I doubted Merrick would agree with that decision, but it was a long way off.
There were two open boxes at Merrick’s feet, one from my family and the other from his. Thanks to the Christmas rush, one had only arrived yesterday, and Father’s driver had delivered the other just before he went on vacation.
“I can do that.”
“It’s the ornaments I’m talking about.” He shoved mine toward me and sat on the cushion and pulled an ornament from his box.
I peered inside my box. My omega dad had organized the sending of the box, but one of Father’s assistants must have packed it. It was organized into sizes and colors and shapes, with an itemized list attached. Glancing at Merrick’s box, I grinned because his ornaments were jumbled together with newspaper and tissue paper, and I spied a birthday card from ten years ago.
“They’re very on brand.” My mate pulled out a star, covering his finger tips in silver glitter.
I held up an ornament I'd made at school in the third grade. There was me, missing my two front teeth. Charming and a little embarrassing. Merrick giggled and told me I was so cute.
My mate’s ornaments were all endearing, as they were hand-made. There was a popsicle-stick reindeer and a stocking with Merrick sewn in uneven letters.
“We’d make an ornament together every year, sitting around the kitchen table surrounded by glue, glitter, paint, and tinsel.”
I had no similar memories unless I counted what I’d made at school.
“I remember the Christmas Arnold got sick. We spent most of our time at the hospital, waiting for an organ donor.” He paused, and while I couldn’t read his mind, the flip side to donation was that in this case, someone had died to donate it.
He held up one that he’d been given at the hospital and explained that there were a few Christmases that weren’t happy. He placed the ornament in a prominent position on the tree so it’d be a reminder of how grateful he and his family were.
Digging deep into my box, I pulled out a tiny toy bear with a red ribbon around his neck.
Merrick took it from me and said that was sweet. “So you do have some precious Christmas memories.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t all gloom and doom.” My parents’ relationship didn’t fracture until I was older. “My omega dad bought this for my first Christmas.”
That looks nothing like me, my bear huffed, and I explained he and I didn’t meet until I was thirteen.
So we didn’t know.
Merrick hung it beside the hospital ornament and poked around in my box. He pulled out a small silver box and brought out a crystal star that was engraved with my name.
“Let me guess. This was from your father, right?”
I sighed. “Mmmm, it was one year where he combined a corporate retreat with our Christmas vacation. Every kid got one.” I held it up to the light. “Stunningly beautiful and expensive, but not what a child wants for Christmas.”
“Ta-da.” My mate dangled something in front of me. “I have a star too, one I made in art class.” It was made of clay and painted silver. “My classmates and I were covered in clay the day we made these.”
We continued unpacking, and the stories associated with our ornaments wove into the fabric of our lives. Mine shone a light on how my parents’ bond had faded but they stayed together for me, whereas my mate’s family was close knit and they endured the ups and downs by clinging together.
We stood and admired our handiwork. “It’s a clutter of memories,” my mate announced.
“I like that. It’s messy but real.”
Merrick shrieked. “What? My mate just said he likes things messy.”
“Don’t get too excited. This mess is contained, and it’s more of a figurative mess than a real one.”
Merrick put his arms around me. “We should make something for the baby because technically this is their first Christmas.”
“Okay.” I remembered that some cultures celebrated a child’s age by adding one extra year. Peering around, I wondered what we could use. But we had a lot of boxes, so I grabbed an empty one and cut two pieces of cardboard, one for each of us.
Merrick dug around a packing case and brought out art supplies. I painted a bear paw print, and my mate drew stars.
“A gaggle of stars.”
