"Yes, a bunny. And like I said, she was quite unyielding, practically demanding that Santa bring her one."

"Demanding...imagine that," Toni said, eyeing her partner.

"Anyway, the last thing I needed was something else to take care of. I had my hands full with just her, so I went out to a local craft store and decided that I'd make her that ornament in hopes it would be enough."

"Was it?"

Eleanor shot a quick glance in Bill's direction and then looked back at Toni. "No, and eight months later we had six bunnies to take care of. Luckily for me, Laura lost interest, and I was able to give them to her school as pets. The last I heard they had to close that place, something about being overrun with bunnies."

"Ha ha," Laura said, hanging the ornament on the tree. "You make me sound like a terror."

"That's because you were a terror, my dear," Eleanor said, handing Toni a Styrofoam ball adorned with sequins. "Laura made that one in school. I think she was about six."

After giving the glittery jumble of sequins the once-over, Toni handed it to Laura. "Dreaming of being a disco queen, were you?"

"Funny," Laura said as she snatched it from Toni's hand and hung it on the tree. "Is there anything left in there that I didn't make, or are we going to travel down memory lane all night long?"

"A few, but these are the ones I really adore. I don't know what I was thinking, leaving them in the attic. They belong on our tree. They'll always belong on our tree," Eleanor said as she handed Toni some clothespin reindeer and angels. "Put those up there, Toni, will you please?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, turning to place them gently on the tree. "I agree with you, Eleanor. These are great."

"Yes, they are, but as Laura got older, making ornaments became secondary to buying them. So, I decided that we'd start a new tradition, and every year, I'd allow her to purchase one for the tree, anything she'd like, and it would be added to our collection," she said, handing Toni a bauble decorated with a ballerina. "She thought she wanted to be a dancer. She was eight."

"Interesting," Toni said, handing it to Laura. "You and your tutu, eh?"

With a sigh, Laura placed it on the tree. "Are we going to do this all night?"

Hearing a hint of annoyance in Laura's voice, Toni leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I love you, and I love what we're doing right now, and if you're a good girl, later on tonight, I'll love you even more."

"That's bribery," Laura said quietly.

"I prefer to think of it as..." Pausing, Toni chuckled to herself. "Yes, you're right. It's bribery."

Laughing, Laura turned and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, can we get back to discussing little Laura?"

"Yes," Laura said, playfully pushing Toni away. "Fine, tell your stories, show your pictures-"

"Oh, my God, I should get the scrapbooks!" Eleanor said.

"No!" Laura said, stomping her foot. "We're supposed to be decorating the tree tonight. If you pull those out, we'll never get finished."

Sending a wink in Toni's direction, Eleanor returned to the storage box, and over the next quarter hour she uncovered ornaments displaying fire trucks, dogs, starships and princesses, and they all found their way to the tree. Pulling the last one from the box, she handed it to Toni and then watched as confusion swept over her face as she stared at the dull black bauble in her hand.

"It was her goth year," Eleanor said flatly.

"Goth year?" Toni asked. Raising an eyebrow, she turned to stare at Laura. "You had a goth year?"

"No, I think it lasted about two weeks," Laura said, snatching the ornament from Toni's hand. "And I also wanted to dye my hair black and get my lip pierced, but Mum refused to allow it."

"Good woman," Bill chimed in, smiling at Eleanor as she opened the last box.

"These are more mementos than tree decorations, I'm afraid," Eleanor said as she pushed aside the crumpled tissue paper. "Oh, wait, here are a few more."

Pointing to a stack of papers tied in ribbon, Bill asked, "What are those?"

"Oh, they're some cards Laura drew when she was a child before buying became the norm."

"Can I see them?"

"Of course," Eleanor said, handing the stack to Bill.

Returning to the box, she uncovered a few more vintage ornaments, the last of which was a heavy crystal pendant with the words First Christmas engraved on the glass. Handing it to Laura, Eleanor said, "Your father gave me that...years and years ago. Please be careful with it."

"Sure, Mum," Laura said, glancing briefly at the leaded glass ornament before finding a strong branch to hold its weight.

After placing a few of the antique metal angels and sleighs that had been buried in the boxes around the room, they gathered the discarded tissue paper and straightened the lounge. About to close the storage box, Eleanor looked up to ask Bill for the cards, but the words died in her throat.

Pulling away the ribbon, he had in his hands memories shared by two. Folded paper decorated with crayons showed trees of red and dogs of blue, lopsided suns and crooked houses, and a family of three that soon became two as the tall stick figure standing next to the curly-headed one disappeared. Letters too difficult for a child of three or four to tackle were written every which way across the pages. Some were large and others were small and sometimes backward, but their message repeated in every card...I love you, Mum. Reading the words, Bill's eyes filled with tears, and as emotions rose in his throat, his hands began to shake.

"Why don't you girls go to the kitchen and put some biscuits on a plate?"

"In a minute, Mum, let me just finish-"

Laura stopped when Toni grabbed her arm and motioned toward the kitchen. Tilting her head, she was about to ask why, when she looked over to see her mother kneeling by Bill. It was more than obvious that the man was crying.

"What was that about?" Laura asked, once they reached the kitchen.

Glancing back into the lounge, as she watched Eleanor continue to comfort Bill, Toni whispered, "I think it's about a father realizing just how much he missed."

"I made us some tea," Toni said in a whisper, walking into the bedroom.

"Why are you whispering? My mother always reads before she goes to bed. She'll be awake for a few more hours, trust me."

"I have no doubt," Toni said with a crooked smile. "How was your bath?"

"It would have been better if you had joined me," Laura said, and then noticing Toni's expression, she added, "Why the silly grin?"

"Um...no reason," Toni said, putting the tea on the nightstand. Going to the dresser, she pulled out a clean pair of pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, and tossing them on the bed, began to get changed.

"Toni?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing...see," Toni said, pulling her sweater over her head.

Although the sight of Toni wearing only a white bra and tight black jeans nudged Laura's libido, for a moment she pushed away the awareness between her legs and concentrated on the subject at hand.

"You're only flippant when you don't want me to know something. Now, what is it?"

"Laura, I seriously don't think-"

"Antoinette Vaughn, either you tell me-"

"Your mum isn't reading."

"What?"

"Your mum isn't reading."

"I heard what you said, but why does it matter what my mother is doing?"

"It doesn't. Good point!" Toni said. Turning on her heel, she disappeared into the bathroom and quickly shut the door.

A few minutes later, she returned to find Laura sitting cross-legged on the bed staring back at her.

"Toni?"

"Yeah."

"Did my...did Bill go home?"

"Um...no, apparently not."

"Is he in the lounge?"

"No, actually I...I didn't see him in there."

"Did you see him...anywhere?"

"Um...no. No, I didn't."

Scrunching up her face, Laura squeaked, "Did you hear him?"

"Actually...actually, I did."

With a groan, Laura fell back on the bed and covered her face with a pillow.

Laughing, Toni said, "You know, they are adults."

Pulling away the pillow, Laura said, "We've already had this discussion, and I know they're adults, but knowing that my...that Bill and my mother are downstairs right now probably...well, probably...well, you know what they're probably doing. It's just plain weird!"

Putting her jeans in the dresser, Toni said over her shoulder, "Well, you'd best get used to it, because by the sounds of it, they really enjoy doing it."

Hearing no response, Toni turned around just in time to get slammed in the face with a pillow. Picking it up, she climbed into bed with a smile on her face. "Sorry, but I just couldn't resist," she said, leaning in to kiss Laura on the cheek.

"I'm not sure which is worse, hearing all those stories about my decorating efforts when I was a child, or the fact that you're going to continue to remind me that my...that Bill and my mother are sleeping together."

"Don't forget about the scrapbooks," Toni said as she pulled Laura into her arms.

Relaxing into the warmth of the woman, Laura sighed and closed her eyes, but when Toni ran her tongue down her ear and begin to nibble on the lobe, Laura's eyes popped open. "What are you doing?"

"Grazing."

Smiling, Laura said, "Toni."

"Yeah?"

"This bedroom is right above my mother's."

"So?"

"They could hear us."

"You've already proven you can be quiet, and I want you."

"Sweetheart, I think maybe we should wait. Mum mentioned doing some shopping tomorrow so we'll have the house to ourselves."

Pulling back, Toni asked, "Are you serious?"

"I'm afraid so, sweetheart. Knowing they're down there doing what they're doing...well, it just kind of puts a damper on things for me."

"Shit," Toni said, falling back on her pillow.

"I'm sorry, but I think we should just get some sleep."

Staring at the ceiling, Toni took a long breath, exhaling slowly in hopes it would help convince her lower half to behave itself, but when it didn't work, she climbed out of bed. Placing a kiss on Laura's forehead, she said, "I'm not really that tired. Get some sleep. I'm going to go and read in the other room for a while. Okay?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad, Laura, I'm randy," Toni said, smiling as she straightened the quilt. "I'm just going to read for an hour or so and then I'll come to bed. I promise."

"Okay. Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, darling."

An hour later, Toni looked up as Laura walked into the room. "Hey, I thought you were asleep."

"I dozed off for a few, but it's hard to sleep when you're not there."

"Sorry," Toni said, putting down her book. "I'll come to bed." Swinging her long legs off the bed, before she could stand, Laura came over and blocked her path.