Dana Bell - The Ornament - Simon and Becky

“Holy crap. I didn’t think it would turn out like this.”

Simon stared at his house, glaring at the massive amounts of colored lights Max had snuck up on the roof. “And since when am I Jewish?”

“What?” Max finished boxing up the leftover lights, shoving them into the passenger seat of his Durango. Simon had no doubt those lights would wind up all over Adrian’s house.

“Isn’t that a Star of David on top of my house?”

Adrian nodded. “Yeah. Isn’t Becky Jewish?”

“Uh, no.”

Adrian shrugged. “Oh. Sorry.”

“I don’t know why you’re complaining.” Max shoved the box into the trunk of Adrian’s car, stretching his back out when he was done. “You saw what we did to my house.”

“Yeah, but that was your house. And at least there we got the religion right.” He stared at the light up animals decorating his lawn. Becky was going to kill him over the giraffe alone. “Maybe we should take the giraffe down.”

“Why?”

Simon turned and stared at Adrian. Didn’t the man know her? “Because Becky is going to shoot me in the face with a bazooka, that’s why.”

Adrian slapped him on the back, no doubt trying to make him feel better. “ Becky doesn’t have a bazooka.”

Simon stared at Adrian. “You really don’t know her, do you? For this, she’ll go out and find one.”

“Bwacawk!”

Simon glared at Max. Max had his thumbs tucked in his arm pits and was flapping his elbows. “You did not just call me chicken.”

“Aw, who’s afraid of his widdle mate?”

Simon snickered. “You are.”

Max stopped, looking concerned. “True.” He shook himself. “Too late now, though.”

“Well, I don’t know about you two but I’m ready to go do my house.” Adrian rubbed his hands together. “I can’t wait to see Sheri’s face when she gets a load of the penguin Ferris wheel.”

“Let’s just hope the women don’t bury us under it.” Simon walked towards his truck, ignoring the shuffling feet behind him. “C’mon, wussies, let’s go get this over with.” Because we may not live long enough to give the girls their real presents.

Becky answered her cell phone before it had finished ringing. She was just turning down the street, heading towards the house she shared with Simon.

“Becks?”

Emma! Guess she found her surprise. It took every ounce of her willpower not to snigger. “Yes?”

“Santa smoked a reefer and decorated my house.”

Becky bit back a laugh. “What? Hold on, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She turned her car around and headed for Max and Emma’s house. She already had a clue what she would find. Simon had filled her in a little bit and told her how to react.

Watching him craft the special ornament for Max’s Christmas tree had been a rare treat. Simon didn’t often allow her into the furnace, but that day he’d made an exception.

Those large hands of his had shaped the globe, his dark eyes intent on what he was doing.

Watching him etch the glass and adhere the curlicues, surrounding the pair’s name, had been an incredible turn-on. And she’d thanked him in the best way possible, too. She tingled all over just thinking about how they’d made love that night.

She pulled up outside what used to be Emma’s stately house. She could barely contain her giggles at the sight of the glowing baby Jesus and the light up snow globe.

“My God. Who hit the Kmart blowout sale?”

The two women exchanged a look. “Max.”

That’s my cue! “Oh, my God. Simon and Adrian were spending the day with him.” Becky raced back to her car. “I’ll call you!”

Of course, she wasn’t planning on calling. She figured Emma would be too busy chewing a certain cat’s ass, right before said cat chewed back.

She turned down her street once more, glaring at the garish lights someone had put up along their house. Might as well light the roof with “Santa Park Here”. Sheesh.

The closer she got to home, though, the lower her heart sank. The overly bright house looked suspiciously like... No. Oh, no. He wouldn’t.

He had. Light up animated animals were dotted all over her lawn. The circle of life has apparently found our power outlet. And why the fuck is there a Star of David on my roof? She wasn’t exactly the most church-going member of the community, but you’d think Simon would know what religion she was. After all, she knew exactly who was going to officiate at his funeral.

She picked up her cell phone and called Emma. “I’m going to kill him.”

“You too, Becks?”

“Yup.”

“Sheri too.”

What? This little joke had gone a bit too far if they’d done the same to Sheri and Adrian’s house.

Becky checked the clock. Damn. Need to eat. Simon was relentless about making sure Becky ate at appointed times, thanks to her hypoglycemia, but hell if she was going to be here waiting for him with a home cooked meal. Not after that... travesty on her front lawn. She wasn’t even going to go into the fact that he’d set up some sort of sound system and was playing Oy To The World at top volume. “Frank’s?”

“On my way.” Emma hung up.

Becky glared at the six foot tall light up giraffe. “Oh, Garfield. You are one dead kitty.”

She ignored the little voice in her head that asked how many ornaments Simon had made. He’d spent at least a couple of days in the furnace without her. Could he have…?

She wasn’t about to hope for that. Not yet, anyway. It was way too early in their relationship for Simon to have made her one of those.

Wasn’t it?

She pulled her VW Beetle into the driveway, wincing at the electric menagerie on her front lawn. Dinner had gone a long way to calming her down, but just hearing Here Comes Santa Claus sung by the Chipmunks was enough to set her off again. She did her best to ignore it as she opened the garage door, pulling the Bug into the space next to Simon’s big truck. Good. He’s home. I can kill him now. Her hands shook as she turned off the ignition.

How many?

She went into the house and headed straight for the great room. And then stopped dead, stunned.

Becky stared at the red and green Christmas tree, her jaw hanging open. He’d decorated it in delicate hand-made glass ornaments she just knew he’d made himself, making it that much more precious to her. Crisp white lights lit clear red and green bulbs graced with lacey gold filagree. Pale crystal drops, light red and pale green, sparkled in the twinkling lights. The entire tree was a testament to Simon’s artistic senses. A glass and gold star sat atop the tree, a steady light shining through it.

His work was always so gorgeous. Her heart ached at the thought of all the work that had to have gone into each and every decoration, even as it sank over the knowledge that he probably hadn’t made them a “special” ornament.

The man himself sat on the sofa, a smirk playing around his lips. “Welcome home, sweetheart.”

“Simon.”

“What?”

She stared at the big. “Were you guys drunk when you did the front lawn?”

“Nope.”

“Then could you please explain what happened?” Because “what happened” was only supposed to have happened at Emma’s. Becky knew what Max was up to, but since when had Simon decided that three and a half foot light up elephant looked good? And she just couldn’t bring herself to look at the four foot tall light up giraffe in the Santa hat.

He got up and stared at the front lawn where blinking penguins danced around light up presents, dancing to a jaunty Chimpunk Christmas. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Simon!”