Page 80 of Merry Kissmas

“Don’t worry.Just pick one and open it.”She reaches for one.“Not that one, the other one.”

Laughing, she looks over her shoulder at me and picks up the other box.Careful not to rip the wrapping paper, she opens it and sees the white box.I hope she’s not expecting jewelry because I’d hate to disappoint her on our first holiday.

“Lift the lid.”I’m way too eager for her to see what it is.

“I will,” she says, her hand wrapping around the white box, lifting the lid to reveal her present.“Pierce.Are you sure you want to part with this?”She holds up theI Heart Londonkeychain.“I love it.”She leans forward and kisses me.

“I wish I could have put a key to my place on it, but the only place I have is my flat in London.So, as soon as I find a place wherever we land, you’re getting a key to my place.”

She laughs and leans her head on my shoulder.“It means a lot.Thank you.”

“Next.”I nod toward the other present.

“Where is the Pierce I know?You’re so excited, and you said you were pretty blah about Christmas.”

“That was before I got you.”I swing my body so I’m behind her, my arms under hers and my legs stretched around her body.

She picks up the next gift, being just as gentle with the wrapping paper.

“Just rip it.”

She does and finds another box, so she lifts the lid and removes the tissue paper.

“Ohhh…” She picks up the “Our First Christmas” ornament that has mistletoe painted on it.

“I figure we can collect one each year.The mistletoe represents the moment when I finally felt like we might have a future together.I’ll never forget that kiss under the mistletoe in front of the fire.”

She circles around and sits on her ankles, hugging me.“I can’t believe I gave you the cold shoulder.Thank you for both gifts, I love them.”She turns and gets up off the couch to put the ornament on the tree.“Perfect.”Then she turns to look at me.“I’ll be right back.”

She heads down the hall to the bathroom, and I hear her rooting around in the cupboard under the sink.

Brynn comes back with a package, and sitting down beside me, she places it in my hands.“I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I’ll like it.”

It’s been years since I’ve gotten a Christmas gift—unless it was from another professor, and those were mostly exchanges of some sort.I never exchanged gifts with Andrew or his parents or any of the other relatives once I was an adult.

I run my finger under the wrapping paper and the tape pops off.

“Rip it,” she says like I told her.

“Looks like someone else is eager to have their present opened too.”

She eyes the gift, and I finish unwrapping it.It’s in a brown box and has some weight to it.There are no markings on the box.

When I open it and pick up the item, I have to choke back tears.“Brynn…”

“I really hope I didn’t overstep, and if you don’t like it, we can return it or throw it away.But I wanted you to have one.”She bites her lip as tears fill her eyes.

I unwrap the tissue paper from around the snow globe of Utah.The slopes inside have little skiers and snowboarders.

“It’s not the North Pole, but it’s where we started over.I hope you can look at it and remember your mom and also think of our time this week.If you’re up for it, we can carry on the tradition and buy snow globes every year.”

I shake the globe and watch the snow whoosh around the dome, falling on the little skiers.“It’s perfect.I really appreciate all the thought.”

She takes the globe and shakes it.“They’re kind of addictive.It took me forever to wrap it because I kept shaking it.”

I hug her back to my front and kiss her shoulder.“Thank you for a wonderful Christmas.”

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