A Cold Winter (2)

From then, the inn went back to its former ambiance with drinking, laughing and occasional shouting.

Turning to face Jonathan Heidor, she said: "Anyway, I should be able to come back to work soon once Darian's old enough".

"That's great news, we'd love for you to come back, maybe even have you teach some of the newcomers a few things. Oh, and maybe once your son's older he can play with Juvenis' kids."

"Why, that's a lovely idea," she smiled, tenderly.

Juvenis had two kids. His oldest, Adam, was 6 years old, and his daughter Anna was 3.

"Alright, well it's best Darian and I get going, it'll get colder soon," she said waving goodbye as she walked towards the door. "Goodbye Jonathan".

"Goodby- Ah! Wait, a second Diana," Jonathan interjected before shuffling his way upstairs into one of the private rooms and coming back down momentarily.

He wasn't a very tall man, and in Darian's eyes the scene had played out as if he saw a penguin waddling up and down the stairs as fast as it could.

"Take this," he said, handing a children's book to Diana.

"I couldn't," Diana tried refusing.

"Oh please, accept it. Juvenis' kids have already read it hundreds of times, and they have other books. Take it as a token of my gratitude for your many years of service at this inn, and it'll be good for your boy," he said, handing it to her.

A book was expensive, books costed about 1 silver for simple ones, and the thicker it was the higher the cost. The book Jonathan had just handed to her was 4 centimeters thick, costing about 1 silver and 20 coppers.

"Thank you Jonathan," she said teary eyed.

"Now off you go before it gets too cold." Jonathan said, guiding her towards the exit and waving the two goodbye.

Diana and Darian went back home with the goods in the basket. The first snow had arrived signaling the beginning of winter and their stay-at-home life.

Winter was boring, there really wasn't much for me to do except now I had even more time indoors to 'sleep'. I was practicing mana accumulation and circulation. I decided to call it so because I was gathering the little blue particles in the air I could 'see' whenever I meditated and circulating it as best as I possibly could through each and every one of my veins. The process was slow but I felt rejuvenated every time I did it.

My parents were busy spending their time either knitting, cooking, or carving wood out of boredom. My father would sharpen his work knives, and make me toys out of wood. At this point he'd gotten so bored out of his mind, that he'd practically made me an entire collection. From horses, weird looking animals, to people such as farmers, hunters, knights, and more.

My father was pretty caring, more than my last one. My father from my past life was more passive, but he did care about my family and I from what I understood, he just never showed it in any capacity other than giving me money. It was the only way he sought a connection between us and I had always wanted more, for him to be more than just…

In any case Renbrandt, or as I liked to call him for short, Ren, was a breath of fresh air. He was very caring, and would often spend time with me, more than he had been in the last 9 months. He was always busy with work and putting food on the table, and since my mother was busy raising me, it probably made him work harder.

Meanwhile my mother, on the winter days when things got too boring, she would read the children's book given by Mr. Heidor to me. I was grateful to the kind, old man.

The book wasn't particularly interesting in the slightest but it allowed me to slowly understand how their language was written and, of course, how to read.

My parents' dynamic was nice to see, they really seemed to love each other wholeheartedly, it was nice to see them smile and laugh whenever they would mess around with me.

There was this one time my dad was playing with me, constantly teasing and making funny faces. He carried me, swung me left and right repeatedly, and when he finally tossed me in the air, only to catch me…I barfed leaving a mess everywhere and my mother scolded him to no end saying he was being too rough.

"You know you can't be too rough with him, you muscle for brains!" Diana shouted, waving her index finger up and down like when a mother would scold her child…Or owner with their dog.

"I'm sorry, Diana," Renbrandt said, looking like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. He was guilty as charged.

"Ugh…Look what you've done, now I'll have to wash the clothes which could take days to dry in the winter."

Renbrandt at this point looked like a dog with its tail between its legs causing Darian to laugh and laugh which eased the tension in the room.

"Aagagagaahahaha," he giggled in satisfaction.

The couple smiled at each other, seeing their child's face impishly light with glee and laughter eased the tension in the room.

Their winter days were boring yet full of delight, and soon seasons would change and with it so did he.