“I don’t want you doing too much. You look tired, and your head is bothering you.”
“Trust me, Russell. Whatever your parents can throw at me, I’ll be able to handle. But yeah, I won’t do too much.”
“Good boy,” I said.
We went downstairs, and while my mom was working on her Santa Claus pancakes, I made coffee for myself and Ryan. Despite being tired and bogged down with a headache, his eyes lit up, and a broad smile appeared on his face when he saw the pancakes.
“Whoa! Look at these! No more Russell breakfasts of oatmeal. I want the Santa pancakes. I have to get a picture of this.”
After Ryan took the picture with his phone, he ate one of the two pieces of bacon that made up the hat. He examined the pancakes and smiled.
“Mine even has raisin eyes!”
Over Santa’s Reddi-wip of hair, I noticed that my mother put raisins on Ryan’s pancakes, while mine had the chocolate chips. I looked at her as she watched how happy and excited the pancakes and raisins had made him. When she caught me looking at her, she winked at me.
“Okay, I’m going to get going so I can be back at a decent time,” I announced after I finished eating.
“Watch the ice,” my father said.
“Have fun shopping! I’m going to stay here where it’s nice and warm,” Ryan said. He got up from the table to walk to the entryway with me.
“We’ll put on some Christmas music and wrap some presents,” my mom suggested.
“Mmm, you’re in for a treat, Mom. Ryan loves singing Christmas songs,” I warned as I wrapped my arm across Ryan’s back.
Before I put my coat on, I hugged him and kissed his forehead.
“I have a few stops to make and then I’ll be home.”
“Okay. I need to do some shopping too. Can I go tomorrow?” Ryan asked while I put my coat on.
“If you’re feeling better, yes.”
I kissed his lips before I stepped outside into the freezing air. Thankfully, my SUV was warm by the time I got inside, as a light mixture of sleet with the occasional snow flurry was falling.
I made my way to the only Tiffany’s in town. I had already checked their website over the past few days, and the location had the ring I wanted to get for him available for pick-up. Ryan carefully selected the ring he gave to me, and he had been drawn to the masculinity of the design. He was comfortable with the ring design he had given me, therefore I thought he would perhaps feel secure in wearing it.
The other night, I slipped my ring onto his finger and asked him again if he’d rather wear a ring or have it tattooed on his finger. I did it for two reasons. One, I wanted him to smile, and two, I wanted to see how far off our ring sizes were. As it turned out, the ring appeared to fit him perfectly, and I didn't think he needed a different size.
“Welcome to Tiffany’s, sir. My name is Lani. May I help you find anything?” a woman greeted me as she stepped forward.
“Good morning, Lani. Yes, please.” I held my hand up and pointed to the ring that hopefully looked familiar to her.
“Yes, of course! We have those right over here. They’re available in multiple metals.”
“I’m looking for the platinum one, please.”
Lani pulled out the perfect ring for my boy … just in case. There wasn’t any reason for me to examine the ring since I had been wearing one identical to it for a while now. I knew the process of selecting and purchasing the ring was probably quite an ordeal for Ryan, and I appreciated the lengths he went to in order to get it.
“This will be perfect, Lani,” I commented after I had looked it over.
“It’s a beautiful ring. We offer complimentary engraving if you’re interested.”
“I am interested, yes. How long does it take?” I inquired. We had four of these stores in Las Vegas and could easily get it engraved there if it was going to take a while here.
“Yours would be first in the queue today, so we could have it done in an hour.”
“That will be perfect.”
After I gave Lani my credit card for the purchase, she handed me an index card for me to fill out exactly what I wanted engraved on the inside. I filled out the card and signed the credit card receipt for the purchase. Since I had an hour to kill, I decided to go into the mall that was near the Tiffany’s store.
Being just days away from Christmas, the mall was bustling with people on their gift missions. On my way to the Starbucks, I walked past a toy store and saw the remote control droid Ryan had been enamored by. It had been in a department store’s Black Friday ad, but when we went to get it, they were sold out. I was able to knock off twenty minutes by waiting in line to purchase the droid for him.
Starbucks was crowded as well, but I was able to find a seat in the corner and relax with my coffee while I waited for the ring. I sent Ryan a text letting him know that I was almost done and would be home soon. I didn’t end up receiving a text back from him until I left Starbucks to go pick up the ring.
Ryan: Okay, drive safe! Your dad showed me his baseball card collection. He has a 1952 Mickey Mantle card!
I smiled at the text. He had no idea how happy he made my dad by happily looking at baseball cards with him. My dad was a lifelong collector, and while I could appreciate the hobby of it, I found card collecting dull. Ryan, being the baseball stats lover, probably thrilled Dad to no end. The 1952 Mickey Mantle card was my father’s most prized material possession, and I knew that he was over the moon about sharing the card with Ryan. And knowing Ryan, he was enjoying this time with my dad.
When I picked up the ring, I was thoroughly pleased with the engraving. I stared at the word “Loved” that was engraved in a beautiful font inside the ring. I wasn't getting any younger, and I was well aware that Ryan would most likely outlive me. And if that played out to be true, I wanted him to always know that he was loved.
