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“Sounds good to me.”
Seth chuckled. “You’d think. Come on.” We went through the massive barn-like building. It was filled with what we’d need for the tree, like different water basins, and decorations we can buy right there.
Seth explained how watering a tree was important and too many people made the mistake of not properly taking care of them. He also went into details on decoration tricks, like how to tell what length of lights we’d need to take.
It was all very mathy apparently, again more things I didn’t know. Lindie would always just hire someone to bring a tree for the foyer and to decorate it for us. It was all for show for visitors and that was it. Even the presents underneath would all be fake—just empty boxes wrapped in pretty paper.
“All right, this can take a while, so now the Thanksgiving part of it.” Seth pulled a small black bag out of his jacket and gave it a little shake. “So I had already gone through and wrote up fifteen things I’m grateful for. Hand over what you wrote.”
I dug in my pocket and handed over the stack of small slips to him. He dumped them into the bag and began shaking.
“As we look at the trees, we’ll share.” His eyes were lit up with excitement. It seemed he was more interested in what I was thankful for rather than picking out a tree.
“It’s pretty simple. We take turns drawing, and then we talk about what’s written down. Ready?”
“You first.”
He chuckled. “I can do that.”
He shook the bag some more before sticking his hand in and drawing out a paper. He unfolded it slowly and then read it. “I am thankful for Bebe.”
Seth raised an eyebrow and looked at me. I smiled and shrugged, not really sure what to say.
“You have to give me more than that.”
“He’s a good dog and I don’t know, sometimes, it’s like he knows just what to give me exactly when I need it.”
“The emotional support, right? Because I know Bebe has never given me a bottle of water when I needed it.”
I laughed. “Yeah, the emotional support. I get so lost in my head and then he’s there and it’s like none of it matters anymore.”
Seth pulled me in for a side hug. “Bebe is really something special.” He kissed the top of my head. “Thank you for loving Bebe the way that you do.”
His thanks was one of the most genuine and heartwarming thanks I have ever received. My face grew hot, and I randomly pointed at a tree. “What about that one?” I asked.
“Too small,” Seth said without hesitation. “We’re aiming for about eight feet.”
“That’s big.”
Seth shrugged. “It’ll be worth it.”
“Will it fit in your living room?”
“I already measured. It will.”
“Okay.”
“Now your turn.” He held out the bag. When I grabbed it, he went over to a bigger tree to check it out.
I pulled out a slip of paper and squinted to read Seth’s messy handwriting in the dim lighting. “I’m thankful for the shitty experiences that have shaped who I am.”
I blinked at it and had to read it again.
“Holy shit, that’s intense,” I said.
Seth smiled shyly at me. It was a new look on him and it left me speechless. He took the piece of paper and tucked it into his pocket with the one he had pulled. “It sucked at the time, and was hard, but now that I’m so separate from it all, I can’t help but be thankful because it taught me to be a better person. And in a way prepared me to meet the amazing people in my life now.”
“Are you talking about the men your mom dated before your stepfather?”
