Chapter 23
Joe joined Shane the next morning at church. "Have you been to the antique shop where Leah works?" Shane asked as they were waiting for the service to start.
"Yes why?"
"Do they have any vintage Christmas ornaments? We started pulling Christmas decorations out. Between the two of us there's bits and pieces but not much that goes together. After church we were going to pick up a tree. I thought Oliver would prefer vintage ornaments instead of newer ones."
"I can't say I noticed, but I can ask Leah."
"Would you like to come with us to pick out a tree?"
"I would but I'm meeting Leah for lunch after church."
"After lunch why don't you bring her over and we could have an old-fashioned tree trimming? I was going to stop by a craft store and pick up some things to decorate the tree and the house."
"I'll ask her and text you."
From the choir loft, Oliver's heart filled with love watching his father and Shane talking. He appreciated the two people he loved most in the world joining him on a Sunday morning to be closer to God. Dale leaned over noticing where Oliver was looking, "How is Shane?"
"Better." Oliver answered. Noticing the gentleman Dale had been dating for a couple months sitting down in a pew he nodded, "How about you?"
"It's going well. Really well." Dale said smiling.
"Are we finally going to get to meet him?" He had picked Dale up a few times from choir but was usually waiting in the car.
"Maybe." She said teasingly.
The service started stopping conversation. While the pastor began talking about advent and the season of hope, Jeff talked about the juxtaposition of dealing with loss during what was supposed to be the most joyous time of the year. He spoke of a loss in his own family when he was younger and about his grandmother telling him that God needed more angels at Christmas than any other time of the year to bring people hope. Oliver saw his father put his arm around Shane and she leaned her head against his shoulder. After the service, while Oliver spoke with the pastor, he noticed Shane took little time heading towards Dale to meet the new boyfriend.
Watching where Oliver's attention lay, Jeff asked, "How are you both doing?"
"The first week was a struggle. It was…unexpected and senseless. Having Shane' s mother here helped. They were able to spend time together. Catch up. We're both doing better."
Knowing they'd both been through a fair amount over the last two years, "Shane's a resilient woman but there can be such a thing as too much resiliency. Sometimes people with the most resiliency forget they don't have to handle everything on their own. If either of you need anything or to talk you know where to find me." Jeff said as Oliver left.
Oliver joined Shane and met Dale's friend. After church they changed, ate a quick lunch, and picked up a tree. They both agreed on which types of trees they preferred. The craft store was more of an adventure for Oliver. Not sure what they were doing there he wandered around after Shane as she put things in the cart. The only time she asked his opinion was about tree lights. They had a spirited discussion regarding color or off white which snowballed into a blinking versus not blinking disagreement.
"I'd prefer my Christmas tree not be blinking at me like a disco ball trying to give me a seizure." Oliver complained haughtily.
Shane smiled and kissed him, "Fine non-blinking off white warm Christmas cheer. We wouldn't want you to have a seizure. Let's pick up some ribbon and then we need to head home. Dad just texted they're going to join us."
"Ribbon?"
"I need it for the wreath on the door and for the tree."
"What wreath?"
"The one I'm making." Shane answered. Oliver nodded not at all sure what she was talking about but assuming it had something to do with the growing pile of craft materials in the cart.
After checking out they headed back to the house, Joe and Leah arriving shortly after them. Joe helped Oliver unload the tree and set it in a stand. Shane started cider on the stove in the kitchen while Leah laid out the craft materials at the kitchen table. While the guys spread out lights and made sure they were working, Shane and Leah started working on making red and gold bows for the tree and mantle before decorating the wreath. With the doodles helping, the lights took longer than normal to sort out. By the time the lights were spread out, Shane and Leah had started on making the wreath.
"I've always wanted to do this and never felt artistic enough." Leah commented.
"Oh, it's easier than it looks. If you don't like it, you just rework it." Shane answered. "If you pick out materials that you want, I can help you put one together next weekend."
Oliver walked by picking up a glue gun, "What's this?"
"It's a female cross between a nail gun and super glue." Leah answered smiling. "It fixes almost everything."
Joe started pouring cider for everyone while Oliver watched Shane affix items to the wreath alternating between the glue gun and florist wiring. The randomness that she picked up decorations at the craft store now making sense.
"It's quite lovely." Leah said. "The blue with the gold and white aren't stereotypical Christmas colors but they'll be beautiful with the color of the house."
"I was thinking more of the color of Oliver's eyes when I picked it out. He's so handsome when he gets riled up." Shane turned to look at him. "He got rather agitated at the craft store thinking I was trying to turn the Christmas tree into a colored Christmas disco ball with blinking lights."
Oliver rolled his eyes with Shane's teasing. Looking at the wreath he noticed she was attaching decorations that meant something to him. There was a post box, a music note, a book, and an old-fashioned phonograph turntable nestled in between the ribbon wrapping the evergreen wreath.
"It's charming and thoughtful Shane." He kissed her on the top of her head. "Just like you."
"You two are so sweet." Leah said smiling.
"Don't let them fool you." Joe said teasingly. "I wouldn't want to get between the two when they start debating over a disagreement."
"I put up a good front, but we all know Shane usually wins." Oliver admitted ruefully drinking his cider. "I recently found out it was because she debated her way through college."
"I love it that you still try." Shane said smirking.
Joe and Oliver finished putting the lights on the tree while Leah and Shane stopped for cider. Oliver hung the wreath on the front door while Shane put the other bows they'd made on the tree and ends of the mantle above the fireplace. Shane had fashioned a larger bow with a poinsettia in the middle for the top of the tree. Handing it to Oliver to place he asked, "Is this so we..."
"Stop to smell the poinsettias," Shane finished smiling.
Joe the gardener interjected, "Poinsettias don't have a smell."
Shane and Oliver grinned at each other, "We know. It's just to remind us to stop during the busy times to remember the reason for the season." Both remembered Jordan's advice he gave Oliver.
They placed the few ornaments they had on the tree before looking at what Leah had brought.
Leah and Joe had stopped by the antique store where she worked on the way to the house after lunch. She had picked up some of the Christmas decorations they had. "I brought a little bit of everything." Leah said opening a couple boxes. "I'm not totally sure what's in here myself, I haven't had a chance to look past the top layer. I wasn't working the day they came in and they hadn't been placed out on the sales floor yet."
Shane and Leah started looking through the box. There were some Christmas decorations from the ''70's they skipped right over. "They would have gone with the disco vibe." Oliver commented.
Underneath they found hand crocheted snowflake ornaments. "These are gorgeous." Shane commented. "Someone took a lot of time making these." Lifting them out they laid them on the table.
The next box was filled with a wooden carved nativity. "This would look great on the bay window in your office." Shane commented.
"These are well crafted." Oliver said examining them. "Shane look." He said turning the stable around. The engraved stamp on the back was the same as the advent calendar they had found at work.
"Leah, would you be able to find out who sold these to the shop?" Shane asked.
"We always keep records of who sold us stock. Why?"
"There was a lost package at work that was made by the same company. On the off chance it came from the same person we would be able to return it to the rightful owner." Oliver explained.
"I can look it up when I'm there tomorrow. This is exciting being part of a postal investigation."
"Most of the time it's research more than anything." Shane said pulling more decorations out of the box. "Oh, these are pretty." She opened a box of gold finial ornaments.
"You know you enjoy random reasons to hack into places." Oliver needled her.
Shane rolled her eyes, "It loses some of the excitement when it's sanctioned. Although I do enjoy the challenge." She acknowledged.
"I knew it." Oliver said chuckling. Turning and seeing the shocked look on her face, "Shane?"
She was holding a gold bell with a star etched into the side. The design looked remarkably similar to the star Oliver had given her that now laid on her necklace she was holding with her other hand. "It's lovely. Oliver can we…" Not able to finish she bit her lip.
"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names." Oliver said taking it from her and solemnly placing the Christmas bell on the mantle. He stood for a minute looking into the fire.
Joe gave Shane a hug. She held on tucking her head on his shoulder. Leah not sure what had just occurred recognized they needed a moment. She added the gold finial ornaments to the tree. With the gold and red ribbons Shane had placed on the tree, the decorations were looking very artistically intermingled.
Shane and Leah finished going through the other box which was filled with a Christmas train set. "I had a set just like this when I was a kid. I'm not sure what finding it in an antique store says about my age." Joe said chuckling.
"It's how young you feel that matters." Leah said patting him on the back.
The last box was a mix of Christmas dishes and linens with a few more ornaments they hung on the tree.
"Thank you for bringing everything over. Let us know what we owe, and I can come by tomorrow to sort out the bill," Shane said. Joe and Oliver took the dogs in the back while Shane helped Leah pack the boxes back up and set them by the door.
"The star does it have a special meaning?" Leah asked curious.
Not having talked about what happened except with Oliver and her mother, Shane paused a moment before explaining. "I had a miscarriage before Thanksgiving. At the time Oliver reminded me God named the stars and even if we hadn't named our baby God probably had. He gave me the star on my necklace to remind me that God wouldn't forget a life cut short. The bell has the same exact star design on the side."
"I'm sorry. Joe didn't tell me. It's hard to go through. My sister had multiple in between having their children. I hate to say it never got any easier. Each one hits you as hard as the previous. I couldn't have children and my husband could never let it go. Eventually it broke up our marriage. We talked about adopting but he wouldn't entertain the idea."
"I'm sorry." Shane said sympathetically laying a hand on the other woman's arm.
"I always enjoyed being the fun aunt." Changing the subject Leah mentioned, "While the guys are outside, I noticed the phonograph on the bookcase. We just got a nice phonograph table in at the store. It may make a great Christmas gift for Oliver. I could take a picture and send it to you tomorrow if you're interested."
"Sounds great. With everything that's happened, I'm a little late getting started shopping and work is always crazy this time of year."
Shane poured the guys more cider when they returned, and they spent time sitting around the tree talking before Leah and Joe left.
"Have you come around to team Leah." Shane asked Oliver watching him wave goodbye to them.
"I'm open to the idea." Oliver replied. "She's kind, compassionate and seems to make him happy."
"You know what would make me happy?" Shane said leaning towards him.
"What?"
"Sitting by the fire next to the man I love looking at our new Christmas tree." Shane answered smiling.
"Sounds like an excellent plan." Oliver said kissing her.