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“I know you wouldn’t. It’s just…I’ve been in her situation before. If you say something about how much she’s cleaned up, she’s going to feel guilty that you noticed her mess. And if you comment on how messy it is or if it’s worse, she’ll feel bad about that, too. It’s best to just ignore it and let her tackle it on her own.”
Devin gives me a searching look, clutching her wriggling pet in her arms. “What do you mean, you’ve been in her situation before?”
Kef me, I didn’t want to pour my heart out to Devin or make her feel pity for me. I want to make her laugh and amuse her with my clever wit. Wit’s about all I’ve got going for me. “I’ll tell you some other time,” I say, gesturing at the window. Liesje is peeking outside. “Let’s go in, shall we?”
She watches me thoughtfully for a moment and then nods. “All right.”
The moment we emerge from the sled, her creature—Jerry—springs from her arms. Devin makes an unhappy sound, racing after him in the snow. It’s clear that he’s not going far, and from the way he scampers back and forth, this is a game to him. I decide now is a good time to take the tree out of the air-sled and haul it to the front door of Liesje’s home.
The older woman opens the door before I can knock, eyeing the tree in my arms with great confusion. “What is that?”
“It is a tree for dressing up in female clothing,” I tell her, grinning as I wait for Devin to correct me.
“No women’s clothing!” she calls out, scooping up her pet. She races back to my side, breathless and disheveled. “It’s for the holidays, you absolute nut.”
“More of your merriness, I see,” I comment, and Devin glares at me. It’s adorable.
She moves to Liesje’s side and beams at her. “Merry Christmas. We brought a tree to decorate and I have some garlands. When I heard there was snow coming in, I wanted to have the holiday, and I thought we might celebrate it together.”
Devin smiles at Liesje so radiantly that I can tell it’s working. Liesje eyes the tree, eyes me, and then sighs. “Come on in.”
We step over the threshold and into the house, and I’m pleased to see that Liesje has been attempting things. There’s a few less boxes on the counter than there were yesterday, and I know that’s a big victory for her. I helped her clear all of the wrappers and trash out of the room just the other day, and as a result, the interior is far more spacious than it was. I can tell Devin is surprised by the changes, her mouth falling open, so I swat her backside with my tail.
She makes an outraged sound and jerks around to look at me.
“Thought I saw a bug,” I murmur.
“It’s winter, you prick.” Devin scowls in my direction and hugs her rodent closer.
“This merriness is overwhelming,” I call out in a dry voice. “Truly, it’s everything you said it would be, Devin.”
If looks could kill, I’d wither on the spot.
“All right, you two. Quit pulling on her pigtails to show her that you like her. No need to pretend with me,” Liesje says, moving forward. “Now where shall we put this tree of yours?”
Pulling on pigtails? I eye Devin. I do not know what a pigtail is, but perhaps it is like young children back home, when a young male thumps the horn of a female to get her attention. The female always gets annoyed, but I know some secretly like it. Is that like this, then?
Or is there a secret, attractive little human tail that I am unaware of? I’m intrigued.
“The tree is for you,” Devin tells Liesje, and it’s evident to see she’s excited over the gift. “It’s not really like a pine in the slightest, but Sinath suggested a live tree so you can plant it and enjoy it later.”
Liesje fingers one of the green leaves thoughtfully, admiring the plant in my arms. “It is a good idea. This world needs more trees. And I didn’t expect to see a pine tree anyhow.” She moves across the small, cluttered house, and towards a window near the kitchen, pulling down a fabric covering. “Here.”
The moment she pulls the fabric free, a cloud of dust goes up. I cough. Devin coughs. Jerry screeches and bounds out of Devin’s arms, running under the couch.
“Oh, Jerry,” Devin says in exasperation. “It’s just a curtain…kinda.”
Liesje eyes the fabric in her arms. “I liked the pattern and thought I’d make curtains out of it. My mother always had cheerful curtains in her house. Said it made a home. But I never got around to it.”
“Curtains don’t sound very exciting to me,” I say in a cavalier fashion. “But if you want to make a skirt for the tree, Devin insists upon giving it clothing.”
“Devin does not!” The female in question glares at me.
Liesje just laughs. “You two are ridiculous. Come and help me get the tree settled. Devin, do you know any carols off the top of your head? My family always sang carols while decorating the tree.”
Devin does, and for the next while, she goes through her catalog of strange songs about “rain dear” and a man made of snow. Her voice is lovely and lilting, and it sounds far more entrancing than my people’s music. We ignore the mess in Liesje’s house and concentrate on decorating the tree with the ribbons and garlands that Devin has crafted.
There is no “mantel” for dirty socks and so a kitchen counter is declared to be the place for stockings, and to my surprise, three of them are set out, all in different colors. The white one is for Liesje, the red one for Devin, and the green for me.
