Oh, Christmas Tree
S: Bonnie teaches Tan the art of Christmas tree decorating.
"You really needed one this big?" Tan winded while struggling to fit the pine tree Bonnie had just made him buy up the staircase and through their door. The pine-needles stuck at him everywhere. "Remind me why I consented to take home a real one this year."
"Because you love me." The light in Bonnie's eyes was enough to wipe the fatigue off Tan's muscles. "There," she continued, pointing at a spot beside the window in the living room. "Put it right there."
Tan pushed the enormous thing in place and stepped back to take his breath. Actually, the natural light from the window underlined the pine tree's shape in all the right spots to make it look majestic.
"Isn't it perfect?" Bonnie said, lacing her fingers to Tan's. "And just wait to see when we're done decorating it."
"We? I thought I could watch the game now."
"Oh, come on, Victor. Please." She gave him the puppy eyes. "It's important to me."
"You're right. I love you too much to say 'no' to that face."
Tan fidgeted while Bonnie rummaged through boxes he didn't remember she'd brought in when she'd come to live with him a few years ago. He'd never decorated a Christmas tree before; his family usually didn't put up one. Until today, he'd not thought it would be hard. Now, seeing how serious his finacée was about the whole matter, his stomach rumbled the way it did before a high-risk mission. Disappointing her was not an option.
"We need to start with the lights." Bonnie emerged from the boxes with light strings tangled all around her. "A little help?" She called, a bit flustered.
Tan came to the rescue, freeing her from her self-made trap. "Let me do this. I'm quite good with wires and things."
"These are not just wires and things," Bonnie warned him. "These" —she started stringing the tree from the base— "are Christmas lights. Very different."
They started circling the tree, each one with their own string of lights. While Tan stretched up to reach the top, Bonnie ducked to pass under his arm. It was like a little dance, but at some point, something must have gone wrong because Bonnie tripped on Tan's foot, and he had to grab her before she fell face-first into the tree. Her heartwarming chuckle filled the room; he held her up to him, and his eyes got lost in hers, but before he could lean over to kiss her, she put a finger before his lips.
"Not yet." She pulled away from his reach. "We still have a lot of work to do."
Tan couldn't help but smile before putting up his best diligent-student face. Then Bonnie lectured him on the importance of colors and shapes to make the tree look casual but not chaotic. She had to relocate half the decorations he'd put on, but at last, Bonnie made him do a step back to admire their work.
"There's a hole there." Tan's puzzled look shifted from the green spot on the tree to Bonnie. "Did I distract you too much with my clumsiness?"
"Just wait here," Bonnie said, a glint in her eyes. "And don't peek."
"As you wish, boss."
"You see all these ornaments we just put on," she said through the noises of paper tissue being unwrapped, "they're cool, but they're just stuff."
"Wait, you're telling me we just spent an hour—"
"Let me finish," Bonnie ordered. "We have a tradition in my family, and I thought I could introduce you to it, making it ours, too. Okay, you can look."
Tan opened his eyes; in place of the empty branch, there was a shiny ornament, shaped as a little golden Christmas wreath.
"The point is to buy a new decoration every year, which needs to represent the most meaningful thing that happened to us." Bonnie stared at him, a bit reddened. "This should represent a wedding ring. Well, sort of… untraditional like your proposal I may dare to say, but—"
"I love it." He hugged her.
"The decoration, the tradition, or—"
"Everything." Their eyes locked. "But more than anything, I love you."