Chapter 1
The sliding doors of the airport slide open releasing a burst of warm and slightly humid air into my face. I blinked trying to let my eyes adjust to the brightness of the sun and reached for my sunglasses. As I brought my arm down I slammed my elbow into another person who was rushing out of the airport, their luggage carelessly being pulled behind them as they weaved between people down the sidewalk.
"Excuse you!" I called out to them and rubbed my elbow. "I thought people were supposed to be nicer in the south."
I looked up and down the line of cars in search of my ride, but ultimately couldn't tell if she was there or not. Like she knew I was looking for her, my phone rang and Ellie's name flashed on my screen.
"Hey! I just got out to the curb."
"Okay good! I'm running a little late, SORRY!" Ellie said frantically.
"It's okay, no rush, I'm here for the next five days." I tried to joke and put her more at ease.
"I know, but I don't want to waste any of our time together." Ellie swung into an open spot and quickly jumped out of the car waving her arm. "Can you see me?"
"Yup, I'll be there in a second." I replied, waving back and ended the call.
Ellie ran and met me halfway giving me an enormous hug. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Me too. I wouldn't let you go through this on your own."
"Oh god, don't make me cry. Let me get home first."
Ellie loaded my suitcase into her trunk while I slid into the passenger's seat. I noticed Ellie had pinned her mothers remembrance card to her car's visor and it brought back the memory of the night I had gotten the call from her telling me her mom had passed. After years of battling cancer she had lost. I listened to her cry for over an hour that night and hated that I was so far away from her during this difficult time. I bought a plane ticket a week later in hopes of being there for her during the holidays. Spreading holiday cheer was my specialty after all. Ellie dropped down into the driver's seat catching me staring at the picture of her smiling mother.
"You know I thought it would be easier knowing she wasn't going to beat the cancer, but it still catches you off guard somehow."
"Nobody is ever prepared to lose someone."
She nods her head and wipes a tear away quickly while she turns to get her seatbelt. "So coffee? I think they opened up a Dunks somewhere."
"Just because I'm from New England doesn't mean I only drink Dunks." I laugh. "But if it's on the way..."
"It can be!"
Once we had our coffees, Ellie gave me a quick tour of Charleston as we continued our way out to the suburbs. We arrived at a traditional brick house with a small covered porch big enough to fit one chair and a large oak tree with spanish moss draping over the limbs in the middle of the front yard. It was a perfect tree to have a tire swing hanging from one of the large crooked branches and I wouldn't have been surprised if Ellie told me she had one when she was younger. I had never been to Ellie's childhood home, but I would expect nothing less from it, as it looked like one of those homes you would see in southern magazines, minus the magnolia tree and the dog wearing a festive bandanna around it's neck.
"Hmm, my dad's home early." Ellie said, eyeing the truck parked in front of the garage.
"How's he holding up with everything?" I gently ask.
She turns in her seat to look at me. "Honestly he's a bit of a mess, but it's understandable. I moved home to spend time with my mom before, well, you know, and it's like the roles have switched, I'm more of the parent now."
"I'm sorry that's got to be tough."
"I know it's a phase, well I hope it is." She frowns. "Sooner or later I'm going back to the city so he's going to have to snap out of it."
I nod not quite sure what to say. "Well I'm planning on keeping you busy for the next five days so maybe it'll help him get out of his funk and start being more independent?"
"Yeah, maybe." She rolled her eyes smiling. "C'mon let's get you settled in."
Settling in consisted of me throwing my suitcase on one of the twin beds of the Miller's guest room and using the restroom. When I emerged into the kitchen Ellie was sitting at the table drinking what I could only assume was sweet tea waiting for me.
"So what do you want to do first?" I asked, sitting into the chair next to her.
She shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever you want to do. You're the guest after all."
I looked around the kitchen and into the living room. The house mimicked Ellie's sadness and looked a little neglected. It was completely understandable that house chores were not a priority for them in the last couple weeks, but with it being just over two weeks until Christmas I felt that the house should be a little less gloomy.
"Why don't we decorate the house for Christmas?" I propose.
"Oh, um okay if that's what you want to do."
"You know I love Christmas." I smiled.
Ellie laughed. "Yeah, you would spend a whole weekend decorating our dorm room."
"So is that a yes?"
"Okay, yes. We'll have to get everything out of the attic though."
"No problem, I'll go up in an attic over a creepy basement any day." I laugh. "Just show me the way!"
I brought down every box that was labeled Christmas as well as a box that had 'LIGHTS' written in bold letters across the top. Ellie seemed impressed by how quickly I had completed the task and just shook her head chuckling when I slapped my hands together and rubbed my palms while deciding which box to open first.
"You really are a Christmas freak."
"Who's a Christmas freak?" a deep voice asked from outside the garage.
"Meredith is! Oh, you remember my dad right?"
I hadn't seen Ellie's dad since our college graduation, but I couldn't forget his bushy bearded face if I tried. Of course he had on his Carolina Gamecocks hat, which he had wore to our graduation, despite Ellie and her moms pleading not to. According to Ellie he never took the hat off. I think he was secretly crushed when Ellie chose to go to college in New England, instead of the University of South Carolina.
"It's been awhile Mr. Miller, nice to see you again and thank you for letting me crash here for the week."
"Of course! You girls need help moving these boxes into the house?"
"Oh um, sure. I hope it's okay that I'm decorating your house."
"Well I guess someone has to, mind as well be the Christmas freak." He laughed and bent down to pick up a box.
Ellie and I followed his lead carrying our own boxes into the house. The last box brought in was tall and narrow. "What's in this one?" I ask pointing to it.
"The Christmas tree." Ellie replied nonchalantly.
I was shocked and a little taken back at the fact her family uses a fake tree. "You don't get a real one every year?"
"No, we live in the south on the coast, Christmas tree farms aren't on every corner like they are in Vermont."
"You can buy them at grocery stores, I saw some on the drive from the airport."
"It seems like a hassle, you have to keep it watered, needles fall all over the floor so you're always vacuuming, you have to take it to the dump or burn it in your fire pit when you're done with it, and not to mention you have to buy a new one every year. The fake tree already has lights on it and you can reuse it year after year."
"But you don't get the fresh Evergreen tree smell!"
"I have a candle for that." She points the the collection of candles on the credenza.
I sigh and open the box determined to not let a fake tree kill my holiday spirit. I reached into the box to pull the base out and the feeling of the plastic pine needles made my skin crawl. This was just wrong.
"Where do you normally put the tree?"
"Over in front of that window so you can see the lights from the street."
"Perfect!" I assembled the tree and started fluffing up the branches trying to make it look as real as possible while Ellie tried to find the ornaments. "What do you put on top of your tree?"
"Um, we have a couple angels that we rotate through depending on what scheme my mom wanted that year. They should be in here." She slid a box over to me.
I pulled out two that were beautifully made. One was in all white with a flowing lace dress and white wings with silver details and the other was wearing a red dress with white accents and gold trim pieces matching the large gold wings. Pulling out a roll of gold ribbon I carefully placed the white angel back in the box and decided to go with the more colorful one.
Once the angel was placed and I had wrapped the ribbon around the tree Ellie and I began adding the ornaments. I could tell that this was bringing up memories and emotions for Ellie by the way she would study each ornament before hanging it on the tree.
"Are you alright? We don't have to finish if you don't want to."
"I'm fine, really. I didn't think we would get the tree up this year, both my dad and I just didn't have the energy to do it."
"It's a good thing I'm here then, I can only imagine how I would feel if I didn't come visit you and you told me you didn't do anything for Christmas!"
"I know! It would be devastating for you!" She teased.
As soon as I was satisfied with the tree we ordered pizza and watched a couple of movies of Ellie's choosing. She fell asleep in the middle of the second one and I gently woke her when the movie was over to go to bed. This was something she would do often in college, only then she was already in her bed and I would just shut off the tv.
I laid in one of the twin beds in the guest room tossing and turning for a while before finally getting up to get a glass of water. Not wanting to disturb anyone I left all the lights off and made my way to the kitchen by the soft glow of the lit up Christmas tree. Sipping my water I moseyed on over to the tree examining my work. It looked perfect, but it was the only cheerful thing in the house. Glancing at the clock I gave myself one hour to decorate the rest of the living room a little more to match the tree. I set my cup down and started going through some boxes until I found some garland that was intertwined with lights and bunches of poinsettias. I began stringing it over their credenza and over doorways. I sprinkled holiday knickknacks all over the place and changed out the throw pillows on the couch. Slowly the room was coming together and I oddly felt like Mrs. Miller would have been proud.
An hour turned into a few, but the living room, kitchen and foyer were all filled with Christmas decorations making the house feel more lively. Yawning I creeped back down the hallway to the guest bedroom where I collapsed onto the bed, letting my exhaustion win and instantly falling asleep minutes after my head hit the pillow.
