Chapter 1

I sit on the couch in the living room of our apartment, engrossed in a book while the TV drones on in the background. I pick my head up for a moment at the weather forecast, sighing at the temperatures. "How is it the first weekend in November and the temperature is still mid to high sixties?" I mutter to myself.

"Welcome to Florida, Aly," Avi says as she trots down with a box in her arms. "It sometimes isn't even this cold by this time in the year."

"And this is why I hate Florida," I say, shaking my head. I start to return to my book when Avi's box catches my eye. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Christmas decorations!" Avi says in a cheerful tone.

"You've got to be joking," I groan. "It's literally November 6th. Why are we putting up decorations already?"

"Because I spent all my life waiting until after Thanksgiving to put up decorations," Avi says. "And now I am a grown adult and I have my own place so I'm going to put up decorations when I want gosh darn it!" Avi puts a hand on her hip in an attempt to show some snark but any of it is hidden behind her huge smile and excitement that fills the room.

"What about the other person who lives in said place?" I ask, my tone serious as I set my book down and fold my arms across my chest. "What if Christmas isn't her thing?"

Avi's face falls and she looks down, her excitement dashing. "Can…can we just do it this year? Christmas just really makes me happy and after this year, I could use all the happy I can get. We can wait every other year…just can we put everything up early this year?"

I feel a pang in my chest. What kind of cousin or sister or whatever we are am I? My face softens as I say, "I'm so sorry, Av. Of course, you can. I guess this heat is really making me a jerk. Turn this place into a winter wonderland."

Avi's smile returns and I can almost feel the excitement rise in her chest. "Thank you," she says as she darts back to her box, humming some Christmas carol.

I shake my head as I let out a sigh. "Ty, I'm an ass," I say in the Voice.

"What did you do?" he responds almost immediately. "Tell a teacher 'no' to their time off request?"

"Way worse," I say. "Avi started getting Christmas decorations down."

"She's one of those?" Tyler asks.

"Apparently so," I say.

"It's not even Thanksgiving yet," he adds. "It's only the first weekend of November!"

"That's what I said," I respond. "But she said it makes her happy and honestly…I haven't seen her this happy or excited since…you know. And I started to make a big deal about her putting the decorations up and to see her face fall literally hurt…especially when she asked to just do it this year because she needed the extra happiness."

"Yeah…I'd say that makes you an ass," Tyler says.

"Gee, thanks," I say with a groan.

"Hey, you said it first," he says. "Did you let her put them up?"

"Of course I did," I say. "Even if everything in me cringes at it. It means more to me to see her this happy for once."

"See, you fixed it," he says. "You're fine. Just put up with it until January and everything will be fine."

"Don't remind me," I groan. "You know Christmas isn't my thing."

"I know," he says. "Just focus on how happy she is and ignore the elves and holly and manger scenes. You got this."

I let out a sigh, "I'm going to try and finish my book now. Talk to you later." I pick my book back up and start to read again, ignoring the faint sound of Christmas music from the opposite side of the room.

"Aly?" I hear Avi call. "Can you help me with something?" I look up from my book and glance Avi struggling with the Christmas tree box. She pants as she looks at me and says, "I know you said Christmas isn't your thing…but I could never get the Christmas tree up without Chloe's help. But if you really don't want to, I'll see if Amber could come over tomorrow and help me."

"Just do it, Alyson," I hear Tyler say.

"Get out of my head," I grumble back.

"Never! Twin perks," he says before my head goes quiet.

I let out a sigh, "No, I'll help you." Avi gives me a huge smile and I can't help but smile back. "What do you need me to do?"

"If you'll just help me put the tree sections together and make sure the lights are plugged in," she says. I nod as we start pulling out sections of the tree and Avi starts setting up the base. I pull out the other two sections out and put the first one in the base and hold the branches back as Avi plugs the lights together. She tests them as I grab the ladder to do the last section.

"Chloe had a few inches on me," I chuckle nervously. "I can't quite reach that last hole for the top part to go into."

"If it makes you feel better, Chloe needed the ladder," Avi says. "I just have a pretty big tree for someone who is only 5'3." She chuckles and says, "You at least have like half a foot on me."

"Not quite that much but thanks for the encouragement," I laugh. I hold back the branches as Avi steps on the first step of the ladder to plug in the lights. "Why a fake tree?" I ask. "Don't you Christmas people swear by real trees?"

"Some do," Avi says. "For me, a fake tree is more cost effective in the long run, usually. You can reuse the same tree year after year and not have to take care of it. Plus, this one comes pre-lit so my short self doesn't have to try and string lights around it." She walks over to one of the boxes against the wall and pulls out an angel topper. "Want to put the angel on top and plug her into the lights so her candle lights up?" Avi asks as she hands the angel to me.

"Sure," I say as I take it from her and place it on top of the tree. "Aren't real trees supposed to smell good though?" I ask as I plug the angel in.

"Yes, but that's the only benefit I see in a real tree," Avi answers, "and they make scent things you can hang on the fake trees to make them smell like real ones. The biggest thing that's sentimental to me about the tree is putting it up and decorating it and I can do that with a fake tree without the hassle of taking care of it, all the extra needles, stringing the lights, and disposing it at the end of the year. Plus," she walks over to the outlet and plugs in the tree and the whole thing lights up, "in less than 15 minutes we have our tree ready to decorate!"

"Hey, you're speaking my language," I say. "I'm all about simpler!"

"Exactly," Avi says as she fluffs some of the branches. "You can go back to your book or…" she pulls out a box of ornaments as she continues, "you could help me decorate?" She practically gives me puppy dog eyes as she holds up the box.

I can't help but smile. "Sure," I finally say as I take the box and set it next to the tree. Avi smiles as she grabs the box of hooks and sets it on the box lid and starts grabbing ornaments to hook and hang. I follow suit, starting to pull ornaments out of the box and hanging them. Some of the ornaments are generic Christmas themed ones while others were from specific places Avi had been. I smile at some of the animal and teacher themed ones as the box starts to empty and the tree fills up.

I pick up a picture ornament and stare at it. I immediately recognize the blue-haired girl giving a kiss on the cheek to the shorter blonde in the picture. "Our first Christmas" is written below the picture. "Is that Rachel?" I ask, continuing to stare at the picture.

Avi pauses, setting down the ornament in her hand before walking over and looking at the picture. She nods, "Yeah, that's Rachel. It's the one ornament Chloe asked that I hang up. Turns out she was a sucker for Christmas too and I think Rachel helped with that." Avi's eyes soften and I feel a pang in my own chest as she takes the ornament out of my hands and gently holds it. A small smile forms on her face as she says, "I remember playing the song 'Christmas in Heaven' for her the first time she hung this. She lived with me the first time she ever hung the ornament after Rachel died. She rolled her eyes at the song because it was a country Christmas song but when she listened to the lyrics she just sobbed. She said it reminded her of Rachel and her dad because her dad loved country and they were the two that made her love Christmas."

"Is the song based around the idea of what someone who's died might experience Christmas like while in heaven?" I ask.

Avi nods, a tear trickling down her face. "And that's her this year," Avi says, her voice a little strained. "She gets to experience it and celebrate it with her dad and Rachel this year." She holds the ornament to her chest for a minute as she looks up at the ceiling, a couple more tears escaping down her face.

"We don't have to hang that one," I say, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I can put it back."

Avi adamantly shakes her head, "No, I want to. It's the first time I've found something of hers and felt just a little bit of peace." She steps toward the tree and finds a branch in the center of the tree and hangs it. She steps back and gazes on the tree, a hand over her heart. Finally, she turns to me with a small smile, "Come on, we have a tree to finish decorating."