That night, Laura and Steve were surprised that Carl insisted on taking OGD out for dinner, but they didn't argue. It gave them time to decorate their tree in peace.
They both excitedly pulled out the few Christmas decorations they had bought this year for their very first tree and started to unbox them. Laura laughed as she noticed Steve's decorations. He had a few cheese ornaments, a few test tubes filled with glitter, a cuckoo clock and some polka instruments, and a couple of packages of red, plaid bulbs. Laura's decorations, of course, were the total opposite. They were homey, but they were still very stylish, modern, and classy. As Steve wrapped the tiny, white lights around their tree, she spoke, "I was worried we wouldn't have enough ornaments for a tree, but it looks like we have too many for this tiny one."
"Do you want a bigger one?" he asked, freezing suddenly. "I'll go get us one right now!"
"No," Laura chuckled, "I love it, and I love you."
He smiled and relaxed, continuing to drape the lights over the branches. "I love you too," he replied.
As they continued to decorate their tree, Laura sang along softly to the Christmas music in the background. Steve listened to her closely, entranced by her sweet voice.
They finished quickly because their tree was so small. He sat down in front of it and pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and looked at the tree. "Merry Christmas, my love."
"Merry Christmas, Baby," she whispered, turning back to kiss him deeply. As she let go of his face, she turned back to the tree. "We don't have a star," she pouted.
"I assumed you'd want to pick one out."
"I tried," she said. "I couldn't find one I liked.
"Hmmmm…" Steve mumbled, pausing. "Hang on!" he exclaimed, pushing her off of his lap and standing quickly.
She smiled as she realized he had an idea and was going to fix their little problem with ease. It was nice to be married to a genius.
He came back from the study a few moments later. "Now, this isn't a permanent solution, but it'll work for now," he explained, blocking her view of the tree until he was done attaching their new tree topper. "Tada!" he cheered, stepping away to reveal his work.
"Oh, my God," she gasped, moving closer to the tree. "How old are we in this picture?" she cooed.
He smiled proudly. "This was our Christmas pageant in kindergarten, so we had just turned 6."
"Wow," she smiled. "I had totally forgotten about that. Look at that pout on my face!" She chuckled at her former self.
"Of course you were pouting! You got stuck with me as your dance partner when we sang The Christmas Waltz because of the darn alphabet!"
"I love this," she said softly.
Steve sat beside her again and pulled her back into his lap. "I love you, my little, Christmas angel."
"I love you too," she whispered, leaning back into him.