The snow fell in wispy, fluffy clumps like little cotton balls. It piled up on the bare branches of the trees, outlining everything in pristine white.

Lacie watched it all from the kitchen window. This was her favorite time of year. There was something empowering about being inside while it snowed. Sitting in the warm, with a blanket over her legs, Lacie wished for the one thing that would make this perfect.

"Hot cocoa!" Grace plopped down on the other side of the kitchen table with two plates.

One was just a saucer with a steaming cup cradled in its ring. It was pushed over with care. The other, however, was a mystery. Its size and shape were unknown as it was trapped inside a tomato-stained tupperware container.

"What's that?" She pointed.

"Wouldn't you like to know!"

Grace was Lacie's younger sister. Gracie and Lacie: their parents had thought it was funny. They both shared the same dark eyes, narrow nose, and that cleft in the chin that looks so much better on their father. Lacie knew she looked much older now. Her skin didn't glow like Grace's, her hair was frizzled and split. She could never keep a haircut for long since going out to get one was so much trouble in her condition. She just kept it all wrapped up in a messy bun.

"You and your secrets." Lacie lifted the hot cocoa in both hands, trying her best to keep them steady, "Thanks."

"It's hazelnut." Grace said, "One of those little flavor packet things. I'm no pro, but at least I didn't burn the water."

Smiles crossed the table, but soon fell away. The cup was placed back on the saucer and the snow spun in the wind outside. A clump of fattened flakes hit the window, blurring for a moment, then melting away.

"Dad would have liked this." Lacie ran a thumb along the searing side of the cup, right over where it proclaimed her to be 'Cocoa Crazy!'

"And mom wouldn't be bothered. She'd be storming in and out of the house, slamming doors, shouting, going out to church or auctions or whatever, stomping those boots all over."

"The boots!" Lacie had forgotten about them. They'd been huge, green, rubber things that never matched whatever else she had on, "They were so..."

"Hideous."

"So hideous."

Lacie rubber her thighs with her now-warmed hands. Her legs couldn't feel the warmth, or the pressure, but she'd been told it did her good. The muscles were still there, even if they weren't talking to the rest of her.

Time passed, snow fell, and the cocoa slowly vanished. She stared down into the blackened clumps at the bottom of the cup and sighed.

"All done?" Grace asked.

The cup and saucer were passed over as an answer.

"Time to reveal the mystery!" Grace pushed the tupperware container over, "Guess what's inside."

"Leftovers?"

"Nope." The top was popped off, and nestled inside was another cup and saucer, "More cocoa!"