Chapter 31

Sid appeared at the front door and insisted on paying for the pizza. "It's the least I could do after inviting myself for dinner!" he had said.
We ate in relative silence, and when we were done Sid and Lily cleaned up the kitchen while I went downstairs to get the boxes of decorations that I needed. Sid offered to bring them up saying that I shouldn't be carrying them all the way up the stairs, but after assuring him that it was me who had put them down there in the first place, and that I needed to decide what I was and wasn't going to use, he conceded.
When the last of the boxes had been brought up, I started unpacking them all while the boys and Sid put the tree together.
"It has to be against some kind of Canadian code to have a fake tree! You could very well be disgracing our country," Sid said with a huge grin on his face.
"I prefer the term 'artificial', and besides, I hate the smell of real trees and they make such a mess."
"And you call yourself a Canadian?"
"There is nothing unpatriotic about having an artificial tree. I happen to be helping the environment by letting another tree live!"
"Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night!"
"I happen to sleep very well thank you."
"You are such a liar!" Lily piped up. "The only time you sleep is after you've driven yourself past the point of exhaustion!"
"Thanks Lily, but I really don't need your help here."
"Do you guys always bicker like this?" she asked.
I said no and Sid said yes at the same time.
"Well which is it?" Lily asked looking to the boys for a tiebreaker.
"Yes," they replied in unison.
"Thanks guys! When did this become pick on mom day?"
"When the boys finally out number the girls!" Alex replied.

Sid looked at the decorations I had unpacked for the tree with a very puzzled look on his face. He looked at them, looked at me and then looked back at them.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
"They all...match. Everything is colour co-ordinated," he looked to Lily for some kind of explanation.
"You haven't seen this side of her yet? She is a total Martha Stewart. Worse actually, Bekah is far more anal."
"You colour co-ordinate your Christmas tree?"
"I like my tree to have a theme, yes."
"What happened to strings of popcorn and cranberries and all the cheesy things kids make at school?"
Lily was laughing hysterically. "Bekah would have a stroke if any of that stuff was on her tree!"
I shot both of them a dirty look. "Those particular kinds of decorations have their place on the garland I put across the mantle," I said unphased by the ribbing I was taking.
"That's nothing Sid, by the end of the night there will also be about 500 snowmen staring back at us too!" Lily informed him.
"I love snowmen! There is so crime in that! Can we just focus on the tree please?"
Lily and Sid hung the various burgundy and gold balls all over the tree as I concentrated in fluffing the bows that would soon be joining them. The boys went to work on the garland.
"Make sure those balls are evenly spaced and perfectly symmetrical Sid," Lily giggled.
"Hey Beks, do you have a tape measure and a level?" he said before breaking out into that high pitched girly laugh he had.
"You guys are just so funny! Do you even know what those things are Crosby? Don't you have 'people' for that kind of thing?"
"I am detecting a bit if bitterness in that voice and it is not very becoming!"
"Well it's a good thing there's no one here worth impressing," I said snidely before going to the kitchen.
"Ooooh, that was a burn Sid," Lily said. "Maybe we should give her a break for a while."
"But I love it when she's feisty!"
"You won't when we push her too far I assure you. I've only seen her lose it twice and I sure in the hell don't want to be the cause of a repeat performance. Scary!"
"Maybe you're right. I have been a little hard on her lately."
When I returned from the kitchen we all worked in silence except for the sound of the Christmas carol c.d. I had playing in the background.
"Can I ask you something Beks?"
"Only if it's an intelligent question."
"You said it was a tradition to put up the tree after Thanksgiving dinner. If you just moved here in the summer, why was a good old Canadian girl celebrating the American Thanksgiving?"
"My grandmother was American and the rest of us were obviously Canadian so we always celebrated both. It was her tradition when she was growing up and she continued it after she married my grandfather and had her own family. My mother isn't really the 'holiday' type so I continued the tradition with my own family."
"That's really great. I think it's important to have family traditions to pass on to the next generation. Forgive me for saying so, but from what little you've told me, your mother doesn't sound like she was into much of anything."
"Sure she was. She was into her country club and her social clubs and my father running my grandfather's publishing empire so she could stay in the life she had become accustomed to. That's part of the reason she didn't approve of David's hockey career. She said it was a barbaric sport and it was beneath him to play such a sport. That's also why she didn't have much use for me and why her relationship with my gram was strained, because we loved it and encouraged him to play."
"Sounds like she's a real prize," he said sarcastically. "How did you turn out to be a polar opposite of her?"
"It's weird because I often asked my gram if she was sure that it was me that was adopted and not my mother. She was sooooooooo different than my gram. She said my mom took more after my grandfather, but even he was no where near as uptight as she is."
"Well I think you turned out pretty damn amazing considering," he said with a soft smile.

We stood looking at our completed masterpieces. I was surprisingly satisfied considering how much control I had given up in the decorating process. They kids were long in bed and Lily was getting ready to leave. It was almost midnight and she had to work in the morning. I was fortunate to have two more days off before starting seven straight days leading up to Christmas eve.
"It was so great meeting you Sidney," she said. "Even better that I now have a partner in crime when it comes to giving Bekah a hard time!"
"Yeah, we'll definitely have to do it again soon!" he replied.
"Well I for one can do without the harassment!"
Lily hugged us both and told me she'd call me after work the next night before leaving.
"Well I suppose I should be going too. I have practice in the morning and media stuff all afternoon. Is it alright if I call you tomorrow night to set up plans for the skating party Saturday?"
"Sure. I have no plans," I said as we walked to the door.
Before I knew it he had me wrapped in a bear hug, strong but not too strong. There go my damn knees again!
"Thank you so much for tonight Beks. I've had so much fun."
"Well, why wouldn't you when you were picking in me all night," I said smiling even though he couldn't see me.
"No," he said pulling back a little to look in my eyes, but not lessening his hold on me. "I really appreciate it. I don't have many places that I can relax and just be myself, but I feel so comfortable with you, so thank you."
The deeper he looked into my eyes, the quicker all coherent words left my head."You're welcome," I managed with my voice barely audible.
He pulled me back into a full embrace once again.
"You are very special Beks," he said ever so softly. His warm breath against my neck made all the little hairs stand up straight. "I cherish every moment I get to spend with you."
He planted those juicy lips on my forehead and gave me the softest, sweetest kiss I had ever experienced. It didn't even matter that it wasn't on the lips.
"Bonne nuit mon beau bijou. Reves doux," he said quietly.