She was getting too old for this.

"There's a spare toque and a scarf on the shelf, Cutter."

[chris_cutter]

Chris was already heading that way and he threw Lily a grateful smile over his shoulder before reaching for the scarf.

"That's never stopped you from mocking me before," he pointed out as he wrapped the bundle of yarn around his neck and then tugged the hat on. "Don't suppose we have any spare gloves."

[ooh_lily]

"My knitting bag's up there," said Lily, gesturing with her free hand. "If you're lucky, there might be the pair I just finished for Eddie in there. You can take them. Eddie can put his hands in my pockets like he did when we were kids."

She grinned at him.

[emilyiris]

"Look, Mum!" said Emmy, getting on her hands and knees to bodily push her sparkly pink stone along the ice. It was shaping up to be an accurate shot, if only it had actually been thrown. "Look!"

[ooh_lily]

"I see you, kidlet," said Lily, from her spot near the door. "You're gonna make a great curler one day. Good as Daddy or Uncle Chris."

She grinned broadly. It wasn't just Eddie who was glowing wtih pride at the idea of their little girl being a curler.

[emilyiris]

Once the rock was actually moving, momentum kept both of them going faster and faster until she was more than halfway down the ice. At that point she skidded onto her bottom but the rock kept going even further, crossing the hog line - barely - before stopping.

When she turned back to her mum she was beaming.

[ooh_lily]

Lily didn't even need prompting to applaud. She clapped hard, her gloves muffling the sound.

"Way to go, Emmy!" she said, whooping and hollering. "Great shot!"

[tr_ghost_four]

She's there, suddenly, a lone, wispy, pale figure standing off to the side on the sheet of ice, clothed in only a white nightgown. She neither moves nor speaks, instead settling on simply watching, her small head cocked to the side with a curious sort of gaze at what the woman was doing.

Perhaps she's never seen a stone before herself.

[emilyiris]

There's another little girl in the rink. Emmy's mum doesn't notice her, but Emmy watches her with wide eyes under her fuzzy pink toque.

"Hi..." she breathes, waving one hand without really raising it, suddenly, inexplicably shy.

[tr_ghost_four]

The girl smiles, and despite her appearance, the expression is warm - friendly. She raises a hand to wave back once, though she doesn't speak, still. And while she doesn't move closer either, she does point her finger toward the stone, tilting her head again in question.

[emilyiris]

Emmy follows the pointed finger and smiles. She knows what this is. She's known her whole life.

"Stone," she says, matter-of-factly. "Mom gonna curl."