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I watched her head upstairs while I put the food away, then grabbed a bottle of water. I’d go back to the distillery this week and pick up some stuff from the gift shop. I’d thought she and I would have gone in after, but she’d taken off. I scanned through my phone really quick, bringing the gift store up. It looked like I could pre-order and pick up. I’d do that later, then swing by on our way back from the beach in the next few days.
After putting on some music through the overhead speakers, Abbie’s favorite Christmas list she’d shared with me, I headed to the storage space Dr. Allen had mentioned. A neat rack against the far wall held Christmas decorations, all clearly labeled in plastic storage containers. I stacked a few smaller ones in my arms and headed back out to the living room, setting them down near the tree to wait for Abbie.
That should be enough to get her started, I mused, lifting the box on one to find it filled to the brim with stuffed Santa decorations and shiny glitter-covered icicles.
I’d grab myself a shower and meet her back down there for a little tree trimming. Thankfully, it was one of those with the lights built in so I didn’t need to worry about ending up with the job of checking string after string of Christmas lights.
By the time I came back downstairs, freshly changed Abbie was already in her element. Her bright red T-shirt had a large vintage Santa face on it, and a fresh pair of denim shorts showed off her tanned legs. She’d put a little make-up on, highlighting her eyes, and a touch of shiny gloss on her lips. Had to be a sign she was feeling better, I mused.
She had a couple of the ornament boxes open and strewn around, on the floor, under the tree and on the chair and coffee table, a sparkly red metallic garland strung around her neck like a feather boa as she sang along to the Christmas music streaming through the speakers.
I stopped for a minute, a smile playing on my lips. I just wanted to take in the sight. This was Abbie.
My Abbie.
I stepped towards her, and suddenly, the singing stopped as she glanced at me shyly.
“I already poured drinks. We didn't look for eggnog at the store.” She motioned to the coffee table, and I saw the two beers sitting out.
“Thanks.” I glanced around, trying to see which ornament to grab first. “I’ll make sure we put it on the list for the next trip.”
She’d barely made a dent in the tree decorating. A handful of glistening silver and gold stars were hanging, and she was crouched down, digging through another couple of boxes.
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
She shrugged a shoulder. “I was thinking metallic? Stars and Angels and Santas…”
“Of course. Can’t forget about Santa.” I felt the smile cross my face the moment our eyes met.
She opened the box of little stuffed snowmen and pulled a few out, looking at the tree appraisingly before moving forward and putting one on a branch in front of her and then taking out another snowman, setting him a little bit lower.
I picked up the box of shining glitter icicles and headed towards the tree.
“You should put them near the lights. They’ll reflect more.”
“Good idea.”
I started adding them up top. Abbie hummed along to the music beside me.
“Maybe I’ll order us dinner? Save the sandwiches for tomorrow.”
“I’m fine either way.” She crouched down looking through the boxes, took out a couple of angels, and headed back to the tree.
I hung another icicle above her head as she set an angel on the lower branches. If only it was mistletoe, I thought to myself with a shake of my head and went to put it on the tree.
She glanced up at me.
“I checked. The Italian place delivers…”
“You already ordered, didn’t you?”
“You got me. I thought…” I grabbed a few more angels out of the box, holding one out to her. “I just thought you didn’t seem so thrilled with the subs.”
She huffed slightly and took the angel, disappearing around the tree out of my sight. I didn’t think that was an accident.
I picked up a few bows and started adding them to the tree.
The song overhead changed.
