"If I'm squirmy, it's because my husband is far too irresistible to make me stay still in the first place," Spencer counters, fully incapable of holding back a grin of his own when Joel looks up at him. They've only just really started with the decorating, but he finds that he already like it, likes the idea of making it a tradition because it's so much more domestic than he'd ever thought he'd want or have. This time last year, the possibility of having a husband to share the holidays with hadn't even been crossed his mind.
Spencer flushes at the question of the topper, stammering for a moment as he glances down at one of the open boxes and widens his eyes when he sees it. He can't believe it's remained intact all this time, for more than twenty years, and it's certainly worn but it isn't falling apart quite yet. "I--" He sighs, nodding down at the hand-crafted angel, cheeks reddening even more at the despicable effort he'd made when he was only five-years-old. "We don't have to use it, my mother just-- She liked to keep the arts and crafts things that Dane and I would bring home. She said my father was particularly fond of that one, too, so she just... She couldn't let it go."
Spencer says she couldn't let it go, as if he'd be much more willing to do it now when he knows how important it had been to her, to his father, even his brother hadn't made a fuss about something Spencer had made topping the tree rather than something of his own. There are plenty of ornaments made by Dane in these boxes, Spencer knows that, but the topper... As embarrassing as it is, Spencer can feel his throat tightening at the memory of a yearly weak argument with his mother over finding something better. There could be no better, she'd always argue, and Spencer would always give in because he'd known it was hopeless.
It's not a sad memory, his nose only tingles and his eyes only well because he remembers how happy a time the holiday season had always been in this household, how happy it's going to be again from here on out. Before they know it, their child will be the one bringing homemade ornaments back from school, and they'll be hanging all of them on the tree like any proud parents would.
"Anyway, I'm sure we can find something else in these boxes," he says, though his heart isn't in the words. He won't be upset if Joel wants to use something else, he truly wouldn't miss the appalling mess of an angel, but it'll certainly feel like a former tradition ended for good. Maybe it would be a good thing, he thinks, to find a topper they want to use rather than trying to keep a memory they don't share alive. "We could just put a picture of your face up there, wouldn't that be nice?"
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Spencer flushes at the question of the topper, stammering for a moment as he glances down at one of the open boxes and widens his eyes when he sees it. He can't believe it's remained intact all this time, for more than twenty years, and it's certainly worn but it isn't falling apart quite yet. "I--" He sighs, nodding down at the hand-crafted angel, cheeks reddening even more at the despicable effort he'd made when he was only five-years-old. "We don't have to use it, my mother just-- She liked to keep the arts and crafts things that Dane and I would bring home. She said my father was particularly fond of that one, too, so she just... She couldn't let it go."
Spencer says she couldn't let it go, as if he'd be much more willing to do it now when he knows how important it had been to her, to his father, even his brother hadn't made a fuss about something Spencer had made topping the tree rather than something of his own. There are plenty of ornaments made by Dane in these boxes, Spencer knows that, but the topper... As embarrassing as it is, Spencer can feel his throat tightening at the memory of a yearly weak argument with his mother over finding something better. There could be no better, she'd always argue, and Spencer would always give in because he'd known it was hopeless.
It's not a sad memory, his nose only tingles and his eyes only well because he remembers how happy a time the holiday season had always been in this household, how happy it's going to be again from here on out. Before they know it, their child will be the one bringing homemade ornaments back from school, and they'll be hanging all of them on the tree like any proud parents would.
"Anyway, I'm sure we can find something else in these boxes," he says, though his heart isn't in the words. He won't be upset if Joel wants to use something else, he truly wouldn't miss the appalling mess of an angel, but it'll certainly feel like a former tradition ended for good. Maybe it would be a good thing, he thinks, to find a topper they want to use rather than trying to keep a memory they don't share alive. "We could just put a picture of your face up there, wouldn't that be nice?"