“I hope that was okay?” I averted my eyes, suddenly aware I’d invaded Kris’s personal space and kissed him. I was just as bad as handsy Philbert.
“It’s fine. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Yeah … better.”
Kris raised his arm, removing the mistletoe from the archway he handed it to me.
After work, I headed to Bright Paths Center, a neighborhood community organization assisting individuals with special needs. I volunteered two days a week teaching arts and crafts to some of the students. Spending time with them was often thehighlight of my day and helped to boost my mood. Bright Paths had tons of recreational classes like cooking, music, and the arts. But some of their most important work was the life skills classes the center offered, like how to complete a resume, or prepare for an interview. They connected students with employers who were willing to hire individuals with developmental or physical disabilities. And they offered independent living courses.
I was indebted to the center because of the support they’d provided my sister, Celeste. My dad worked from home so when he passed, I knew I needed to find somewhere for Celeste to go while I was at work. So many places were no more than expensive adult daycares. While doing my research, I stumbled across the nonprofit organization. It was close to our apartment and had glowing reviews.
After the first visit I was sold and when we left, Celeste was already asking when we would go back. I wouldn’t be able to have peace of mind at work if we didn’t have the center and the community of families we’d grown close to. Celeste now had a job working four hours a day at a coffee shop. In the afternoon she’d head to the center. We’d recently enrolled her in independent living classes. Celeste’s goal was to live on her own. But I was doubtful. I promised to take care of her. How could I do that if she was in an apartment across town?
After class I went in search of my sister. I knew I’d find her in the library reading a book. Her interest changed with the seasons. For a few months she’d be hyper focused on trains and want to learn everything about them and then the next month she was into ham radios. These past few months she’d been focused on knitting, and I was one hundred percent certain my Christmas gift would be a handmade hat or scarf.
As expected, she was sitting at a table hunched over with her head in a book. “What are you reading?”
“Did you know that at one time sloths could be as big as an elephant?” Celeste asked.
“No, I did not.”
“Yep, but they’ve been extinct for over ten thousand years now.” She tapped the pages of the magazine she was flipping through.
“Good to know. Are you ready to go home?”
Celeste nodded and started packing up her things. “Can we go look at trees?”
I frowned. “Hmm … You know the rule, no trees until after Thanksgiving.”
“But if we get it now we’ll beat the crowd. Plus, Thanksgiving is in two days.”
If it was up to me there would be no tree, no decorations, and no presents. Christmas would just be like any other day. I’d sleep in, make a lazy breakfast, and watch movies that didn’t mention this time of year. But if I ignored Christmas Celeste would disown me. Like most normal people, she loved this time of year and had been talking about Christmas Day before Halloween even ended.
“Maybe we should do something different this year and have a minimalist Christmas,” I suggested as we walked to the car.
“What’s that?”
“No real decorations, maybe a small tree. You know, keep it simple.” I opened the doors and waited as Celeste tossed her backpack in the back seat before climbing into the passenger side.
“I don’t like that. I like complicated Christmas with big trees that light up the room, festive music, hot chocolate, and gingerbread people.”
“Simple Christmas can still have hot chocolate.”
“No.” Celeste snapped her seat belt, punctuating her disapproval.
“We don’t have to decide now. I’ll give you some time to sleep on it.”
I knew my suggestion would be met with a resounding no. Every year we did exactly what Celeste wanted to do. The tree and all the fixings, and I put on a happy face pretending this was the most wonderful time of the year. But if I had my wish, I would just like for once to do absolutely nothing. Christmas consisted of just us two, Celeste and I, and it reminded me of all we’d lost. It wasn’t a time to be celebrated and it wasn’t merry for everyone.
I stoodon the edge of the food court seating area, tray in hand. The stares I received while I scanned the space for an empty seat caused a blush to creep across my cheeks. Adjusting my hat, I hoped to shield my face with the dangling pom-pom. In the full Santa getup, I stood out like a sore thumb at a regular thumb convention, so gawkers and comments were bound to follow.
“Santa over here,” The shrill voice of Tyler, the mall security guard, called from across the food court. “Pick me Santa, I’ve been a good boy.”
Ducking my chin, I swept the area once again looking for better options. I preferred to find a quiet corner and eat alone while scanning through emails. I’d just spent the last four hours listening to the screams, cries, and fits of exhaustion from pint-sized humans.
“Wow that’s cold-blooded, bro,” Tyler yelled out once more, as passersby continued to stare.
I grunted a sigh walking over to Tyler’s table. “Hey man, what’s up?” Setting my tray down, I took a seat.
