“It’s the perfect start,” Ruby admonishes, her eyes misting over. “Your grandmother would have loved this.”
“We listened to it every year here,” Whitney reminds her.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Kenny and Dolly’s Christmas album,” Brenden adds in. “And do we really have to?”
“Brenden,” Ruby says in warning, “you’re going to miss this one day. You think you won’t, but you will.” Erin joins us, walking into the living room, Wyatt on her hip and Conner plastered to her other. It’s easy to tell Conner is excited but too timid to ask for a place in the lineup.
“Conner, will you help me?” I ask. “I don’t want to break anything.”
She nods enthusiastically as Erin mouths a ‘thank you’ to me. Within minutes the Collins women, Erin included, are singing along to music I’ve never heard as Conner hands me some simple ball ornaments to start decorating the top of the tree. As Thatch collapses on the couch next to Brenden, I realize I’m the only man taking part, but I’m not at all upset about it because I can clearly see the sentiment in their collective eyes as they carry out decades of tradition. Something I’ve never had.
“Remember this?” Serena laughs, pulling a popsicle stick constructed Christmas tree ornament from one of the boxes, which is covered in glitter and globs of dried paste.
“The first ornament you ever made,” Ruby muses.
“I can’t believe you saved it,” Serena says in wonder.
“She still has our baby teeth in her jewelry box,” Brenden speaks up from the recliner, another stolen cup of Ruby’s eggnog in his tumbler. “Hoarder.”
“And your foreskin,” Ruby adds, which has me chuckling.
“Mom, that’s disturbing. Seriously, you need to toss that,” Brenden says with a shudder.
“And your belly buttons,” Ruby informs her children. All three of them fake gag as Ruby defends her choices. “Some women eat the placenta, okay? Give it a rest.”
Inhaling the scent of the tree as I secure the last ball, I descend the stepladder and open a box marked fragile, tossing a nervous glance at Conner. “Maybe we better leave this to them.”
“You scared?” She asks.
“Kind of. Can you keep a secret?”
She nods.
“This is my first time decorating a real Christmas tree.”
Her eyes widen. “First time ever?”
“I’m pretty sure. I do remember when I had my first real tree. Your aunt Whitney bought it for me a few weeks before Christmas. She snuck it into my bedroom really late at night, so when I woke up, it was at the foot of my bed. I still can’t figure out how she did it.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.”
“It was so awesome. She said she stole the idea from a movie. Do you know which one?”
Conner shakes her head before plucking a glittering star and holding it out to me. “Here, you do this one. I won’t tell your secret.”
“Promise?”
She nods again as I secure it on a nearby branch. “The next one is yours. You find it.”
She opens a shoebox littered with old newspaper. Unwrapping the first ornament, I burst into laughter when I see the Pringles cap covered in construction paper. In the center is a picture of Whitney sporting a chili bowl haircut along with two missing teeth.
“What’s so funny?” Whitney asks as I thrust the ornament in her direction for inspection. “Oof, girl, you were fire.”
She grimaces. “Yeah, thanks a lot, Mom, for that haircut. I can’t believe you thought it was a good idea.”
“You were all adorable with them. Even Brenden.”
“I’ll never forgive you,” Brenden says, standing in decision to participate and sorting through the box until he finds his own chili bowl ornament. “I’m confiscating this.”
“The hell you are,” Ruby snaps as Brenden towers above her, easily holding the ornament out of reach.
“Give that to me right now, or you lose your winky.” When Brenden refuses, Ruby socks him in the stomach. Brenden grimaces and bends, and Ruby jumps and snatches the ornament from his hand before handing it to me. I promptly take a picture of it with my cell phone and give him a wink. “Future blackmail.”
“You’re all terrible humans,” Brenden declares, swiping his eggnog tumbler off the end table and tossing some back.
“That better not be my eggnog,” Ruby says, eyeing the cup suspiciously.