22. Epilogue
Epilogue
Morrie
T here were presents beneath the tree.
I frowned as I sat down on the carpet, staring at them like they shouldn’t be there because they shouldn’t be. Scott and I had agreed to stick to filling up stockings for each other instead of buying big presents. I had spent a lot of time picking out things that would fit into his snowman stocking that hung in front of the fireplace and when I looked back to where my reindeer one hung beside it, it too was filled to the brim with packages. I even packed a smaller stocking for Perry that he was coming by to pick up later before heading to Christmas dinner with his family. This year was supposed to be stockings for everybody. That was what we’d decided and as I looked back down at the four boxes beneath the glowing tree, my frown doubled. After decorating a whole room in his house for me and giving me presents throughout the last month, Scott wasn’t supposed to spend another pile of money on me for Christmas morning.
“Problem?” Scott asked, walking into the living room in his pajama pants. He yawned as he stretched tall, then smiled as he relaxed.
“What’s this?” I asked, gesturing at the presents beneath the tree. “We said no tree presents, Daddy.”
“I don’t know what those are,” he commented, moving to sit on the couch behind me. “I’ve never seen them before in my life.”
“Well, I think that’s a lie. Where did they come from if you didn’t buy them?”
I glanced up at Scott and he shrugged in response, but the smile on his lips was very telling. He slid onto the floor and settled behind me, opening his legs so I could nestle in between them. I shivered a bit at his closeness, my skin prickling the tiniest bit even though I knew he was a safe touch person.
“Okay?” he whispered into my ear from behind me.
“Tortoise,” I murmured back. Scott reached around me and pulled the boxes closer to where we sat.
“What do they say?” he asked, pointing at the tags. “I really don’t know where they came from.”
I rolled my eyes before leaning forward and picking up the first one of the four. It was a small green box and on the top the label clearly read “To Morrie, Love Santa.” I read it out loud and Scott placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.
“See? They’re from Santa.”
“Daddy,” I protested, with a sigh. “We said no tree presents.”
“They’re from Santa,” Scott repeated. “Who am I to tell Santa what to do? If he wants to give my brave boy some Christmas presents, that’s all on him.”
“I didn’t get you anything big though. I feel bad opening these.”
“I didn’t get you anything big either, I promise. I filled your stocking with little things, just like I promised. This was all Santa’s doing, but I bet he didn’t spend too much money either. You’ll see when you open them.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
I couldn’t stop the small smile that broke over my lips as I looked at the package. “Is this stuff for when I’m little? Because Santa brings presents for kids, not adults.”
“Why don’t you open them and find out?”
I nodded, then carefully started unwrapping the present, sliding my finger into the flaps on the sides and pulling open the tape. Scott gave me a tiny nudge and I stopped, turning to look at him as best as I could. “What?”
“You can tear the paper,” he said. “Santa would want you to. Ripping open paper is part of the fun, Morrie.”
He reached forward and grasped the paper I’d carefully unwrapped, giving it a small yank. It tore and I grinned, butterflies kicking up inside me. I hadn’t been visited by Santa in such a long time and the presents I had been given during my childhood came with reminders to not make a mess as I’d opened them. I’d just gotten used to being careful, I supposed, but if Scott wanted me to tear into these gifts, I would definitely do that. I grabbed the paper and ripped it, a tiny giggle escaping my lips as I tore it off the box and found a small box containing a little shark printed sippy cup inside along with a plastic spoon and fork printed in ocean waves. Definitely presents for when I was little then.
“So cool,” I murmured as I held it up.
“Wow, Santa really knows you, huh?”
“He sure does.” I put the box down and Scott slid the next one in front of me. When that one was unwrapped, it revealed a set of shark printed sectioned plates that matched the cup and the utensils. I was pretty excited to have a matched set that I could eat snacks with when we played. He had bought me that one set and had salvaged it from my old apartment, but they were Christmas themed and this one was kind of an every day thing.
“I wonder what’s in this one?” Scott said as he took the dishes from me and pulled a large rectangle box in front of me.
“Me too,” I grinned, tearing the paper off of it quickly. My eyes went wide and I snorted a laugh into the silence of the living room around us. That one laugh brought even more from my lips as I picked up the shrink wrapped package and held it up for Scott to see. “Macaroni cheese in the blue box.”
“Santa brought you a whole crate of macaroni and cheese?” Scott laughed behind me. “I was right. He must really know what you like.”
My laughter died down as I put the package containing twelve individual boxes of macaroni and cheese to the side. I glanced up at the stockings by the fireplace and rose from between Scott's legs to go and grab both of ours. Opening presents wasn't just for me this morning and it was time for Scott to open one I'd picked out specifically for him. There were a number of things for him, some aftershave I knew he liked and a book about interior design his friend Russ had said he'd enjoy, but one item in his stocking was different. It was special. I made my way back over to curl up between Scott's legs again, then put the stockings beside us.
"Your turn," I commented, reaching into his stocking and pulling out a small wrapped box.
I turned and handed it to him, watching as he ripped into the paper while my heart thudded behind my ribs like a drum. Scott smiled down at me for a moment, then turned his attention to the package in his hands. He opened the cardboard box that had been beneath the wrapping paper and pulled out the bright blue glass Christmas ornament I'd bought for him. It was shaped like a tree and there was writing on both sides. Scott held it up, turning it over in his hands to take a look at everything written on the surface of it.
"Merry UnChristmas," he read, with a grin on his lips. he turned it over and read the other side out loud as well. "Brave Boy and Daddy's First Christmas. I love it."
'It's silly," I commented, feeling my cheeks heating up. I'd bought the ornament and Perry had helped me put the words onto it one day when I didn't have to work and Scott was at the apartments taking a look at things.
"it's perfect. See? Blue is a Christmas color."
"it so isn't. The ornament clearly says UnChristmas."
"Morrie, thank you," Scott said, a tender smile on his face. He rose from the floor and hung the ornament front and center, the blue glass catching on the white bulbs and lighting up on the branch. For a color that wasn't meant to be at Christmas, it definitely was pretty where it hung among the other things Scott had bought to decorate our tree. He came to sit back down behind me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug. He let me go, then gestured towards the last package beneath the tree. "Your turn."
Leaning forward, I reached for it. It was a small box, long and thin in shape, and it was wrapped in red and green striped paper. It could be a chocolate bar, but it was a bit light for that as I picked it up. “Is this one more snacks?”
“I’m not sure,” Scott responded, shuffling a bit closer behind me and wrapping his arms around me. “I don’t think so. I think this is something Santa hopes you really like, even though you’ve never asked for anything like it before.”
Curiosity kicked up inside me as I tore into the package, pulling the paper off to reveal a box that looked like it came from a jewelry store. It could hold a necklace, I realized, as I undid the tape holding the two parts of the box together. I opened it carefully to reveal a silver chain. “What is this?”
“Take it out,” Scott whispered behind me. “I hope you like it.”
I carefully pulled the chain out and put the box down on the floor in front of me. As I held it up so I could see the small charm dangling from it, I couldn’t stop the slow smile that crept over my lips. It was a tiny silver shark tooth and as I moved it, it caught the light of the Christmas tree. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen and my heart kicked in my chest a little bit as I considered how well the man behind me knew me and how quickly it had all happened.
“Do you like it?” Scott asked, sounding incredibly hopeful and a bit nervous.
“Daddy, it’s perfect,” I murmured.
“Santa saw it and thought of you. He knew it was a risk, but he wanted you to have it.”
“I love it very much.”
Scott reached out his hand and I dropped the necklace into it. I felt the slide of the cold chain around my neck as it was placed around my neck. When it was done up, it hung nicely around my neck, the perfect length for me to tuck it into my shirt while I was working. Even when I was playing I could wear it, even if it wasn’t something a little would typically wear. When had I ever done things that typical littles did anyway? “I won’t ever take it off. Thank you, Daddy.”
“It’s really okay? You’ve never said anything about jewelry before, so Santa wasn’t sure.”
He sounded so concerned and it warmed my heart. I leaned back into him hard, resting my head on his shoulder as my fingers came up to play with the tiny shark tooth charm like they had minds of their own. “It’s perfect. I promise. Thank you.”
“Thank Santa,” Scott whispered as I turned a bit where I sat so I could see his face. He smiled warmly at me and reached up to cup my cheek in his hand, smoothing his thumb over my cheekbone hard, like I liked his touches to be.
“Thank you, Santa Daddy,” I murmured.
“You’re welcome, my brave, smart boy,” Scott responded with a small laugh before leaning forward and capturing my lips in a kiss that was almost as sweet as he was.