“We can do that,” Iris said. “I’ll check into prices, and you figure out the places where you want them planted. So, will this work?”
I nodded, and so did Camille. The salesman wrote up a receipt, Camille paid him, and he carried it to her Lexus, securing it on the roof. As we headed toward the strip-mall where the first boutique was, Iris suggested that we stop for takeout on the way home.
The first boutique was filled with mostly outdoor décor, and we decided to go simple the first year, opting for lights for the house, a massive wreath and garlands for the porch. Camille added some decorative bird feeders, after making me promise I wouldn’t go after the birds, and she bought clings for the windows depicting snowflakes and birds and polar bears.
At the next boutique, we looked through the hundreds of options they had and finally settled on gold and silver balls, crystal moons, stars, and suns, red beaded garland, and a frosty blue twinkle lights. Camille insisted on buying more than we probably needed, because the tree was so big that she wanted to make sure we were covered.
As she paid for the ornaments, I silently thanked our mother. She had set us up with all the documents we might need should we decide to come Earthside later on. We had social security cards, a bank account that allowed us to buy the house and to live off what was left for a while, and the official documents identifying us as citizens of Y’Elestrial. Since our mother was born here, we also had dual citizenship.
We finished our shopping and headed home, where somehow, Camille and I managed to wrangle the tree into the house. Though she wasn’t that athletic or tall, all three of us were stronger than most humans. Actually, Menolly was incredibly strong, thanks to her vampire nature. She could have easily wrangled the weight of the tree by herself, though at five-one, it would have been a little logistically difficult. She wouldn’t have just been able to toss it over her shoulder, given we’d picked out an eleven-foot tall tree.
Once we got it inside, Iris showed us how to stabilize it into a large tub of water, and it was up, in the corner opposite the fireplace. We pulled it out to make decorating the back of it easier, and then, we brought in all the decorations.
“I think we should ask Menolly to put the lights on the roof. She can levitate up to reach the highest points. I’d like to make sure all the gables are decorated,” Camille said.
“That’s a good idea. Though I can crawl out on the roof?—”
“In cat form, I’d say go for it,” Iris interjected. “But right now the roof is covered in snow and it’s going to be slippery.”
“She’s right, Kitten,” Camille said. “Why don’t we eat lunch and then get busy?”
Iris fixed sandwiches, while we sorted out the different garlands, lights, and other décor. As Camille shook out the tinsel garlands, though, I felt something twitch inside. I reached out and swatted one as she fluffed it out.
“Hey, none of that, Missy,” she said, laughing. “You’re not here to play, you’re here to help me.”
“I know, but they’re so shiny,” I said, grinning at her.
“I like shiny too…oh, aren’t these adorable?” She held out a set of resin gnomes that looked ready for the holidays. They were decked out in red and white stripped hats, with necklaces made out of garland, and each gnome held some sort of treat—one a gingerbread man, another held a glass of wine, another a peppermint stick.
“I love the variation they have over here,” I said. “Back home you’d never find anything like this unless it was hand-carved and painted.”
“I know,” Camille said. “What do you think Mother’s life was like, here? She never said much about it but…”
“I wonder about things like that, too. The pictures we have of her and Father together make me think things must have been so different. He’s smiling in those pictures, and he looks so happy. I wish…” I trailed off.
What I wished could never happen. Our mother had died when Camille was just barely the equivalent of a teenager, and Father had put her in charge of raising me and Menolly. We needed her so much that she had to stuff her own grief so far down that it never full healed. I wanted to go back, to before Mother fell off the horse. I wished so hard that I could have stopped her from going out riding. That I had pretended to be sick. Then, maybe, life would have been what it was supposed to be—with all of us a happy family.
If wishes were pennies…
“What are you thinking?” Camille asked.
I shook my head, realizing I’d been off in my own little world. “Nothing, really.” I didn’t want to bring her down. But she was astute at reading people, and she knew my moods—and Menolly’s—like the back of her hand.
“Mother?” she asked.
I nodded, sighing. “Yeah. Just thinking about that time when we were little, and you broke her favorite ornament.”
Camille jumped up. “I know Father didn’t like us decorating, but I have a surprise for you—and for Menolly. I’ll be right back.” She headed for the stairs.
I continued to sort out the decorations until she returned.
She was carrying a box which she carefully placed on the coffee table. “Be very careful with these,” she said. “I decided to bring these with me when we came over.”
Curious now, I crossed over to where she was standing. “What’s in there?”
Camille opened the box. There were three items inside, heavily wrapped in bubble wrap. “When we arrived, I switched out the wrapping on these,” she said, slowly unwrapping the first. As she exposed what was hiding within, I teared up.
“You didn’t…you remembered these? I haven’t seen them in years!”
