was the Saturday before Christmas and, like every year, it was the Sterling family tradition to head out and get their tree. The weather was cooperating as snow had yet to blanket the ground. In fact, very little snow had been seen at all. It worked out well though as the family made their way through the tree farm looking at the various trees up for sale.

Chailee had been lacking in Christmas cheer this year. Her alter life had been one filled with doubts and insecurities and it had begun to seep into her normal day-to-day life. Chailee was determined though to be as cheerful as possible during their day together. She could tell that her parents were worried about her and that was the last thing she wanted. Besides, it wasn’t like the holidays came around that often and she needed to try and focus on herself and not so much the problems going on during her time away at night.

So, with determination, Chailee moved about the trees with her parents, giving each one a good look over before moving onto another.

“This is a nice tree!” She heard her mother a little way over. Giving the tree she was standing in front of another glance, Chailee turned away from it and navigated her way through the trees to her mother’s side.

“I don’t know…” Her father said as he came along just after Chailee. “It may be a bit small.”

Chailee gave the tree a good look and wrinkled her nose a bit. “I think Dad’s right. Besides, you said you didn’t want a douglas this year.”

Her mom sighed and nodded. “You’re right. It’s just hard to pull away from what I am use to.”

So the hunt continued on.

This was why they had decided to head to the tree farm. There was a large assortment of trees. Larger than what most stores provided. Plus they could see what the tree looked like before it would get all trussed up to be shipped home. Not to mention, Chailee really enjoyed seeing all the different trees. If anything, she was more particular about it than her parents were.

Chailee eventually found her way to patch of trees that had a sign in front of them that read Balsam trees. She was completely delighted by the scent of the trees as she walked amongst them. They had such a christmas smell to them that she found herself grinning. She made a point to inspect each tree in the little gathering, noting that several of the trees must have been selected already via the trunks left behind.

“Dad! Mom!” She called out as she stood in front of a tree that caught her attention. As she waited she continued to look at the dark green tree. It was certainly different in appearance to the douglas with it’s up sloped branches and thin top, but it had a fun character to it, was full, and just genuinely attracted her.

“What did you find, Bright Star?”

She turned at her father’s words, the grin still on her face. “These all smell so nice and this one is really pretty!”

Her father gave the tree a good look over as her mother came around to them. “Find one?”

Making sure the tree looked healthy and didn’t have any clearly noticeable pests, Mark looked at his daughter than at his wife. “I think we may have.” He said with a smile that matched his daughters.


“It’s certainly a pretty color and has a nice perfume.” Tanya consented as she smiled in return.

“Well then, let’s get it! I bet it’ll look really pretty with all of the decorations on it!” At this point Chailee was actually getting excited and her imagination was doing a magnificent job of envisioning what the tree would look like all lit up.

Mark laughed. “Alright, honey.” He pulled a tag from his pocket that had their name on it and put it around one of the branches of the tree. “There. It’s all ours. Let’s go let them know what kind it is and we’ll wait for them to get it for us.”

Chailee nodded happily. “Are we going to get some hot chocolate now?” She questioned as the small family headed back to the main building.

“If you like.” Her mother replied.

“Yes, please!” Chailee skipped a bit, curls bouncing along with her. “It’ll take a bit anyway for them to get the tree. Maybe we could get dinner?” She looked back at them with big eyes.

Mark laughed and shook his head. “You know how to work us, Bright Star.”

Tanya smiled. “Well it’s certainly late enough. We can have a nice lunch here before heading home to decorate the tree.”

So with the plan set, they hoofed their way back to the main building where they informed one of the workers there that they had selected their tree. After giving their info, the Sterling family headed across the street to a small diner that was known locally to have good food. Not to mention amazing hot chocolate according to Chailee.

The trio enjoyed their lunch together. Chailee made a point to drink down not one, but two cups of hot chocolate before they went back to pick up their tree.

The company had just finished trussing it up when they arrived. So, with some help from a worker, Mark got the tree onto the roof of their car and tied it down to the rack with some rope. In a matter of fifteen minutes the tree was all secured and ready to go to it’s new home.

Chailee slipped into the back seat and buckled herself in. “So are we going to make cookies tonight too, Mom?” She questioned as her parents got themselves situated in the vehicle.

“Maybe. It depends on how long it takes to get the tree ready. If not we can bake some up tomorrow.” Tanya looked over at Mark and gave her husband a smile, glad to see her daughter back to her normal self again.

“Mkay!”

With that Mark turned the car on and the family began their journey home with Chailee sitting in the back seat, staring out her window with her heart full of warmth. All her doubts and insecurities temporarily pushed away by the warmth of the season and her family.

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