“Where do these go?” I ask, lifting out a glittery gold bauble.
“Oh! The ornaments!” Fiona cackles with glee. “This is the best part. You just put them anywhere you want. There are so many, Mom loved collecting them.”
For the next few hours, Fiona pulls objects out of the box and explains what some of them are—a snow globe from a trip to Maine, a ceramic imprint of a baby’s foot.
“That’s mine,” she says with a laugh. “Hard to believe I was that size once.”
There are other mementos that make her eyes go soft, and it’s clear this holiday holds many emotions for her. Then she pulls out a star with a tiny winged girl sitting on top.
Fiona’s eyes well up with moisture.
“Are your eyes all right?” I lean closer to get a better look.
She giggles and sniffles at the same time, wiping at her face.
“Sorry. Just… this one. It was her favorite. I saw it in a window at a thrift store when I was a kid, and she fell in love with it.”
Water drips from her eyes, and now I am very concerned.
“Fiona? You are leaking.”
She sniffles again and smiles. “It’s called crying. Humans do it when we feel strong emotions.”
I curl an arm around her shoulders and pull her close, hoping to comfort her. Khesan glares at me, but I ignore him as she leans her head on my arm and lets herself do this “crying.” When she calms down, I wipe away one of the tracks of water on her cheeks.
“Would you still like to put it on the tree?” I ask.
“Yes, please.” She gestures to the top. “It sits up there.”
I can’t quite reach on my own, and while I am looking for a stool or chair to step on, Khesan appears. He crouches and holds out his hands like a step and nods at me.
It’s the last thing I expected him to do, but I step into his hands to rise another few feet and place the star on the top of the tree. Then our work is finished, and we all stand back to admire it. Fiona links one arm in mine, then her other with Khesan.
“Thanks, guys,” she says quietly, pulling each of us closer against her. “It’s beautiful.”
Chapter Fifteen
Khesan
That idiot Shathar. But at least our tree escapade didn’t turn into quite the disaster I had feared.
Fiona has the day off work today, so we won’t have to occupy ourselves for many hours while she’s busy. In the morning, she tells us that we’re going shopping.
“I need something cute to wear for the Christmas party, and so do you two!” She is full of energy, which makes me feel eager and alive, too.
“I look forward to being ‘cute,’” I say, tilting my head down to kiss the top of her head. Shathar scowls at the table, but doesn’t say his piece.
We’re meeting Fiona’s friend Amara once again, but this time her husband, Roth’kar, is coming along. I look forward to discussing the anomalies of Earth with another intergalactic foreigner.
We all pile into Fiona’s car and head toward the high rooftops of the city. Buildings rise into the sky all around us, slicing off the sunlight. It is a sight to behold when on our world, the tallest building was a two-floor home. I have never seen any construction quite so… immense, straight and silver and reflective. I can’t help wondering if one of them might fall in a windstorm and crush us.
Fiona parks in a huge lot of other cars, and then we head inside one of the enormous buildings. There are many shops here, all indoors, with moving staircases connecting different floors.
“Shopping can be overwhelming,” she says, gesturing at the lit signs around us. “But I know the places to go.”
Suddenly she calls out, “Amara!” and starts waving wildly. The woman we met before approaches us, her arm linked with her husband’s. His skin is a purplish-blue hue, with two antennae on top of his head. Most arresting, though, are his four arms.
We are all introduced, and I find Roth’kar to be a bit stoic and quiet, but clearly in love with Amara. Then it’s time to shop.
