Page 39 of Under the Mistletoe

“I bet she’ll be up bright and early tomorrow.”

“You can count on it.”

Beck’s eyes widened with excitement when I placed her Christmas gift in her lap. “Merry Christmas.”

“Wait. We’re doing this now?”

“We can wait until tomorrow...”

“No, that’s okay. We can do it now. Just give me a second!”

She jumped up off the sofa and raced over to the tree. She quickly grabbed the gifts she’d gotten me, then returned to her spot on the sofa. She looked like she was about to bust as she handed them to me and said, “Ava helped me pick them out.”

“You don’t want to open yours first?”

“No, you go ahead. I want to see what you think of it.”

“Okay, but if you bought it, I’m gonna like it.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed.

Beck watched impatiently as I began to unwrap the first present. I carefully opened it and was pleased to see a new pair of black ROCKBROS winter gloves. I started to slip them on as I said, “These are great, babe.”

“Are you sure? I have the receipt if...”

“Don’t need the receipt, babe. They’re just what I wanted.”

“Okay, good! Now, open the other one.”

I opened the gift and was surprised to find a photo album filled with various pictures. I flipped through the first couple of pages and chuckled when I saw several old images of Beck and me when we were kids. As I continued turning the pages, there were several that were more recent, and even a couple of me with Ava that I didn’t know about. “This is great, Beck.”

“I thought we could add to it over the next year or so.”

“We definitely can.” I glanced down at the small box on the table as I told her, “Your turn.”

She nodded, then picked it up and started tearing away at the paper.

Seconds later, her eyes grew wide, and a soft smile crossed her face as she pulled the ring from the box. It wasn’t an engagement ring—not just yet, but it was a ring that was full of just as much promise. I took it from her hand, and as I slipped it on her finger, I told her, “It was my grandmother’s.”

“Oh, Thomas, it’s beautiful.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me. “It’s perfect.”

“Everything ready for tomorrow morning?”

“I think so.” Beck looked over at the gifts beneath the tree and sighed. “We basically bought out the store, so surely she’ll be happy with everything.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“We should probably get to bed. There’s no telling when she’ll get up.”

I nodded, then followed her down the hall to her bedroom. I waited for her to crawl into bed, then sat down next to her. “I should get going.”

“What? No.”

“It’s Christmas and...”

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