Rora dives into play mode, and we watch for a moment as she does, and then I watch as Roger and Valerie stand,handing gifts to Honey and Hattie, then Birdie and me. I stare in shock. “Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Nonsense, you’re practically family!” Valerie says, and Roger nods.
Birdie’s hand reaches out and squeezes my leg. I look at her, and she smiles softly, the tender look in her eye makes me bite my lip. I do not want to cry in front of everyone, but my soft heart feels the waterworks coming on.
I rip open the paper, being polite about it, and set it aside. Inside, I find a silver watch. “Wow. This is so incredible, thank you.”
“Open the watch, there’s something on the underside,” Roger says, and I do.
Flipping it over, I see my father’s name and his birthdate written in the inscription.
That does it, the tears well, and I do everything in my power to keep them at bay.
Birdie grips my arm tightly, hugging me close. It takes me a few minutes to get it together, but when I finally do, I look up to find not a dry eye in the house. “Thank you,” I barely choke out, nodding at Valerie and Roger. “Thank you very much.”
They stand, and so do I, accepting the hugs they offer.
These people make me feel more like family than I’ve ever felt before, and I see myself coming to their family Christmas for many, many years to come.
“Well,” Hattie says, wiping under her eyes. “I freaking hate crying.”
“Me too,” Honey admits, giving a laugh. “But it’s a good cry. A happy, sentimental one.”
Birdie smiles and leans over after I sit, giving me a kiss on the lips. I accept and wrap my hand around her head, pulling her close for a moment.
I love being here with her, it’s like every piece of the puzzle is snapping into place, and it feels right, like I was always meant to be with this family.
“Well, shoot. I don’t know if I should give you this now,” she says as she pulls back, reaching for a present.
“Oh no, now I need another one,” I tease her, taking the present and ripping the paper open.
Inside is a framed picture of my dad’s storefront, and in front of it, he and I are standing there smiling at whoever is taking the photo. The photo has an aged look to it, and all those old feelings of nostalgia pop up.
The storefront looked amazing. It was still in its prime back then, and only now is it coming back to life again. All thanks to Birdie for coming in and changing my life.
“Dammit.” I swallow hard and look at Birdie. “This is amazing.”
“I was hoping it would inspire you,” she says, smiling sheepishly. “To keep it up. We’re gonna bring it back to its glory days. I found it in one of those old archives the city has when I was looking through some things.”
I wipe my hand over the image, tapping on it lightly. I miss my dad. Usually I’m able to push the melancholy thoughts away, but for right now, that’s the last thing I want to do. Them gifting me these things—telling me in their own way that they understand me, that they know what I’ve lost, that they want to bring me into the family—means more to me than they’ll ever truly know.
I look at her, leaning forward to press my lips to hers, something that I feel the urge to do as many times as possible, and say, “Thank you. You’ve given me the best Christmas ever.”
Birdie’s smile tells me she’s truly happy about this, and I pull her into my side before diving back into my bag and getting more gifts to hand out. I gift Hattie a book that Viviana suggested. I noticed that Hattie is a romance novel fiend based on the books in the apartment and thought she might appreciate it.
She did and, in return, gifted me season opener tickets for next year. I stared in awe at the seats. They weren’t in thebox this time, but right behind home plate. I thanked her with tears in my throat and moved on, gifting Valerie and Roger a flag that had their name on it, perfect for mounting on their boat.
For Honey, I got her a gift card for a spa. I almost bought homemade lotions and things from the apothecary down the road from the store, but I decided I have no idea what this woman was allergic to. She was grateful and gave me a big hug that ended with a slap on my butt.
That woman is spicy.
The family starts to move into the kitchen, where the aroma of cinnamon rolls starts to filter in, and I watch them go, turning to Birdie. “I didn’t know what to get you.”
Birdie waves her hand before I can finish and smiles softly. “It’s fine, really.”
I frown. “Woman.” I pinch the tickle spot above her knee. “That doesn’t mean I got you nothing.”
Reaching into my bag for the last gift, I pull out the wrapped gift. “Now, before you open this, I put a lot of thought into this. I thought about what was important to you and what would make you happy.” I shake my head. “I know a vacation would probably do it.” She chuckles. “But for now, this is what I came up with.”
