“And one more,” I whisper, sliding a tiny box into her hands.
She opens it slowly. Inside is a delicate necklace and a heart-shaped pendant. Our picture inside. And on the back:Never doubt that you are loved unconditionally. —Mommy.
Mia gasps.“I’ll wear it forever, Mommy!”
I brush a tear away as she climbs into my arms. Ethan wraps us both in a warm, anchoring hold. When I look up, I catch him watching Mia with a silent vow in his eyes. I can feel it. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep us safe, to make this Christmas, this life, ours.
Then it’s my turn.
Ethan hands me a small velvet box first.
Inside:
A delicate gold necklace.
A tiny wildflower pendant, simple, timeless, beautiful.
“For my wildflower,” he murmurs.
My throat closes as he fastens it around my neck.
Then he gives me something else, a leather-bound book, worn soft with age.
I open it.
Handwritten recipes. Margins filled with notes. Pages yellowed by years and use.
“This was my great-grandmother’s,” Ethan says, rubbing the back of his neck.“Every woman in my family passed it down to the person she trusted most to keep the tradition alive.” He hesitates, voice low.“I guess I’m breaking the rule. But I want you to have it. I wantourfamily to have it.”
My eyes sting.
I trace the ink with trembling fingers.
“Ethan…” My voice cracks.“This is… priceless.”
“You are,” he says simply.
I kiss him, soft, slow, before the others groan and shower us with tinsel.
“Okay,” I laugh.“My turn to give you yours.”
My hands shake as I pick up his gifts.
The first is a small black box.
He opens it and stills completely.
Inside is the star certificate and the silver pendant engraved with its coordinates.
“You… named a star after me?” His voice breaks halfway through.
“I wanted you to know,” I whisper,“that even when everything felt dark… you were the light I looked for.”
Ethan blinks hard, fighting the emotion rising in his eyes.
But the next gift, the diary, undoes him entirely.
He opens it carefully, thumb dragging along the soft leather cover.
