Chapter Twelve
Hark the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new born king
Peace on Earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners, reconciled.
"Are you going to help us with the tree?" asked Jane while Thor was messing around with the remote for the television.
"As soon as I have fixed the television."
"Thor, I unplugged the television so I could get the double plug from behind," Pepper explained. "I'll plug it back in a moment." Pepper stood back a second to check the tree was not lopsided. "Okay, I think we can start decorating."
"Where is all the tinsel?" asked Jane.
"I threw it out because Jack tried to eat it when he was one."
"What about the flock to make it look as though it has snowed on the tree?"
"Daniel tried to eat it."
"Did you get rid of the baubles in case Avery might eat them?"
"How is she going to get a whole bauble in her mouth?"
"Thor can you hand us the box?" asked Jane. Thor picked up the box nearest to him, only for the bottom of it to give way and a load of ordainments to crash onto the floor.
"What happened?" he asked.
"The box fell open," Jane answered looking at the mess on the floor. Among them, was the tree topper and Pepper froze.
"Oh no, please do not say the angel is broken," she said bending down to pick up the ceramic ordainment. The face was cracked and was broken in half.
"We could replace it. It does look very old," Thor suggested.
"What looks old?" Tony asked coming into the lounge.
"The decoration to top your tree."
"Is there anything wrong with it being old?"
"No."
"Why is there stuff all over the floor?"
"Um, the bottom of the box collapsed and they fell out," Jane explained.
"Including the angel," Pepper said showing him the broken angel.
"What?"
"Please do not freak out."
"It is my fault," Thor explained. "I picked up the box and the decorations fell out."
Turning pale, Tony walked back to the elevator, possibly down to the workshop.
"What was that about?" asked Jane.
"The angel belonged to his grandmother. This the last thing Tony inherited from his mother."
-o-
Thor found Tony in the workshop, however, not tinkering with any bit of machinery but staring into space. He did not look as though he had been crying but he was clearly not in the best of moods.
"I discovered the ordainment belong to your grandmother."
"And my mother. My first memories of that thing was when I was five. I think my grandmother had died only recently and my mother was upset. Dad did show his support but as per usual he kept himself busy with work. I was confused because Mom was rarely sad. Later, she told me that my grandmother had no plans to put up a Christmas tree as she was very ill by that point. Two weeks later my grandmother was dead and every time my mother got the angel out, she cried. You could call it a Christmas tradition."
"So why do you keep an item that brings you memories of sadness?"
"My parents' death was so abrupt my mother never got a chance to write a formal will. Thankfully, my father said that any possession of my mother became mine. In the box there was a load of jewellery, some family photos and the angel. It is the only item that I have to remember her."
"I am truly sorry. I should have picked the box up while holding the bottom."
Tony sighed, "Don't give yourself nightmares over it. It could have happened to anyone. It is not your fault. You have not deprived the kids of any inheritance. All three get an equal share of the company when Pep and I are gone, among other things."
"That is not so terrible."
"Yeah."
While Tony had insisted it was not his fault, Thor still felt bad for breaking something that carried such sentimental value. He thought of ways to make it up to Tony but how does one make it up for breaking a family heirloom
-o-
The next couple of days went by and while Tony put on a brave face for the kids so it did not ruin Christmas. It did still sting that there was an empty space on the top of the tree, but the nagging in his head that sounded suspiciously like his father was telling him that he should not be sulking over a broken toy.
By the time Christmas Eve came around, the broken ordainment seemed to be a distant memory. Tony had been occupying himself by putting two bikes together for Jack and Daniel - red and blue respectively – which took a couple of hours but for the rest of the time he did tinker with some other stuff until Pepper literally dragged him out the workshop.
"Come on, let's just watch a movie, have some wine, maybe have sex," Pepper said pulling him into the lounge.
"I don't think I am in the mood for the last thing."
"Tony are you feeling okay?"
"I'm just tired. The movie and the wine sound a lot more tempting." About half an hour into the movie, Tony was close to falling asleep until JARVIS announced that Thor had arrived. "Can you tell him to wait until the morning?"
"He said he only wanted five minutes of your time. I am sure it will not eat into your busy schedule of falling asleep in front of Miracle on 34th Street."
"Fine, let him in." A minute later, the elevator binged. "Hammerhead, you better have a good reason to be coming by at half nine in the evening."
"Tony, be nice," said Pepper.
"I wanted to offer a way of apologising for breaking your grandmother's decoration," Thor presented a wrapped gift to Pepper.
"I said it was fine," Tony responded.
"I doubt this would 'make it up' to you." Pepper unwrapped the gift and found an angel inside the box. "I tried to find the same angel as your grandmother's but this is the closet I could find."
"Wow, it is beautiful," Pepper said. She handed it to Tony who examined it.
"I just thought you could continue the tradition, only it would be a different angel."
"Thanks Thor. Thanks a lot."
"I promise not to break this one. I just hope you could forgive me."
"There was nothing to forgive. I mean it is just a Christmas ordainment." Tony shrugged and went to put in on the top of the tree. Quietly, he let a tear fall from his eye. It was more than just a Christmas ordainment but the fact that he had something to pass onto Jack, Daniel and Avery that had actual sentimental value did make him tearfully happy.
Not that he would show it of course.
The End