48. Tree

                                    

                                          
Leo
"Omg, it's huge."
I smile at the wonder in Josephine's voice.
"It's not that huge, honey."
"Yes, it is." She gestures to it. "It's like twenty feet."
I check the tag to confirm it's only around eight feet tall.
"Josephine, everything looks pretty huge to you." I look down at her frame. She looks incredibly adorable with her long black dress and Christmas hat. She even has mittens even though it's around 70 degrees.
"You know what is actually huge?" I wrap my arms around her waist from behind and nuzzle her warm neck.
"What?" She's still admiring the tree in front of us.
"My co—"
"That one!" She yells and surges forward. "That one is perfect for us."
I chuckle and follow her to a tree that's just below nine feet tall. It would barely fit in Josephine's living room.
"I want this one." She jumps up and down in place while clapping. I don't have the heart to tell her it would be a big hassle trying to get it into her apartment and that she won't be able to put a star on the top of the tree. She's radiating happiness, and it's contagious. I've been smiling the entire time as well.
"This one is perfect for big living rooms." A worker comes near us and says, giving us a welcoming smile. 
Josephine and I share a grin, and she nods. "Oh, yes. Our new home has a very big entrance where we're planning on putting this one."
"So it's final?" The man looks between us. "This one?"
"You heard the lady." I've yet to see Josephine being angry and today won't be that day.
•••
"You can let go now." I say to Josephine. She's been a big help carrying this too massive tree for her apartment up the stairs. She has her fingers into the net while not really lifting any weight. I don't mind though. The view of her plump ass as she ascends the stairs in front of me is divine.
"Okay." She says breathily and unlocks her front door. "I already pulled up all the Christmas ornaments last night."
I barely fit through the opening of the door with the gigantic tree. Suppressing a groan, I slowly put the tree upright and rest an arm around Josephine's shoulders.
We both admire the tightly wrapped tree. Our first Christmas together and we're making the most of it.
"We need Christmas music." She exclaims and connects her phone to a speaker. Frank Sinatra's voice booms from the speaker and she sways with the tune.
"Let me guess," I cross my arms and watch her open boxes and boxes of ornaments. Her small apartment just got so much smaller. "Christmas is your favorite holiday?"
"Yes!" She holds out a red ball ornament and walks to me and where the tree is. "Can you remove all this wrapping, please?"
"Anything for you." I tap her nose and grab scissors.
Over the next few hours, we work in unison to get our Christmas tree all dolled up with different types of ornaments.
We're both belting out the Christmas songs off key before bursting into laughter.
For the past two years, I didn't spend Christmas with my family. But this year is different. I'm not only spending it with them but also with the person I love most in this world; Josephine.
"One time me and Julian wouldn't stop jumping and trying to reach the top," Josephine is telling me one of her many Christmas stories with her family as she lathers two Christmas themed mugs with whipped cream. "So I climbed on his shoulders and since we were so small, I fell. On the tree. Most of the ornaments broke."
"Did you get hurt?" I ask through a bout of laughter, putting aside the pillow I just dressed in a, yes, Christmas themed pillowcase.
"Only a few scratches." She waves my concern away. "But after New Years, we were grounded for three full months."
"If my kid does that, I'd only ground them for a week." Kids will be kids and would want to explore and try new things. If I try hard enough, I can recall Luca and me doing something similar. Or a few things even worse.
"Yeah?" She comes near me and sits on my lap, giving me a glass of hot cocoa. "And what if I said we should ground them for two weeks?"
"Then I'd say let's meet in the middle and ground them for one and a half weeks." I wrap my arms around her waist.
"Good idea." She nods before leaning in to kiss me.
I'd be a liar if I said I never thought about kids with Josephine. But since Christmas is coming around, it's the first time I let myself really envision how a life with Josephine by my side and a few kids would look like.
I know I want a big family with many kids. But at the end of the day, it's Josephine's decision, as she's the one who's gonna be carrying our babies.
I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with someone other than Josephine.
And I don't think she can either, as she deepens our kiss.
• ••• •
A/N:
Had you in the first half, didn't I? 😇