Page 33 of An Undisputed Christmas
I'd decided mine was going to be a snowwoman, complete with elegant features and what I hoped would pass for a graceful pose.
Meanwhile, Estelle had embarked on what she declared to be "an artistic tribute to masculine perfection."
Her plan was ambitious: create a snowman sohandsome, so flawlessly proportioned, that it would capture Jax's legendary good looks in frozen form.
"I'm going to make him look exactly like you," she announced to Jax with the confidence of someone who had never attempted snow sculpture before.
What emerged over the next hour was... well, calling it a disaster would have been generous.
The snowman's head was egg-shaped and tilted at an alarming angle. The carrot nose, meant to be rakishly handsome, hung crooked and drooped like it was melting.
The coal eyes she'd positioned were wildly uneven—one sitting much higher than the other, giving the entire face a deranged, lopsided expression.
"It's... something,” Estelle observed weakly, stepping back to survey her creation. The snowman stared back with its uneven coal eyes, seeming to judge her.
Adrian took one look at the monstrosity and nearly choked on his own laughter.
"Oh my GOD,” he gasped, pointing at the abomination with undisguised glee. "Is that supposed to be JAX? Because if it is, this is the BEST day of my entire life."
"It's not that bad," Estelle protested, though her voice lacked conviction.
“Star, that thing looks like Jax after being run over again, then hit by a snowplow, then struck by lightning," Adrian cackled. "It's the anti-Jax.”
Jax, who had been suspiciously quiet during this exchange, was staring at his snow doppelganger with an expression of profound horror.
His hand had actually risen to touch his own face, as if checking to make sure his actual features were still properly arranged.
"It doesn't look anything like me," he worried faintly. "Please tell me it doesn't look anything like me.
"Oh, it absolutely looks like you," Adrian continued with malicious delight. "If you were a medieval gargoyle with a problem."
That was apparently the final straw for Sierra.
The first snowball came from nowhere—a perfectly formed sphere of powder that exploded against Adrian's shoulder with a satisfying puff.
All eyes turned to her. “Adrian! Stop being mean about Estelle’s snowman!”
"But look at it!" Adrian protested, still wheezing with laughter. "It's like a crime against nature! Jax's ego may never recover!"
Another snowball hit him square in the chest with a satisfying thump, temporarily cutting off his commentary.
"Anyone else want to make fun of our artistic efforts?" Sierra asked sweetly, already packing another snowball with ominous intent.
"I think it has character," Connor declared diplomatically, though he was definitely hiding a smile behind his knuckles.
"It has something," Jax muttered, still staring at his snow likeness with the expression of a man contemplating his own mortality. "I'm just not sure character is the word I'd use."
This time, a snowball hit Jax straight in the face.
"Oops," Estelle said with obviously fake remorse, dusting off her hands. "Slipped."
His eyes went dark with mischief. "Oh, it's like that, is it?"
"I don't know what you mean," She replied sweetly, already backing away from her snowman as Jax bent to scoop up ammunition.
"RUN!" Sierra shrieked, and suddenly we were all scattering across the yard like startled deer.
What followed was the most epic snowball battle in the history of winter warfare.
