Ellie stopped on her way home from work grabbing some printer ink. She had also grabbed some pizzas, it was a family tradition to have pizza as they decorated the tree. Ellie arrived home to find a dark house. Had something happened to Joe and she had missed the call? Ellie rushed into the house, flipping the living room light on to find Joe, Peter and Alexandria, sitting on the couch. “Why are you sitting in the dark?” she asked, not noticing the decorated tree standing in front of the bay window.

Joe smiled, “Set that pizza down and come sit with us.” Ellie put the pizza down, shrugged out of her coat and walked to the couch. As she went to sit next to Joe, he pulled her onto his lap. She let out a squeal and then laughed. Ellie planted a kiss on his lips as the room went dark.

Ellie couldn’t believe her eyes, there wasn’t a surface in the living room that wasn’t covered in decorations. The tree stood in the window, glimmering with a ton of lights, it was almost too bright to look at. “Oh, my goodness, when did this happen?” she asked.

Peter stood next to the front door, Joe and Ellie’s jackets draped over his arm. “This is just the beginning of the decorations. Put your jackets on, it is starting to snow.” Peter helped Joe into his jacket and then handed him the cane that had been delivered that day. Joe wasn’t going to miss the look on Ellie’s face when they turned the lights on outside. He was as excited as a kid, waiting on Santa to come and leave gifts.

They walked out to the middle of the yard; Ellie being told to keep her eyes closed because Joe didn’t want her to peek. Alexandria made sure she didn’t trip over any cords or decorations. Joe took Ellie by the hand, “Keep your eyes closed, the surprise is almost ready. On the count of three, you can open your eyes.” Ellie smiled; she couldn’t wait to see what Joe had been up to while she was at work.

Ellie waited until she heard three and then opened her eyes. She was speechless, the house was shining so bright with Christmas lights. How had Joe managed to get the house decorated in the time she was at work today? “How did you do this?” she asked.

“Dad called in some favors. I think half of the town was here helping decorate. I want our last Christmas to be one that you always remember. I hope you don’t mind, I added some of the decorations that your dad had.” Joe said, knowing that when Ellie didn’t answer, it was because she was crying.

“It is beautiful. I can’t believe you did this for me. I had asked your parents to bring the decorations in from the garage because I was going to decorate the tree when I got home. I love it, thank you.” She said, snapping pictures of the house and the decorations scattered throughout the yard. “Let’s get you inside so you don’t catch a chill.”

As the family walked inside, Ellie smiled at the sky, she knew her dad was looking down and smiling, enjoying the view from above. He had loved Christmas, she guessed that is where she got her love of Christmas from.

Ellie took pictures of everything, the tree, the mantle, the walls, every room and been decorated. She didn’t remember having these many decorations. Ellie noticed some of the decorations and ornaments that had belonged to her dad, smiling as she touched each one. “I didn’t think we had these many decorations? Have I become a Christmas décor hoarder and not know it?” she asked as she sat next to Joe, each eating a slice of pizza.

Peter and Alexandria looked at each other and then at Ellie. “I hope you don’t mind; I had a friend bring ours over that we still had in our storage unit. Joe wanted to make sure we had enough decorations for each room. I may have also ordered some outdoor décor last night while you guys were sleeping.” Alexandria said, grinning. She loved Christmas as much as her son and daughter-in-law.

“I don’t mind at all, after all, our home is your home too!” Ellie said, hugging her mother-in-law. They sat in silence, watching the lights on the tree blinking in tandem. “Exactly how many lights are on that tree? And where did that tree come from? Our tree is only six feet, that has to be at least nine feet tall.” Ellie giggled, looking at her in-laws knowing that they were behind the enormous tree.

“It came from our storage unit. And there are about a thousand lights on the tree. We wanted to make sure that it was covered. Joe told us how you like your tree to glow.” Peter said, laughing at the thought of possibly seeing Ellie and Joe’s house from space. Ellie thanked them again, she knew it meant just as much to her and Joe as it did to them.

The snow started to cover the ground, the wind blew harder, and the temperature dropped to freezing. Ellie turned up the heat, she wanted to make sure that Joe was warm enough. They had stocked up on batteries for the lanterns and gasoline for the generator, just case they lost power. Ellie knew that their anniversary and Christmas was coming quick. She sat on her laptop, aimlessly browsing the different sites for gifts for her family. She wasn’t paying attention when the power went out. This wasn’t good, this storm was worse than she had expected it to be. Just as she was putting her jacket on to turn the generator on, Peter walked in. “I will do it Ellie; I don’t need you getting sick. After all, you are carrying my grandchild.”

Ellie smiled at her father-in-law; she knew how much he wanted to be a grandfather. She just hoped that she would be able to make that wish come true for him. With the storm raging on outside, Ellie kept a close watch over Joe that night, she wanted to make sure that if he needed anything, she would be there to take care of him.