The following day, Mike pulled the SUV into the carpark of the Christmas tree farm. It was pretty early in the morning which was good as he wanted to miss the rush. Especially given they had a dumping of snow last night which meant the car park would be a muddy disaster. He wanted to avoid it and crowds.
"You weren't wrong about it being far away." Sasha said, she yawned as they had gotten up early. Mike had brought her coffee and some fruit and a muffin, he felt bad waking her up but she seemed to be into his Christmas bucket list.
"Yeah, they bring trees to the city but I prefer to pick off the lot." Mike said.
"It's always good to see the countryside. Ready?" she asked him.
"Yeah." Mike said.
"Ok, I'm taking the saw." Sasha told Mike.
"I got Kaito then." Mike said as he was not going to argue with Sasha taking the lead. He remembered how sad she had been in the Christmas Market yesterday. He knew what it was like to have Christmas without family. To grieve the death of loved ones and have the holidays feel lonely and cold. But with Kaito, he wanted to make new memories. He wanted Kaito to have a happy childhood with the trimmings. Mike knew a 6 month old would not remember his first Christmas but Mike still felt it was important. All the little things about Christmas were important to Mike at the moment.
"Oh, that's fresh." Sasha said as she and Mike hopped out of the warm car and took a moment to adjust to the cold temperature. Sasha went to the trunk and pulled out the saw. Mike undid Kaito's car seat and dressed him in his snowsuit before Mike clipped Kaito to him into the baby carrier. They headed into the lot.
"So, what kind of tree do you want?" Sasha asked after they finished talking to the owner who explained the pricing and the lot for them.
"Nothing too big or sad looking. Fraser fir. Google said it's good for kids and I like the look of them." Mike said casually, he tried to play it cool when really he'd become a Christmas fanatic after spending hours of research.
"You sound like this is the first Christmas tree you've ever bought." Sasha mused.
"Not exactly, just that my Mother had a plastic tree and Christine liked Douglas Fir. Most of the time, I just stood back with the saw while she picked it. But ah, like I said yesterday, it's time for new traditions while honouring the old." Mike said.
"How about this one?" Sasha asked as she pointed at a random tree hoping it was the right type of tree.
"I don't think Kaito likes it." Mike told her.
"Oh, we're being guided by Kaito?" Sasha asked in amusement as Kaito was currently bemused by the snow falling from the sky. He'd seen it before but he still didn't know what to make of it.
"It's his first tree." Mike teased Sasha.
"Maybe we should make him crawl to his favourite tree." Sasha suggested.
"There's an idea." Mike told her, he went to unclip the baby carrier but Sasha stopped him.
"No, we can't let his snowsuit get dirty and wet." Sasha told him.
"Ok." Mike said in amusement as he was bluffing and had no plans to let Kaito crawl around. He clipped the strap back in. "What about that one?" he said as he pointed at a tree a couple down from where they were.
"Ah, half of it is dead." Sasha told him, they both frowned.
"Hmm, that one?" Mike asked, they went to the tree and circled around it to make sure it was fit their needs.
"It's pretty decent but not the right tree" Sasha observed. They wandered through the trees in a companionable silence until Sasha saw the perfect tree. She moved to it, circled around it before she looked to Mike. "This is the one." she told him.
"Go ahead and cut it down." Mike said.
"I've never done this before." Sasha said excitedly.
"It's pretty easy." Mike said, he gave her a few tips and stood back. "Remember to make sure it falls away from you, not on top of you." he told her.
"Aye, Aye, Captain." Sasha told him. Mike chuckled while Kaito gasped as he didn't understand where Sasha went. A few minutes later after some sawing the tree toppled and Kaito clapped his hands when Sasha reappeared. "You can carry the saw." she told Mike.
"You sure, you want to drag the tree? It looks heavy." Mike said.
"I can lift more than you." she said confidently, she picked up the base of the tree with ease.
"That I have no doubt of." Mike said. He didn't push it as he could see Sasha was strong enough to carry the tree. He didn't want to start anything. Not when he all cared about was them, having fun and enjoying what could have been a gloomy time. Judging by the smile on Sasha's face and his general sense of joy, they were enjoying themselves.
A few hours later,
"Is it straight?" Mike asked Sasha, they returned to his home after having lunch and buying a tree stand and other decoration. Now, they were in the home stretch of getting the tree up.
"Yep." Sasha said as she was spotting the tree and making sure it was straight. But in doing so, she lost sight of Kaito. But she found him soon enough as he crawled out from under the tree with a stray twig. "Oh no, we don't eat the tree." Sasha told Kaito as he tried to eat it. She snatched the twig from his hands. Kaito grumped at being denied his first taste of pine needles. But Sasha would sleep easier knowing he wouldn't do it on her watch.
"How's that?" Mike asked her.
"Perfect." Sasha said, it was leaning a little but that was about as good as it would get. She was able to let go of her need for it to be perfect as it was Mike's tree. If it had been hers, she'd probably still be tweaking it. Mike came out from under the tree, he picked up Kaito and blew a raspberry on Kaito's cheek. Kaito chuckled happy, the three stood back to take in the tree.
"It's a great tree." Mike said.
"Wait until the lights and decoration are up. It will be even more beautiful." Sasha told him.
"I-" Mike stopped as the door bell rang. "Will get that." he said, he hoisted Kaito higher on his side as Kaito liked to be up high.
Sasha stayed at the tree, admiring it. So many memories drifting through her mind of happier times. She had to admit, it was nice to finally have more memories to add to them,
"Tex." Mike said, in greeting.
"Hey, it's coming down out there. How's it going with you two-three?" Tex said, Sasha looked over her shoulder at Tex, the man dusted snow off his shoulders and hat.
"We're going well, you remember Sasha Cooper?" Mike said, Tex smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, you're one hell of a shot." Tex told her.
"Thank you." Sasha said, they shook hands. She only knew him for about a day before he'd been shot and taken to hospital. After that, she'd been on a manhunt for Tom with no care for Tex's condition. But she was glad he had recovered from his injuries.
"So, what can I do for you?" Mike asked him.
"Oh, nothing I just needed a place to hide out from Christmas." Tex said, he looked at the Christmas tree and decorations to the cookies in the kitchen.
"You walked right into it." Sasha quipped.
"This is not so bad. You see what Kat and Andrea have done to the house. I was away for 2 days, there's a train set running from the living room to the kitchen. Everything sparkles with tinsel and glitter. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Christmas holiday but this is a whole other level. I feel like I'm gonna get benched for the glitter I can't get out of my beard." Tex said, he went to kitchen and took a gingerbread cookie. He took a bite and nodded in approval. Mike and Sasha chuckled as Tex wasn't wrong. His beard did sparkle a little in the lighting.
"Andrea is intense about Christmas." Mike admitted.
"Sounds amazing." Sasha said as she loved Christmas, not to that level but she did enjoy seeing other people's decorating for the holidays.
"Well, you can come to our Pre Christmas lunch on Friday." Tex told her.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose." Sasha said, she knew the crew of the James fairly well but not well enough to invade their holidays and parties.
"It would not be an imposition and more the merrier. Mike is coming with Kaito." Tex said.
"I am?" Mike asked.
"You are, Kara and Green will be there with Frankie. Miller, Wolf. Diaz, Cruz and Alisha. We invited a few others but they couldn't make it. But it will still be a lovely lunch with the kids." Tex said with a warm smile.
"I'd love to come." Sasha told him. Tex looked to Mike.
"Fine, Kaito and I will free up our schedules." Mike said in a beleaguered manner.
"Good, and remember Secret Santa present under $20." he added.
"We're doing Secret Santa?" Mike asked.
"Basically buy something amusing and/or impractical. Everyone chooses their present at their own peril. It's fun, trust me." Tex said with a grin.
"That sounds like a lazy version of White Elephant." Sasha said.
"Yeah, but we can't play White elephant cause it gets vicious. Also the kids don't get to play Secret Santa as they are too young to appreciate it." Tex said.
"That and they don't have any money or taste." Sasha quipped.
"I like you." Tex told her with a grin.
Late that evening, it was just Mike and Kaito. Mike had nearly fallen asleep when Kaito decided he didn't need sleep. Mike put it down to a possible growth spurt than a child being vindictive in torturing him with sleep deprivation. So, Mike gave him a bottle and they went to the living room. Instead of turning on the TV as white noise to calm Kaito. Mike turned on the Christmas tree lights and left the overhead lights off.
"You like the tree, don't you?" Mike asked as he cuddled Kaito. He jiggled and paced them around the dimly lit living room. It hadn't missed Mike's attention that Kaito was captivated by the lit Christmas tree. The lights made the ornaments sparkle and glow softly in the darkened room. He sighed in a content manner as he loved the quiet moments of Christmas as much as the excitement and energy.
"What do you think about Auntie Sasha? Think she's as happy as we are having her around?" Mike asked, Kaito said nothing as he stared at the tree in wonder. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Mike murmured, he smiled as a good idea formed in his mind.