Only for You

40: Only for You

Five Days Until Christmas

The warm glow of string lights flickered across the living room as Fatima sat on the floor, sifting through the ornaments. Zac was on the other side of the tree, untangling a mess of garland with a look of pure concentration.

"This is the last time I let you be in charge of decorations," she teased, shaking her head at the tangled mess in his hands.

"Man, whatever," Zac muttered, pulling at the strands. "This shit was already like this when I opened the box."

Fatima raised a brow. "Mhm. You sure you didn't just stuff it in there last year?"

Zac glanced up at her, smirking. "I ain't even have a tree last year, remember? I was at my mom's house."

"Oh yeah," she said, realizing this really was their first Christmas together. "So this is our first tree?"

"Yup." He finally unraveled the garland, holding it up in triumph. "Boom."

Fatima clapped sarcastically. "Congratulations, baby. You want a cookie?"

"Nah," he shot back, walking over to her and bending down. "I want a kiss."

She rolled her eyes but leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. "Happy now?"

"For now." He winked before standing up and wrapping the garland around the tree.

Fatima smiled as she pulled out a glass ornament, carefully hanging it on a branch. "I love this."

Zac glanced over. "What? Decorating?"

She shook her head, looking at him. "This. Us. You. Me. The fact that we get to do stuff like this together."

Zac set down the garland and walked over, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, swaying her gently. "Yeah, it's kinda nice, huh?"

"Kinda?" she gasped, turning her head to glare at him.

Zac chuckled. "Alright, really nice."

"Much better," she said, leaning back into him.

They continued decorating, placing ornaments on the tree while soft Christmas music played in the background. Every so often, Zac would step back, tilting his head to critique their work.

"I feel like we need more lights over here," he said, pointing to one side of the tree.

Fatima sighed. "Then put more lights over there."

"You say that like it's easy."

She smirked. "I have faith in you."

Zac shook his head, but he got to work.

As they continued, the conversation shifted.

"I've been thinking," Zac said, stepping back and looking at her. "Once the season slows down, we should start house hunting."

Fatima paused mid-hang, looking over at him. "I'd like that."

He gave her a look. "Yeah you like doing a lot of stuff together."

She felt a warmth spread through her chest. "Because I love being around you,"

"I love being around you too," he said, walking over and grabbing another ornament. "So next year we can actually have more room for this big ass tree."

Fatima giggled. "I love that idea."

"I figured you would."

"What kind of house do you want?" she asked, setting another ornament on the tree.