Chapter 12
Nyx
“He’s not going to mind all of this, will he?” Kekoa asked as they dug through a row of garland to reveal the last silver and aqua one left.
“He’ll be happy and excited,” I explained.
“We truly haven’t celebrated a real Christmas since we moved into the place.
I love that we’re getting him plants for the living room instead of a tree, but you’ll probably have to remind him not to touch them.
As tired as he was last night, he might not remember that there are finally things in the house he’s prohibited from touching. ”
“Thanks for the warning. I’m sure the plants will thank you as well. I wouldn’t have said anything since I’d already mentioned it. I wouldn’t have wanted him to think I was harping about it or being a nagging mate.”
“No, you’re good,” I replied. “Lani never met a plant he didn’t want to water constantly, which is usually how we lose them. Just wait until he starts talking to them. I’ve walked in on whole-ass conversations, then been told to mind my own business when I offered advice.”
They snickered as they snagged some turquoise tinsel, our Christmas theme still close to the aquatic themes of our home.
“Is not wanting to decorate alone really the reason you haven’t decorated before now?” Kekoa asked.
“As embarrassing as it is to admit, it really is,” I explained.
“The first year Lani had these grand plans for how he wanted to decorate, and we never even made it to the store for supplies. The second year after we moved in, we were proud of ourselves because we bought a bunch of flavored candy canes the moment they hit the shelf. He swore it was a sign of what our Christmas would be like, then he got caught up in organizing the village Christmas party and a vow renewal he took on after the previous party planner started ghosting the client after she’d received the deposit for the event.
He had a handful of other projects he’d already committed to, and that last one just threw his timetable out the window, so I hung the candy canes on the cabinet knobs and off picture frames and anything else I could think of, and that was the end of our decorating. ”
The 12 Pains of Christmas was playing on the store PA system, and I chuckled, thinking about the lights we’d picked up.
The ever-growing frustration in the light hanger’s voice when they sang their lines was a little concerning, but we were only focusing on the inside this year, not the roof, which was a small mercy, since I wasn’t the biggest fan of roofs.
Between falling off, mistimed jumps, and a few hairbrained ideas, I had more than a healthy respect for what happened when soft bodies hit the unforgiving ground.
Landing on an anthill and riling up a swarm of the bitey insects had only compounded my misery.
“It was something at least.”
“True, and we did remember to grab holiday teas and rolls of sugar cookies, but there have also been years when we haven’t even celebrated together.
He was working, and I went to my folks' place to hang out with my dad since Mom was working too. Mr. Pepsi is almost always over there, since he never got married and the rest of his family is stateside, so we just make a day of it playing spades and rummy and foraging from the fridge until we’re so stuffed we could barely get out of our seats to go to the bathroom.
It was fun and all, and I enjoy spending time with them, but I’m ready to start new traditions with you. ”
“I love Christmas,” Kekoa admitted. “I love any holiday with bright, festive lights. In fact, I’m firmly convinced that it’s the lights that make it a holiday and have been known to leave them up year-round.”
“Then I will have fun leaving the stringing to you while I fetch and carry.”
“It’s a shame the only place in the living room to sit is the killer couch from outer space, or we could have fun sitting out there with just the twinkle lights and carols playing.”
“True, that couch is proving to be a major inconvenience,” I said.
I could see their point, though. Decorating the living room would be fun as well as brighten up the house, but we’d have a hard-ass time enjoying it while sitting on that couch.
“More like just hard, painful asses if we stay out there too long.”
“True, so why don’t we decorate the bedroom too?” I suggested. “There’s a smart speaker in there, so we’d have lights and carols.”
“True. Ohh, this one was already a favorite.”
“I think Jungle Bells is a favorite of all island children,” I said.
We sang along as they picked out a few more strands of lights and several sample packages of Christmas treats ranging from fudge to cookies.
It was never quite cool enough to fully enjoy cocoa beyond one or two cups, but gingerbread and peppermint tea were good cold, and they’d even found eggnog and sugar cookie flavors, along with a copy of Jingle All the Way in the bargain bin.
“Now I’ve gotta see what else is in there,” Kekoa insisted, leaning over the side to dig further and treating me to one hell of a view of their rear. “Yes!”
They emerged clutching Trading Places, Krampus, and Deck the Halls to their chest, passed them to me, and dove right back in the bin.
“Oh my god, it’s a treasure trove in here,” they declared when they emerged a second time. “I found Office Christmas Party, Edward Scissorhands, and A Nightmare Before Christmas.”
They even did a little dance as they stood there clutching their treasures. I couldn’t help joining them; I was so happy to see that their choices weren’t all sweetness and fluff.
“I take it you approve?” They said as they grinned before taking one more look in the bin to see what else they could discover. At $2.99 a pop and brand new to boot, they were too good of a deal to pass up.
“The only things missing from that pile are Bad Santa, The Ref, and Silent Night, Deadly Night,” I said.
“Do not forget Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Gremlins, and The Last Kiss Goodbye.”
“Okay, I’ve never seen that last one.”
“Well,” they grunted as they started gently raking the movies they’d pawed through back into the bin before they could move around to the other side. “Let’s see if we get lucky.”
Honestly, I could have watched them dig around in the bin all day with the way their rear flexed and wiggled around in those board shorts, rocking each time they attempted to dig further into the pile.
“Ohh, score,” they said, “Found Gremlins and Silent Night, Deadly Night.”
They passed them back to me and dug a while longer before finally emerging with Lethal Weapon.
“No go on the others, but at least this will give us a hell of a place to start,” they said, grinning as they passed it to me. “And I found Christmas Vacation.”
Their tank top was rucked up a bit when they emerged from the bin, showing off a tan strip of abs before they straightened it.
“Nyx, Kekoa, well, I see you’ve been doing a bit of shopping.”
I turned to see Aunty Ina smiling at us.
“We sure have.”
“Oh, and now I get to see your mate up close and in much better lighting,” she said, stepping around me to reach Kekoa. “We were introduced at the fiesta. I’m…”
“Aunty Ina,” Kekoa replied as they took her hand briefly and gave it the barest squeeze. “You made the shrimp kelaguen that I absolutely could not get enough of.”
“I’m also immune and a hugger if you have no objection to them.”
“Not in the slightest,” they said as they opened their arms.
“Welcome to the family,” she said as they embraced, amusement in her voice, no doubt over them remembering both her name and her dish.
“Thank you,” Kekoa said as they stepped back from each other.
“Have you heard the news?” she asked as she finally turned back my way.
“We haven’t even had the radio on today,” I explained.
“We’ve been so busy talking and planning a surprise for Lani.
We had to wait for him to leave to set up for his next event before we were able to get started, so we made some of our decisions on the fly, which probably isn’t the safest way to shop. ”
She giggled and shook her head at us. “I hope your wallets are insured, and speaking of insurance, I hope the folks at the Glittering Palm had their premiums paid up because that place went up in flames last night.”
“Oh, whoa, has anyone said what happened?” I asked.
“Right now it’s anyone’s guess,” she replied. “Probably something electrical. That place has been here since we were stationed on the island. Always very popular too, even back then.”
“Did anyone get hurt? Kekoa asked.
“Minor injuries and smoke inhalation from what I’ve heard. They said it was packed, but that quick thinking by one of the DJs allowed everyone to get out before the roof collapsed.”
“Isn’t that place a little on the fancy side?” I muttered.
“My point exactly,” she said. “A fancy place with fancy clientele who probably have lawyers on retainer. It wouldn’t shock me to learn that someone has already threatened to file a lawsuit.
They’d better hope the investigation absolves them of blame, or I doubt it will be rebuilt, which is a shame.
Your mom and I had a captain who loved to take our team out to celebrate there.
I always loved rubbing elbows with the brass. ”
“If I remember correctly, she always wished you didn’t because it led to you two winding up with some interesting assignments,” I said, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Oops, look at the time. I’ve got to get going. It was nice to finally have the chance to meet you properly. Kekoa, I hope you two plan to get up to something interesting with all that garland. It’s not just meant for hanging on trees and walls.”
And with that she was gone, weaving around people until she disappeared down an aisle.
“Well, that was interesting,” Kekoa said, grinning.
“You’ll get used to it,” I warned. “It happens whenever any of the elders find themselves a hair’s breadth away from talking about anything even remotely classified.”