Day 10: Ornament
Felicity sat in front of the fireplace, watching the flickering flames dance. It was her first Christmas since she and Oliver had gotten together, and she still wasn't sure what she was doing. Oliver had been good about making sure she could celebrate Hanukah, and she wanted to do the same.
They'd gone out to get a tree just yesterday, and once he got done with his late meeting they'd planned to decorate the tree. Glancing around the room Felicity could see all the boxes full of decorations, waiting to be unpacked and admired.
Oliver got home to find Felicity sitting in front of the fire.
"What's wrong?" She jumped.
"You scared me."
"Sorry." He shrugged, not looking at all sorry. He sat down next to her. "So what's wrong?" This time Felicity was the one to shrug.
"Nothing major. Christmas in the Queen's household is just a little intimidating." He hugged her.
"I'm glad you want to participate though." He gave her a grin and pulled her up. "Now! Let's decorate that tree!"
It was the next year that Felicity gave Oliver an ornament shaped like a heart with an arrow through it. It may have been cliché, but she liked it, and he certainly seemed to think it was appropriate.
Two years after their first Christmas he was the one to gift Felicity with two new ornaments. The first was a tiny menorah to hang on the tree, which Felicity did really like. On the other hand, it was the other ornament that took the cake. Oliver had reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Felicity was confused at first, but nearly went into shock once he explained. The keys in his hand actually weren't for the tree- they were for an actual house. After he'd told the news he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a skeleton key. 'This is the one for the tree.' He'd said.
The third year came with two linked gold circles. They'd been married for nearly a year already, but they didn't mind.
They didn't do anything special for the next year; at least ornament wise. It was on Christmas Eve that Felicity told Oliver she was pregnant with a pair of ornaments; one an "expecting mom" and the other an "expecting dad". He cried.
The next year of course came with an ornament announcing the birth of their son, Tommy, born in the middle of October.
For their fifth year together, it was Oliver's turn to surprise her. He was almost embarrassed, after the exciting ones she'd given him every other year. He had two simple ones; one shaped like Nevada and the other shaped like Massachusetts. He tried to explain how it represented her past, but he got tongue tied. Felicity didn't care.
The sixth year brought another baby. This time the ornament announced the birth of their daughter, Mia, who had been born in early November.
After that, the tree ornaments became less about them and more about their kids. Before the next Christmas Tommy was already three and Mia was one. Each year they gave the kids a special ornament, and while they may not have appreciated it, or understood the significance right then, they would eventually and then they could use it to tell their own story.