Vol. 6, Chapter XV — A Nest Against the Rain

By the front door of our school's main building, there were piles of fluffiness guarded by boys, ours in particular by Stephen and Mathew, while it rained outside. We girls were all huddled up, a bunch of soft wools, fluffy jackets, and faux furs, Violet in the centre, hugging me from behind, Mathilda cosying up against her to her left, and Jessy too had joined the pile. It really was a warm, soft, nicely scented nest we had formed to combat the cold as we waited for someone to come pick us up from school, my wife and I, my Dad or sister, Jessy, her Mum, and Mathilda awaited Claire. The space we occupied was dully lit, the gloomy darkness outside seemingly sucking out all the brightness from the humming fluorescent lights above us.

“You sure look cosy,” Stephen commented as he rubbed his hands. “Mind if we join?”

“As if I’d let you cosy up with other girls, idiot!” Mathilda told him, shooting him an annoyed look that clearly was just for show.

“Speaking of cosy,” Jessy said. “I’ve been meaning to ask… Where did you get those tights, Violet?”

The “tights” in question weren’t tights at all, but a pair of long socks that almost covered her whole legs, disappearing well under her skirt, hence the confusion. There was no way for Jessy to know this because, like many such cases, Violet wore them with her garter belts to ensure they stayed on, which meant that, on days we had PE, she actually wore tights to school. They were one of the soft, fluffy, cable-knit ones, Violet today having brought the dark grey ones.

Violet explained to her what they actually were before saying that they were a gift from me and that I had gotten them from the fancy lingerie shop at the mall.

“Aww, then, they likely are out of my budget range,” Jessy lamented. “I was hoping to get some for myself and my Mum, maybe as a Christmas gift.”

“Right, I should start thinking about that already,” Violet hummed in agreement.

I wanted to point out that it was literally the middle of the first week of November, but remembering how nice it was not having to fuss about it during December and navigating through the crowds of people panic-buying their gifts was a bit of a revelation last year, so I let her be. The only problem with getting the gifts was putting them somewhere neither of us would find our respective gifts before the due date, or so it had been the first time around. After that, we simply put them together and stored them away in an agreed-upon spot, making life so much easier.

Prompted by that, I began thinking about what I could get her. I also thought about what I’d like to get, but it was a very short-lived thought. Every day I was with her felt like a gift, so she could give me a simple Merry Christmas card, and I’d be more than happy about it. For her, though, I wanted something she could use. She was well taken care of with socks, scarves, gloves, and even caps. Jackets, she had three for the cold weather, one that was more “formal”, the navy-blue parka with fake fur she wore to school, since it was the one that blended in better with the uniform. One was purely practical, black, to stave off the rain. The final one was a more casual jacket in a soft grey colour that she could layer on top of pretty much any combination of clothes. Overall, jackets were also taken care of, but I think I’d brainstorm some ideas for a possible good addition.

“Honey, I’ll be going to the bathroom in the meantime,” Violet told me with a gentle squeeze.

I asked if she wanted me to tag along, but she told I didn’t have to if I didn’t need to use the toilet, shivering as she got out of the cocoon of bodies she had just been immersed in. We watched her go, Mathilda being the first to speak.

“You know, I think that the best part about our uniform is the skirt,” she said, stepping away just a bit. To prove her point, she started doing a swaying motion, standing on a leg straight while she brought the other across by bending the knee before switching around, her pleated skirt making a very satisfying flowing motion side to side. “Quite the eye-catching motion, don’t you think?”

“Were you staring at my wife’s ass?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Her skirt, not her ass,” Mathilda told me, as if that made it any better. “Anyway, why don’t you join in? This is kinda fun.”

I had nothing better to do, and Violet wasn’t there to ground me, so why not? I joined in her little dance, Jessy did too after a bit, and before we knew it, more girls were joining in on the fun, the boys watching. Soon after that, Violet was one of the spectators, her face speaking volumes. “I leave you guys alone for just a second, and you immediately start a flash mob,” it said.

“Aww, I wanna try that too!” a familiar voice laughed.

Claire had arrived and was enjoying the little show.

“That’s a terrible idea sis,” Mathilda laughed as she went to hug her sister, the mob starting to dissolve now that someone who wasn’t a student had arrived. “The boys wouldn’t be able to survive seeing you in a school uniform doing this.”

“Hmm… that gives me an idea…” Claire hummed, her grin promising mischief. “Anyway, hi girlies! Looking cute as buttons as usual!”

It was the usual affair after that, Violet and I getting squeezed by her, and even the boys got a hug, but theirs was a quick one.

Jessy’s mum was the one who arrived next, shortly after Mathilda and Claire left, the two talking and cackling together while Stephen tagged along, holding the umbrella for the three of them. Stephen bid his farewell, saying he was going to work on a project of his. I was curious about that, as Stephen was the one who always had a project he was working on. Mathew mostly only wanted to go to the gym or play video games after school, but he seemed to be in a hurry, so I didn’t ask.

“Wanna try the dance?” I asked Violet, seeing her focused stare into the emptiness.

“Hmm? Erm, no,” she told me, her mind starting to catch up with what I just asked. “Just thinking about something.”

“And if you walk under the rain, you get wet,” I chuckled. “What is it this time, oh dear wifey of mine?”

“Just thinking if it’d be too weird if I got Jessy a gift this year,” she told me, going back to staring into the emptiness. “More precisely, a set of these socks that she wanted so that she only has to buy some for her Mum. I know she’d be happy, but I wonder if we are at that point in our relationship.”

I nuzzled her as I cooed about how sweet a person she is sometimes, Violet bashfully asking if the “sometimes” was needed.

That’s when our phones buzzed, sis having texted us that she had just arrived and was parked right in front of the school gate.

We hurried to it, the cold air getting a bit more intense as we stepped outside, together with the sound of the rain pouring. Before, it was like a bit of static in the background, but now, it was loud and demanding of attention. Inside the car wasn’t all that better, and the windows were all fogged up.

“Sorry, girls,” sis said as she started the engine. “The first path I took was flooded, so I had to take a different route, and that one was jammed due to an accident.”

I told her it was ok before remembering that Violet and I were in the middle of a conversation, so I turned to her to give her my opinion.

“I think it’s perfectly fine if you do get her a gift if you want to,” I told Violet. “She can always get you something in turn at a later time anyway, so it’s not like that it’s a huge problem if she doesn’t have something for you right away.”

“A friend of yours is having their birthday soon?” Sophie asked, briefly glancing in the rearview mirror.

I told her that Violet and I were starting to think about Christmas gifts, Violet a bit surprised by me saying “we”, and sis that we were already doing that at the start of November.

My answer served for the two of them, namely, that thing about enjoying the Christmas time fuss-free. I then began telling them what came to my mind for most of the people I was getting anything for. Dad and Papa Stan were getting something that’d remind them to take a break every once in a while, the boys likely something sweet since they are, and I mean it in a good way, simple creatures. Mathy would get some sort of girly accessory, and Claire would likely get something similar. Jessy, if Violet were to get the socks for her, would get “half” of that gift from me, too. That only left sis and Violet, which I already had a concept in mind, but decided to keep it a secret.

“Hmm, I might borrow from some of those ideas,” Violet said, crossing her arms. “They are pretty solid ones. We could bake some Christmas cookies for the boys, for example. Since we are married now, I guess it’d also be fine if we only got a gift for each of them as a couple?”

We could do that, yeah, if it were an expensive gift or the ideas we had were so similar, there was really no point getting them separately.

The rest of the trip was spent with us joking around about what gifts we could get, one of them leading to a joke gift that actually had some merit. Just imagine this: me, Violet and Sophie, all dolled up and looking cute, huddled together smiling in the picture. Nice, isn’t it? Now add to that us holding a sign that reads “Remember to Take a Break!” so that our Dads remember that anytime they lift their eyes from their work and see the picture framed on their desks.

“It’s not that I’m totally opposed to it,” Violet said as she picked up the mail from the floor just as we three got inside her place. “But maybe we should get them a more serious gift too?”

That settled the idea as something of a gift from us three to our parents. Honestly, even if it was a bit of a joke, it was perhaps the sweetest one ever.

“Bills?” I asked once we had settled together on the couch. Oliver immediately jumped onto Sophie’s lap, desperate for cuddles, snatching my attention towards him for a second.

“Bills,” Violet confirmed, handing me the envelopes she had just gone through.

“Hmm, the electric bill for October is a bit lower than the previous month,” I commented. “And so is the water bill.”

“Because October is milder than September and our showers have gotten a bit shorter,” Violet explained. “Still, even the Summer bills were relatively low, especially when compared to previous years. The insulation we got installed really is proving to be worth it. Last year’s winter bills turned out to be almost half of what they were before.”

“Oh… that’s a lot.”

She clicked her tongue as she said “yup”, leaving it at that. Looking at the numbers and hearing that as a reference, I could now, better than ever, understand why she fussed so much about her professional future and how that’d affect our household. For once, I did wonder if it’d really be ok if Violet simply stayed as a housewife. She certainly wouldn’t be able to do that while I’m still studying and before I get a job, not if we want to be as financially independent of our parents as possible.

Even so, a full-time job… yeah, that’s not really something I think Violet could manage in the long run, unless it’s like a library work like she’s been doing at school. It had to be minimal interaction with other people, and a calm job, not just for her mental and emotional health, but also because she’d feel even worse on top of that if she couldn’t do any house chores when returning home.

“I’m going to go change,” she declared, pulling herself out of the couch.

“Me too! Me too!” I chirped as I tagged along, leaving Sis alone to drool over Oliver, who had his—now even more fluffy tummy due to his growing winter coat, fully exposed for her to rub.

The bedroom was cool, but tolerable, reminding me of our just-finished conversation about the bills and how, before, it’d be freezing in here. I clicked the AC on to warm it up just a bit and set it on a timer. Before any of this, it was the hot-air blower I had gotten her. No idea which was the more economical one, however, the blower had to be on for long periods of time, so even if it is the more economical option, it might have ended up consuming more energy?

Another thing I need to learn for our future…

I looked around to ask Violet if she knew the answer to that, but stopped to watch what she was doing. She was still in her uniform and doing that swooshing motion with her skirt that a bunch of other girls and I were doing at school while looking at herself in the mirror, having grown distracted by the fluttering fabric. It didn’t just look cute and satisfying when she did it. It looked absolutely mesmerising due to her long legs, making me forget what I was going to ask her. Instead, I took a seat and watched, wondering how long it’d take her to realise that I was watching, my heart beating a bit faster than normal.