Carol of the Bears

Chapter 1

Song: Carol of the Bells, by- Pentatonix

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Avery's POV

"Be careful..." I held my arms tightly about myself as I tried to hold myself back from leaping forward to stop Rick before he killed himself.

"I got it."

He leaned forward on the latter trying to reach farther back into the nook in the ceiling of our garage. The ladder made a rather harsh grating sound and I felt my nerves jump watching as it teetered on the cement floor. I took a hesitant step forward feeling my hands itch to grab onto the ladder but I restrained myself knowing full well Rick wanted to prove he could do this by himself.

Something about Grizzly pride?

Idiot.

"Can you see them?"

"Ugh... It's in here... somewhere..."

I watched as the flashlight Rick was holding moved about in the rafters illuminating cobwebs and old knick knacks searching for the boxes of Christmas decorations that had been stored there last year. As I rocked on my heels with anxiety thick in my chest I couldn't help but wonder, 'What the heck were we thinking putting them up there?'

As I pondered over our rather odd choice last year I heard a victorious yip leave Rick as his body launch further into the nook to reach back for something, "Found it!"

At his sudden change of weight I watched in horror as the latter he was precariously standing upon lurched in the opposite direction of his momentum and started to fall away from his feet. On instinct I dashed forward grabbing ahold of the metal stilts and righting it before Rick fell to the cement floor below and broke his back.

As the latter wobbled a bit in my hands before settling I felt a large anxious sigh leave my chest. That was close...

"I told you I would find it." I moved back as Rick backed down the latter with the large boxes of Christmas decorations stacked in his hands with a victorious grin on his thickly bearded face.

As he landed on solid ground I couldn't help but feel my body relax after a half hour of watching him perch at the top of that metal deathtrap. One wrong step and the big grizzly would have tumbled to the ground and I would have gotten the chance to say, 'I told you so.'

He had come dangerously close to doing just that but instead of reprimanding him for what almost happened I just shrugged and rolled my eyes at the victorious gleam in his eyes, "Whatever you say Rick. At least we can start decorating before it gets dark."

I stepped forward and grabbed ahold of one of the boxes Rick had brought down and made my way to the open garage door listening to my boots smack on the cold concrete.

"Now let's go, we've already lost enough time looking for these stupid boxes."

Rick's rough laughter filled the cool garage and I couldn't stop the small smile forming on my lips at the comforting sound.

"Yes, Yes. We'd better hurry we only have a whole week left." His voice was filled with humor and I elbowed him in the ribs as we walked out of the garage together.

It may have been true that we still had time to get ready for Christmas but it didn't stop me from feeling a bit jittery. This would be the first Christmas I would spend with the 'family' while not being high off of drugs or in a state of self-denial like I was last year. I wanted this to be special. I wanted everything to be perfect for our first Christmas all together as a real family.