What It Takes

Peyton

So I felt bad that I lied to her. But when she said she was a virgin, I couldn’t tell those big brown eyes that I wasn’t.

I sighed and she swung our arms, our hands connected. We were at Sears to buy a Christmas tree and accessories. I didn’t even know this store still existed. “Okay, so since we’ve decided to go with a fake tree, I figure we might as well get one with lights on it already,” she said and I nodded. “Sounds good to me. The less work the better.” She rolled her eyes and giggled.

I lifted our hands up to my lips and kissed her thumb. She looked away blushing. I knew full well how adorable that one was. She roughly pulled me towards a part of the store littered with red and green lights. I had no idea there were so many different types of fake tree. It was grotesque. However we finally picked the tree and were off to find decorations for the house.

“Baby! I found just what we need,” Madi announced loudly, and I turned. She was coming up to me with arms full of silver garland. “Wow, that is a lot.” She nodded and dumped it around my body. I rolled my eyes and picked up the tree box again. After handing me four boxes of LED lights, I deduced that we were in need of a cart. I spotted one at the end of the aisle I was standing in and dumped everything into it.

“Peyt?” I wheeled the cart towards her voice. “Good idea!” she said, piling boxes of ornaments in the cart. “When do you keep picking this stuff up?” I ask and she shrugged. I shook my head and I didn’t even want to know what my face looked like. She disappeared again and when she was back, she had more lights and stockings. “You will never cease to amaze me,” I told her and she smiled.

“I think we’re done. Well, for now. Once we put this stuff in the car we gotta run and get some stuff real quick at the mall, ‘kay?” I nodded, not knowing what else to do. “We really shouldn’t have waited so long. Christmas is in four days and we still haven’t decorated, I’m depressed,” she said dramatically.

“You are officially dominating the conversation.” She glared over at me and started placing the items on the conveyer belt.

She was just so cute. She wrinkled her nose when she concentrated. The total was a very large amount. Soon, we would probably have to watch the money we spent but not yet. Thank God not yet because we spent far too much.

It took time to put the things in the trunk. Everything had to be maneuvered perfectly to fit exactly. Only after we made the storage space a 3d puzzle did we realize the back seat could have been utilized. The disease of being young is the only excuse. The mall was only a few minutes away and the ride was silent. The negotiation was no music in the car or Cobra Starship, whichever was more readily available. Since Cobra wasn’t, we opted for silence.

“Can I just recite my list of things to do, to you?” Madison asked and I nodded. I was feeling quiet today. “Okay, go to the mall and pick up Will and Katelyn’s gift. Then I have to wrap yours, Jen’s, Dave’s, and Sara’s. We have to decorate and watch Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and then drink hot chocolate.” I chuckled.

“What about Chuck’s present?” I asked and she smiled. “Wrapped and ready,” she said. “Sounds like you have a lot of things to do,” I said and she laughed. “A very large amount, yes. Oh shit! Pull in PetSmart!” she yelled, pointing at the store. Ten minutes later she returned with a few treats and a bone for Bear. It was exceptionally cute.

We got Katelyn a purse of some kind of special significance. Will got some kind of shirt and something I wasn’t allowed to see. I don’t really know. We got wrapping paper and bows and gift bags from Hallmark. Then we got French fries and went home.

The skies were grey as we carried the many festive bags into the house. I wanted it to snow. Snow should always be around for Christmas. The fluffy white crystals were breathtaking at Christmastime. Not in January or any later, but December 25th was beautiful.

Madison left me to go wrap her presents. I searched cabinets for hot chocolate mix. I was already finished with gifts. I bought them all back in November I was so prepared. I just loved this holiday that much.

When Madison was finally finished with whatever she was doing upstairs, we pulled the tree parts out of the box. “Okay, so where are the directions?” I asked and she handed me a piece of paper. It didn’t take long before I was alone putting the tree together and Madison was making hot chocolate. She magically found the mix when I couldn’t, typical.

The tree was up and working, thank God, after an hour of my hard labor. If it hadn’t lit up I would have shot myself. Putting the ornaments up was Madison’s job. I put up the other decorations. Santa Claus was all over the house with garland and other festive things proclaiming that we should have a Merry Christmas. That was when I had a horrible thought.

“Shit, Madi, what about Christmas cards?” I asked and her eyes got big. “Fuck my life I didn’t even think about those. I guess it’s no big deal. It’s not like our parents’ friends are going to flip out that they didn’t get a card from us,” she said. I shrugged.

“The tree looks great babe,” I said and she smiled. “Santa Claus is coming to town?” she asked and I nodded. She squealed and sailed onto the couch. I put the DVD in and sat next to her. I wasn’t quite as excited as she was but I could live through it. She immediately cuddled into me so I wrapped an arm around her.

I couldn’t wait for Christmas. After we opened our gifts together, we would be going to Madi’s house for dinner and my parents were going too. It would possibly be catastrophic. Actually, it probably would be catastrophic. Maybe even worse than the last dinner we had with my parents. I wasn’t looking forward to that.

“Are you even watching this?” Madison asked, crawling into my lap. “Not really,” I said, chuckling. She laughed. “Me neither. It doesn’t feel the same,” she said and I frowned. I wanted everything to be the same for her. “Not because of you. Just because I’m tired of seeing it I guess.” I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

“I love you,” she said, snuggling into my chest. “Why?” I asked suddenly. She opened an eye and looked up at me skeptically. “You want a reason? There is no reason. Asking me why I love you is like asking how deep the ocean is; unfathomable.”

My heart stumbled. “I love you too,” was the only thing I could mumble. I only tightened my arms around her.