So when I occasionally, okay, more than occasionally, glance over my shoulder at Reid, whose eyes are wide with awe and amazement, I’m humbly reminded that this is notstandardfor him in anyway whatsoever.
Reid is completely shocked as Momma and Mel hand him his gifts. In a sad and lost way, he looks at them and says, “You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Of course we did. You’re part of this family now.” Momma chides and then beams at him. He just shakes his head in disbelief. I know how he feels – like he doesn’t really belong. In that instant, I make it my mission to help him realize that he belongs. He finally has a place that he can call home, a family of his own.
Like a little boy, he tears through the pile of gifts. I’ve never seen him so happy. Mel’s thoughtfulness knows no bounds. She’s given him enough workout clothes that he’ll never have to do laundry again.
“Here you go, Melanie.” He slides a box in front of her and Mel’s face lights up. Ripping the paper to shreds, she shrieks when she pulls out a Kindle and a gift card that’s got enough money on it to buy hundreds of books.
“Omigod! Reid! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She excitedly rambles all of this as she’s clutching her new Kindle to her chest.
Reid smiles a dopey grin at her. “It’s really a gift for me. Now, with that,” he tips his chin at her new tablet, “I won’t have to look at your bare-chested book covers lying all over the place. You can read your smut secretly now.”
Mel laughs and balls up a piece of wrapping paper and tosses it at his head. He ducks to the side to dodge the paper. “Don’t you dare bash my book boyfriends. I love them and they love me.” Mel sticks her tongue out at Reid who is still laughing at her crazy antics.
“Here. Open this one.” Momma says as she hands him another present. He just laughs and shakes his head at Momma’s requisite gifts of socks and underwear. Looking at me to try and deflect some of his embarrassment, I say “Don’t look at me. I still can’t stop her from buying me days-of-the-week underwear. She’s crazy.” I stick my tongue out at her and she just swats her hand in front of her, shooing away my playful comments.
Momma claps her hands excitedly when she opens his present – a membership to the local spa that she and Linda went to just a few weeks ago. She was raving on and on about it, that he figured she would love having the chance to get back there.
One present remains, and I can tell by the paper that it’s hisbiggift. Momma always buys Mel and me something extra special and she wraps it in this shiny silver metallic paper. This year she got Mel and me matching bracelets with a ‘sisters’ charm attached to each. She told us that we might be separated from each other in distance, but never in heart. We both cried the ‘ugly cry’ over it and vowed never to take them off.
As Reid contemplates the silver box in front of him, I can see conflicted emotions running through his mind. I wonder if he’s thinking about his own mother today. I hope he is, but I won’t press him. Instead, I prod the gift and tease him, “Open it already, would you?”
His goofy lopsided grin washes away the turmoil that he seems like he’s trying to hide. Ripping at the paper, he pulls out a small frame in which sits two pictures. Reid’s eyes shoot up to Momma, and before I can even ask him what the pictures are, he’s across the room pulling Momma into a bear hug. The frame falls from his lap and I pick it up and I instantly realize his reaction.
When he’s done squeezing the life out of Momma, he returns to his spot next to me and we both stare down at the framed sonogram picture of our baby. The picture next to it is one of us that Mel took one night while we were studying for finals. The letters etched into the frame read “My love, my life, my everything.”
After Momma wipes away her tears, she says, “I thought that would be perfect for your desk at work. Now, even though you might not be with them every day, you can at least look at Maddy and the baby whenever you want.”
“It’s perfect, Momma. Thank you so much.” He winks at her across the room and she blows him a kiss. They’re pretty damn cute together.
After presents, we chat and watch the Disney Christmas Day parade – another one of Momma’s silly traditions that she won’t give up. It’s heartwarming to have the three people I love most in the world here in the room with me. Laughing, smiling, loving one another. I have never felt as complete as I do right now.
Feeling extremely emotional, and completely in love, I snuggle into Reid’s side and breathe in his scent. I kiss him sweetly on his cheek. “I love you.”
He squeezes me tightly, and plants a kiss on the top of my head. “Love you too, babe.”
Sometime around noon, Momma and Mel step out for a bit to visit Momma’s best friend, Linda. She’s been Mel’s surrogate aunt and the only family they have. Waving goodbye to them from the front door, Reid wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my neck with passionate and firm lips. Whispering seductively into my ear, he says, “Hmm, what should we do now?”
I swat him playfully across his chest and bat my eyes flirtatiously at him. “We’re going to get dinner started, dear.” I quip sarcastically in my best 1950’s housewife impersonation.
We move around each other in the kitchen with ease, never missing an opportunity for an innocent touch or sweet kiss. Standing by the stove, stirring the sauce for the lasagna, Reid stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He kisses the top of my head and I turn to face him.
“Hey, now. What’s wrong?” The look on his face seems pained, confused, not playful and flirtatious as I would have expected.
Leaning his chin on the top of my head, he pulls me close to his chest. “I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot today. Actually, I’ve been thinking about her a lot since I left. I guess…well, this morning just made me realize that I’m ready to go back there. I’m ready to put the past behind us.”
I’m sure he can feel my huge smile against his chest. I won’t hide it. I’m so proud of him. Not because he made the decision he thinks I want him to make, but because he made the decision on his own.
Pulling back from him, I smile brightly at him. I don’t really know what to say, so we stand in silence for a few moments with our hands laced together in front of us.
He breaks the silence. “I was thinking I would go there tomorrow. Maybe call Katie today and see what their plans are. Would you…” I interrupt his question with a kiss and then say, “Of course I’ll go with you. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“Perfect. I’ll go call them now and make plans. Think you can keep things under control in here?” He points at the lone pot on the stove.
“Yeah, I got it. Besides, I’m not the one who freaked out when the garlic bread caught fire.” I pop my hip at him as I stick out my tongue. Turning my attention back to the stove, I’m caught off guard when he snaps a dish towel across my ass.
“Hey! What was that for?” I feign injury as I rub over the spot he just reddened.
