Ricardo, Sofia and Alicia stand in the living room, focused looks on their faces. In his basinet, Andre breathes in deeply, steadily, fast asleep. They all exchange glances and nod, immediately setting to work. There's space, thankfully, so it's only a matter of getting the tree up, on its stand, then fluffing the branches out and making it look pretty and ready for ornaments and everything else. Sofia steps back first, after awhile, and eyes it. "I think it looks acceptable," she says, and immediately sets in to handle the few things she still sees off about it.
Once all three of them are pleased with its appearance, they move on- lights, and garland, and then the ornaments slowly begin adorning the vast expanse of green before them. It takes time and they giggle and sip from mugs of rapidly cooling apple cider, nibbling on Christmas cookies shaped like trees and snowmen, stars and santas. Sofia works more intently than the other two, used to guiding full teams of people in decorating Del Rio's large mansions, but she does so with a large smile on her face, twinkle in her eyes, and Ricardo beams whenever he catches a glimpse of her. Alicia is in her element as well, lightly singing Christmas songs under her breath as she runs back and forth from the box with the ornaments in it back to the tree. For a woman with a newborn who can still barely sleep three hours straight, her energy awes Ricardo, and he finds himself just following in both women's wake as he tries to keep up, help out.
By the time they're done, Andre is awake, making soft, sleepy little fussing sounds, and Alicia breezes over to the couch, gently lifting him out of the folds of the blanket they have tucked around him. "Hey, little guy," she says softly. "Wanna come see the tree?" She doesn't want to overstimulate him, but for a moment, she assumes it'll be alright, especially since it isn't plugged in yet, so she eases up to the tree and watches as Andre's wide, dark eyes rove over the expanse of pine needles and ornaments, and she keeps a close eye on his wandering fists as he reaches out and grasps a handful, immediately crinkling his nose and letting go, his whimpering growing in intensity. She laughs softly and steps back, kissing his forehead. "It's ok, love," she whispers to him, moving away to feed him, and see what else he may need.
As she settles him on the couch to change his diaper, Ricardo moves to put the star up, Sofia standing by his side, watching closely. Once it's in place, they exchange looks and smile. "Wanna do the honors?" he asks her and she smiles.
"If you're sure, mi hijo."
He grins. "I am. Go on, Sofia."
So she walks up to the power strip, cord in hand, and exhales deeply before plugging it in. Immediately, soft lights reflect off of her back, and the wall beside her, and she laughs softly, turning to look.
"Wow," Alicia breathes, rocking a freshly settled Andre. "That... that's gorgeous."
It is, the tree glittering with the ornaments reflecting the lights, and the star urging all attention to move up to it. Ricardo swallows, peering upon it, before turning to look at his wife, their child. It's the first Christmas they'll have together as a family, and it... it is overwhelming beautiful.
