Sneak Peek at New Year's Snow

Here's a sneak peek at an early section of New Year's Snow. I would love to hear what you think about it in the comments.

Jane
Watching the ball drop is one of our new year's traditions. Being on the west coast allows the kids watch without staying up too late. After the kids fall asleep we make promises to each other for the year. Our daughter, Xena, holds her cocoa in both hands, staring at the screen. Holding Sarah's hand I watch our kids be so excited for the new year. They aren’t jaded by the world or the political state of the country, they are just happy. I wish I could forget the strife of the drama, and casual homophobia of work. Tonight, I’ll just let my kids’ excitement carry me.

Before Xena was born, Sarah wanted to name our kids traditional names, while I wanted more pop culture inspired names. Our neighbor named his son Orange. Figuring we couldn't do worse than that, we decided on Xena because the warrior princess was one of the shows we watched together while dating. A few years later Sarah demanded we name our son a worthy counterpart, and we welcomed Behemoth to our lives.

Behemoth starts counting aloud thirty seconds before New York’s midnight. He has terrible rhythm, but it warms my heart to see him so excited. The rest of us start counting at ten, Xena's overeager competitive spirit leads her to reach zero a second before us. At zero the ball drops, and it begins to snow. The kids run to the screen.

“It’s beautiful…” Xena says as she strokes the screen.

Behemoth looks back towards us, “I thought snow is only in movies.”

Xena stares at him as though he has an ear growing out of his forehead. “Are you kidding? You really thought snow was only in movies.”

“Be kind to your brother.” Sarah lightly scolds Xena.

“Come here.” I say. As Sarah and I cuddle our kids, I explain, “We probably won’t get snow here, but I promise we’ll take a trip when you guys are a little older to see it.”
​
Sarah
“Now get ready for bed, Behemoth do you need pull ups tonight?” As I grab Behemoth's sleepwear I see Jane glancing at me and smiling. I don't deserve her. While I lead the kids to the bathroom to get ready, Xena stops at the window.

“It’s snowing! Here!” she yells across the room. That can't be right. Jane and I move to the window, it really is snowing here, in Sacramento. I look at Jane, she looks as confused as I feel. “Please can we go out and play?” Xena pleads.