Saturday (10 days til Christmas...)
"No."
"But Daaaad!"
"No," Rafael repeated.
"Please! You did say I could pick."
"I know. Pick another one."
"But I want this one. It's perfect."
Rafael sighed. When he'd said Noah could pick out the Christmas tree – as part of the negotiation to get the boy to get ready that morning – he hadn't foreseen it being a problem. He was quickly beginning to realise how wrong he had been. "Noah, it's too big. We'll never get it through the door."
"But…"
Olivia knelt down in front of her son. "Your Dad's right, Noah. There won't be enough room – we'd have to chop the top off to make it fit. It wouldn't be so perfect then, would it?"
Noah considered his mother's words. "No," he pouted.
"I think I saw some smaller trees over by the reindeer pen," Olivia told him. "How about we look over that way?"
"Yeah!" Noah agreed exuberantly, his disappointment quickly forgotten at the thought of seeing the reindeer. He skipped off ahead, Olivia calling after him not to go too far.
They wandered through the rows of trees, following Noah. Olivia was surprised by the size and quality of the selection. She'd assumed, given that it was only ten days before the big day, that all the good ones would have gone. Apparently not. Every so often, a tree would catch Rafael's eye and he would stop, strip off a glove, and run his fingers over its branches, checking its freshness. Olivia inhaled deeply, enjoying the sharpness of the cold air and the fragrance of the pine trees. She wasn't normally a fan of winter weather, but somehow, it was different today. Refreshing.
"Thanks for helping me out back there," he said. "I thought for a moment we were actually going to have to take that tree home."
"I did try to warn you," she reminded him. "What you need to remember about children is, they don't yet realise that bigger doesn't always mean better."
"Is that so?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
Seeing the twinkle in his eye, Olivia realised the double meaning her words could have. She stopped walking and turned to him. "Well, of course, size is important, but it isn't the only thing that matters," she replied, leaning in to whisper in his ear, trailing a hand down the centre of his chest. "Knowing how to use it counts for a lot too."
Rafael wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. "Oh?"
"Don't worry Rafa, you've got nothing to worry about… in either department."
He leaned in to kiss her when Noah's voice echoed up the path. "Momma! Dad! I've found it!"
The couple sprang apart to see him running back towards them, beckoning them to him. "I've found the tree!"
They quickly caught him up, and he led them to the second tree he'd chosen. Olivia had to admit it was a beautiful tree. Pulling off her glove, she reached out to touch the needles and was surprised by the softness of them.
Olivia had always had a fake tree, ever since she'd had her first one aged twelve. Her mother had never really bothered with Christmas but when the elderly couple next door had been upgrading their old, plastic three-foot tree, they had offered it to Olivia. She kept it in her room and, although it was sparsely decorated at first, it brought a little bit of joy at a time of the year when her mother sought more solace than usual in the bottom of a bottle.
Never having experienced the magic of a real tree, she'd never understood the appeal, preferring to avoid the mess of pine needles she assumed would end up on her living room floor. But when they'd moved, Rafael had declared they wouldn't need her fake tree anymore. It was real ones all the way from now on.
"Good choice, mijo," Rafael told him, after finishing his inspection of the tree. "What do you think, Liv?"
Olivia nodded. "I think that's the one"
Back at home, Olivia plunged her arms between the fragrant boughs, holding the tree steady while Rafael secured it into the stand. They had spent the latter part of the morning feeding the reindeer, taking Noah to visit Santa and shopping for new lights and decorations. Standing in the store, they'd had a rather animated debated the merits of coloured tree lights versus white ones.
That battle had been won by Olivia, claiming the coloured ones were more exciting for Noah. Rafael had conceded with a small nod and dropped a couple of boxes into the cart. They let Noah choose a new ornament for the tree; an ice-skating reindeer, before grabbing lunch and heading home.
"Is it straight?" Rafael called from where he was sprawled on the floor, the upper half of his body buried beneath the tree.
"Yeah," Noah called, his Christmas word search discarded, as he watched his parents with interest.
Rafael began to tighten the stand around the trunk and, once the tree was secure, Olivia gingerly lowered herself from her stool to the floor. She stepped back to eye the tree critically.
"Yup, you're good to go," she told Rafael, so he could tighten the holding screws fully.
He emerged from under the tree and appraised it himself. Nodding, he turned to find Noah edging towards the boxes of decorations stacked in the corner. He couldn't resist teasing him. "Right, that was hard work. Time for a coffee break."
"Nooooo!" came Noah's frustrated cry.
"What?" Rafael asked innocently, trying his best not to laugh. At Noah's pout, he relented and opened the first box allowing him to dive in.
An hour later, the three of them were covered in tinsel and glitter. The tree was nearly finished; Rafael had strung the lights and Olivia and Noah had followed with the tinsel and beads before they all contributed to placing the other decorations. There were baubles, bells, ornaments that had been collected over the years, as well as some home-made creations from Noah.
Now the only things left to add to the tree were Noah's newly purchased reindeer and the star that would sit atop it. Olivia retrieved Noah's reindeer, and, after a few moments of consideration, he hung it carefully on the tree about half way up. With that done, they stood back and admired their work.
"It's perfect," Olivia whispered.
Rafael slipped his arm around her and nodded his approval. "Just needs the star on it now." He turned to Noah. "You ready, mijo?"
Noah nodded emphatically and reached for the star that was lay on the coffee table.
"Okay," said Rafael, kneeling down. "Climb up on my shoulders." Noah climbed on, slipping a leg either side of his father's neck. "Right, prepare for take-off. We're going up, up, up in the sky." Noah clung on, squealing in delight as Rafael stood, raising him into the air.
"You have to put it right at the top," Olivia reminded him. "Can you reach?"
"Yes." Noah carefully placed the star on the top bough; Olivia and Rafael watching on, caught up in the excitement of a child's simple pleasure.
Later that evening, with Noah tucked up in bed, Olivia and Rafael were relaxing on the couch, drinks in hand. The room was lit only by the twinkling Christmas tree that stood in the corner. A bit of quiet time was just what was needed after such a hectic day. Rafael's arm was stretched along the back of the couch, his fingers playing gently with the ends of her hair. He moved his hands to her neck, kneading the tight muscles there. Olivia gave a small sound of appreciation at his actions.
"That good?"
"Mmm."
He shifted their positions slightly, so he could reach both her shoulders but suddenly the room was plunged into darkness, the lights on the tree going out with a slight fizz and bang.
Rafael cursed under his breath and fumbled to switch on the nearest lamp. Once light had been restored to the living room, he stood to inspect the tree. He located the fuse bulbs in each set of lights, pulled them out and examined them closely. "Hmm, they're all fine," he remarked as he reinserted them and continued to search for the problem.
He crawled under the tree and unplugged each plug from the three-outlet extension cord, testing them by plugging them into the wall socket, one by one. Each set worked, meaning the problem was in the plug of the extension cord. Leaving Olivia on the sofa with her wine, he popped to their utility room returning a few moments later with a screwdriver and new fuse and, a couple of minutes later, the lights were back in full working order.
Rafael emerged, his hair ruffled and his face a little sweaty from the exertion of fixing the lights.
Olivia placed her wine on the table, and rose slowly from the sofa, eyeing Rafael's dishevelled form with a hungry look.
"Looks like Santa came early this year. And he left exactly what I wanted under the tree."
Rafael recognised her tone, and a satisfied smirk spread across his face. "I've never been someone's Christmas wish before," he whispered, standing and approaching her.
"That's not quite true. You were mine last year, you just didn't know it," she replied with a blush. She lifted her hand to brush some errant pine needles from his hair, and he leaned in, his lips moving gently over hers.
The kiss deepened quickly. Hunger traced the movements of their mouths as they opened onto one another, tongues dancing and exploring.
Rafael's mouth eagerly explored Olivia; her lips, cheeks, jawline and, with a gentle nibble of her earlobe, he felt her shudder. He trailed kisses down her neck, murmuring her name over and over and when he reached the collar of her jumper, he pulls it aside trying to reach even more of her skin.
His hands grazed over the soft cashmere, travelling lower until he reached the hem at the bottom. He edged a hand underneath, higher and higher until he captured a breast through her lace bra, gently kneading her soft flesh.
Olivia's hands weren't idle either. One of her hands pushed up the back of his T-shirt and she felt the scrape of his skin underneath her nails as she stroked them up and down his spine. As she raked them over his denim-clad buttocks, he grabbed her hip and pulled her to him. They were now touching from chest to thighs and Olivia could feel the effect that she was having on Rafael. Stepping back, she allowed herself a moment to catch her breath before taking his hand and whispering in a sultry voice,
"Maybe we should take this upstairs and you can unwrap one of your presents early."