"Snow! I want snow!"
It was not always the easiest to be a sort of single mom. She felt her son pulling on her hair while she was working on fixing Tanya's hair. The girl twiddling on her lap. Lack of sleep was one thing. Lack of company was another and just, in general, wanting to do much more than she was capable of. She was in Orchidia for work, she needed a new babysitter too. "Anton, you should ask it nicely." She said while putting her daughter's hair in a short ponytail.
"Can we go see snow, mommy?"
To which Tanya jumped out of her hands and put her little hands on her hips, definitely like her mother. "I want snow too." those two did not learn a thing now, did they. Almost three and both loud mouths from time to time. "Yes, we can go see snow, now get your boots." To which the two ran to the front door of their hotel room. If only she could spend more money on a bigger room, on a maid, a babysitter, anything. She owned a small apartment in Crocus which was already expensive enough. She wanted to see the mansion or what was left of it. While Tanya had the boots perfectly on, Anton had the wrong boot on the wrong foot so she told him to do it again and helped them put on their scarfs and jackets and little gloves.
While looking shortly in the mirror, she put her own hair up and took her own blue jacket and a scarf and took the stroller with her, in case one of them got tired, she could not carry the both of them at the same time. Now that they were walking in front of her, she kept her eyes mostly at them and where she was walking herself, directing them to the river, she did not want to get too close but as it was early it was best not to wake anyone else in the hotel and to not annoy the busy people in the streets. There would be perhaps some snow they could play with. She missed her companions, Hecate would help with them. Jupiter would calm her.
She took a deep breath.
Cornelia.
Gilbert.
Caleb.
Augusto.
It was a short list because she did not know their names yet, but one day she would figure them out. She was glad to see bits of snow and that there was no one else around. "Mommy, look!" Her son pointed out to a woman not much further from the river while Alice caught her daughter at the collar because she was running at the river. "What did I say about yelling, that's not polite, Anton. Now stay with me. We are going to make a snowman." She wondered if it worked with this bit of snow but they would see. There were not many people that she had seen meditating, there was one, an old friend, who she had not seen because she was so caught up in being a good mom and a fighter.
While trying to keep her children busy, she glanced at the person, she looked much alike from what Alice could see from this point, could it be? Judina?