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“What the actual fuck is this, Kate?”
Kate looks over to see Jo unwrapping something from a box marked ‘Kate Christmas - tree decs’. In her hands, sitting in the tissue paper she’d just released it from, is an ornament shaped like a hippo. Except it’s orange with a blue tutu, curly blonde beehive wig, and eyelashes.
“One word -” says Kate “- Josh.”
Jo looks confused. “Surely this can’t be his taste?!”
Kate throws her head back and laughs. “Oh Christ no, we do this thing every year where we have to pick the worst Christmas ornament we can possibly find, and give them to each other on Christmas Eve.”
It’s Jo’s turn to laugh then. “And you keep them all?”
“Yeah, ‘course. They’re endearing in a way. And I don’t have a theme to my decorations anyway, which I’m sure you’ll find out before long.”
Jo glances over to where the other Christmas boxes are sitting in the centre of the room. “I wish I had some of my own to put up, you know?”
Kate glances around the room. “We have your fairy lights. But I know that’s not quite the same.”
Jo presses her hands to her knees and stands up to wander over to where Kate is untangling the lights for the tree, placing her head gently on her shoulder. “It’s not quite. None of the ones I made for mum in school lasted even until I left home, and you know how I’ve felt about Christmas in the years before you appeared on the scene. Not much point celebrating if you’re on your own. But I wish I had some to put on the tree next to yours, silly and twee as that sounds.”
Kate turns and kisses her gently before replying, hand on the side of her face as she strokes her cheekbone with her thumb.
“Why don’t we buy some? A lot of mine are getting a bit too ratty to be honest with you. There’s a fine line between vintage and trashy, and I think some of this -” she glances to the boxes at their feet “- is walking on the wrong side of that.”
Jo looks around uneasily. “I wouldn’t want to take up any of the space you might want to put your own things Kate. Christmas in a new flat it always a bit odd, I won’t make it worse by making you keep half your stuff in boxes.”
Kate kisses the side of her head and laughs. “I doubt you’ll feel the same way when you see the state of the salt dough decorations Josh made for me at nursery one year. They’re a beautiful shade of sickly green-brown, and half of them were starting to crumble even before the move.”
Jo swats at her arm. “You know what I mean.”
“I do, and I love you for it. But I married you because I want to be with you, make memories with you, share stuff and space with you. I want to have things we bring out every year becuase they’re ours together.”
Jo leans back to look her in the eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Of course. This space is just as much yours as it is mine. It’s ours .” Kate gives Jo’s shoulders a squeeze with the arm she has wrapped around her. “And now that I’ve used up my cheesiness quota for the day, will you help me put the lights on the tree?”
Jo buries her face in her neck. “Of course. But first…” She pulls Kate into another kiss, holding her tightly with the Christmas lights slightly awkwardly wedged between them.
_______________
“So.” Says Kate, a couple of hours later when most of the salvageable decarations have been put up, and the hippo baulble sits in pride of place at the front of the tree. “Shopping time?”
Jo looks at her watch, then at the dark street visible through the gap in the curtains, and then at her half drunk glass of wine.
“It’s nearly ten, Kate. What would even be open now? Plus we’ve both had wine so we can’t drive, and I’m absolutely not walking in this weather in the dark.”
Kate just tilts her laptop towards her. “No need!”
Jo leans into her shoulder to see better. “And these won’t break in the post?”
“Shouldn’t do. You can go all DSU Davidson-Fleming on the company if they do.”
Jo slaps her arm for a second time that day. “Don’t joke. A position of authority is to be taken with responsibility, not with the aim to terrify innocent people.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“You’re awful.”
“I know.”
They spend a while choosing the perfect decorations - rather sleeker and more sophisticated than the ones Kate already has.
“Won’t they clash with what we’ve already got?” Jo worries.
“That’s the point, really. Feels homely that way. So, we have to add your taste in decorations to mine and Josh’s if this is really going to feel like home.”
Jo glances round the room, at the decor which definitely already does not go together, but which all somehow has a sense of belonging. “Very true.”
She’s about to get up to take their glasses to the dishwasher when she glances back to the screen, where Kate is idly scrolling.
“Wait, stop.” She takes another look, and then bats Kate’s hand away from the trackpad to click on a baulble. “Oh god, isn’t it horrific.”
On the screen is what looks like a tiny bowl of peas in gravy, except each pea has a miniature pair of googley eyes and a rather disturbing red smile. There’s a gold loop extending from the middle of the bowl, from which to hang it on the tree.
Kate laughs as she adds it to their basket.
“Oh it’s vile. Josh’ll love it.”