"Hey, Y'all! How're you doin'?" The woman manning the front counter cheerfully asks them as they approach.
"Hey," Austin starts, sliding his infant son from his shoulders into the crook of his arm "We're good, thanks."
"Great! Hey, there, how are you?" she asks the baby, smiling at him. Simon smiles back and babbles at her. "Oh, aren't you sweet!"
Austin chuckles, jiggling the baby in his arms. "Anyway, can we look around for a tree?"
"Oh, of course! You go walk the rows, and when you find the perfect one, come find our of our staff and they'll help you cut it down if you need. And then bring the tag back up here and we'll get you squared away," the woman explains.
"Great, thanks," Austin smiles.
"You welcome. Y'all have fun, okay?" And off her words, Austin thanks her once more and starts to walk away. He only gets a few feet when he hears his name being called.
"Austin! Hey, I got it!" Christine shouts, dashing up to her husband and son, holding up the knitted hat before stuffing it onto Simon's bald head. Thirteen months old, and still nothing more than peach fuzz is on that noggin. "Ready?" She asks.
"Yeah," Austin smiles, taking Christine's hand. The family walks among the others, all of them bundled up against the chilly weather, up and down row upon row of Christmas trees.
This Christmas would be their first official one as a family of three. The previous year, with a colicky newborn in the house, the last thing they wanted to do was put up a tree and go to all the trouble of decorating. So this year, Austin and Christine were determined to make special and amazing for their son.
"What about this one?" Austin asks, pointing to one.
"It's perfect. If we were in a Charlie Brown movie," Christine replies, sarcastically.
"Okay, so not that one," Austin says, continuing on.
Simon wriggles in his arms and after trying to satisfy him for a while, Austin finally sets him on his feet. Walking is still new for the baby, and after the first few stumbling steps, Austin is quick to grab hold of his son's wrist. Christine tales the lead as Simon and Austin make slow, stumbling work for the bumpy path.
"No. Not this one. Too tall. This one? See it? It's too heavy on one side, we'de have to face it that way out the window and have the ugly side closer to us. No, that won't work. My mother would kill me," Christine says as she walks down another row. Austin following behind, rolling his eyes at her comments.
He catches up to her, looping his empty arm around his waist, kissing her cheek. "We're gonna go look," he whispers to her before scooping Simon up and dashing down the rest of the row and disappearing around a corner. Christine is left there, stunned, but continues to inspect the trees closest to her, hoping to find one before her boys do. And after another quarter hour and a few steps to her left, she thinks she may have found it.
"Austin? Austin!" she calls, hoping he may be able to her hear her. Though, when she gets no reply, Christine pick up her cell phone and calls him.
"Hey! Where did you go?" she asks when he answers.
"Oh, we found this playground thing they set up. Slides, a train, a petting zoo. Just some stuff." Christine can hear the casual shrug in his voice.
"Oh, okay. Well, you guys wanna come back? I think I found one."
"Yeah, we'll be there soon. Come on, bud, mommy wants to show us the tree she found." She hears her son start to protest and starts to say something but is cut off by her husband's fleeting reply of "I gotta go" before the line is cut off.
Christine contemplates going to meet then just in case Austin needs help dealing with their son's fit, but ultimately decides to stay put and hold their tree. She doesn't have to wait long, though.
"Mama! Mom!"
Christine could recognize that voice anywhere, and when she looks over, she can't help but smile.
Her husband is holding their son's hands, stance wide, as he walks in front of him. Simon is smiling so wide and giggling as they get closer to her. Christine nods to Austin and she crouches down, he lets go of the toddler's hands and lets Simon walk the last few steps into his mom's outstretched arms alone.
"Oh! Hello, baby! Did you go on an adventure with daddy? Huh? Did you have fun?" Christine asks, listening to her son babble away.
"Tell mommy what we did," Austin prompts, pulling up the photos on the phone. "We went down the slide and pet the animals and saw the snowman."
"Wow, you two had fun, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Simon says with a curt nod. Christine laughs, kissing him.
"Well good. Hey, I think I found our Christmas tree. Tell me what you think," she says, turning to the tree she had found. It was a Concolor Fir a bit taller than six feet. It was fluffy all around and had long, soft needles. Perfect for a small family celebrating their son's 'first' Christmas. "Is it good, baby? Christine asks.
"Yeah," Simon says. "Da da da," he babbles.
"Babe?" Christine asks her husband.
"Yeah, I like it," Austin shrugs.
"Austin! Be serious!" Christine whines. "My mom is already on my back about last year. This one needs to be perfect!"
"It will be perfect," he says, kissing her. "If you love this one, then I love it too. Let's get it," he decides, turning back to find a staff member to help them.
Thirty minutes later, the family, rosy-cheeked with cold fingers, are walking back through the main building to check out.
"Did Y'all find everything okay," the young woman behind the counter, not the perky one that had seen when they were coming in, asks.
"Yeah, we did, thanks."
"Great. Okay, that will be $31.50"
"Okay," Austin nods, sliding his card, watching as his wife and son stand in line for hot chocolate, and out the window as the kind man ties their tree to the roof of their car.
"Just need your signature and you are good to go," the girl says, passing over a pen and the receipt. Austin scribbles his signature, thanks the woman and steps out of line, heading to his family.
"Ready?" Austin asks, taking one of the paper cups and the squirmy child from his wife.
"Yes, let's get out of here," Christine eagerly nods.
Back out in the cold twilight air, Christine breathes deeply, helping the tight, claustrophobic feeling leave her chest.
"Thank you," Austin says, passing the man a generous tip when he finishes tying down the tree. "Merry Christmas."
"You too, man," he replies, with a smile. "Merry Christmas."
Austin starts the car as Christine straps Simon into his car seat, and a few minutes later, they pull away from the curb.