O rnaments

"That's the last one." He dropped the large green-and-red plastic tote on the floor. It landed beside six identical boxes.

A fast mental calculation. "Um...I don't think so."

"What do you mean? These are all the Christmas colored ones in that corner of the loft. The only thing left are the boxes you've marked 'Outdoor Lights' and a couple of spares."

"The spares? Are they blue?"

"Yeah. Big blue boxes." His brow furrowed. "You don't mean...?"

"I do. Those are Christmas boxes, too." A glance out the window. Snow mixed with sleet had just begun to fall. "We'll get those another time."

Heaving a theatrical groan, he flopped down into an armchair. He reached for the closest box, pried off the lid and pulled out an ornament. It dangled from the end of his index finger. An elf, its long arms curled around its legs. Its holiday suit, made of green flocked fabric, was worn thin in spots.

He smiled. "This one was..."

"Your mother's," she said softly. Settling on the floor beside his chair, she watched as he laid the elf down with care before he dug in the tote again. Next he brought out a tissue-wrapped bundle. A delicate purple metallic teardrop. "And that's one of the ones my mom gave me. I remember picking that one out when I was...oh, maybe five or six. See the little tag dangling on the top? It's got my name on it. I watched her write that tag. Then I hung it as high as I could on the tree so it wouldn't get broken."

He placed the teardrop beside the elf. Then he pulled out a small box filled with red and silver balls. A grin stole over his handsome face. "These?"

"You know what they are."

"Um...maybe I do. Maybe I don't," he teased. A quick kiss. Holding one of the balls by its slender silver wire, he looked deep into her eyes. "Would these be the first ornaments we bought to hang on our--"

"First Christmas tree."

"I thought so. If memory serves me, they were the only balls we had on our tree, weren't they?"

"They were the only ones we could afford, remember?" She put her hand on his and together they held the simple ornament up to the window. The falling snow and ice flashed across its surface, sending dancing rays of light over the room. "We chose well, I think. They're--"

"Beautiful," he murmured, drawing her close.