Baby, Picture You and Me Who: Rylee and Charlie What: Christmas antics: getting the tree. Where:Peltzer Pines Tree Farm! (Silverado location) When: December 3rd Notes: Yay happy!
Rylee could barely contain his excitement when he discovered a local tree farm. One was a lot closer than the Silverado location, but apparently the Silverado one was mountainous and very woodsy; exactly what he had wanted to take Charlie to. The place offered a saw, he had bungee cords in his trunk, and he made sure he had work gloves as well.
Dressed in a long sleeved shirt with his leather jacket in the backseat of his car (just in case it was cooler in that area), Rylee fiddled with the radio of his car to find a Christmas music station. As a child, his parents would take him on an hour drive to a tree farm, they would play Christmas music and sing carols together. It was ridiculously perfect and when Rylee had befriended Charlie they would take her along on the adventure. The family would get to the tree farm, feast on cups of hot chocolate and cookies, then get the glorious Christmas tree that would dazzle in the Ekholm’s living room for the remainder of the month. It was a favorite memory of Rylee’s and this was the first year Rylee could have a proper Christmas tree; it was even more important that it was spent with Charlie. Especially with what the end of the month held.
“You have the directions, right babe?” Rylee asked Charlie, his blue eyes turning to his girlfriend and a smile appearing on his face. A flash of white teeth and his hand abandoning the radio in favor of squeezing Charlie’s leg. He didn’t have a GPS that worked and his cell phone wasn’t advanced enough to have a GPS in it. So Rylee and Charlie were going to have to depend on printed instructions and a map. Her hand covered Rylee’s as he touched her leg, the folded and stuffed into a pocket that she had begun to dig into with her free hand. She was in jeans and a plaid shirt, sneakers on her feet for comfort; the jeans, on the other hand, were proving difficult in releasing the printed directions from GoogleMaps. Though she would have been perfectly happy with a pre-cut tree from any lot around their apartment building, Charlie had to admit that she was incredibly excited to be making an adventure out of the event.
“Yeah, in...hang on...” Her tongue slipped out as she had to nearly scrunch down in her seat to fight her pants, finally pulling free the nearly crumpled paper. Releasing her grip on his hand, she unfolded it, presenting it to him as though to prove that she was perfectly capable of working a computer and printer. She had found them a little difficult (though Charlie would never admit such a thing), but after realizing that the little icon that looked like a printer was in fact the print button, things had been smooth sailing since.
“Mmk, gotta start headin’ toward the freeway,” she read off of the printed list. That direction seemed obvious enough, but Charlie made no comment, pleased that she was able to help. Getting the tree was the beginning of Christmas, which would be a good thing. She’d missed too many in ignoring Rylee - she was willing to do whatever he wanted to, because every moment had to count. In the back of her mind she did her best to ignore the thought of him leaving directly the day after the big event, but everything leading up to it would be fun and enjoyed to the best possibe advantage.
“So yah said yer momma was flyin’ in on the twentieth?” Rylee had made mention of Mrs. Ekholm coming to visit - Charlie was nervous about seeing his mother again, since she’d only spoken with the woman on the phone since starting to date Rylee. Mrs. Ekholm had a few choice words about how Charlie had treated her son, but in the end was overjoyed that the two were finally together. The word finally had worked its way into the conversation a lot, as though the older woman had been expecting Rylee and Charlie to end up together. But that aside, Charlie was happy that Rylee would get to see his mother before he deployed, even if she was a little miffed that they wouldn’t be spending Christmas together, alone. On the other hand, Charlie was glad that his mother would be around for a few days after Rylee was gone - it would be a support system that Charlie would sorely need.
Rylee car eased forward and out of the parking lot of the apartment complex, turning down the roadway outside of it and heading for the freeway. Rylee hated the freeway and his hand on Charlie’s leg might have been gripping a little harder than usual. The days of Rylee’s nervous driving had passed (in his opinion) but his anxiety was still fully there when he had to drive on highways he wasn’t entirely familiar with. Busy roadways and not having a clue when he needed to get off or where he was going always made his brow break out in sweat. Lucky for him, his shortened haircut made his head a little cooler and the sweat seemed to hold off a little longer. Maybe high-and-tights weren’t all that bad.
“Yeah,” Rylee replied after a moment of concentration on the roadway. He glanced at Charlie and smiled before looking back at the road. “Yeah, my last day of work is on the 17th, I can’t remember if I told you. That gives you and I two full days by ourselves before my momma shows up. I was thinkin’ maybe we could do something special then? I dunno, go to the movies or sit on the beach or something if you’re off.”
He fell silent as he reached the freeway, his hand retreating from Charlie’s leg and gripping the steering wheel as he drove onto the expanse of road. Once he was securely in a lane he let out a breath he had been holding and slumped back against his seat. “She’s flying in that morning. She says she’s really excited to see you, Lee. I think the last time you saw her was right after I graduated from Gettysburg, right?” He glanced at Charlie again, his smile reappearing and his hand reaching for hers. “It’ll be nice to have you both with me for the holidays. Kind of like when we were kids. Now, how long am I on here for before I gotta turn off?”
Charlie gave a bare nod at the thought of Mrs. Ekholm being excited to see her; part of her was just as excited to see the woman who was the closest thing she had to a mother, but she also knew that a lecture would be involved. Regardless, it would be a good holiday.
“Fifteen minutes, then take exit 6.” She carefully studied the paper, holding it pinched between the forefinger and thumb of her right hand. For a few moments, she watched the cars spreading out in front of them, her eyes lighting on the radio as a rather merry version of Jingle Bell Rock rolled out of the speakers.
“Yeah, I’m excited to see her, too,” Charlie remarked, trying to hide her worry, masking it with pumped up enthusiasm. Anyone who knew her well would understand instantly that she was fighting anxiety, and Charlie leaned back with a low sigh as she settled into the passenger seat of the car, her legs spread apart a little for her own comfort. She had never learned to sit like a woman, legs together or crossed, and instead just forced herself to relax. “An’ I’m sure I can think of a few things we can get outta the way before yer momma arrives.” She turned her head with a knowing little smirk on her face - he was going away for a year, and the week leading up to his deployment had his mother staying in the same apartment as him. It didn’t take very many brain cells to deduce what Charlie was suggesting they do with the sudden free time.
“Didja get her present already? Shit, I need to do that,” she suddenly thought, her mind switching topics easily. The last part was muttered, suddenly worried that she’d forget. The majority of her shopping was finished (one trip, quick and done - if you called ramming other carts and nearly coming to blows with another shopper over a particular set of pajamas a simple shopping outing), simply waiting to be wrapped and then placed beneath the tree both of them were driving out to acquire.
“I was gonna give her roses at the airport but I don’t know what to get her,” Rylee replied quietly as he kept his eyes on the road. “Maybe we should go and do some shopping together? I don’t really know what to get her. I miss the days where my dad would pick out a gift and I would just make a card with some paper and crayons.”
Taking his eyes off the road momentarily, Rylee looked at his girlfriend and slipped his hand over her thigh again, running it up her leg slowly, teasingly. “So you think you can get off those days? We could build a fort in the living room and watch movies and eat take out.” His hands slipped to the inner part of Charlie’s thigh. “And we can do other things. Sound good?” A year ago Rylee hadn’t thought he would ever speak to Charlie again and now they were planning a little Christmas together and getting a tree. Even now, after rekindling their friendship over six months before and now dating, Rylee found it hard to believe that it was all actually happening.
Her hand immediately came to settle on top of his, pressing his palm firmly to the cloth of her jeans. Eyes went from the caress to his face, where he was looking back at the road but still touching her.
“Yah tryin’ tah get inta an accident, mister?” But she did nothing to move his hand away, all too pleased by its presence. The shift in their relationship seemed to have opened a door where they simply couldn’t stop touching one another, and Charlie was constantly kicking herself for not having given in sooner, because it just made her so damned happy.
“I can multi-task on the road,” Rylee replied with a smirk and a devilish glance at Charlie before returning his gaze to the road.
“An’ yeah, yah can bet yer butt I’ll get those days off.” It didn’t matter that she might be scheduled - even if she was, she simply wouldn’t show up. Charlie knew she was already hanging by a thread at her job, skating dangerously close to termination; and yet she’d managed to come back a few times. Why she was even bothering to care about the pathetic excuse for employment was beyond her meager imaginings, but she did manage to remind herself from time to time that she needed the money.
“Maybe...get her some kinda bath stuff?” The suggestion was half-tried, completely unsure of what to get for an elderly parent. Her father, if he were still alive, would have been happy with a bottle of whiskey or vodka, wrapped with a little bow; she had no idea what her mother might like, due to the woman’s long absence. Briefly she wondered at potentially getting presents for Cat and Elias, a thought that struck her as odd; the two people had become strangely important to her, but certainly not enough to warrant buying gifts for. Besides, she wouldn’t even know where to begin! “Maybe a sweater?”
“She likes that aromatherapy stuff,” Rylee replied thoughtfully. “You’re a lot easier to buy for. I’m always . . . confused when I go shopping for my mom. She likes smelly stuff but she’s so specific. Maybe I should just get her a gift card to Macy’s or something.” He withdrew his hand slightly from Charlie’s inner thigh and patted the top of her leg before giving it a squeeze. “But a sweater is a good idea too. She likes scarves as well. Good idea, babe.”
He flashed another smile at his girlfriend and settled into his seat. “So this place lets you pick trees off the lot or you can go into the farm and saw your own under supervision...but we don’t need any supervision. I’m sure we both can figure out how to cut down a tree. We’ve seen my dad do it enough.” He rolled his eyes, to think they needed supervision like they were children. Could no one cut down a tree on their own? Rylee was a man who overthought things aside from what he was sure about. Getting a Christmas tree was something so precious and beloved by the man, filled with clear memories of his father, that Rylee was likely to be able to cut a tree down blindfolded.
“Exit six!” Rylee said a little bit louder than his normal tone, not letting Charlie answer his question as he leaned forward in his seat. He grinned fully at Charlie and merged his car into the exit lane. “Where to now, co-pilot?”
Exit six took them onto a larger highway that they would spend the majority of the trip on; Charlie slouched back in her seat, tempted to put her feet up on the dash but knowing that Rylee would probably disapprove.
“Jus’ gonna stay on this fer awhile, it’ll take us up inta the mountains,” she replied easily, her head rolling from looking at him to out the windshield, watching the ground move away around them as they were propelled forward by Rylee’s vehicle. “An’ I’m sure they wanna make sure yah don’t drop the tree on yah, though I bet yah could give ‘em a run fer their money in how all’a that would work, huh? Mister five and fifty steps ahead’a everybody else.” She scrunched her face at him, reaching down to lean her seat back a little to relax. The paper with the directions was folded underneath her free hand, which rested on her stomach. The other laced its fingers through Rylee’s hand, still on her thigh.
“Gift card’s not a bad idea. I don’t get why everybody says it’s lazy. The person could jus’ get what they want, and then it’s all done with.”
“Hey, it’s a good thing to plan ahead,” Rylee pointed out with a squeeze of her hand. “If the tree falls on me, surely you’ll be there to save me.” He mirrored the scrunching of her nose and laughed, turning back to the road as they continued to drive.
* * *
As Rylee had fully intended, they turned down the help of the workers on the tree farm. Borrowing the small handsaw from its workers, the couple stood at the bottom of the hill which led to the planted trees. Rylee had taken his jacket and gloves with him, sticking them under one arm which held the saw, with his other hand he reached for Charlie’s hand and held it tightly.
“So. What kind of tree do we want?” He asked her, looking down and scrunching his eyes from the bright sunshine. It excited him to ask that, we, they were a team and celebrating Christmas together. The only way this could be anymore perfect was if he wasn’t deploying at the end of the month. She let her fingers hang lightly from Rylee’s, glancing around at the various pine trees grown at the farm. The happy memories of Christmas were always with Rylee and his family - sure, for the first few years, when her mother was still there, Charlie remembered excitement going to bed the night before and presents under the tree the next morning. But Madeleine’s departure had taken all of that with her out the door. Those thoughts swept aside, Charlie found herself excited to be picking out a tree; especially since she was with her best friend. There wasn’t much that could make this better.
“Well, I dunno about yah, but that elevator’s pretty small...” A six foot tree would probably fit inside of the death trap that the apartment building used for an elevator, and there were several trees that would work inside of that description. But the tree had to be full, evenly needled on all sides. For a moment she wondered what they were going to do for ornaments.
“How about that one?” They had gone a few more steps and come up against a small cluster of trees, each fatter than the last and quite tall. The tree she was pointing out was unfurled before them, six feet of glorious pine that was a rich, deep green, perfect for the holiday.
Rylee looked towards the tree Charlie had pointed out and grinned. “That one looks perfect, babe.” Walking towards it, with Charlie’s hand in his, he looked the tree over and took a step back. “It’s as tall as me. I guess that’s a good way to guess if it would fit in the apartment.”
Letting go of Charlie’s hand, Rylee dropped his coat and gloves to the ground and placed the saw beside the items. He circled the tree and fished out a price tag from its branches. “A monterey pine...you don’t get these type of trees back home.” Stepping back, he looked the tree over once more before turning to Charlie. “Could you hold onto the tree for me while I saw it down? You can wear the gloves so that you don’t get covered in sap or pricked by needles.”
She nodded, stooping to grab the gloves and slip them on before approaching the tree to grasp it around the midsection, the only secure part of it that she could reach. Rylee sat on the ground and put on his jacket before grabbing the saw and crawling partially under the tree. Glancing down, she watched as Rylee started to saw at the tree, frowning a little.
“Be careful...”
“I’ll be fine,” Rylee called from underneath the branches, his voice coming out muffled while the sound of the saw going back and forth could easily be heard. With some grunting on Rylee’s part, he cut nearly through the entire tree trunk before scrambling out from under the tree. Getting to his feet with bits of pine needles in his shortened blond hair and stuck to his jacket, he tossed the saw to the side and reached for the tree beside Charlie. “Okay, we can push it down. It’s only standing up by a hair. Push it away from us and it should come down.”
She eyed the tree, then shrugged before giving it a nice, hard push with Rylee’s help. What was left connecting the base to the ground began to crack, the tree shuddering before it began to keel over. It hit the ground a few moments later, the sound of breaking branches here and there as a few weaker ones gave way as the weight of the tree came to rest on them. Charlie grinned at the minor destruction, her hands still engulfed by Rylee’s gloves.
“I’m surprised, Ekholm, yah didn’t need to plan that out a million ways to one, or get the tree tah fall on yah,” she teased, waving a finger in his face as they stood over their prize.
Rylee gave Charlie a playful shove before slipping his arms around her thin frame and giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. Her gloved hands grasped at his wrists. “Just because I didn’t vocalize my plans doesn’t mean I didn’t have them. And yeah...not having the tree fall on me is a plus.”
Keeping his arms wrapped around Charlie, Rylee stepped behind her and rested his chin on the top of her head; her lips formed a satisfied smile, eyes lingering on the tree. “I gotta get it ready for the tree stand,” He murmured into her hair before giving another kiss and pulling away. Grabbing the hand saw he made quick work to the bottom of the tree as he trimmed off the lower branches and made room for the tree to slip into the stand that was waiting patiently at his apartment. Tossing the tree branches to the side, Rylee stepped back and smiled. “Could I have the gloves so I can carry the beast down to the pay station, babe?”
Remaining on the side with her arms crossed loosely over her chest, Charlie nodded and slipped the gloves off, holding them out for Rylee to take. “Gonna carry it all by yerself? I can take one end, yah can take the other, then it won’t be so hard. ‘Less yer tryin’ to impress me with how manly yah are.”
“Why, is it workin’?” Rylee inquired, wiggling his eyebrows as he slipped on the gloves. How often had he been too frightened to do an assortment of things? Sawing down a tree and carrying it off was some sort of a big step for him and it even surprised Rylee a little that he didn’t feel any anxiety. Gripping the middle of the tree, Rylee lifted it effortlessly -- if it wasn’t for the wobble on his feet that was brought on by a lack of balance. His expression was a little shy as he looked at his girlfriend. “Okay, maybe once ya get the other stuff, you can help carry the end. I don’t want to end up fallin’ and twisting my ankle or anything.” Charlie grinned and shook her head. Quick movements grabbed his jacket from the ground, tossing it over one shoulder, and then aided Rylee by grabbing the back end.
“An’ we wouldn’t want that, would we. ‘Cause then yah’d be laid up in bed an’ I’d have tah take care of yah,” she teased, hefting the trunk with both hands. Most of the weight was on Rylee, but Charlie did her best to try and alleviate the burden. She gave her boyfriend a wide grin. “Let’s get goin’!”
The walked forward, weaving in and out of the trees until they made it to the main path and found their way to the stand where the workers were handling the trees. The tree was handed over and placed on a machine to shake out the dead needles then fed through another machine that tied the branches close together. Rylee paid and followed the workers to his car, helping as best as he could to tie the tree down for the long ride back home. Charlie lingered at the end, watching all of the goings-on with a bemused smirk on her face, her arms swinging happily by her sides.
Settling into the car, Rylee turned to Charlie and reached for her hand. He pulled her towards him and pressed his lips to hers. “Our first Christmas tree,” he murmured as he pressed his forehead to hers. “Do you like it?”
“It ain’t our first first,” she teased, closing her eyes as her face settled against his. “But since I picked it out, it’ll work just fine.” The grin on her face couldn’t be wiped away, and as they moved out of the parking lot to head for home, she found herself excited to start decorating their tree.