Finding Beauty (Rewrite)

Chapter 23

~The Beast~

It was impossible to turn on the television without coming upon a Christmas special. The radio Carina was always using was blasting holiday songs on nearly every station. She even came home with Santa Claus oven mitts and a gingerbread man tray because it was all the store was selling. Teigan couldn’t deny it any longer. It was that time of year again - whether he liked it or not. 

For the last two years, he had spent the holidays alone and a beast. He couldn’t say he remembered how the day went. It came and left without any acknowledgement from him because he felt no reason to celebrate. He was angry and bored, the only thing occupying his mind was his new hobby of catching criminals and that had slowed down since the news stations reported less on crimes when the jolly day was near. 

Even before he was cursed, Christmas wasn’t a pleasant time of the year. His normally stressed mother became a wreck in apprehension of her father in law and mother in law coming to visit. They were very much like their son and Teigan’s dad hassled her about everything being perfect for them. By the end of the day, the pent of passive aggression morphed into a big confrontation that ended in people storming out and something glass being tossed across the room. He could count on finding his mother crying in the backyard and his father not returning home until the next day - black out drunk. He wondered why his father never divorced his mother and hired a maid like he did with Carina. A maid was much closer to what he was seeking. 

This year would inevitably be different. Bethany was going to spend it with him. 

He had definitely planned to have let her go by then. He didn’t know how she felt about the holiday but either way she should have been able to spend it at home. It was only right for him to do something for her to make up for it. 

He found her sitting on the couch admiring a hand knit sweater. Her brown hair was tucked behind her ears, the remnants of a smile lingered on her face. He made his footsteps louder so as to not startle her. She gave him a smile. A smile. 

He was certain she had never given him an unwarranted smile. 

“Look what Carina made me!” She held up the sweater to him. It was blue with an angel ornament stitched onto it. Balls of fluffy white snow coated it and it’s sleeves. “It’s an ugly Christmas sweater - except it’s not ugly!” 

He found her appreciation endearing. Both his father and mother would have stuck up their nose at the sight of the gift - they wouldn’t even have considered it a gift. If it didn’t come with a receipt - they were uninterested. He envied her in a sense. He wished little things like that brought him that much joy growing up. He would have been a happier kid. 

“It’s safe to assume you celebrate Christmas then?” 

“Yep! Jesus is the reason for the season!" She pulled the sweater over her shirt. It fit perfectly. “I’m feeling really festive now.” 

“Then you won’t mind going tree hunting with me?” He watched as her mouth fell open. 

"You mean going out into the woods, finding a tree, and cutting it down to decorate?”

"No, I mean finding a herd of wild trees and shooting them." 

She crossed her arms, fighting another smile. “Are you getting sarcastic with me? Because I can appreciate some good sarcasm.” 

He got up from the couch, heading towards the door. “You coming?”

“Duh- yeah!” The day hadn’t even arrived yet and he was already more excited for Christmas than he had ever been. 

~Beauty~

“What kind of tree are we looking for?” Bethany asked. They had wandered into the forest across the street from the house. It was only the second time she had gotten a peek of what it looked like from the outside. It was white with cobblestones decorating the exterior and grew smaller and smaller behind them. She hoped Teigan knew the way back.