Unlucky in Love

"Nope," I said, dismissing the tree that was too full on top and not full enough anywhere else.

We had been here over an hour, and Dominic was miserable. Emma and I were having a great time, but he seemed preoccupied with his iPhone.

I took the axe easily from him and went back to the first tree that I had seen that I wanted.
Always go with your first choice. Dominic and Emma were still back there, so I bent down and started swinging at the base of the tree with the axe.

I tensed and dropped the axe when I heard Dominic yell at me and then rush over with Emma. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice full of unnecessary concern.

"Cutting down my tree," I replied, stating the obvious. I made sure Emma was out of the way before I swung again. It finally tipped over, and I handed the axe back to a nervous-looking Dominic. I sighed exasperatedly. "What? You've never seen a woman with a tool before?"

"I've never seen a pregnant girl swinging an axe before, no." he corrected, and I rolled my eyes and picked up Emma.

"You can drag it up there to be wrapped," I instructed him. "Emma and I need some sugar doughnuts."

He sighed but didn't refuse.

* * *

"You did great, Em." Dominic commented that night. The tree had the lights on it, but we were going to go shopping tomorrow for ornaments and candy canes. I had always made sure I had a candy cane at least somewhere on the tree. My dad thought it was really tacky and clashed with their gold-and-red decor and white lights. But my mom had always hidden a candy cane towards the center of the tree where no one but her and I could find it.

Eventually, Andrea and I had started getting our own little tree and kept it in my room. It was where we put up the colored lights and all of the random ornaments, like the "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and all of the nine raindeer doing some sort of sports activity. We had been missing Ruldolf since I was about fifteen, but I knew it was somewhere in that house.

"What're you thinking about?" he murmured.

"Andrea," I sighed. "Last year I was so preoccupied with Emma that I didn't have time to miss her. Now...I can't help but think about what my dad is doing with Margeaux and Isabel."

He kissed my forehead. "Why don't you go over there and find out?"

I laughed. "Yeah, that'll be smart."

"Well...you're still his daughter, and you still have a bunch of stuff there. Say you need to get a few things from your room."

He was absolutely brilliant sometimes.

* * *

It was a rainy day, and I had worn a coat without a hood. I parked next to the curb of my former house and got out and went to the door.

Margeaux answered it. "Ember! How nice to see you!" she exclaimed. "Come in," she ushered me in and I tried to brush off the fact that I was invited in here. I still had a key to this place.

"Do you mind if I go up to my room? I have to grab a few things." I said, and she smiled warmly.

"Not at all. Let me know if you need anything," she left and went towards the kitchen.

I went up the hardwood stairs, my Ugg boots leaving wet marks on them. I went into my room, which looked exactly the same, and closed the door softly. I went into the closet and got down my ornament box.

It looked as if someone had raided through it. With a rush of panic, I quickly took the box into my room and emptied the contents on my bed. There was my first Christmas ornament, a handmade angel I had made in second grade with glitter and a pink halo, a silvery ball...

But no reindeer. None of Andrea's ornaments were in here. None of my ornaments from Käthe Wohlfahrt were in here that I had gotten in Germany with my mom.

Where the hell were they?

I grabbed the few ornaments I could find and put them in my bag and then returned the box to my closet.

I went downstairs and my eyes lasered in on the tree, where Margeaux and Isabel were hanging my mother's ornaments on the tree.

"Where did you get those?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

"In your room. I know you and Andrea had used them." Isabel said, and I was shocked at how she had called our mother Andrea.

I scoffed. "I came back for them. So can I please have them before you get too used to having them on that tree?"

Margeaux looked uneasy. "Ember, we just assumed you wouldn't mind." she said.

"Well, I mind. I would like to take them with me." I said, my voice hard and unmovable.

Isabel hung Rudolf right next to her Baby's First Christmas ornament, and I wanted to hurt so badly at that moment.

I went over to the tree and started grabbing the ornaments off of the tree. Margeaux didn't stop me, but Isabel tried to.

"Leave them alone!" she screamed at me.

I snatched the Donder ornament from her and dropped it in the bag with the others. I grabbed all of the Santa ornaments from Käthe Wohlfahrt and all of the reindeer, including Rudolf.

"Those are mine!" she screeched, and then stomped on my foot to get me to start. I pushed her out of the way easily and continued to take them in a very Grinch-like fashion. "Mommy, make her stop!" she cried at Margeaux, and I nearly dropped everything.

"She has a point, Isabel. They belong to her."

"But I want them! I deserve them!"

I hissed in a breath and took the last ornament. "You don't deserve anything that belonged to my mother!" I snapped at her.

I made my way out of the house, trying to ignore the sobs that were threatening to burst from within me.