His booming laughter fills the room, her cruelty only urging him on if the arm draped over the back of her chair is any indication. She eyes it warily, choosing to ignore it while the rest of our guests settle into their seats, presents of every color piled on the table.
“Who’s first?” I ask, soaking in all the joy surrounding us. Once again, I think about how I’ve never feltanythinglike this before. All my lives, all the friends and lovers I’ve known, nothing has ever compared to the warmth bubbling out of all these people. At this point, I’m so filled with happiness I’m not sure what is theirs and what is mine. I’ll never be able to properly articulate my gratefulness for those before me, but maybe these gifts will be a small indication.
“Can I go first?” Bel asks, easing out of her chair and looking around at all of us gathered here because of her.
“Of course, my Dove,” Caspian agrees, beaming at her like he always does.
“Okay, okay, awesome,” she drunkenly claps her hands, lifting one of the gifts she wrapped this morning and squinting to make out the name written on the tag. “Fritzy! This is for you.”
She hands it to me, and I finally get a good look at the wrapping paper she’s chosen.It’s terrible. And amazing.A macabre scene of gory Christmas-themed atrocities. There’s a snowman impaling Gingerbread men and a Santa Claus getting a wrap-around from another snowman.
She grins at me, then the paper, and back at me. I sputter out a laugh, “Bel,whatis this paper?”
“Isn’t it hilarious?” She bites her bottom lip between her smiling teeth, and I can’t help but smile with her. “Open it!”
“Alright, alright,” I relent, nervous about all the eyes on me. The box is awfully light for its size, and I gently unwrap the gift, a single printed piece of paper sitting in a mountain of red, white, and dark green confetti. My eyes scan what appears to be an invoice of some kind before my eyes dart up to hers.
Her expression hasn’t changed, waiting for my reaction to her overwhelmingly thoughtful present.
“Well, what is it?” Mike urges with a laugh, “Come on now, show the class.”
I clear my throat. “It’s a reservation for a few nights’ stay at a cabin up in the mountains.”
“Didn’t you just go on an extended vacation?” Isla asks, humor lacing her voice.
Bel nervously pushes her hair back, “That place is booking like two months in advance right now. So you’ll have to wait to enjoy it. But it’s isolated. Like, no neighbors for several miles isolated.” She blinks, considering her words, “I know it can be overwhelming for you, being surrounded by people all the time, ya know. So I just thought… some space would give you a break.”
I’m dumbfounded by her generosity. I’ve never said as much as I love my job and my home. But people’s energies and emotions can be terribly loud sometimes. Having time away from the world to clear my head is the best thing she could have given me. And something I never would have asked her for. Never eventhoughtto ask for.
“It’s perfect, Bel. Truly. Thank you so much.” I clutch the paper to my chest, letting it shed confetti all over the ridiculous pajamas, not giving a flying fuck if they’re never clean again. I’m gonna get them dirty as soon as all these people leave anyway.
So fucking dirty.
I kiss her cheek and urge her to continue, and she passes her gifts out one by one. A ridiculous chef’s hat and tickets to a cooking competition viewing here in town next month for Caspian, something private for Isla, personalized gratitude journals and matching swimsuits for Mike and Charlie, along with a whole stack of books she passed out among us.
When she grabs the present presumably for Eamon, he holds his palms up, “No, no, you don’t need to do that.”
“Okay, yes, I know,” Bel laughs, clutching the strange, massive, bulbous shape in its haphazard wrapping. “I’ll be honest, I hadn’t planned to. But… I saw it and I justhad to.”
His curiosity wins out, and he reaches for the outheld present, beginning to unwrap it. Due to its strange shape, the wrapping just falls off, baring his massive gift for everyone to see.
“What the fuck is it?” he asks, holding back a laugh.
Isla pulls at the tag hanging off the strange thing, “It looks like his name is Drake.” She bites her lips between her teeth to contain her cackles.
“He’s a squishmallow,” Bel announces, proud of her purchase. I gotta say, I’m impressed, too. That shit is funny, even if half the room misses the joke.
“He’s a vampire,” Eamon deadpans. “A squishy vampire.” He blinks slowly and nods, smiling to himself. “Thanks, Bel. Really. It’s awesome.”
Meanwhile, Isla has a palm slapped over her mouth to hold in the burst of laughter, and Mike and Charlie are looking around, sensing they’re missing something.
I wrap an arm around my girl and pull her towards me for another kiss on her head, explaining to them, “It’s an inside joke.”
They nod in unison, smiling at the silly fanged pillow creature that looks so small in Eamon’s arms, even though it’s gotta be two feet big, if not more.
“Alright, me next,” Isla stands and passes out her own gifts, not waiting for anyone to open them, just moving along to the next to create a maelstrom of tearing wrapping paper and delighted squeals from the girls.
She got Bel a whole slew of scandalous outfits, a pair of thigh-high boots, and a necklace with a stained glass pendant shaped like a dagger. The metaphor is not lost on any of us who know what she went through.
