“In the garage. Are you sure you want to do this? I’m not exactly much help.”
“This is precisely what we need. And we can put on Christmas movies while we decorate.”
“I have to warn you, I’m very particular about where I put my ornaments on the tree.”
“And I will graciously listen to every direction, and then put them wherever I want.”
A half hour later, she was hauling in the last of the Christmas boxes while I called out orders from the couch, holding her wine glass as I sniffed it and wished I could drink.
“Who has this much Christmas stuff?”
I winced as she dragged the Christmas box across the carpet. I really hoped she wasn’t tearing the box. I still had it in the original packaging, and I wasn’t ready to go out and spend money on a Christmas tree bag when the box was still holding together.
“Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year!”
“It’s definitely a pain in the ass,” she grunted. “Alright. Now that that’s done.”
Leaning forward, I grabbed the scissors from the table and handed them to her. “Now we can put up the tree!”
“Yeah,wecan do that.”
“Hey, this was your idea. I just went along for the ride.”
“Yes, but when I agreed to that, I thought you were like a normal person with only a tree.”
“What’s the fun in only having a tree? If the house isn’t lit up at night, it’s not really Christmas.”
“Funny, I assumed Christmas was about something else entirely.”
I waved her off, sniffing her wine again for another hit. “That’s for people who believe in God.”
“And you don’t?”
“Oh, I definitely do. But since Jesus wasn’t actually born at Christmas, I celebrate the spirit of Christmas. The Grinch, Santa flying in the sky, lights lining the streets, carolers singing…”
“I get it. You’re like Father Christmas.”
“Well, without the top hat. Though that would be really cool.”
She spent the next ten minutes putting up the tree while I called out instructions, telling her to move it more to the right, then the left, just to screw with her.
“I hate you,” she growled, crawling out from under the tree.
“But you’ll love me next year when you know how to put up a tree by yourself.”
She shot me a droll look. “Yes, this experience has been life-altering.”
I had to admit, her attempts at cheering me up were working. I was no longer throwing myself a pity party or thinking about what I was going to do with Sam. In fact, all my troubles seemed to fly out the window the moment she started decorating.
And when I saw her struggling with the lights, I got my butt off the couch and started helping, hobbling around with one crutch tucked under my arm so I could hold the lights as I directed her where to wrap them around the branches.
“You have to go deeper,” I argued.
“It’s deep enough!”
“That’s what she said,” I countered, shoving the lights in further, struggling to wrap them around the branch with only one hand.
“Would you leave it alone and let me do it?”
