“I am kind of a fuckboy magnet.”
“Hopefully you’re open to giving the boyfriend thing another shot.”
I tugged at his coat. “Kris, I?—”
“Guys you have to come see this. They have all the Disney princesses.” Celeste bounded over, grabbing both our hands.
“Is Tiana there? Because if they ain’t repping Tiana, I’m calling foul,” Kris joked.
Celeste pulled us forward. “Come see for yourself.”
Back at my apartment, we were greeted by a tree bound in twine and several boxes. “What’s this?” I searched the items, looking for a tag or note so we could deliver the items to the correct neighbor.
“Looks like Christmas came early,” Kris said.
“Is this for us?” Celeste asked, a smile spreading across her face.
“You didn’t think your sister was going to let Christmas come and go with no decorations, did you?”
“I knew it, Belen. I knew you were just trying to surprise me.” Celeste threw her arms around me.
My arms were limp, unable to return her hug, still shocked by the unexpected delivery. “I don’t know where?—”
“Where to start first. No worries. Celeste and I will help you. Just open the door and we’ll get to work.”
I obeyed, opening the front door, and Celeste selected one of the smaller boxes, carrying it inside.
“You did this?” I tugged on Kris’s coat and he shrugged my words off. “You shouldn’t have, this is too much. I can’t possibly accept this.”
“It’s a tree and some tinsel. It’s not like I bought you a vineyard.”
“Is that something you do? Buy women vineyards?”
“No. But if you keep looking at me like that, I might buy an island and name it after you.”
He was joking. At least I think he was joking.
“Thank you.”
“Mhmm.”
“I’m serious. You made my sister’s night and you let me take all the credit.”
“The smile on Celeste’s face made it all worth it.”
Kris was being modest, the boxes contained much more than just a tree and some tinsel. There was a wreath for the front door. A miniature holiday village, and everything you’d need to deck out a Christmas tree. He left no detail unattended. There were even kitchen towels with Santa on his sleigh and soap dispensers in the shape of snowmen.
We wasted no time stripping out of our heavy coats, pulling up a Christmas playlist, and unpacking the boxes. I may hate Christmas, but I loved seeing my sister happy. A pang pulled at my heart at the realization that I almost denied her this. She didn’t deserve to have a Scrooge for a sister. Yes, decorating the tree reminded me of my parents, but maybe it was time to work on building new memories like this one. Kris playfully placing tinsel in Celeste’s hair. My sister grouping all the ornaments by color so the tree took on an ombre effect. Or the sweet kisses Kris would plant on my cheek or neck when he passed by me.
My emotions were complicated with grief and sadness, but there was a hearty dose of gratitude and dare I say, holiday cheer mixed in. Some things needed to be taught, and right now Kriswas teaching me how to move on while still honoring the past. When it came time to top the tree, Kris reached for a box with a glitter gold star inside.
“Uhm … actually we already have a tree topper. Is it okay if we use that?”
“Of course, this is your tree.”
I took off for the hall, pulling boxes and plastic containers from the closet until I found a worn box on the top shelf. Returning to the living room, I opened the box to reveal a Black angel.
“I remember her,” Celeste exclaimed.
