“Just in case it all goes to pot,” Walter said with a wink.
David looked slightly relieved when everyone laughed at Walter’s comment, and Carrie wondered if he was still thinking about how they’d all giggled at him. He was such a serious little boy, more serious even than his daddy, and Carrie wanted to abandon presents just to paint that car with him. She watched his face as each person unwrapped their gifts, his interest undeniable. He was patient, quiet, focused. Then she looked at Olivia who was on her knees next to the tree, waiting for her own gift. She kept leaning over toward Adam and whispering, “Is that one mine?” He couldn’t hide his smile whenever she asked as he shook his head. Then, finally, one for her.
Carrie recognized it immediately. It was the crown she’d bought with Adam and helped him wrap. Olivia took the gift into her hands and ripped wildly until she was holding the crown in her hands, Joyce grabbing the shredded paper around her. “Oh!” she said with a gasp. “This is so pretty!” She put it on her head and stood up. It was huge, the jeweled faux metal swallowing her forehead, but she didn’t care. She held out her nightgown as if it were a dress and danced in circles. “Do I look like a princess?” she asked Walter.
“You are a princess,” he said, smiling with doting eyes.
“I have one more gift for David and Olivia together,” Adam said, pulling a huge box from the back of the tree. It had been hidden by all the other presents. He slid the substantial box from behind the tree and set it down in front of the twins. “Go ahead. Open it,” he said with a smile.
Olivia ripped the paper off the front, David pulling at one end. When they finally got all the paper off, the box—empty of any wording—didn’t offer any more information about what was inside. David lifted the lid and pushed it back, and Olivia pulled the tissue paper. When she did, she let out the loudest cry of joy that Carrie had ever heard her make. She leaned over Olivia to see what it was. Nestled in the tissue were three pairs of ice skates: one large pair and two smaller pairs. There was also an envelope. Adam pulled it from the box and slipped his finger under the flap. “The ice skates are for you, me, and David,” Adam said to Olivia. “But do you know what this is?” He waved the envelope. Carrie could hardly stand it. She wanted to know what it was. Just looking at Adam’s face, she could tell it was something great. The kids were watching him, waiting just like she was. “In this envelope, I have tickets to Snow White on Ice at the Richmond Coliseum.”
“We get to see Snow White?” Olivia said, her eyes round with excitement. She had pulled her skates from the box, and she was hugging them.
“Yes,” he said. “And you know what else? A man I work with knows her, and, after the show, he’s going to let us skate with her.”
Olivia’s mouth hung open with that news. She threw her arms around her daddy and buried her head in his neck. “Thank you!” she said in a muffled voice.
“Will you skate with me, Daddy?” David asked.
“Absolutely.”
Unexpectedly, Carrie’s eyes filled with tears. No one had told him anything. She hadn’t pressed him to do it; she’d barely even mentioned it. He’d just remembered. He’d made it happen. And it was better than she could have dreamed. He gave Olivia and David exactly what they wanted for Christmas. She blinked away her tears. Eventually, they subsided, but her heart was so full it was about to burst.
Once everyone had opened their gifts, Adam pulled one more small gift bag from under the tree. “This one’s for Carrie,” he said, handing it to her.
Surprised, she got down on the floor next to Adam. She took the gift and read the tag: To Carrie, Love, The Fletcher Family. She felt around inside until her fingers caught something thin and metal. She pulled it out. It was a beautiful bookmark, shiny, with beads on one end. “Thank you,” she said to everyone collectively.
“There’s more,” Adam said, nodding toward the bag.
Carrie reached in and found something else. She pulled out a gift card to the bookstore. Her face registered shock, she was certain, but she couldn’t help it. It was a gift card for one hundred dollars’ worth of books.
“I know you like to read,” Adam said. “I saw your car was full of books when you first arrived and we got your suitcases out. Perhaps you can find a few you haven’t read.”
Carrie thought about the books she had—all those self-help books. In the past, she’d have spent the whole hundred dollars on those books, but now, she thought how she might buy a novel, or something on travel, perhaps. There were so many more options that interested her. “Thank you so much,” she said. She couldn’t help it; she put her arms around Adam and hugged him. It had been innocent enough, but, unexpectedly the scent of him so close hit her, and then he reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her. The hug was quick but just long enough to make it hard for her to breathe. He pulled away slowly, their faces coming inches from each other, and then, he smiled. It was meant just for her. Even though his entire family was right there in the room and his kids were making noise beside them, it felt like it was just the two of them. She wanted him to know how much she cared for him, how much she couldn’t stand to be away from him, but she didn’t know the right time or place to tell him. She didn’t even have a present for him.