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Cami’s smile didn’t falter. “No, Kellan. Now shut up and go back to the kitchen.” She held up her left hand. “Last night Dalton Tremaine asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

The room erupted. There were cheers, there was backslapping, there were hugs. Three times someone came over and shook my hand even though I had nothing to do with any of it. Cami was proudly showing off her diamond ring while Dalton dealt with the entire Gentry tribe descending on him for congratulations. I was happy for the guy, for both of them. They were very much in love and they were both great people who deserved happiness.

Cami and Dalton’s announcement signaled the unofficial conclusion of the Gentry Christmas celebration. Families began leaving one by one and in the end it was just Cord and Saylor and their three beautiful daughters, along with Dalton, Brecken and me.

Cord and Saylor were embracing beneath the mistletoe while Cadence and Brecken scavenged the last of the food and laughed over some of the evening’s events.

“Congratulations, man,” I said to Dalton, offering him a firm handshake.

“Thanks,” he said. He gestured to the corner of the room where Cami and Cassie were locked in a sisterly embrace. “How the hell did a couple of ordinary guys like us get so damn lucky?”

Dalton wasn’t exactly an ordinary guy but I was glad to know I wasn’t the only one who asked himself that same question all the time, that it wasn’t unusual to wonder why fate had done him a great big fat fucking favor for no reason at all.

“I’ll never know,” I said.

We left at the same time as Cami and Dalton. Cord, Saylor and Cadence stood out front waving as we pulled away.

“Can I set up the Xbox when we get home?” Brecken asked from the backseat. The generous gift had been from Cord and Saylor.

“Sure,” I answered. “Just don’t stay up all night playing games.”

I was thinking of another gift that had been received today. I wasn’t sure what to make of it yet. Early this morning I was already half awake when I thought I heard a scratching noise at the front door. Suddenly on high alert, I snatched the baseball bat I kept underneath the bed and left Cassie peacefully sleeping while I crept into the living room to investigate. There was no one on the other side of the front door peephole. I lowered the bat and wondered if I’d just been hearing the last echoes of a dream. But when I opened the door I realized it had been no dream.

The cardboard box was unwrapped and unmarked. Inside there were two smaller boxes with brand new laptop computers inside. I was at a loss to explain any of it until I opened up the third box beneath the others.

It contained a vintage nativity set, nearly identical to one that had sat on the front table in our parents’ home ever since I could remember. I knew it wasn’t the same one because that one used to have a big crack in the ceramic manger from the time I was three years old and accidentally dropped it on the hard tile. This one had a thrift store sticker on it but I had no doubt who had left this box. I peered out into the winter darkness and called my brother’s name but there was no answer. Obviously Tristan had found out exactly where we were, although he hadn’t been in contact since that summer night in Emblem. And apparently even though he’d taken the trouble to leave us Christmas gifts in the cold early morning hours he didn’t want to be in contact now. Eventually I gave up staring out at nothing and dragged the box inside the apartment.

It was only later, as Cassie was admiring the nativity set that she noticed one of the wise men was missing. When we were kids I used to tell my brothers that the wise men were brothers just like the three of us. My folks never actually took us to church so I had just made that up but now the missing wise man struck me as significant. Tristan had removed one of the figures and the set was now incomplete. Maybe he meant that he would hold onto it and someday the three wise men would reunite. I wanted to believe that.

Of course the thing might have just been missing from the old set when Tristan bought it in the first place. But I didn’t think so.

When we got home Cassie made us all some hot chocolate while I helped Brecken connect the new gaming system. He was soon happily pretending to kill digital zombies while sipping hot cocoa from a Santa Claus mug. Cassie snuggled next to me on the couch and we stayed like that for a while, my hand on her knee, her head on my shoulder. She’d officially moved in at the end of the summer and even though I refused to take any rent money from her she insisted on pitching in with groceries and slyly providing Brecken with clothes and school supplies. I appreciated the help and I had a new level of ambition now. I’d never turn back to the life I used to lead and I’d never stop working toward new goals. Thanks to some academic help from Cassie’s uncle I was now a high school graduate. I’ve even been thinking that someday I’d like to be a business owner, like Cord and Deck. I had a lot to learn and I was ready to work hard. With Cassie at my side, I was ready for anything.

“You finished?” I asked, reaching for her empty mug so I could bring it to the sink. I was starting to get impatient to move on to the next phase of the night, the one that involved getting my girlfriend naked in our bed with her ankles on my shoulders. That was destined to be one hell of a view.

Cassie came up and hugged me from behind while I was rinsing out the hot chocolate mugs. I turned off the water and faced her. Holding her in my arms was always a gift.

“Cami and Dalton seemed really happy,” I said, circling my arms around her waist so I could get her as close as possible.

“They are.” Her smile was genuine. She was absolutely thrilled by her twin’s engagement. But I couldn’t help but feel that someday I wanted to give her that moment too. I wanted to stand up with her in a packed room and let everyone know that this was forever.

I kissed her. “Someday,” I whispered. “Someday I’ll be able to buy you a ring.”

Her eyes shone. “Curtis,” she said. “I don’t need a ring to know how much you love me.”

“Nonetheless, you will have one.”

Cassie smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck. “If you insist. But all I really need is you.”

I ran my hands up and down her back. “You’ve got me, baby.”

Her smile became naughty. “Then take me to bed and show me.”

We had to keep things quiet because Brecken was still in the living room playing video games but Cassie was as wild and sexy as ever until we were both worn out.

“Merry freaking Christmas,” I panted, lying on my back and trying to catch my breath. “Wait, why are you taking the heels off?”

Cassie tossed her shoes to the floor. “I think they’ve seen enough action for tonight.” She turned off the bedside lamp and pulled the bed quilt off the floor, covering us both as she laid down with her head on my chest.

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