Jared slowed to look at the house. Along the edge of the roof lights glowed in bright Christmas colors, curled in colorful paths down the porch posts and along the railings. Candy canes lit in red and white marked the path to the front steps. He and Alex spent every Thanksgiving, and the day after, decorating. Worse than a kid, Alex wanted the maximum amount of time to enjoy the Christmas season. Jared pulled into the driveway and took a few minutes to bask in the warm feelings the Christmas season always gave him before climbing out of the truck and heading inside.
Unlike the brightly lit exterior, the inside of the house was dark. Jared flipped on the light and glanced around the empty kitchen with a frown. Alex usually didn't go off somewhere without letting him know where he'd be. Leaving work first meant Alex should have started dinner. Jared felt a little ashamed at his relief upon realizing nothing simmered on the stove or warmed in the oven. Alex had a few specialties, but overall laid claim to little talent in the kitchen. Jared tried to make sure Alex rarely left the office early unless they were together.
Jared left the kitchen, walked around the massive table dominating the dining area, and into the living room lit only by the Christmas tree. The huge tree spoke of Alex's influence as much as their light-trimmed roofline did. Most of their friends had pre-lit trees with beautiful coordinated decorations of silver and blue or red and gold that accentuated their professionally decorated homes. Jared wondered at their circle of friends sometimes, how they ended up there at all. No part of Alex and Jared's house had been professionally decorated. It was just home. They had a real tree, and not even a perfect example of a real tree. The branches weren't straight and it had a couple holes. Alex called it… personality.
"What's the point of having a real tree if people have to touch it to know it's real?" Alex once demanded. Unable to think of a reasonable argument Jared had given in, and over the years he had become very fond of their eccentric tree tradition.
While other, normal, people snoozed off Thanksgiving dinner, Alex and Jared had searched for a tree with the right personality. They never came home until they had one in the back of the truck, all wrapped up in a green and red net, looking like they’d landed an alien fish. Alex’s laugh, Jared’s favorite Christmas decoration, always rang out as they struggled to get the tree inside and upright in its stand. Finally in place, the tree dominated the front room, glittering with lights and tinsel and adorned with ornaments with more heart than beauty.
Lost in thought Jared gazed fondly at the tree. He touched one of the decorations he and Alex had bought together after their first Christmas as a couple. Fourteen years ago. Jared found it hard to believe his boy would turn thirty on Christmas day. His memory of Alex, just turned sixteen, with snow in his hair, lips swollen with kisses, remained as fresh as the day it happened. With a start Jared realized he knew where Alex had gone. His smile fond, Jared went to look out the sliding glass door. There, up in the huge old oak that dominated the back yard, Jared found his partner. Alex was twining white lights in the lower branches of the tree. Jared watched him for a while, eyes soft with love, before he went to start dinner.
* * * *
Leftover lights slung over his shoulder, Alex struggled down the ladder. He could have used them higher in the tree, but tradition demanded lighting only the bottom branches. Alex didn’t know why Jared hung lights on the tree behind his old house, tucked away in the backyard where not even the neighbors could see, but they held Christmas magic for Alex. On his way to the shed he glanced back at the house, a different home than where they’d shared their first holiday together. Jared's cozy little bachelor home had become a thing of their past. This house, the one Alex had designed and Jared built, was theirs. Born first in their hearts as a fragile dream, they’d made it real with the sweat of hard work.
Alex smiled as he recalled how young he’d been when they first met. That first year had been filled with moments he’d never forgotten. So many memories, over so much time, but even now one stood out from the rest. In it there was a tree, and snow, and glittering lights, but best of all there was Jared.