December 20th #2
“Oh hush. But you’re right. I’ve realized there’s a lot of beauty in imperfection. Oh wait. Hang on. I’ll be right back.”
He sets his laptop on the coffee table, jumps up, runs to his room, then comes back with a large box. He opens it and starts unwrapping a vintage tea set.
“My grandmother gave me this for graduation. At first, I thought it was sort of an odd gift, but then she started talking about it. How much her good china always meant to her. The many times it’s been used.
There are even pieces in here that were broken and glued back together.
That’s something we don’t really do today.
If something is broken, we throw it away. ”
“But you couldn’t do that with pieces like these. They are too precious.”
“And that’s what they were to her,” he says.
“And it just hit me that new and shiny isn’t always better.
And, to be honest, they remind me of life.
How we’re all a little broken. And I think when we decorate, it’s important that it’s not all just decor you go buy new at a store to make things look perfect.
My mom has a bunch of stuff in our attic that she doesn’t use, but says it means too much to her to get rid of.
And I was like that doesn’t make sense. So, I told her that before I start my job, we’re going through it together.
That if it’s important and meaningful, it should be on display in her home.
And that I would help her find the perfect places.
She actually started crying. So, that’s why I was struggling with buying her the new mixer. Because we just had that conversation.”
I set the teacup in my hand down and pull him into a hug. “You’re truly one of a kind,” I tell him.
“Now if I could just find another one of my kind to share a life with,” he says.
“You will, Sammy. You will,” I tell him, just as the doorbell rings.
“Oh, thank goodness,” he says, looking at his watch. “Go get the door. There’s a package for you.”
“How would you know that?” I ask as I hoist myself off the couch. Getting up has been a little more difficult lately.
I walk to the front door and fling it open.
“Surprise!” Damon says.
I shake my head. “What are you doing here?”
“Surprising you, duh,” he says with an adorable grin.
Sammy comes to stand behind me. “Does that mean everything’s ready? I normally have no problem making conversation, but it was a lot of pressure. I probably said things I shouldn’t have. You should know it got emotional. But she kept saying she wanted to go lie down.”
Damon pats Sammy on the back. “Thanks for keeping her here, man.”
Then he takes my hand, says, “Come on. I have something to show you,” and leads me through the house and out to the cottage.
I stop and pull him back toward me. “I haven’t gotten a kiss yet.”
“Mmhmm, and you most definitely need one,” he says, placing his lips on mine.
After a good kiss, I say, “Okay, so what’s going on?”
He opens the cottage door and says, “This.”
I immediately burst into tears. Because the cottage is all decorated. There’s a real tree in the corner with lights twinkling. Boughs of pine are draped across the mantel. A wreath over the fireplace.
“You did all this?” I ask.
“I had some help. From my sister, your mom, and Haley,” he says.
“My mom?”
“Yeah, it’s our first Christmas together. We needed a tree.”
“I guess I just … the main house is all decorated.”
“I know,” he says. “But I want us to have some time here, together, just the two of us, and I thought it would be more festive if it had a tree.”
“It’s beautiful, Damon. And such a wonderful surprise.”
He leads me over to the kitchen table. “Your mom left you some things.”
“Oh my gosh! Those are all my ornaments!”
“Tell me about them,” he says.
“Well, every year, on St. Nick’s Day, in early December, I got to hang up my stocking. And the next morning, there was always a candy cane and an ornament in it from Santa. Even once I knew Santa wasn’t real, I looked forward to it. And these are the ornaments from each of my Christmases.”
“You didn’t mention that when we talked about holiday traditions. We’re definitely doing that for our family. In fact,” he says, pulling stockings out from under his coat, “we’re starting this year.”
“Did my mom tell you about this?” I ask in wonder, but then I see the stockings have our names on them and look similar to the kind I had as a kid.
“When I called and told her I wanted to put up a tree in here, she offered the ornaments, said she always planned to give them to you when you got your own home, and about the tradition. That’s why I brought it up.
I wanted to hear what else you always did.
Anyway, I thought we could see what Santa brought us, hang our stockings, and decorate the tree with your ornaments. ”
I take a sniff. “Is something cooking?”
“It’s dinner for us. Mom will have food at the party, but mostly appetizers and desserts. I thought it would be nice for us to eat before we go.”
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” I tell him.
He shocks me by picking me up and carrying me over to the couch in front of the fireplace, which already has a fire roaring in it.
“You shouldn’t do this,” I tell him. “I’m so heavy.”
“You? You’re barely a wisp,” he says, causing me to laugh as he sets me down.
“The tree, the lights, the fire, the surprise visit—all really nice, but the wisp comment just made my day.”
He gives me a sweet kiss, and then we look in our stockings. His ornament is a football with a red N on it. Mine is a Santa in a golf cart, his plaid club holder in the back.
Then he gives me the stocking that says Summer on it. Inside is a beautiful butterfly ornament.
“This is so pretty. And so fitting,” I tell him. “I was thinking it might be fun to include them in her nursery.”
“I think that would be perfect,” he says dreamily. “Let’s put them on the tree. Then do you want to eat first or put the rest of the ornaments on?”
“Let’s do these and then eat. I’m hungry.”
We get everything out of the oven, fill our plates and glasses, and then sit down at the table.
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” I tell him.
He holds his glass up to mine and says, “Here’s to happy little surprises.”
“Hear, hear,” I reply. “It was really sweet of you.”
“Well,” he says with a grin.
“I know—you’re sweet on me,” I say with a laugh.
“That’s right.”
“I was going to wait to talk to you about this over Christmas, but Sammy was showing me some furniture he thought would work well in our house. And I wondered what you envision.”
“I envision you, me, and Summer celebrating Christmas there next year. That we’ll be able to walk to my mom’s house. I don’t know if Dad and Jennifer’s will be done by then, but how cool is that going to be in the future?”