Chapter 12 #3
He laughed. “Babygirl, you’re going to have to unwrap it to find that out.”
“Oh, right!” I tossed the now empty-for-sure stocking aside and gave the satin green ribbon a tug. “It’s almost too pretty to unwrap,” I said and then giggled. “But only almost.”
Daddy chuckled but I was concentrating on trying to guess what the present could contain.
It was bigger than any jewelry box that one of those beaded bracelets might have come in but wasn’t as big as the box that would be necessary to wrap the new book I’d received either.
With the bow undone, I carefully slit the tape and unfolded the red wrapping paper.
Setting it aside, I opened the black box and the looked up to stare across the couch. “It’s a pig!”
“A pig? Like a peppermint pig?” he asked, leaning forward.
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “I guess they weren’t all bought after all.”
“Guess not,” Daddy agreed, setting his mug on the tray beside my still half-full one.
I lifted the pig out of the box and was about to kiss its little snout when I frowned. “Where’s the note?”
“It’s not there?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Maybe inside the bag?” he suggested.
“Oh, it could be.” I set the pig in my lap and reached in the box and pulled out the red velvet bag and opened it. Reaching inside, I pulled out the contents. “No note, just this.” I held out the silver mallet to show him.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” He stood and picked up the tray. “I’m going to get a refill and heat your cocoa for you, then we can open presents from under the tree.”
“Okay,” I said, not meaning to sound a little disappointed, but even though it was silly, I’d really kinda hoped to find a note.
Daddy was halfway across the room before he turned back. “Oh, maybe it’s inside the pig?”
I looked up and shook my head. “The pigs are pretty solid, otherwise they wouldn’t hold up to being smacked too many times.”
He shrugged. “Just a thought. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” I repeated and looked at my lap.
Had the pig been as heavy as the ones we’d sold?
I thought he might have been lighter, but maybe this was Noel.
I’d sort of forgotten the different sizes since I no longer had any left.
Feeling a bit silly, I picked up the pig and held him up.
“Are you hiding a note from me, Mr. Piggie?”
If he was, he was keeping it a secret as no answer came. I shook the pig, attempting to hear if anything rattled inside but heard nothing. My eyes caught the glint of silver I still held in my hand.
“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” I muttered, lifting the mallet and then said, “Wait! First, I want to say how grateful I am for my Daddy and how blessed I am to be with him and to have all my friends and I want to thank you and all your friends for making it possible to bring joy to so many children. Merry Christmas, Mr. Piggie.”
This time, I did kiss his snout and whispered, “Close your eyes,” before holding him flat on my palm and hitting him with the mallet.
When he didn’t shatter, I was sorta glad, but could swear I heard Henry saying, “You’re still hitting like a girl!
” Taking a better grip on the mallet, I squinted my eyes and smacked the pig harder and then shouted when it broke, not in a dozen pieces, but basically in half. And lo and behold, there was a note!
“Daddy! I found it!” I shouted. “The note was inside!”
“That’s great, babygirl. What does it say?”
Oh, I guessed I had to read it to know. I set the mallet aside and carefully laid the two halves of the pig back inside its box, licking my fingertip and tapping the few pieces of candy that hadn’t quite survived the mallet.
Sticking my finger in my mouth, I sucked off the peppermint and smiled as I thought of the opal in my belly button.
“Well?”
“Huh? Oh, the note!” I shook my head and wiped my finger across my knee before unfolding the piece of paper.
At first I couldn’t figure out what the note said as it didn’t look like any thank you note I’d ever written or received. Then I realized that it was a poem. That thought brought my head up to yell, “I think Dicky stole a piece of your list, Santa Daddy!”
“Sneaky bugger,” he declared. “So, what do you have to do?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t read it yet, but it looks like a poem.” When no reply came, I shrugged. I was pretty much a pro at this by now, so by the time he returned, I’d be able to tell him what the list required of me. Dropping my gaze, I began to read the stanzas.
Christmas is the most magical time of the year,
When we remember and think of all we hold dear.
On trees we hang tinsel and ornaments then adorn them with stars,
As families and friends gather and celebrate, coming from near and far.
Pretty ribbons and bows hold our presents concealed,
Until Christmas morn when it’s time for secrets to be revealed.
No matter how many gifts I might find beneath our tree,
There’s only one present that holds the very heart of me.
Her smile is brighter than any string of lights,
Her giggles and love fill both my days and my nights.
From the moment I met eyes of forest green, and saw her auburn-hued curls,
I knew she had the power to change—to become–my entire world.
With grace and beauty my babygirl has blessed me each day,
And now I ask for her to please look my way…
I slowly lifted my head to see that my Daddy had returned, but not to sit beside me, but to kneel on one knee before me. He held a box that I could barely see for the tears that filled my eyes and flowed down my cheeks.
“Marcella Christine McKinley, I love you so much it hurts, but I would rather hurt for the rest of my life than to go a single moment without you. I love you with everything that I am. I can never tell you how much of me you have claimed, how deeply I love you, but I promise you, I will spend every day for the rest of my life trying to be worthy of the incredible woman, the loving, fabulous Little you are. Please, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Oh, Daddy!” I cried, launching off the couch and into his arms, well, once he’d managed to wrap them around me after I’d knocked him over when I fell on top of him.
But as those arms I never wanted to ever feel dropping away tightened around me, I said, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, oh, Santa Daddy, I love you so much my heart hurts, but I too would rather hurt every day than spend a single second without you holding me.
I promise to love you every moment of every day for the rest of my life.
I wasn’t too sure he understood all I’d said as the words came out in bits and spurts among laughter and tears and giggles and pure unadulterated shock that this was even happening.
We’d never discussed marriage, and I had been okay with that.
But once again, he’d proven to know my heart better than I knew it myself.
And it turned out my Santa Daddy was pretty good at decoding cryptic words as well because he managed to not only sit up, but to arrange me on his lap and open the box I’d completely forgotten about.
“Hand, please, the future Mrs. Austin Carey.”
I giggled and stuck my hand out and then all giggles stopped at the same time as my heart when he slid the ring from the box onto my finger. It was a beautiful pink opal surrounded by diamonds that glittered beneath the lights of the tree.
“Oh, Daddy, it’s perfect,” I whispered, almost afraid it would disappear.
He chuckled, closed my fingers and then brought hand to his lips and kissed the stone.
I found my giggle again. “Does it taste like peppermint, Daddy?”
“It tastes better than peppermint, babygirl.”
I tried to mimic him by arching my brow but was pretty sure it was only my nose that scrunched. “What tastes better than peppermint, Daddy?”
He cupped the side of my cheek. “Peppermint covered in love.”
“Oh, Daddy, you’re the most romantic Daddy in the whole wide universe. I will love the future husband of the future Mrs. Austin James Carey forever and always.”
“I think I need to hear that again,” he said with a smile that had my heart jumping.
“Why, are you getting hard of hearing?”
He shook his head. “No, babygirl, but perhaps you need to check your memory if you’ve already forgotten my promise.”
He’d made so many promises, I was a bit unsure of which one he meant until he said, “Ho-ho-ho,” which had me breaking into a huge ear-to-ear smile.
“You’re checking it twice.”
“Exactly, now if you please?”
Reaching up, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to within a hairsbreadth from my lips and then whispered, “I will love the future husband of the future Mrs. Austin James Carey forever and always.”
“Pinkie-promise?”
“Oh, yes,” I whispered back, hooking my pinkie with his as our lips met to seal the promise with a kiss.
The End
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