Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Warm Days vs Cold Days (Part 1)

Flashback

It was a lonely cold day and little Stefani was warmed up inside her bedroom. There were no hints of possible sunlight outside, a sad day for kids, but Stefani has a smile on her face as a warm pair of arms were wrapped around her with a book on her lap.

"No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year," Jonathan said, voice low and soft. "The end."

Stefani's eyelashes softly moved as she turned to look up at Jonathan, "It's the end already? Read it again, Jonathan. Pwease."

Jonathan chuckled and rubbed Stefani's head, "Stefani, look outside."

Stefani glanced to her window, "Hmm?"

"See how the fog swarmed up your window?"

Stefani tilted her head to the side, "Shwarmed pop?"

Jonathan softly smiled and nodded, "Come here, I'll show you." He then left Stefani's warm bed and went to the window with little Stefani following after him.

Jonathan then breathed out to the window, making the fog covering the window thicker. Then, he brought up his finger and drew a smiley.

Stefani's sleepy eyes became big. They sparkled as she stared at Jonathan's drawing on the window.

"See this, Stefani. If you can already draw a smiley on your window, it means it's going to snow soon," Jonathan explained.

"That's so amazing, Jonathan!" Stefani exclaimed as she then went to draw a smiley on her own, next to the drawing Jonathan just did.

Jonathan softly caressed Stefani's head and looked at her affectionately, "Stefani..."

"Yes, Jonathan?"

With all the love he has inside, Jonathan leaned down and kissed Stefani's cheek.

With a pair of serious and determined eyes, Jonathan said, "I like you a lot, Stefani."

Stefani immediately replied, "I like you a lot, too, Jonathan!"

Jonathan softly smiled then added, "I'm... going to make sure that I will marry you someday... and that on a cold snowy day like this, I'll give you all my warmth."

"Every winter?" Stefani asked, her big deer eyes looking more adorably as she stared at Jonathan with visible joy and excitement.

"Every winter," Jonathan answered.

Both smiled at each other as they then shared a very warm hug, the innocent and pure love radiating to their young hearts. That night, indeed, the snow began to fall. Winter has finally begun.

"Ah, Nini, you're here," Jane greeted the little girl.

"Yes, big sister! Stef ish here!" Stefani flashed her few teeth.

Jane chuckled at the little girl’s cuteness as she rubbed her head, "Why are you so adorable?"

"Hihihi," Stefani grinned then stopped. "Big sister, where is Jonathan?"

Jane sighed, "Ah, he's in his room. He has a fever and colds, Nini. Sorry, you can't play with him today."

Stefani looked worried and declared, "That's okay, big sister! Jonathan is strong, big sister. Sick sick go away!"

Jane chuckled again and patted Stefani's head, "Of course, Nini. He'll be fine after a good rest."

The next day, Jonathan was waving to Stefani, beaming his usual gentle smile.

Stefani excitedly jumped out of the car and ran to Jonathan.

"Jonathan!!" Stefani shouted with a wide smile.

"Stefani," Jonathan called then quickly hugged Stefani as soon as he reached her.

"Jonathan! Are you okay? No more sick?" Stefani asked innocently.

"I'm fine now, thanks for worrying about me," Jonathan gently said as he grabbed Stefani's hand and together, started walking on the snowy path to the Hernandez Mansion.

"No," Stefani suddenly said, "Stef is not worried at all."

Jonathan looked at the younger, "Hmm? Why is that?"

Stefani smiled at Jonathan, "Because you said you're going to give me all your warmth every snowy day."

Jonathan tilted his head to the side, "I did?"

Stefani nodded giddily, "Yeah, and I said I like you too, Jonathan!"

Jonathan halted on his steps. "I... I said that?"

"Yes! Last time before you had your fever, Jonathan!" Stefani grinned, swaying her arm with Jonathan's.

Jonathan shook his head, "Stefani, I-"

Before Jonathan could speak more, Stefani had already run inside the mansion where her father quickly welcomed her.

"Daddy! Jonathan is here to play with me, he's not sick anymore," Stefani exclaimed to her father with a wide smile.

Jonathan politely bowed to Mr. Hernandez in greetings which Mr. Hernandez only patted Jonathan's head in return. He had always liked this boy who was so humble and respectful.

"Really? Then you better show him your drawing," Mr. Hernandez said, laughing as he stared at the two children.

"Okay! I'll do that now, Daddy!" Stefani nodded and grabbed Jonathan's hand as she dragged the latter to her bedroom upstairs. "Quick, Jonathan!"

"Be careful, Stefani!" Mr. Hernandez shouted as he turned around and faced the maids, requesting them to prepare some snacks for Stefani and Jonathan.

One year later

"Wow, your drawings have improved, Stefani," Jonathan complimented.

"My dragons are cool, aren’t they, Jonathan?" Stefani grinned, proud of herself.

Jonathan nodded, "They are. Compared to last year."

Stefani stood up, dusting her pants off, "Wait here, Jonathan. I will get cookies for you."

"Ah, I'll go with y..." Jonathan's voice trailed off, sighing as watched the door closing. Just as they were slowly growing up, it was visible that both were trying to be someone in this world. Jonathan was the first to notice this and the worries he had for the future slowly gave him an uneasy feeling in his heart.

On his way down to the kitchen, Stefani couldn't help but feel giddy. She was now at the age of understanding what crush and love were, slowly, and she knew exactly what kind of feelings she was harboring towards her childhood friend. She was almost having a happy march on her way when suddenly, she heard some voices near her.

"I feel sorry for Young Miss Stefani," one maid uttered.

"Me too," the other said. "We all know master Jonathan and Jane are just playing with her because Mr. Hernandez ordered them to."

"Without those two kids, I'm sure young miss will be a very lonely kid. She doesn't have a mother and her father is always busy working. Not to mention, she doesn’t have any friends other than Master Jonathan and Lady Jane. She basically lives in an empty mansion. What a poor kid."

"Well, I'm glad there is master Jonathan and lady Jane to play with her, even if it's only an order. Especially that kid Jonathan, he's always with young miss. I wonder if he likes being with young miss or he's just doing it out of obligation."

“We can’t say for sure, maybe there are times he doesn’t want to see young miss Stefani but can’t say no to Master Hernandez. Sigh, such tragic positions these kids have, huh. Can’t even do what they really want...”

Stefani's heart crushed as she listened to the conversation.

She wanted to erase the bad feelings she was getting, slowly crawling to her chest, so she ran upstairs to her bedroom. Her eyes were almost watery as she saw the light coming from her slightly opened room. She was about to say something when she heard familiar voices from the inside.

"Jonathan, as your second father, I am giving you the freedom to choose now. I want you to decide to your heart's wish," Mr. Hernandez spoke softly to the boy in front of him. "Even though your sister only agrees to go to Australia if you go with her, it doesn't mean you have to go. You know, you two can always go there anytime. I will always support you two."

"Jane is my only family, Mr. Hernandez," Jonathan explained. "And I... I really want to study abroad."

"I told you to stop calling me that, right? Really, this kid," Mr. Hernandez shook his head. "And if you go now, my daughter will be really sad and lonely. She will miss her favorite person."

"I know that, Mr. Hernandez. But still, I want to go with Jane. I want to study in Australia," Jonathan said, voice sounding too mature for his age.

Meanwhile, outside, Stefani's heart was slowly breaking.

Jonathan was going away.

Her most favorite person, Jonathan, was leaving her.

The moment Mr. Hernandez left Stefani's bedroom, Stefani went inside and stood in front of Jonathan.

"Oh, Stefani, you're back," Jonathan smiled and rubbed Stefani's head.

Stefani wanted to erase the painful words she just heard from the maids' conversation and her father and Jonathan's conversation. So she looked up at Jonathan and asked. "Jonathan, will you keep that promise you made last year on the first day of snow?"

Jonathan stared at Stefani, silently thinking about the promise he had told the younger. He tried to recall their conversation then said, "Of course." Without really remembering what the promise was.

The first day of snow came.

The windows were again full of fog.

There were no smiley drawings to be seen.

The room was cold.

Stefani's heart was cold.

So cold, Stefani began to hate everything that reminded her of winter.

So cold she began to hate everything that reminded her of a boy named Jonathan Gonzalez.

So cold she chose to forget and shut everything and everyone else out.