“Did it snow this much when you were a kid?” Lilli asked from the doorway as she swept the snow back outside – that had fallen in when she opened the door.  “It did a lot but I don’t remember it like this…” Andor rubbed his chin watching Lilli’s figure as she struggled with the broom.  “Are you checking me out!?” Lilli protested leaning the broom against the wall. “Instead of helping your pregnant wife?” “Ummm… Well I guess,” Andor stammered a smirk spreading across his face. “You just look so cute.”  Lilli glared back at him. Sheepishly Andor walked over and took the broom, “Here let me help you with that sweetie.” “Oh wow, you can be a gentleman.” Lilli quipped then swatted him on the butt.  “Hey, I’m not a piece of meat. I’m a human being,” Andor protested.  “Fuck you.” Lilli smiled slyly.  “Sounds good to me!” Andor said, leaning the broom against the wall, forgetting the snow piled on the floor. “Oh my god!” Lilli shrieked as Andor wrapped his arms around her and tried to drag her to bed.  “What?!” Andor pretended to be shocked. “I thought you wanted to… You said…” Lilli cut him off. “I know what I said and that’s not what I meant,” her arms crossed her chest letting him know she was serious. “Living with you all winter stuck in this cave is going to be the end of me - and it’s only the first week of December.”  Andor chuckled, then kissed her on the cheek before returning to the broom and the chore of putting the snow where it belonged - outside. “I’m gonna clear off the lake. So, we won't lose our skating rink.” Andor said as he slipped on his ski boots and walked outside.  “I’ll come and help you in a bit.” Lilli called after him.   Andor snapped into his cross-country skis and let out a whoop of glee as he slid down the hill, plopped over the nearly buried small cliff which bordered their cave home, and zipped down to the lake.  Lilli however, chose to walk down the cliff, now just a few feet tall from all the drifting snow. *No sense in hurting myself or the baby* she thought to herself as she plopped into the drift, safely below the cliff, and tightened her laces.  "It is going to be a long, cold winter," Andor exclaimed when she arrived down at the lake, a smile spreading across her face from the excitement of skiing the impeccably soft snow.  Lilli smiled, “Well, if it’s like this all winter – you won’t hear me complaining.” Baba Ghanoush poked her head out of her lean-to and with a bleat of excitement leapt into the deep snow plowing her way through it down to the lake side. “How’s my ole’ girl?” Lilli asked as she pulled a dry apple from her pocket and fed it to the ecstatic llama. “Those apples are like crack to her. If she ever finds our stash she’ll eat them all in the blink of an eye.” Andor laughed as he stroked the hair out of the happy llama’s eyes. Then he grabbed a large snow shovel, from under a pine tree, and skied out onto the lake pushing the shovel in front of him. After about fifteen minutes of watching him work, Lilli called from the shoreline – “Let me have a go for a bit.” Andor zipped back and handed her the shovel and then flopped into the snow next to Baba Ghanoush.  After a few more minutes of clearing the surface of the lake, from what last night’s storm had deposited, they had their own personal ice rink ready for some fun.  “I’ll get the skates while you get a fire going.” Lilli said as she put the shovel back under the tree.  “Grab a few more apples too while you’re up there please.” Andor called after her, causing Baba Ghanoush’s ears to perk up.  ![[asi-ii-ijape.jpg]] “Well at least we had a bit of fun skating before the storm…” Andor muttered as he looked up at the sky filled with ominous dark clouds spewing the biggest snowflakes they had seen so far this season. “We should go for a ski tour tomorrow,” Lilli smiled as she took off her skates. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a gorgeous day.”  “Where do you want to go?” Andor asked as flopped into the snow and took off his nordic ice skates.  “How about down to the orchard?” Lilli offered. “The downhill run to get there will be a lot of fun and the uphill trek through the old growth forest should be delightful.” “I like the sound of that.” Andor chuckled as the thought of cozying up to the fire in their cave drifted through his mind.  Baba Ghanoush had retired to her lean to after she realized they had no more apples to feed her. It was much warmer there than huddled up in the snow anyhow.  "Maybe you should go check on Baba Ghanoush, make sure she is doing alright before it gets too deep.” Lilli suggested as she opened the front door. “Yeah, good call, I'll do that.”  They had done a lot of work before the winter had set in to insulate Baba Ghanoush’s lean-to. So, when Andor poked his head inside, Baba Ghanoush lifted up her head and blinked lazily. “Sorry to wake you,” he apologized. “Are you doing alright?" Baba Ghanoush had a thick coat of fur and seemed more perturbed to be awoken from her slumber than by the cold outside. Andor scratched her behind the ears and backed out of the lean-to, making sure to securely close the door. *I should take a leak while I’m out here.* As he squeezed through the rock outcropping on the side of a hill, he heard a whimper and stopped.  *Did I just hear that, or am I imagining it?* He stood there silently listening, and then he heard it again—a soft whimper. It was coming from the rocks above him. Andor stepped out of the lee side of the rock pile and began post-holing up the side of the hill. He stopped and listened again.  *There I heard it again, another whimper, it’s getting louder.* “I think it’s coming from behind the boulder in front of me,” he whispered to himself as he pulled his knife out.  The wind, which had been howling suddenly eased up and the landscape descended into an eerie silence. *Here goes nothing.* Then cautiously holding his breath he peered around the boulder.  At first he didn’t see anything, then a tiny movement caught his eye. There huddled up against the boulder was a baby wolf. It didn’t appear to be more than a few weeks old. “Aw, hey there, little fella. Did you get kicked out of the den?" Andor asked as he put away his knife and reached out to pat the pup on the head. The pup looked up at him, he could tell it was quite cold.  “Another hour or two in this weather and you’d have been a goner for sure,” Andor sighed as he unzipped his jacket and slipped the tiny animal against his chest. Its eyes filled with gratitude as it licked his hand. Carefully, he turned and walked back to the shelter, forgetting all about having to pee. “You were gone a long time,” Lilli asked sleepily as Andor ducked back inside. "I went to pee and found this little thing,” Andor replied, unzipping his jacket and holding the wolf pup out for Lilli to see. “Oh my gosh! It’s so adorable,” Lilli squealed. “Poor thing looks half dead!” She jumped out of bed and scooped the little pup into her arms.  "It’s so cute,” Andor lifted the leg slightly. “She’s so cute,” he said, correcting himself.  “Can we keep her?” Lilli pleaded, batting her eyelashes softly.  “Of course! We can’t kick her outside, not in this storm,” Andor reached into the ice box by the door and pulled out a large hunk of frozen moose meat. “She could come in handy, help us guard the compound.”  Andor put the hunk of meat into their pot by the fire to defrost it while Lilli scratched the little pup behind her ears.  “Dinner’s served!” Andor said as he plopped the meat into a bowl of mushroom gravy from a can. The runt scampered over, sniffed the bowl for a half second and then ravenously devoured it. “Poor thing is starving.” Lilli wailed, her motherly instincts kicking into overdrive upon seeing such a small innocent thing suffering. Andor and Lilli watched the pup eat her dinner, which didn’t take long. When she finished she yawned, sidled up to the edge of bed, and looked expectantly up at Lilli who promptly scooped her up nuzzling her nose into the pup's fuzzy neck.  "I think she likes you," Andor remarked as he pulled the flannel blanket up around his shoulders. "What should we name her?” Lilli asked as she yawned and stretched before crawling back into their bed. "How about we name her Bia Ijape… Or maybe Ijape for short?" Andor suggested. "That’s Shoshone for ‘wolf’ I believe.” "I love it! Ijape has a nice ring to it," Lilli fluffed her pillow and pulled the blanket up around her neck. Ijape scooted over, yipped a pleasanty, then curled up between them covering her nose with her tiny tail.  “If our household gets any bigger we’re gonna need to find a bigger cave...” Andor yawned but neither Lilli or Ijape heard – they were both snoring softly. ### Next Chapter: [[12 - Gulf Hagas 🌨️]] ### Previous Chapter: [[10 - A Bountiful Land 🫎]]