Free Snowed In by Maria Piork Page A

fatigued she was Nina needed to pull through and keep it
together somehow. She couldn’t afford to give Dex any reason to believe that she
was incompetent or perhaps even unfit to care for Ian. 
    Nina
pulled the comforter back and swung her legs off the bed. She stepped into her
fuzzy slippers and walked into the adjoining bathroom. She tossed the soiled
clothing into the hamper and washed up. Several minutes later she was in front
of the dresser fetching a set of clean clothes. She dressed in camisole and
panties then slipped the robe fastening the sash around her waist. She reached
for a hair brush and her eyes focused on the picture frame, the frame that Ian had
made for her out of wooden sticks and yarn; it was a classic preschooler type
of craft. Nina smiled at Callie’s ten-minute old picture that now adorned Ian’s
art work. Grammie Lynne had snapped the photograph seconds after the nurses had
placed Callie in her arms.
    The
window glass rattled the noise jolting Nina out of her reverie. “A severe ice
storm is expected to sweep through the Anchorage area. Blustery conditions are
expected.” The meteorologist announced during the late night newscast. The prediction
was that the major metropolitan area would be the hardest hit and citizens were
urged to remain on high alert.
    Despite
the fifty to sixty mile per hour winds advisory, Nina dismissed the weather
report as overly sensational. Now, however, Nina realized the matter was much
more serious than she originally anticipated.
    She
gave her reddish curls a good comb then straightened her clothes. She crossed
the short distance to the entrance and swung the bedroom door open. When the image
of Dex holding Callie in his arms came into focus Nina’s stopped short and fell
silent.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Dex was perched against
the hallway table with her daughter peacefully resting on his forearms. Her one
month old child gurgled, and Dex cooed. They were conversing Nina giggled
silently. It was charming, but what struck Nina the most was how delicate Dex
was with her holding Callie as if she was the most precious thing. He stroked
her cheek and Callie opened her eyes wide and stared at him.
    They
were sharing a moment, a bond of sorts, Nina realized, and was genuinely
surprised. It wasn’t so odd she supposed. Dex was the only other adult person
with whom the child interacted on a daily basis. Sure the baby had Grammie Lynne
too, every weekend at that, but it was quite obvious that her daughter was much
more smitten with Dex than with her own great-grandma. She couldn’t blame her
daughter for being partial Dexter McIver was one to be smitten with. He was kind,
caring, and a loving father to Ian.
    She
thought about the boy for a moment and marveled at just how well adjusted he
was to his mother’s absence.
    When
Nina was told of Tanya McIver’s problem with substance abuse it troubled her.
The job of raising a child was taxing in the best of circumstances, but raising
a child while having to tend to an alcoholic spouse might have been a terrible
ordeal and Nina truly felt for Dex, but even more for Ian. Part of his
innocence had been robbed from him and at times it was clear that the boy
struggled with his own identity…
    “Well,
if you’re living here with us, then why aren’t you and my daddy sleeping in the
same room?” Ian had asked Nina when the two of them had worked on a puzzle.
    Ian’s
comment had taken her completely by surprise that day, yet Nina managed to maintain
her composure. “Ian, just because I’m living here doesn’t mean your father and
I would sleep in the same room.”
    “Well,
my dad’s friend, Mitch, and his girlfriend, Greta, live together, and they
sleep in the same room.”
    Nina
felt Ian knew way too much for his age.
    “Well,
Mitch and Greta are boyfriend and girlfriend, Ian. Your father and I are not.
There’s a big difference.”
    The
topic was an awkward one to discuss with a five year old, yet as uncomfortable
as