Tree Lighting

Elisabeth giggled excitedly from the banister, holding miss kitty tightly to her. Below her, Lisa's parents and older siblings had pulled out all the trimmings for the giant tree they'd stationed in the foyer.

'This must be the start of Christmas!' She thought excitedly. Before, she'd never remembered it, 'But this year it is different.' she thought, hugging her precious kitten. Miss kitty had been a gift for her, her fifth birthday, this year was particular for them both, and she knew it! She gave miss kitty a tight squeeze and looked over the railing again; she wasn't supposed to be looking. Everything was supposed to be a surprise, but she couldn't help herself after she saw the gorgeous tree; Lisa knew she had to watch everything.

From the boxes below, golden tinsel came, and Bobby laughed gleefully as he chased Mariah through the ample space attempting to wrap his twin sister in it. Miss kitty's eyes were focused entirely on the sparkling folial, emitting little chirps now and again through her daze.

All the commotion had her smiling from ear to ear; she couldn't contain her excitement. It was taking everything in her not to run down and help wrap the tree in the silver tinsel they had pulled out of the box; now, everything was just so exciting. They had balls of brilliant colors, strings of lights and-

Miss kitty let out a yowl; she had done enough observing she wanted to participate. Scrambling down the steps, she took off with Lisa hot on her heels. "No! Miss kitty! Stop!" she screamed. Lisa and Miss kitty weren't supposed to be outside the bedroom, and now the kitten was giving away all of their snooping; worse, she was heading straight for all the sparkling folial on the tree.

"Oh, Bill." her mother, Ella had time to gasp out before the kitten jumped straight up and grabbed hold of the tinsel; they hadn't had time to secure the tree, so with the glitz came the tree. Shouts rang out, and Lisa dove for the little fluff ball. Lisa was so scared for Miss kitty that she should have just listened to her mother and stayed in her room instead of trying to watch in secret.

In her hands, the kitten purred and looked up at her with pleased green eyes; Miss kitty knew Lisa loved her very much. Lisa also knew Miss kitty loved her too and when the tree was lifted off of her. She looked up at her family and saw the same look in her family's eyes, even if there was a bit of fear in them too. "Lisa, baby, you're ok!" her mother cried, wrapping her arms around her youngest daughter.

"Yes, mama, I am. I'm sorry, I just wanted to see." she cried; everything had been so scary before, but now in her mother's arms, it was just right.

"It's ok, baby." her father answered this time. "We thought to surprise you, but it's better to involve the 'whole' family. He put extra emphasis on the whole as he looked at the squirmy mass in her hands. Everyone seemed to giggle and relax, which was enough for her as she launched herself into her father's arms.

This time, when they righted the tree in the massive foyer, Lisa used the tinsel to play with Miss kitty before Bobby helped her drape the tree's branches. Her mother, Ella, brought out a box of candy canes, and her father, Bill, allowed her to hang them on the higher branches by setting her on his shoulders. They placed the shiny ornaments on branches throughout the glorious tree leaving little space untouched. Yet, there was plenty of green shining through. They took care to tether the tree with the kitten, and five-year-old, you could never be too careful. Then finally, grabbing a ladder, Bill placed an angel on the top of the tree, and they flipped the switch.

Tears of joy shone in Lisa's family's eyes; this is what they wanted to show her, she thought with excitement. Miss kitty was chasing some fallen paper around the floor. Her parents had settled by the fire. Her father typed away at some work project, but her mother was reading and glancing at them from time to time. Her siblings chattered at the tree about the gifts they couldn't wait to see under the tree, but she was just happy for this sneaky gift.