“Why do I have to decide?” I ask.
“Because you’re the only voice of reason in this house,” Trace answers. “But, yeah, I vote presents.”
“Then open presents,” I snap. “Jesus.”
I think I growled hard enough even the electricity was intimidated because it chose that moment to come back on. We all freeze as the Christmas tree sparkles back to life. The heater fires up, and one of the living room lights glows in the corner.
“Hold on.” I jump up to turn the generator off and check that all of the pilot lights reignited. When I return, Harmony has Trace and Travis posed in front of the tree while she snaps a photo.
“Your turn,” Trace says, pointing to me. I step behind Harmony and wrap my arms around her for a photo. He’s been taking them the whole day, but this is the first chance we’ve had to get the tree in all its glory. “Now presents,” he adds when we sit back down. “Hold on, how come nobody noticed the stockings?”
He grabs four from the mantle. I didn’t get a ton for them, but each one has candy and a few things for each person. Reacher has his own filled with toys and treats. He barks asTravis offers him a bone out of it. I watch as everyone digs through their stockings. Harmony’s might be my favorite.
“Whose signature is this?” she asks, pulling an old guitar pick out.
“Wait, is that the one that Dad had?” Travis asks. “The one with Billy Gibbons’s initials. That’s brilliant!”
“Oh my gosh,” Harmony says in awe. “I can’t keep this.”
“You absolutely can. Dad would have loved it going to you. He loved music,” Travis adds. “Nice job, Beau.” I shrug. It was Santa after all.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever gotten.” Her gaze catches mine. She’s hugging the pick. Her face lights up when I smile.
“Dude,” Travis says, pulling out a tie pin with Dad’s initials on it. The cufflinks farther down in his stocking match it.
“What is it?” Trace asks.
“These were Dad’s.”
“A lawyer needs a good set of cuff links and a tie pin,” I answer. I’ve held on to them forever waiting for him to be old enough to appreciate them.
“Shut up, asshole. You’re going to make me cry,” Travis sniffs.
“I love these,” Trace says, holding up a set of silver measuring spoons in the shape of bluebonnets. I found them in a small shop last time I was in Austin. Trace collects odd measuring spoons. I don’t understand it, but to each his own. “And so as not to be outdone.” He pulls my stocking out from behind the tree and presents it to me.
“Yeah, thought we wouldn’t think of it, didn’t you?” Travis asks.
“Well, you didn’t,” Trace points out.
Inside the stocking I find a gift card to an online bookstore. It’s so much easier to buy books for my reader than try to get to a bookstore or the library. Books are one of my must-have items.I just budget for them every month like most people do utility bills. There are also chocolates from a specialty shop and several other fun things.
“Thanks, guys.”
“No, it was Santa,” Travis reminds me. “When we were little, Mom had a rule that if you stop believing in Santa Claus, then he stops coming. I don’t think either one of us will admit to this day that he’s not real.”
“I love that,” Harmony says. “Your mom was a genius.”
“Don’t even get us started on the Easter bunny. Who wants to go first?”
“Let me,” Trace answers. He moves to the tree and fishes out a handful of presents. After handing them out, he waits anxiously as we unwrap everything.
“Music paper!” Harmony exclaims, opening hers.
“I figured you probably write on a computer, but thought it would be fun for you to put a song on it and frame it,” he explains. “Or give it to your favorite chef, signed, to put up in his restaurant office.”
“Thank you. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
The rest of us open our presents. I get a new sketch pad and set of pencils. Perfect timing since mine are down to the nubs. Travis gets an official looking briefcase with his initials on it. He spends forever opening every pocket inside and testing the locks.
