"Daddy! Daddy!"

I hum drowsily, my eyes opening halfway at the sound of the little whisper. "What is it, sweetheart?" My voice is hoarse from sleep and my vision is still blurry, although I can still make out the sight of 3 year old Charlotte stood in front of my side of the bed, her dark brown curls a mess and penguin patterned pajamas wrinkled. You're still fast asleep next to me, and I gently pat your hip to let you know that our daughter requests our immediate attention.

"It's white outside!" Charlotte chirps excitedly, hopping up and down on her feet. I blink at her, my mind struggling to catch up. "What are you talking about, honey?"

She huffs, already having quite the attitude at her young age, and promptly marches to the window of our bedroom to pull the curtains back. I wince momentarily at the brightness, hearing your noise of protest as you finally start to wake up, but once my eyes focus:

Sure enough, it's white outside.

The entire forest is literally covered in a thick sheet of snow.

Charlotte's early morning excitement now makes plenty of sense, given that the little girl has never seen snow before. Sure, she's seen it in movies and stuff, but in her actual short lifespan she's never had the opportunity to see snow with her own two eyes yet.

We booked this vacation in Shirakawa, a village a couple hours from Tokyo, specifically for the relaxing family getaway a couple weeks before all the Christmas chaos has us busy almost everyday. It's the perfect amount of remote, with really no one recognizing us when we go into town, meaning we don't have to worry about dodging cameras or covering poor Charlotte's face.

We can just...exist.

It's perfect.

I finally sit up in bed with a yawn, rubbing my eyes before turning back to Charlotte, who is already pressing her nose to the glass and leaving little foggy circles where she breathes. “Well, would you look at that. Whole world’s gone and turned into a snow globe.” She turns to me with the biggest grin, curls bouncing as she jumps up and down. “Daddy, can we go outside? Please? I wanna make a snowman! And snow angels! Please please pleeease!”

I can’t help but laugh, because there’s absolutely no saying no to that face. “At seven in the morning?” I tease, even though I’m already reaching for my sweater. I glance over my shoulder at you finally opening your eyes and smile, brushing a bit of hair out of your face before leaning down to press a kiss to your temple.

“Rise and shine, angel. Looks like our little girl already has plans for us.”