Chapter 225: Operation Snow Trip
Franz pulled into the driveway of his parents’ estate a little after two. The afternoon light had turned gold, the kind of late winter glow that made everything look soft. He cut the engine and sat for a moment, listening to the silence.
Then he went inside.
Amanda met him at the door with a warm hug.
"They’re almost ready," she said. "Leo is saying goodbye to the koi fish."
"He said goodbye to them last time too."
"He’s thorough."
She gave him a look then. The same look from Friday. But softer now. Her eyes moved over his face like she was checking something off a list.
"You look rested," she said.
Franz felt his mouth twitch. He looked away. But the smile came anyway.
Amanda didn’t push. She never did.
The drive home was loud.
Lily talked the entire way. No pauses. No need for responses. She told him about Grandma’s cookies, about the movie they watched, about how Grandpa Vincent had fallen asleep in his chair and snored so loud the dog started barking.
Leo showed Franz his tablet at a red light. Drawings of koi fish. A house with too many windows. A lion that looked more like a bear.
"That’s very good, Leo."
Leo typed: LION.
"I see that."
Lily leaned forward between the front seats. "He’s been drawing lions all weekend. Aunt Aria’s little lion."
Franz glanced in the rearview mirror. Leo was holding the keychain, turning it slowly between his fingers. The worn metal caught the afternoon light.
Franz’s mind drifted. To this morning. To the way Arianne had looked at him from the threshold before she walked out.
Don’t thank me for keeping my word.
He smiled.
"Uncle Franz." Lily’s voice cut through. "You’re not listening."
"I’m listening."
"What did I just say?"
A pause. "Cookies."
Lily’s eyes narrowed. "That was three topics ago."
Leo’s tablet appeared between the seats: HE IS THINKING ABOUT AUNT ARIA.
Franz said nothing. Lily gasped like she’d won something.
He was. Thinking about her. The way she had said if it’s with you like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Like she hadn’t just rearranged his entire understanding of what was possible.
Leo saw it. Of course Leo saw it. The boy missed nothing.
The estate was quiet when they got home.
Franz opened the front door, and the twins rushed past him. Lily first, then Leo. Their footsteps loud on the hardwood. Their voices echoing off the walls.
"Aunt Aria! We’re back!"
No answer from the study. No answer from the kitchen.
Then Lily stopped in the sitting room doorway.
Arianne was on the couch.
She was wearing a soft heather gray cardigan over a simple black crewneck. Dark leggings. Her bare feet tucked beneath her. Her hair was down, loose around her shoulders in a way it never was during the week.
On the screen, Noah Hart was arguing with a hospital administrator.
The remote was in her hand. She didn’t look away from the TV.
"I know," she said. "I heard you the first time."
Lily stared at her. Then at the TV. Then back at Arianne.
"You’re watching Uncle Franz’s show."
"I’m watching Noah Hart’s show."
"That’s the same thing."
"Is it?"
Lily didn’t know how to answer that. So she climbed onto the couch instead.
Leo followed. Slower. More deliberate. He settled on Arianne’s other side, leaning against her arm. Lily wedged herself against Arianne’s shoulder, her head finding its spot like it belonged there.
Arianne didn’t react. Didn’t adjust. Didn’t make a big deal out of it. But her arm came up, settling around Lily’s back. Her hand rested on Leo’s shoulder.
On screen, Noah Hart started an IV.
"Why are you watching this without us?" Lily asked.
"I started it yesterday."
"You should have waited."
"I didn’t know you wanted to watch."
"We always want to watch."
Leo nodded.
Arianne was quiet for a moment. Then: "We can start over. If you want."
Lily considered this. "No. Just tell us what happened."
"A man got sick. The doctors fixed him."
"That’s the whole show?"
"Every episode."
Leo picked up his tablet. SOUNDS BORING.
"That’s how the show works," Arianne said.
Franz appeared in the doorway. Leaned against the frame. Watched.
No one noticed him for a long moment. Just the three of them on the couch. The TV playing. The afternoon light moving through the curtains.
Then he went to the kitchen.
He came back with a bowl of popcorn—not burned this time, he’d watched the clock—and a tray of drinks. Juice boxes for the twins. Tea for Arianne, one teaspoon of creamer, no sugar. Coffee for himself.
He set the tray on the coffee table. Lowered himself onto the other end of the couch, near Arianne’s bare feet.
Lily pulled back from Arianne’s shoulder. Looked at her face. Studied her the way she studied everything.
"Aunt Aria."
"Mm."
"You look different."
Arianne turned her head. One eyebrow up. "How different?"
Lily’s face scrunched. She was trying to find the words. She didn’t have them.
"I don’t know," she admitted. "Just different."
Leo picked up his tablet. Typed with both thumbs. Turned the screen toward Arianne.
SHE LOOKS MORE RELAX.
Lily read it. Nodded. "Yes. That’s it. You look more relax."
"Relaxed," Arianne corrected automatically.
"Relaxed. You look more relaxed."
Arianne was quiet for a moment. Her hand was still on Leo’s shoulder. Her fingers moved. Not quite a squeeze. Just a small adjustment.
"Is that so?" she said. Her voice was mild. Almost amused. "And here I thought your Uncle Franz tired me out."
Franz, mid-reach for the popcorn, laughed.
The sound filled the room. Warm. Surprised out of him before he could stop it. The twins turned. Lily grinned. Leo’s tablet came up: UNCLE FRANZ.
Franz settled back against the couch, popcorn bowl in his lap. "That’s not how it works. I’m the one who needs to work hard. Not her."
Arianne reached for her tea. Took a slow sip. "Eat your popcorn."
Lily grabbed a handful. But she didn’t stop staring at both of them.
Franz moved on the couch. His hand found Arianne’s ankle. She didn’t pull away.
"So," he said to the twins. "What did you do all weekend?"
Lily sat up straighter. This was her moment.
"Grandma helped us make a list," she said. "For the trip. The one with snow."
Leo nodded. His tablet lit up: MOUNTAINS.
Franz looked at Arianne. She was watching the twins, her expression neutral. But her hand had stilled on Leo’s shoulder.
"What kind of list?" Franz asked.
Lily pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. It was creased in all the wrong places. The edges soft from being handled too many times. She unfolded it carefully.
"Boots," she read. "Coats. Two coats each, because Grandma says layers are important. Hot chocolate. Marshmallows. The big ones, not the small ones. Sleds. Gloves. Extra gloves because Leo always loses his."
Leo typed: I DO NOT.
"You do too."
ONCE.
"Twice."
ONCE AND A HALF.
Lily squinted at the tablet. "That’s not a real number."
Leo shrugged. He didn’t correct it.
Arianne reached for her tea again. Her hand was steady. "Your grandmother was very thorough."
"She said we should be prepared," Lily said. "She said cold is dangerous if you don’t respect it."
Franz leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees. "She’s right."
Lily nodded seriously. "I know. That’s why we need all the things."
Lily was already moving again, her thoughts spilling. "And the sky lights? The green ones? Grandma said they move. She said they dance."
"Northern lights," Franz said.
"Yes. Those. Can we see them every night?"
Arianne’s gaze flicked to Franz. He nodded once.
"Not every night," Arianne said. "But we’ll try."
Lily’s hands flew to her mouth. Her entire body bounced where she sat. "We’re really going. We’re really going to see the dancing sky."
Leo’s tablet lit again.
Snow. Mountains. Lights.
He looked at Franz.
All of it?
Franz met his gaze. "All of it."
Something shifted in the room. Not dramatic. Just a small settling. Lily’s shoulders dropped. Leo’s tablet lowered to his lap. The weight from earlier—the talk about Arianne leaving—hadn’t disappeared. But it had moved. The twins had something to hold onto now. Something that wasn’t just waiting.
Lily was already making plans out loud, most of them impossible. She wanted to build a snow fort tall enough to touch the sky. She wanted to catch a snowflake on her tongue every single day. She wanted to see a real wolf, but from very far away, and only if it was friendly.
Leo was correcting her through the tablet, slower, more precise. WOLVES ARE NOT FRIENDLY. Lily waved a hand. "Then a fox. A friendly fox."
FOXES ARE ALSO NOT FRIENDLY.
"Then a rabbit. A snow rabbit."
Leo paused. Typed. RABBITS ARE FRIENDLY.
"See? We can find a rabbit."
Franz leaned closer to Arianne. His voice dropped.
"A week," he said.
She didn’t look at him. "What about it."
"The trip. We could stretch it."
Arianne turned her head. Looked at him.
"You want to see the Northern Lights," he said.
"Mm."
She looked at him. Really looked.
Arianne was quiet for a long moment. Her hand was still on Leo’s shoulder. Her thumb moved against the fabric of his shirt.
The TV played on. Noah Hart was saving someone’s life.
"A week," Arianne said.
"If we can."
She looked at the twins. At Leo’s tablet, still displaying the list. At Lily, who was now explaining the difference between a snow fox and a regular fox to no one in particular.
"I’ll check my calendar," she said.
Franz smiled. "That’s not a yes."
"It’s not a no either."
Leo’s tablet appeared between them: SAY YES.
Lily, without looking away from the TV: "Say yes, Aunt Aria."
Arianne looked at Leo’s tablet. Then at Franz.
"I’ll check my calendar," she repeated.
But her mouth was doing that thing. The almost-smile. The one she couldn’t quite hide.
Franz settled back against the couch. His hand was still on her ankle. His arm was behind her on the couch. Not quite touching. Close enough that she could feel the warmth.
On screen, the episode was ending. Noah Hart took off his gloves. The patient lived.
"Can we watch another one?" Lily asked.
"One more," Arianne said.
"Two more."
"One."
"One and a half."
"One."
Lily sighed. "Fine."
Leo picked up his tablet. Typed. Turned it so everyone could see.
OPERATION SNOW TRIP CONTINUES.
Franz read it over Arianne’s shoulder. "Operation Snow Trip," he said.
Arianne shook her head. "They get it from you."
"I’ve never planned an operation in my life."
"You planned an entire weekend."
He looked at her. At the twins. At the TV playing his show in his house on a Sunday afternoon.
"That was just us," he said. "This is everyone."
Arianne was quiet for a moment.
"Same principle," she said. "Different scale."
"That’s very corporate of you."
"I’m very corporate."
Lily threw a piece of popcorn into her mouth. "You’re doing it again."
"Doing what?" Arianne asked.
Lily gestured vaguely with her juice box. "The thing. Where you look at each other and forget we’re here."
Leo nodded. He didn’t look up from his tablet, but he nodded.
Arianne glanced at Franz. Then back at the TV.
"Start the next episode," she said.
Franz picked up the remote.
"Only if you say yes to the week."
"That’s blackmail."
"It’s negotiation."
She held his gaze for a moment. Then she reached for the popcorn.
"Seven days. Not a day more."
Franz started the next episode.
Outside, the afternoon light had gone from gold to gray. The room was warm. The twins were quiet now, watching the screen. Lily’s head against Arianne’s shoulder. Leo’s tablet resting on his lap.
Franz’s hand found Arianne’s waist. He pulled her gently. Just a few inches. Until her side pressed against his. His arm wrapped around her. Solid. Warm.
She didn’t pull away. She didn’t lean into him either. She just let herself be there. Her hand rested on his forearm. Not gripping. Just resting.
"This is good," Franz said. Not a question. Just a fact.
Arianne didn’t answer. She watched the twins.
Lily didn’t notice. Leo did. He glanced at them. A quick look. Then back at his tablet.
His mouth curved. Just a little.
Arianne saw it. She stayed where she was. Franz’s arm didn’t move. The twins kept watching. The room was warm.
This.