1. Tank and the Towering Tree

ONE

TANK AND THE TOWERING TREE

T he scent of fresh pine fills my nose as I stand back to take in the full glory of a fifteen foot Balsam fir. With an abundance of deep green needles, it’s magnificent and quite a sight to behold.

Especially since it’s in the middle of my house.

“Move it just a bit to the left," I instruct the workers, who are currently struggling to maneuver the tree. Two are on ladders and there are two others on the ground stabilizing it.

“This way?” One of the workers grunts as he reaches up to brace the tree as it sways with their movements.

"My left or your left?" Another voice chimes in.

“Closer to the wall.” I grit my teeth as the tree sways drunkenly again. Just as I’m trying to think of how to explain a massive hole in the wall to Emma when she gets home, the tree settles into place.

"Perfect! Thank you, gentleman. My wife is going to love it.”

There is a collective sigh of relief as the workers step back to look at the tree. The owner of the company approaches and I reach out for a handshake. Everest has been handling all the greenery for my holiday decorations for a few years now and he never fails to deliver.

“Anything else, Mr. Marshall?”

“That should do it. Emma always wants to hang the ornaments herself.”

He looks over at the tree in surprise. “Well, she certainly has her work cut out for her this time.”

“That she does. Happy holidays guys!” As they each pass by, I hand them a few hundred dollars each.

After they’re gone, I turn back to the tree warily. Emma took our daughter, Maxine, to the store. It’s not a total coincidence that I asked the guys to deliver the tree when I knew she would be gone.

She will love it. Eventually. Besides, I could hardly get a small tree to fit in the great room of this massive cabin. The ceilings are roughly twenty feet high in this room.

I smirk at the idea of calling a ten thousand square foot mountain getaway a “cabin” but it is made with wood logs. That counts, right?

Just then the door opens and I hear the sound of my wife’s voice and the excited chatter of my daughter. When they enter the room, Emma grins at me before pointing. “Let’s show Daddy what you found, Maxi!”

When she sees me, Maxi practically trips over her own feet running to me. At five years old, she’s in the stage where she always reacts as if she hasn’t seen me in ages, even if we’ve only been separated for an hour. I laugh as I scoop her up, blowing kisses all over her cheeks.

“Daddy, we found reindeer food!”

She thrusts a bag of something that looks like glitter and oatmeal in my face. At this point I’m an expert at making the “interested Dad” face so I smile and nod appropriately as she tells me all about it.

When I turn around, Emma stands in the middle of the great room staring up at the tree. She turns to me with a carefully blank expression.

“They got the tree set up, I see. It’s a little…bigger than last year, isn’t it?”

“The ceilings are higher in here than in the country house.”

She nods. “Right.”

"Go big or go home.” When she gives me a skeptical look, I clarify. "Or in this case, go big in your home."

"Tank. This tree is ridiculously huge. This is the tree that beats up the other trees on the playground.”

“I’m just happy they got it up without leaving any holes in the wall. Let’s count that as a win.”

That finally gets a smile out of her.“I’m not sure we have enough ornaments to cover this thing. And it’s so huge, we'll need to move the furniture just to fit the presents!"

"We could always use more lights, and I know we have enough ornaments in the attic. I think Maxi will love it."

She smiles softly as she looks over at our daughter, happily munching on goldfish crackers.

"It is beautiful." She reaches out and runs her hand along one of the branches. But she still looks troubled.

"We can get something else if you really don't like it."

She shakes her head. "It's just that I don't want Maxi to grow up thinking you have to spend a lot of money to celebrate the holidays.”

I pull her into my arms. "Emma, our little angel could celebrate Christmas with nothing more than that bag of reindeer crap and she'd be just as happy. She's got her mother's heart."

She peeks up at me. “And her father’s stubbornness. You know she’s determined to put that reindeer food outside tonight.”

“I’ll help her. It’s high time I started teaching her about reconnaissance anyway.”

She chuckles. “Of course. Because she’ll need tactical training in kindergarten.”

I kiss her cheek but when I pull back, I notice the lines of tension on her forehead. “What is it?”

“There’s just so much to do. The tree and getting the guest rooms ready and the cooking.” She puts a hand to her chest. “Why did we think buying a new house right before Christmas was a good idea?”

“You know what? Why don't you go to the spa? You could use a break. Maybe Sasha or Rissa could go with you.”

"Really?" She looks around the room. “But aren’t those decorators you hired coming?—”

“Emma, I’ve got this. Go. Get pampered. You deserve it."

Her eyes light up as she pulls her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll text all the girls and see who is free.”

Leaning against the wall, I watch her. She's been burning the candle at both ends lately, refusing to hire a nanny despite working part-time as a veterinary tech. Luckily one of the benefits of being a billionaire is having lots of time so we make it work. But eventually something will have to give, especially if we want to give Maxi a brother or sister soon.

Emma doesn’t talk much about the death of her parents but it’s obvious she’s trying to soak up every moment with our daughter that she can. She's got a heart too big for her own good.

I love that about her, the way she gives without expecting anything in return. It's what makes her who she is.

“Well, Ivy is working and Josie and Seven didn’t respond, but Sasha and Rissa said they’re in." Her voice pulls me from my thoughts. “Rissa is going to pick us all up.”

"That's great.” I smile, instantly feeling better.

Emma likes to drive herself places but my brother has a dedicated bodyguard assigned to drive his wife around. He’s even more obsessed with security than I am.

“What are you going to do? Are you sure you can handle Maxi while dealing with the decorators?”

“Are you kidding? She’ll love seeing the lights go up. And I’m sure she’ll have ideas about how to decorate.”

She wraps her arms around my waist, and I savor the feel of her against me. "Thank you, Tank. This means a lot."

Pulling her close, I bury my face in her hair and just inhale the scent of Emma. The scent of home. "Anything for you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me."

“You say that every year." Her voice is muffled against my shirt.

"And every year it's true."

I stand at the window, Maxi in my arms, as we wave goodbye to Emma. The window on the limousine lowers and I see Rissa waving.

"Say bye to Mommy," I prompt Maxi, who’s already enthusiastically waving her tiny hand.

"Bye, Mommy!" she calls out.

As the limousine pulls away, I lower Maxi to the ground. "Okay, we've got a big job ahead of us. Are you ready to be a chief decorator?"

“Yes. I can help.” She runs off toward the great room and I follow after picking up the box labeled 'Christmas Lights.'

I started sorting through the tangled mass of wires and bulbs earlier but I still need to test them. There’s nothing worse than stringing lights only to discover that a bunch of them are blown out.

Maxi appears at my side and looks into the box. “Look at all the lights,” she whispers.

It’s amazing the things that appear magical to a child. “We are going to put all these lights on the tree before Mommy gets home.”

I look over at the ladder still leaning against the wall next to the tree.

Maybe I should have taken Everest up on his offer to decorate it, too? But then, I remember Emma’s face when she saw the tree. She already thinks this is too much for us to handle. I can at least decorate it.

"Are you ready to help decorate?" I twist a string of lights, trying to unravel it.

How do these things get tangled every year? I always put them away coiled neatly. What are they doing in the eleven months between uses? Having an orgy?

Suddenly I realize it’s too quiet.

“Maxi?”

With a start, I realize that she’s not in the room any more. I turn around frantically. Experience has taught me how quickly she can get into trouble when she’s out of my sight.

"Yes, Daddy!" she calls from the other room.

“Where are you, kid?”

She bounds back into the great room clutching one of her race cars. We’ve tried to be conscious of buying her a variety of different toys. Of course, Emma never likes the ones I buy. I don’t see what’s wrong with a bow and arrow set. Hand-eye coordination is very important.

“Can you help Daddy untangle the lights?”

She nods eagerly so I hand her a section that I know is broken. When she untwists one section, she starts twirling, banging the lights against the wall by accident.

I chuckle remembering last year. Before I knew better than to give her a string of functioning lights to keep her busy.

For the next hour, I climb the ladder, stringing lights around the tree, while Maxi chatters away. We have a bunch of soft, knitted ornaments so I asked her to sort those and tell me what she finds. As long as she’s talking, I know she’s still in the room playing safely on the floor but pretty soon I start running out of questions to ask her.

When I finally climb down, I realize the lights are definitely not hung evenly. Whatever. I plug in the lights and cross my fingers that none of them have blown in the time it took me to hang them.

As the tree lights up, Maxi lets out a cheer. She walks over to the tree and hangs one of the knitted snowmen on a branch near the bottom.

The lights are uneven and I’m sure the ornaments will be too but no professional decorator could ever capture the heart and soul of this tree.

“Great job sorting the ornaments. Let’s put on the rest of the snowmen.” I look over at the pile of decorations and groan internally. It’s going to take forever to put them all the way up this tree.

Maxi's face lights up. "Daddy, I forgot I made an ornament at school!"

"Why don't you go grab it from your backpack?"

She scampers off to fetch her creation. While she's gone, my phone chimes in my pocket. I pull it out to check my text messages.

Gabe

Did I tell you I found the perfect building for my cars?

Tank

When?

Gabe

Last month. You were right. It’s much easier and we can use the extra space for overflow from the shops.

Finn

So it’s actually an investment? Nice!

Zack

How are things going with the cabin?

Tank

The tree was just delivered. We have a few furniture deliveries due next week. You’re all still coming right?

Gabe

Wouldn’t miss it!

Tank

Has anyone heard from Luke lately?

Maxi returns then holding a small ornament crafted from popsicle sticks. "Look, Daddy!" she exclaims, presenting it to me with pride.

"Wow. You did a fantastic job." I am genuinely impressed. It's adorned with cotton balls and bits of colorful yarn but I can clearly tell it’s supposed to be a snowman. "This deserves a special spot on the tree."

Her smile could light up the room. I help her hang the ornament, ensuring it's displayed prominently. Then, as she starts putting other snowmen on the tree to be his “friends”, I pull out the jumbled papers in her backpack.

There are a few crayon drawings and an information sheet about the origins of Christmas yuletide traditions. Curious, I start reading.

"Hey Maxi, did you know people used to hide things in their Christmas trees?" I ask, glancing at her.

"My teacher said that people in Germany hide a pickle!” she says.

It’s a struggle to keep a straight face. "Well, I don’t know about a pickle but maybe we should hide things, too. What do you think?"

She nods happily. "Yes! Can we hide something now, Daddy?"

I chuckle, her enthusiasm infectious. "Of course. I think we should hide something for Mommy. But it's our little secret, okay?"

She whirls around, so excited she can’t hold still. "I can keep the secret.”

I smile. “Me too.”