Just a Number(59)
Going from youngest to oldest, we spend the next hour and a bit opening presents. Ethan gets a couple of games for his new Nintendo and a fishing pole and lures—one guess as to whom that’s from. Hayley, being seventeen, receives clothes, clothes, and more clothes. She’s more than happy with this, which, being a girl, I totally get.
Carla and the kids bought me a new iPod—Dad must have told them I dropped my last one in a puddle just outside my apartment a few months back, which is why I have been using my phone. Yup, I’ve got butterfingers. I’ve come to accept these little flaws with a semblance of humility. When I open the gift from Dad, I’m more than a little surprised that he hasn’t gotten me my usual Visa gift card. Instead, he’s splurged and gotten me a new MacBook.
“Dad,” I say, looking wide-eyed between him and my extravagant gift. “This is awesome. Thanks.”
Dad shrugs like it’s no big deal—when in truth, I know it is. “Well, you said your other laptop was crapping out,” he explains. “Figured I’d do a little research and get you a new one. You need it for school and all, so it was more than practical.”
Owen leans over, still keeping a safe distance between us, and taps my arm. “When he says he ‘did a little research,’ what he really means is he called me and asked for my opinion.”
I laugh, because I really should have suspected this; my dad is the biggest technophobe on the planet. “Well, thank you for steering him toward the Apple store, then.”
My last gift is from Owen: a gift card. Now, I know Owen, and I know how he feels about giving gift cards as gifts. “They’re too impersonal,” he always says. So, when I open this, I figure he’s only trying to keep everyone from suspecting anything.
“I know it’s not much,” he says of the hundred-dollar gift card, “but I figured you could maybe go shopping for clothes or books or…whatever you’re into these days.”
The left side of my mouth twitches up into a smirk, because there’s only one thing I’m really into, and I already know I’ll be spending my money on something that will make us both extremely happy.
Victoria’s Secret, here I come.
I notice a little piece of paper poking out from the sleeve and pull it out. It’s the activation receipt, and scrawled on the top is a little note from Owen that reads: Your real present is back in the city. Upon reading this, my jaw threatens to fall open, but I control the urge, biting down on my lower lip for a second.
“It’s great,” I tell him. “Thank you. I think I know exactly what I’m going to buy with it.”
Owen looks pleased with himself, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the gift card, or because I know he saw me read his little note. Probably both.
Carla’s next in line to open her gifts, and she’s more than a little ecstatic to receive the high-end mixer she’d wanted from Dad and me, and Owen gets her a new juicer since her old one is apparently on its last leg.
Dad’s up next, opening the envelope from Owen. Inside is a brochure and information about a week-long fishing expedition this spring. Dad’s eyes light up like…well, like a kid on Christmas morning, suffice it to say. Carla gets Dad all new fishing gear, and I give him a new cell phone because the it’s time he lives in the present. He assures me he loves it, but I can tell he’s a little frightened by the newness of the technology. I’ll get him hooked on apps soon enough, though. He doesn’t stand a chance.
When Owen’s up to open his gifts, I’m reminded for the first time in a while that he’s actually a few months older than my dad. Other people might find this fact disturbing, but not me; I’d already made peace with our age difference. This is just one more inconsequential (to me) thing I’d neglected to remember, is all.
Because I’d also wanted to keep from putting more than the “average” amount of thought into my public gift for Owen, I’d decided to stick to a Blu-ray box set of the Star Wars movies. Sure, he has them on DVD, but he just got a new high-def flat screen a couple months ago and Dad and Carla went together and bought him a new Blu-ray player, so I figured I’d upgrade them for him. Naturally, he loves it all.
Now that presents are done, I get up and head to the kitchen to check on the turkey. Dinner isn’t for another five hours, but I want to be sure the turkey’s on track. When I return to the living room, Dad’s playing with his new phone while Owen explains a few things about it, Hayley’s texting someone, probably telling them about everything she got, and Ethan is playing his handheld game system while Carla reads the manual for her new mixer. I decide to join them all, and I open the box to my new laptop. It’s a thing of beauty, and I immediately power it up.