A Christmas Tree Farm

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When I closed the door behind me, I saw my mother standing in front of me. "Is that the boy you were telling me about," my eyes widened.

I blocked the door with my body, "Yeah, that was him."

"I thought you were out with your girls," she spoke causing me to wince.

Awkwardly I responded with, "Oh, oh yeah I was... totally. He showed up while we were there. They wanted me to tell you hi back. Hi!"

"Anyway, you were right about him being a handsome young man. I wish he would have come inside," she pouted.

I chuckled awkwardly. "He seems to really like you," she gushed.

"Mom, don't tell me he's got you too," Denny deadpanned as he walked down the stairs. "Are you ready to go?" He spun the keychain around his forefinger.

Our mother crossed he arms, "She just got home, Dennis. She may want to sit down for a minute."

I shook my head in defiance, "No, you've waited long enough for me to come home. We can leave now."

My mom grabbed her coat from the rack, "I thought about the most precious place for us to go."

Mom placed a scarf around my neck. "When you two were younger, all of us would go to Daryl's Christmas tree farm and get a new tree every year."

Dennis said, "Daya, you're blocking the door."

I bonked the side of my head, "Duh, we should head out."

"When your father's relationship with his side of the family started to dwindle, the tradition stopped. We've had that boring fake tree for years and I'm ready for a change," Mom divulged.

Waving my arms, I cooed, "I remember they sold hot chocolate out there. With the snow and the lights, it was lit up beautifully."

Dennis was driving, "Where did you go earlier?"

I braided and then unbraided my hair with anxiety in my heart. "We went to the park with my friends and Banks and his little brothers showed up. They loved the muffins."

Mom looked at me through the rear-view mirror. "I'm not surprised, they were scrumptious. Am I going to be able to meet him soon?"

I leaned against the window, "I want to take things slow with him. It would be great, but I think it's too soon to meet parents. Plus, I'm better with kids. They adored me, I think at least."

She raised the corners of her mouth upward, "Everyone you meet absolutely adores you."

Dennis said, "I remember when I first met her. It wasn't all that."

My lashes fluttered, "I inherited that trait from you, Mom."

"I think Dennis missed out on that trait," I poked at him. Denny reached his arm into the back seat and started hitting me. I laughed, "Stop it, Dennis, watch the road."

The ride through the forest was longer than I remembered it being, but the sing-along made the ride go by quicker. "You wanted to drive to the middle of the forest for our family bonding experience," Denny held his phone in the air. "There's no service out here."

Mom closed the car door, "Phones aren't required for bonding. I just got that thing fixed and you can't keep your hands off it."

She extended her hand, "If you don't put it up I will."

I twirled my scarf tighter around my neck, "We let Mom choose where we went, and she took us to the boonies," I shivered.

"Give it a chance. I'm sure it will be fun." She had a pep in her step as she walked towards the entrance.

There was Redwood, Noble Fir, Grand Fir, Monterey Pine, Concolor Fir, and Douglass Fir. I knew this because they were all the trees listed on the festive brochure they gave us.

"How are we supposed to get a tree home in our tiny Toyota," Denny whispered to me.

"Hopefully they do deliveries," I shrugged.

Mom's eyes glowed as she took in the sights around us. The snow blanketed the forest floor and the trees. White Christmas lights were strung up and holiday music filled the air.

"Would you like hot chocolate," Mom pointed to where the booth was.

"Yeah, I think it's colder in the forest," I could see the frigid air in front of me. All three of us got hot chocolate and walked through the rows of trees.

"Did you want to buy a tree today," Denny wrinkled his nose.

"If one speaks to me," the crow's feet from the outer corners of her eyes made an appearance.

Scrunching his face, he murmured, "They all kind of look the same."

She laughed at his remark, "You have to be creative. Imagine the lights, ornaments, stars, and tinsel. Any of these would be absolutely splendid in our home."

Mom gasped, "Is that Hansen Moore? Oh, I haven't seen him in years. I'll be right back. Don't go too far off without me," she chirped as she walked toward the tall African American man.

"She seems happy. It's good that she's enjoying this." Denny agreed, "Yeah, do you remember that guy?"

I cocked my head, "Should I."

Dennis and I followed the natural flow of the rows. "He owns that little farmer's market. I think they dated when they were younger."

I chewed the inside of my mouth. "No, mom and dad aren't even officially divorced. It's too soon."

Dennis put his hands up defensively, "I didn't say anything about that."

I partially opened my lips, "You implied it! I haven't even thought about the possibility of her dating. Do you think she would entertain any of that?"

"They're still talking," he raised one eyebrow.

Dennis had always been more protective of Mom than I was. "Would you be okay if she did?"

He frowned slightly, "It wouldn't feel right, but she's been so unhappy recently. I just want her to be better, feel better, and act better."

I felt the same, but I didn't tell him. "So, are you planning on telling mom about you being-"

He stopped me, "Not right now. She doesn't need any... unexpected news right now."

I pressed my cup to my lips, and then the warm liquid oozed down my throat. "It feels good to be with family, and out of the house with you. We don't hang out like we used to. When we do it's because of a family catastrophe."

He rubbed the side of my teddy coat sleeve. "I know, I worry about you. I try to parent you instead of being a big brother. If I can protect you from something I'm going to try to, with everything in me. You don't need me to though. I have to accept that."

I linked arms with him, "I do need you. All of your advice is taken into consideration. Maybe you can just be a little nicer when you give it."

"I appreciate you saying that. When Dad moved out, I knew I had to step up but I'm not dad. It wasn't right of me to tell you what to do. I'm sorry," his nose was starting to run.

"I respect you for that." I hesitated to ask, but I decided to anyway. "Is there anything else about Banks that disparages you?"

He stared at our feet as we walked. "I think I said everything, and if that doesn't scare you off, I don't know what will."

Jokingly I exclaimed, "He has the perfect comeback for everything I throw at him! He can charm his way out of a black hole!"

The wrinkles on his forehead became less defined, "He sure can."

From the distance, we could hear Mom instruct, "Kids come back!" We stopped in front of a Pine tree.

"Mother calls," Denny observed.

She hopped over to a Noble Fir and caressed the leaves, "What do you think of this one."

"It's a tree, a full one," I bumped him with my hip after that sly comment.

Just to spite him I remarked, "Well, I think it should be in our house."

She clapped her hands, "I love this one too. Hansen said that he would tie it up to his truck, and bring it home for us," she motioned toward Hansen.

After shaking his hand for longer than a normal person I remembered to say, "Oh, hey my name is Daya."

"Dennis," Denny curtly shook his hand with no joy on his face.

"Your mother speaks very highly of you both," he bellowed with a smooth but deep voice.

She hugged us both at the same time, "They are my pride and joy." She held our gaze for a few seconds each, "It has been an honor raising them."

Hansen reached behind him and unveiled an adorable little girl. "This is Sarai. She's a bit shy."

She peeked out from behind his legs and gave a little wave. I had a feeling we would be seeing more of them, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

We walked around the farm, went on a hayride, and danced around for about two more hours before we left. "I knew you would enjoy it," she burst.

"It wasn't that bad," Dennis sped down the road.

"I enjoyed myself," I approved. "Do you want to tell us who the oh-so-good-looking Mr. Hansen is?"

The ghost of a smile danced across her face. "He is... an old friend from high school. I haven't seen him for over a year, but I haven't been out much like you said earlier. It was nice to see him again, and especially nice of him to bring our tree home."

After we got home, Hansen helped us set up the tree. "Oh, I haven't even thought about where I would place the tree. Where do you think is a good place, Daya?"

I surveyed the area. "In front of the window by the door," I pointed to that spot.

It was the spot Dad always put it. Sarai walked inside and stood beside me. She looked up at me with a smile. I always was good with kids.

"Good, it's close. This tree is heavy and we don't want to break Hansen's back." Mom, Sarai, and I moved out of the way.

That was one of the first moments I saw her genuinely happy. Not just faking it for my sake or because that's how she should feel. She was ecstatic to be doing the little things again. "We should start decorating now, so we can have the lights on tonight."

I locked my hands behind my back, "Mom, I need to ask you about something."

She nodded. "Terra, can we talk outside," Hansen said as he and Denny placed the tree.

"Give me a minute," she smiled as she followed him outside. Denny fell on the couch with a huff.

"While you take a break, I'm going to go get the decorations from the attic." Dennis gave me a thumbs-up. I pulled a few boxes down the latter from the attic and brought them to the living room. Sarai helped me as much as a six-year-old could.

"I didn't get everything, but it seems like a good start. Where is mom?" Dennis pointed to the door instead of actually answering me.

"They're still talking? Almost like you texting your mystery friend that's not so mysterious anymore," I lowered my eyebrows.

He nodded, "We can still start." He sat on the floor beside the tree. Sarai sat beside him.

Mom and Hansen walked back in when Dennis and Sarai were placing ornaments on the bottom part of the tree. I was stringing lights.

"It looks great so far," she beamed.

I noticed the hand Hansen placed on my mom's shoulder. "Sarai, let's go," Hansen said to her. Before departing, she gave me a small hug. Mom and I smiled as we watched them leave.

"The tree needs your creative touch," Denny mused to Mom.

"I agree," I said as I pulled a special ornament out of the box. It was shaped like an angel with a tiny picture of Dad and me in it.

I held it in the palm of my hand as the old glitter still glistened. "You made that in elementary school. You would put that special ornament in a different spot every day. It was so important to you that people could see it from every angle."

"I guess we can bring that tradition back too." I placed it at the very top of the tree. Mom placed her hand over her heart as her bottom lip quivered.

"That's a great idea. Let me help." She grabbed silver tinsel out of one of the boxes and started wrapping it around the tree. When we finished it looked like a tree from a magazine. Okay, not really, but it looked like we put effort into it.

We went with a blue, green, and silver theme except for the bottom of the tree where Dennis placed whatever color he grabbed from the box.

"We have one last thing to do," Mom picked up the silver star that I placed to the side earlier.

"You should do the honors," Mom handed the star to me. I still wasn't quite tall enough to reach it, so Denny lifted me into the air.

After I placed the star, he almost dropped me. "You need to start working out, I barely weigh anything." I laughed.

He put his hands on his hips, "Do I look like I lift weights? You weigh over one hundred pounds." Mom plugged in the lights and pulled my attention away from Dennis.

She held our hands and took a few steps backward, so we could see the full thing. "We made something beautiful."

I checked my phone, and Jay still hadn't responded. I was scrolling through our old messages when Mom popped up behind me. "Daya, did you want to ask me something?"

I jumped, "Huh, oh yeah," I put my phone in my pocket.

"Piper invited me over to her house after dinner. Can I go?" I fluttered my eyelashes at her.

She gave me a dismal look, "You have to go to school tomorrow."

I touched the back of my neck, "I won't stay out long and I really want to go."

She held the side of my head, "Is that boy going to be there?"

My eyes were shifting, "Yes, but the whole friend group will be there, all seven of us. I'll be back by midnight." Her eyes bulged out of her skull.

With her hand on her hip, she retorted, "Midnight? Daya Nicole, that is ridiculous. No way."

I bit my lip, "What about eleven o'clock? I will pick up an extra chore as an incentive."

"You barely do chores as it is," she shook her head.

Pressing my lips together, I begged, "I'll do them more. That room upstairs won't have a stray hair on the floor after I get done with it."

She hummed, "Well if it is that important to you. You can go and be back no later than 10:30. The extra thirty minutes is just cushion time."

I kissed her cheek, "Thank you, thank you!"

As I was walking to the stairs, I heard Denny say, "What are we going to do with her?"

*We have a completely obligatory high school party coming up in the next chapters!

Any predictions for what crazy stuff will go down at this party?

Please remember to follow, comment, and share to bring a smile to my face!! *