“Very funny,” he growled. Cath quickly whipped out her phone and began taking candid pictures while he made faces at her and tried to detangle himself to get the device out of her hand. She easily dodged him, stepping up on the couch and moving behind him agilely, then jumping back down.
“I’m definitely keeping these until I need leverage for something.” She informed him, popping down beside him and holding the phone out of his reach playfully. She could see a flash of vanity in his eyes, he was dying to see what the photos looked like, and she knew it. She could torture him or....
“They look fine,” She turned the phone towards him and let him scan the photos. “See?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” he grumbled, kissing her temple. “Maybe I should wrap you in lights and see how you like it.”
“Play your cards right and I might let you.” She leaned in close to his ear and nipped the lobe gently. “Maybe the lights and nothing else.”
Kris began patting the floor around him in an exaggerated fashion, even lifting the couch cushion behind him to peer under it.
“What are you doing?” Cath asked, perplexed.
“Looking for my phone, that’s going to be one hell of a photo.” He chuckled as she rolled her eyes and back up on her feet.
“Come on, let’s get these untangled. They need to go on first before any of the other decorations.”
Between the two of them, they got the lights straightened out and on the tree fairly easily. As they did, Cath kept a careful eye on Kris, watching the pleased look on his face as they worked together to layer the lights on. She dragged the box of baubles closer and began to pass them to him so he could string them on. On purpose she left him to decorate the front of the tree while she worked on the back contentedly.
Occasionally he would hold up an ornament and question where she got it:
“What about this one?”
“A Christmas market in London five years ago. I was at a NATO summit working security for the American Ambassador with Danny.”
“And this one?”
“A gift from my second year roommate at the academy.”
“Okay, now this one?”
“A family antique from my dad’s side, it hung on our tree every year when I was a kid. I stole it when I moved out, pray my mother never figured that out and just keeps thinking it got broken.”
Kris held up a truly ugly ornament, a bright purple peacock with gold, orange and Lime green feathers. “What fresh hell did this come from?”
Cath laughed and took the gaudy purple bauble from him, turning it over in her hand. “That was from Danny last year, I told him if he could find the ugliest ornament he had ever seen, it would get a permanent spot on my tree. This is what he came back to me with.”
She stepped closer, sliding into his arms and growing dead serious as she looked up at him. “What you did for him today, helping us get that tractor, was very sweet Kris. Thank you.”
“I try, I guess.” Kris had the good graces to try and look humble. “I mean I was happy to be able to help.”
“You don’t understand, he’s been having a really rough time lately, more nightmares, panic attacks during the day, he won’t leave the farm unless it’s for therapy.” Cath's voice was worried, Danny was family, and watching him struggle, after all he had been through, broke her heart into pieces. “These restoration projects do wonders for him, I can get him to talk to me while we work. Vera said he sleeps better, they keep his mind and his hands occupied until he starts to feel better.”
“He seemed okay at the hospital.” Kris gently began rubbing circles on her back. “I mean, I was pretty drugged up but he seemed...stable.”
“That was the exception, not the rule.” Cath said with a sigh, pulling a bauble out of the box and sliding it onto a free branch. “He struggles every day; we just want to make it easier for him to feel better.”
“Then count me in, any way I can keep on helping.” Kris peered into the box and then back to her. “That was the last ornament.”
“Almost.” Cath took a flat box out of the bottom corner and opened it, taking out a large silver star. “Here, put this on the top.”
Kris reached over her head, fitting the star to the top of the tree, and then stepped back. Cath reached down and plugged the lights in and then pulled him back further still so they could look at the fully decorated tree.
“It’s beautiful.” Cath settled against Kris, leaning her head gently on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I guess all you need now is snow for a classic white Christmas.” Kris said, kissing the top of her head.
“I wouldn’t know.” Cath admitted. “I’ve never had a real white Christmas before.”