Feeling excited to finally get the tree up and decorated, Jules was helping his dad sort out the decorations, tossing away anything broken, while sorting out the others to be used in a small box.
The young hedgehog wasn't sure whether he was happy that Christmas was approaching or the fact that dad got to stay home all week long since the nasty snowstorm intervened in him traveling to his workplace. It was a nice change.
While dad left to get the Christmas lights, Jules admired the tree Charles and dad had chosen a few days ago and to him it was gigantic!
Once Olgilvie came back they untangled the lights which ended up with Jules getting tangled up in the process; this earned a laugh from his dad as he struggled for quite some time to get free.
A few bulbs were out so they had to replaced before they decorated the tree. After they bulbs were replaced they got to the fun part. Stringing along the tree from the bulky bottom branches to the top.
Time for the ornaments! Jules rushed over to the big box in the middle of the room, grabbing the first big glass ornament. Olgilvie supplied the hooks or ribbons to hang from the branches.
Riiiiing! This came from the kitchen, stopping both in their tracks, Olgilvie offered the container of hooks and ribbons for the ornaments to be hung. "Be right back, sonny." He replied softly, getting up from his seat and making his way to the kitchen.
Ears pricked up in alert when his father answered the phone, his tone quickly changing in a negative way. After decorating a few more branches with several ornaments, Jules tiptoed toward the kitchen, and peeked in. Able to hear more of the conversation. From the sound of it, the voice on the other end sounded... feminine. He concluded. By the look of his father's expression... he didn't seem to pleased to be contacted by this mysterious female.
In a low voice, he heard his dad say:
"They're doing just fine." The next sentence he couldn't pick up because his father had left the kitchen to venture in the laundry room. Boldly, Jules stepped further into the kitchen only to quickly back out when his father made his way back.
"You're... what?" His father's face paled, and he gripped the counter with his free hand."...Well, how long?" Jules couldn't hear the answer on the other end of the phone, but his father wasn't pleased - for his ears pinned back against his head and he gave a heavy sigh. "What about the boys? There's no way-" Olgilvie turned around and froze when he caught a glimpse of Jules. He lowered the phone to his side, and looked at his son sternly. "Jules. Go back in the living room, please."
"Who is that on the phone?" His curiosity was killing him, his head tilted to the side. "You're not gonna have to go to work are you...?"
His father said nothing and simply pointed toward the living room. Disappointed with his answer, Jules made his way back to the task he had abandoned.
The conversation on the phone seemed to last for the next 10 minutes, before his dad finally joined him in the living room. Instead of helping with the rest of the decorations, Olgilvie just sat there staring off into nothingness...