Cody followed her into the lounge room. She had tied her hair in a rough ponytail. He liked it. He also liked her in the dress. Even if it was a bit big it made her look pretty. The fabric was patterned in different shades of blue. The colour suited her.

Cody thought about the sleeping arrangements. He'd leave them as they were because he couldn't wait to climb into bed beside her even with the no-touch rule, he'd set himself. Being that close was something to look forward to.

When they got back into the lounge, she picked up two books. Her eyes flicked from one to the other.

"What about one of these? They'd be more fun to learn with." Cody grabbed the comics from the top of the shelf, threw them on the bed and flopped beside them.

Fin put the books down and knelt on the floor to look at the comics.

"They're comics," Cody said. "Stories with pictures. What do you think?"

"Okay." Fin handed him one which had Christmas images on it. She moved the others aside and climbed on the bed beside him.

Cody hadn't expected her to climb on the bed. He waited to see if she felt uncomfortable being so close to him. She didn't seem to be so he lay back and opened the comic.

"You have to tell me what it says." She closed the comic. "On the front. It's about Christmas, isn't it?"

Cody drew in a breath because his body reacted to her closeness. She looked at him wide-eyed and expectant. "Yeah, it's about Christmas. It's called Archie's Christmas Stocking."

Fin shuffled around on the bed then lay on her back, her head close to his. She leaned across Cody's chest and touched each word. "Archie's Christmas Stocking. Which one do you think is Archie?"

Cody froze. This wasn't a good idea.

Because he hadn't answered she looked at him and repeated. "Cody. Which one do you think is Archie?"

He took a deep breath and pointed. "That one's Archie."

"Have you read this before?"

"No."

Her brow furrowed. "So how do you know he's Archie?"

Cody wanted to put the comic down and kiss her because she looked gorgeous. Instead, he said, "My Dad has some of these comics. They're pretty popular. I think you can still buy them. I've read others and it's always the same people but the stories are different."

"Like a soap opera on the TV." She rolled over on her side and supported her head on her hand.

Her breast touched his arm. He wasn't going to be able to do this. Every nerve was on fire. "Yeah, a bit like a soap opera." He drew a breath and rolled on his stomach to hide his body's reaction to her. Cody laid the comic on the bed in front of them so she wouldn't have to reach over him and they could both look at it.

Fin copied him and rolled on her stomach. "What do these words say?" She pointed at the speech bubble.

"Why don't you see if you can read them yourself?" he said.

Fin touched the words. "I don't know those two but the big one is Christmas." She looked at Cody for confirmation.

"That's right." He smiled and held her stare. His stomach lurched. He watched her blush before she looked back at the comic.

"I don't know the next one but the others say 'is...in...the...air." Again, she looked at him.

Cody grinned and nodded. He touched each word like she had and read them in a funny voice. "Hey, Jug. Christmas Magic is in the air."

Fin laughed and mimicked his voice. She repeated the words as she touched them. When she was finished, she looked at him in question. "Who is Jug?"

"That guy there with the funny nose." Cody pointed at the image. "Lots of times he wears a funny hat. His full name is Jughead. Have a go at reading what he says."

"It's also on the r..." Fin touched the words and studied the picture. Santa Claus stood on the roof with a large bag of toys. She grinned and read, "It's also on the roof, Archie."

Cody let out a cooee and rolled on his back. "Who says you can't read."

She laughed and slapped his chest. Cody dug his fingers into her ribs. She squealed and dug her fingers into his. Cody couldn't control the urge any longer. He grabbed her around the waist and tickled her. She shrieked and kicked as Cody laughed and pulled her on top of him. He let her go and rolled out from underneath her then jumped off the bed. Not a good idea.

Fin laughed then sat up. "What's the matter? Are you sick?"

"Nah, I gotta get a drink," Cody said. "Do you want one?"

"No. Thank you." Fin frowned at him but he had to get out of there. "Keep looking at the pictures," he said. "I'll be back soon."

Cody paced in front of the buffet. He rubbed his hands over his face then went to the bathroom and put his head under the tap. He towelled it dry, looked at himself in the mirror and said, "You can do this." He gave his reflection a quick nod and headed back into the room. Fin moved over to let him back on the bed.

"Do you think Santa's real, Cody?" Before he could answer she said, "I don't. I did when I was little but after my mother died, I never got any presents. Not even for my birthday so I think it was my mother." She looked at him with interest but he didn't answer straight away.

"No. Santa's not real," he managed to say. "It's something parents do for their children to show them they love them."

"That's why it stopped," she mused. "Because my mother did it and she loved me. Findlay doesn't think about stuff like that."

"Are we going to keep reading this?" Cody tapped the comic. He didn't want her to be upset so changed the subject.

She grinned at him, nodded, flipped on her stomach, and put the comic on the bed in front of her as Cody had done.

He took a breath, told himself he could do this then lay on his stomach beside her.

"Who are those two girls?" Fin pointed to the picture. "Do you know their names?"

"Yeah. The one with dark hair is Veronica and the one with yellow hair is Betty."

"Are they best friends?"

"Yes," Cody grinned. "Except Veronica is always jealous of Betty. They both like Archie and want him to be their boyfriend. She always tries to arrange things so Betty can't win him."

"What does she do?"

Cody shrugged and grabbed the other comics. "There's one here just about them. Do you want to read it instead?"

Fin rolled on her side and faced him. She shook her head. "You tell me. I like it when you talk to me. I like listening to your voice. It sounds nice."

Cody laughed.

She touched his hair. "Why is your hair wet? Did you go out in the rain again?" She twirled his hair, laid her head on her arm and looked at him.

"I wet it. I felt a bit hot." Cody stared at her and concentrated on controlling his breathing. He didn't want to react in any way but wanted to see what she would do next. He was sure her touching him was innocent and wondered if she knew anything about body language or how to act with other people. From what he assumed he didn't think she knew much about social behaviour other than small interactions to do with the people she owed money to, because of her father's debts. He wondered how much she'd learned from the TV.

"You have nice hair, Cody. It's in your eyes," she said. "I could cut it if you have scissors. I cut Findlay's hair all the time."

"Maybe tomorrow."

She nodded, lifted herself on her elbow and looked at the comic. The movement pushed her body closer to his. Her breast pressed against the back of his arm. She left her hand resting on the nape of his neck and her forearm across his shoulder blades. "Does Veronica win Archie?"

Cody shook his head and grinned. "No. Neither one wins him. That's how the stories keep going. In one Betty will do something nice with him and in the next Veronica will. Some people want Betty to win and some want Veronica to win."

"Who do you want to win?"

"Betty, because she's nicer than Veronica," Cody said. "Veronica comes from a rich family. Betty doesn't. Veronica also has another boy named Reggie who is interested in her."

Fin studied the picture. "They both look the same don't they except one has black hair and one has yellow."

"Yeah... I guess they do," Cody said looking from the comic and saw her yawn. "Do you want to go to sleep now?"

She nodded, rolled away from him and stood. "I'll clean my teeth first."

Cold air replaced her warm body. Cody wondered how he was going to sleep with her beside him. He waited for her to come back from the bathroom.

She crawled in from the bottom of the bed and got under the sheet. Cody lit the oil lamp then went outside and turned off the generator.

When he returned, he blew out the lamp and lay under the covers with his hands behind his head.

"Thanks for reading to me, Cody," she whispered. "I'm sorry I acted like a baby."

He laughed and rolled to face her, took a chance and pushed her hair away from her face.

She yawned again and to his surprise snuggled against him. "I like it here, Cody. I like your house."

Cody sighed and let his arm relax around her shoulders. "I like it here too, Fin."

Do you think Cody's a good teacher? Picture books are great for this.

Copyright © 2025 Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.