The scent of his cologne.

...I just wanted to see you...

Brigitte felt the tingle feeling again go down her spine

….Brigitte…

Her eyes snapped open suddenly which made her wince as water got into them. With a hiss, she wiped at them with a handcloth. 

“Maybe I need a cold shower instead..” Brigitte mumbled. It had been a while since she ever really thought of that stuff. Thankfully the cooling water and breathing exercises helped her to finish off her shower.

After getting dressed, Brigitte grabbed her phone and headed off to the kitchen to make herself a quick ‘breakfast’. When done, she cuddled back onto her bed next to Sushi. She took a few calming breaths since it seemed her face was still warm and flushed. Dialing her mother’s number, Brigitte waited for the line to pick up.

“Hello, sweetie.” Ingrid's voice on the other side but this time in Swedish.

“Hello mama.” Brigitte said, hoping her voice sounded steady. “Sorry for making you wait.”

“No problem at all.” Ingrid said. “Do you mind if I put you on video chat with the tablet? If you are decent that is.”

“Go ahead.” Brigitte said, chuckling. Moving the phone away and putting it on speaker mode then tapped on the accept video call to see her mother on the other side of the screen.

“Let me set this up on the counter.” Ingrid said as the screen shook before it settled to show the older woman with graying blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a holiday themed sweater.

“Dressing for Christmas already mama?” Brigitte commented with a smirk.

Ingrid gave her an eyebrow raise then chuckled. “I’m wearing this because we are preparing for the bake sale to support the Toys for Children fundraiser. Plus Maddie insisted on this one.”

“Is little Maddie at your place?”

Ingrid nodded. “Me and your papa are babysitting her for today and she is going to help me bake after she finishes her homework.”

“Tell her Auntie Brigitte says hi.”

“I will, though knowing her, she will appear out of nowhere.” Ingrid smiled. “Before I get into my questions. Are you alright, your cheeks are very red.”

“I’m fine, the water was a bit hotter than normal.” Brigitte said, pushing it aside.

“You and your father with those blistering showers. You both are going to ruin your skin.”

Brigitte still felt her mother didn’t take the excuse by the tone but was glad she went along with it anyway. “So what are the questions?”

“What are your plans for Christmas and New Years? Are you coming home like usual?”

“Yeah, I gave my boss the heads up and he allowed me those weeks off for holiday break. Even got my tickets planned for the train up on December twelfth. The best timed one will get me there by that night hopefully.”

“Good, everyone will be happy to see you. Reinhardt and Ana will be coming by on their way through to stay until new years. I figured you’d like that.” Ingrid said, making notes somewhere. “Will Hana and Lucio be visiting as well?”

“No, they are going over to Jack’s for the holidays.” Brigitte said, petting a meowing Sushi.

“Alright. I’ll send their gifts along with Jack’s care package.”

The sound of small footsteps running across the tiled floor of the kitchen was heard and a new voice popped up. “Is that auntie Brigitte?”

Brigitte smiled as a small blonde head appeared barely over the edge of the counter. “Hey kiddo! How are you doing?”

“Hi Auntie! I am good! I’m learning about space and planets and it’s so much fun.” Maddie said all excitedly.

“You’ll have to tell me all about when I visit for Christmas.” Brigitte said.

That lit up Maddie’s face. “Yay! Then I can make cookies for you like grandma taught me too!”

“Looking forward to it.” Brigitte smiled.

Another voice joined in. “Dear, some of the decorations weren’t in the barn loft, do you know where they went?”

“Reinhardt moved them to the attic a while back so I had better access to them.” Ingrid responded.

It was nice to hear them all again, it made Brigitte miss home. “Hi papa!”

Torbjorn appeared on the screen, not much taller than Maddie and smiled widely. “My baby! How are you and your job? Is Austria treating you well?”

“I’m really good, just a little tired from a late night. The job is great though. Thanks again papa for helping me get it.”

“I may have pulled a few strings but you're the hard worker. I’m just happy it’s going well.” Torbjorn said, sitting on one of the barstools as Ingrid placed a drink next to him. “Thank you dear.”

“How was your trip to America?”

“The usual. Though dealing with the designer was a nightmare until we got a compromise.” Torbjorn rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Don’t get me wrong, I encourage creativity when it comes to buildings and such but they also need a level of structure and stability or they won't last very long. Thankfully we could work with something and it’s being built by the US branch of the Ironclads as of now. At least I could visit Jack in Indiana for a few days.”

“Is he doing alright out there?” Brigitte asked, as Sushi climbed onto her lap to try and paw at the screen which was stopped before it went to the end call.

“From what I got, he’s doing well. Going back to the farm life I think is really helping his health. I was hoping he’d come over for Christmas but he wanted to just stay at home.” Torbjorn said. “Speaking of which, you’re coming back for the holidays right?”

“Yep, told mama to prepare for me and Sushi. I’m really looking forward to helping find the perfect tree.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Torbjorn finished his drink. “Well I have to get more of the decorations ready to be set up. Don’t worry we’ll save some of it for you. It was nice to talk to you again. You be safe, sweetie. Love you.”

“Love you too papa. Can’t wait to see you all.” Brigitte smiled, returning the wave that Torbjorn did as he headed off. Then she noticed her battery was dying at a fast rate since she forgot to charge it during her shower. “My battery is gonna go out any moment now. So I’ll call again later! Bye Mama and Maddie, love you both.”

“Bye Auntie, bye Sushi!” Maddie waved ecstatically

“Bye sweetheart and take care.” Ingrid blew a kiss just before ending the call.

Brigitte quickly put her phone on it’s charger and checked for messages. Nothing new showed. She was hoping that Hanzo would have replied but the text chain was marked as ‘unread’ on his end. Brigitte found herself wanting to really hear from him. At least she’d be able to talk to him again tomorrow.