“Where’d you go?” Bal’s soft question brought me out of my runaway musings.
I gave him a small smile, taking another bite of my cinnamon roll, and shook my head. “Just lost in thought. Nothing exciting.”
“In that case, wait here.”
“I can get up, you know!” I called playfully, though I was enjoying all this pampering. It was a side to Bal that was completely unexpected, and I was eating it up.
He returned with a red stocking, obviously filled with things, and a fancy wrapped box. The green foil paper shone under the bedroom light, the red and gold bow and ribbon done in some intricate design I would never even attempt.
Sitting the box next to me on the bed, he handed me the stocking. Taking it, I asked, “For me?”
“Yes,” he sat at my hip on the bed, and reached for his cocoa. “I’ve listened to Keegan go on and on about your family's Christmas morning traditions long enough to know how to do this. Or close enough. I’m sorry you had to miss it with your family.”
I shrugged, but excitedly fiddled with the stocking, trying to look like I wasn’t trying to peek inside it. Stockings were the best part, in my opinion. Even with my brother and I both being adults, our parents still filled a stocking for us every Christmas.
“Open it,” he chuckled, his eyes filled with merriment. “It’s not that exciting. I wasn’t sure what all to put in it. I’m sure your parents will have one for you, but I…I don’t know, I wanted to give you one from me.”
I stared at him, swallowing down the emotion clogging my throat, and ran my finger over the soft plush material. “I didn’t get you one.”
I felt really bad about it, too. But I had picked out a present for him, when Keegan and my mom and I had gone shopping.
“I don’t expect anything, Kendrick.”
“I did get you a present though,” I told him excitedly. “It’s in the closet over there.”
He turned to look at the closed closet door, before turning back to stare at me, a tiny bit of excitement filling his eyes. “You didn’t need to do that.”
But he crossed the room and fetched the wrapped present from the top of the closet. I’d had it gift wrapped, so it at least looked way better than I could have done, but still it was nowhere near as fancy as the present he had brought me.
He sat it on the bed next to my present. “Open your stocking.”
So, I did. Pulling out lots of my favorite candies, a new bookmark, some fuzzy, fun Christmas socks, and other odds and ends. Grinning, I thanked him. “You found all my favorites.”
Color flushed his high cheekbones. “I might have texted your brother. He’ll likely never let me forget it either.”
“I know that had to be tough for you,” I teased, handing him the large box. “Open your gift.”
He gingerly pulled at a piece of tape, careful to not rip the paper. Dear Goddess, he was one ofthosepeople. “You really didn’t need to get me anything,” he repeated.
Sipping the last of my cocoa down, I shrugged. “Well, I thought we were spending Christmas with my family, and I figured we would need to keep up appearances. You know, of being a couple in love.”
His gaze held mine for a few seconds, before he went back to picking at the taped ends.
“Oh my Goddess!” I exclaimed impatiently. “Just rip it! We aren’t using it again. Part of the fun is ripping the paper!”
He snorted at me, and kept at his careful picking, until he had the white box unwrapped, the paper in one whole sheet. Folding it carefully, he set it aside. Opening the lid, he pulled out the sweater I had picked out for him.
The material was super soft and it was a bright, cobalt blue. Brighter and more colorful than anything I had ever seen him wear, but the color had caught my eye. I couldn’t stop staring at it, thinking how pretty it would look with his coloring.
Bal stared down at the garment in his lap, running his finger over the soft material.
“I thought the color would look good on you,” I said softly, suddenly feeling very unsure about my choice. Maybe I should have gone with a book or something. Something not so personal. “You don’t need to wear it. You can take it back. It might not even fit.”
Bal’s head came up, and there was something in his eyes, a soft look I had never seen before. “It’s lovely, Kendrick. Thank you.”
He placed it gently back in the box, then handed me the gift he had brought for me, clearing his throat as he did. “I hope you like this.”
Unlike him, and despite the truly magnificent wrapping job someone had done, I ripped the paper with no shame. Opening the box, I gasped when I pulled out a large snow globe. Staring at it with wide eyes, I realized what it was.
