by A. D. Ryan
I groan, rolling over to find him smiling down at me, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed—whatever that actually means; I’m still too tired to try and figure it out. “Hi.” He kisses the tip of my nose and runs his hand back and forth across my stomach as I stretch. “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”
“Merry Christmas to you,” I respond in my scratchy morning voice. The feel of his hard body pressed against me gives me an idea, so I check the time, groaning when I realize just how late it is and knowing we’ll have to wait. “So much for asking for an early present,” I pout, pushing my bottom lip out for effect.
“What did you have in mind?” he asks. I turn my body to him completely, slipping my hand beneath the sheet and running my fingers along his hard-on. He stops me, grabbing me around the wrist before I can show him my intentions. He looks conflicted, but he manages to stay strong. It’s admirable—annoying, but admirable.
“How about a shower together? If we don’t get out of bed soon, then I’m afraid I won’t want to leave all day…and with everybody set to arrive in a couple hours, that wouldn’t be very hospitable of us.”
My previous disappointment over his rejection disappears, and I smirk wickedly. “Can we fool around in there?”
“When have we not?” he quips, yanking the sheet off our naked bodies and inviting a chill to nip at my skin.
With only thirty minutes, we manage to sneak in a quickie before getting cleaned up and dressed for the day. We have so much to do still, but we need to make sure the turkey gets in the oven first—as per our mothers’ extremely precise instructions.
I head over to my room and pull on a pair of jeans and a soft red sweater. I forego socks for now, and then I meet Greyston in the hall so we can get started on the morning preparations and have a bite to eat.
“You look nice,” I tell him, appraising his faded jeans and gray sweater.
“Thanks.” He takes my hand. “As usual, you look absolutely stunning.” He pushes a strand of my damp hair back from my face, his fingers trailing down until it traces the neckline of my shirt. “This color against your skin…this neckline…” His eyes follow the trail his finger sets, stopping at the lowest point of my neckline. I begin to worry that maybe it’s a little too immodest for Christmas with our families. His gaze only lingers for a second before he looks at me again.
“Is it too low? Should I change? I mean, our parents and my gran will be here… I don’t want to offend anyone.”
Smiling, Greyston shakes his head. “It’s perfect. You have nothing to worry about.” He presses his lips to mine and takes my hand. “Come on. We should go start in the kitchen before everyone arrives.”
Greyston starts on breakfast while I begin prepping the turkey for the oven. Our families will be arriving around noon, and Greyston suggested we have a light breakfast since we’d probably be grazing all day before dinner was ready this evening. We’re expecting our mothers to bring quite a bit of food, so we don’t want to be too full.
Our breakfast is ready just as I’m putting the turkey in the oven, so we sit and have a private breakfast. I look at Greyston as he takes a bite, and I smile, spearing a few eggs on my fork. “So, are you going to give me a little hint about my present?” I ask.
“Sorry,” he replies. “It’s a surprise.”
He’s been saying the same damn thing for the past few days. It’s starting to get old. I don’t really expect him to tell me anything, but I’m naturally curious how he even managed to get me anything when I really gave him nothing to work with.
“I don’t even understand how you found something for me. I mean, all I said was I wanted to sit around and relax over winter break. How does that equate to a present?”
All he does is shrug. “I guess you’ll just have to wait until everyone gets here to find out.”
The doorbell rings before I can try to find out anything else, and my eyes widen with excitement. “Looks like I won’t be waiting that long to find out!” I cry out, kissing him quickly. I take my plate to the sink and then run through the house to answer the front door while Greyston starts to clean the kitchen.
“Merry Christmas!” I exclaim when I open the door to find my parents and grandmother. I hug them each before taking their coats and hanging them in the closet. I take Gran’s hand and hook it into my arm as I lead them through the house to the kitchen. Greyston had wanted to meet Gran the other day when I picked her up, but wound up getting stuck at work. He was pretty disappointed about it, actually.
“Your father and I will just go put the gifts under the tree, sweetheart,” Mom tells me before turning and heading the other direction.
“Sure, Mom.” I shift my focus back to my grandmother. “I’ll show Gran the kitchen.”
We walk into the kitchen just as Greyston is finishing up with the dishes. I can tell he’s a little nervous, and I can’t help but feel it’s my fault for telling him that Gran is a pretty traditional woman.
“Hello,” Greyston speaks up, coming forward and holding out a hand to Gran. “I’m Greyston Masters. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Foster. Juliette’s told me so much about you.”
Gran looks to me briefly before accepting Greyston’s outstretched hand. “And I’ve heard quite a bit about you, as well, Mr. Masters.”
“Greyston, please,” he suggests. “Can I offer you something to drink, Mrs. Foster? Something to eat, perhaps?”
“No, thank you, dear. Anne served up a rather large breakfast this morning.” Gran smiles and squeezes Greyston’s hand. “And you can call me Gran.”
I watch as Greyston finally relaxes, and I step forward, popping up onto my toes to kiss him lightly. “See. I told you she’d like you,” I whisper.
The doorbell rings again, and Greyston suggests we migrate to the living room for our gift exchange. I take Gran while he answers the door for his parents.
“Mom, I told you not to worry about gifts,” I hear Greyston tell her as I help ease Gran onto the couch. “You’ve already done so much to help me out with Juliette’s.”
Interesting, I think to myself with a smirk.
“I know, but that was technically your gift to Juliette. We had to get her something, too. Don’t worry, we were sure to coordinate.”
These clues are no good. I still have no idea what’s going on. It’s like he’s doing it on purpose at this point.
Greyston and his father join us in the living room, and I hear Jocelyn make her way toward the kitchen. After putting a stack of presents beneath the tree, Daniel sits on the couch next to my dad, and I introduce him to Gran. As they become acquainted, I sit on the floor next to the tree, leaning against the large armchair we moved from the corner of the room.
Soon, Jocelyn appears, passing by Greyston who is standing in the doorway still with a grin on his face. She sits next to Daniel on our gigantic couch and introduces herself to Gran. Greyston’s parents ask me about school, and I ask them about work. We get caught up in a conversation that comes on so naturally, I find myself momentarily basking in the moment. Everything about this just feels…right. Like my life was meant to turn out this way. And all because of an ad in the paper. Who knew.
I sit back and listen, laughing when my mom tells everyone a story about her first Christmas with my dad after they got married and how she burned the turkey. This opens up a new discussion about everyone’s first Christmases together, and I look up at Greyston, still standing in the doorway, arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe while he watches us all. Smiling when our eyes meet, I pat the seat of the empty chair, and he finally joins us, kissing the top of my head as he sits.
“Should we hand out presents?” Greyston asks, settling in behind me.
Nodding excitedly, I start organizing the gifts into piles so I can hand them out. I’m quite perplexed to find quite a few of them are mine—and they’re mostly massive.
I hand the gifts out to our parents and Gran, and then I resume my place in front of Greyston and watch while our fam
ily opens their gifts. Dad’s up first, and the look in his eyes when he opens his Diamondback season tickets makes me extremely happy. Truth is, I had no idea what to get him, and it was Greyston’s suggestion to go this route.
“This is…” He looks down at the booklet and then up at us. “Thank you both. It’s amazing—and entirely too much.”
“Nah,” I say with a shrug. “Just promise you’ll take me to a game.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I had a great time at that football game, and I’ve recently decided to experience new things.” I toss a quick sideways glance at Greyston, and he smirks. “Besides, it’s so rare we spend any real father-daughter time together anymore. This would be perfect.”
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he agrees quickly, turning to show Mom his tickets before she opens her gift.
Her mouth falls open when she opens the long, slender black velvet box that contains the necklace and spa gift card we got her. “Thanks, you two. This is absolutely perfect.” She stops and looks at me with a wide smile and wet eyes. “This necklace is stunning, honey.”
“I saw it and just couldn’t resist,” I tell her. “It has our birthstones in it.”
Mom blinks away a few emotional tears and asks my dad to help her put the necklace on. “It’s exquisite.” I get the feeling that something might be on my mom’s mind; I’ve never known her to be this emotional over a gift before—regardless of the sentiment behind it. Before I can ask her if she’s okay, she hands a gift to Gran.
“Here, Mum. This is from Juliette and Greyston.”
I shift in place, getting up onto my knees, eager for my gran’s reaction. I’d spent so much time on the main part of her gift before Greyston and I went out and got her a set of personalized ceramic pie plates as well.
She’s always been happy baking for her family, so the pie dishes were a big hit, but when she got to the actual gift…
“Oh, Juliette,” she says, flipping through the pages of the scrapbook I’d put together for her. “When did you find the time to do this?”
“Well, I’ve been working on it for the last year, but knowing I wanted to give it to you for Christmas, I really pushed myself to get it done these last two weeks.” I pause, slightly nervous, even though the look on Gran’s face tells me I shouldn’t be. “Do you like it?”
The album contains all sorts of family photos, and when I first showed Greyston the finished product, he seemed completely captivated by the stories they told.
Behind me, he rests his hands on my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. I sigh, bringing my right hand up and placing it over his, and he gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“I think she likes it,” I tell him, shifting and lifting my left arm to rest on his lap. Greyston’s hand moves up and down my forearm, making me sigh.
He laughs. “I told you she would.”
Gran sets her scrapbook aside for later so Greyston’s parents can open their gifts next. Like my dad, Daniel gets a set of season tickets. Apparently this isn’t too much of a shock to him; he gets the same thing every year. Greyston even foresaw our dad’s maybe wanting to go to games together, making sure the seats were close.
Jocelyn beams when she opens the envelope containing the donation that Greyston and I made to a children’s charity. Greyston explained to me that his mom has always been heavily involved with a lot of charities in the area, ever since he was little.
“Thank you both,” she says, her eyes
I’m about to let Greyston open his present, but before I can say anything, he hands me the present from the top of my pile. Not one to refuse the chance to open my gifts, I accept, tearing the paper from the box from Gran.
It’s a beautiful present, but also a bit confusing considering I live in Phoenix. “These are lovely,” I assure Gran as I pull the hand-knit scarf from the box and wrap it around my neck. There’s a matching pair of elbow-length mittens that are made out of the softest wool I’ve ever felt. “Thanks, Gran.
“You’re welcome, dear,” Gran replies sweetly. “I was glad to have something to busy myself with for the last several weeks.”
I pull the gloves off, but keep the scarf on, loving how warm and cozy it is, but I find myself worrying about Gran’s possible senility. “Here’s hoping Arizona experiences some kind of cold snap so I can make proper use of them,” I joke.
I don’t miss the strange look exchanged between everyone on the couch, but I don’t know what to make of it either. I pick up the next box from the pile. It’s from my parents.
Usually, my parents are really good about getting me something I desperately need—a new computer for school, clothes—but what lies in this box is even more bizarre than my gran’s gift.
I pull the parka from the box, the tag catching my attention immediately. “Down-filled?” I look at Mom and Dad. “Is Arizona expecting sub-zero temperatures sometime soon?”
Mom grins, the sparkle in her eyes telling me she’s keeping something form me. “Always best to be prepared.”
I remove the snow pants from the box next. “Snow pants, Mom. You bought me snow pants.” I run a hand through my hair, seriously confused about what’s going on. “I’ve never even seen snow before.
“What?” Greyston chimes in from behind me. “Never?”
I shake my head, the confusion starting to clear after his reaction. Does he have something up his sleeve? “Well, not really. I mean, there was that one time years ago where it snowed here, but it melted before it even hit the ground.”
Still confused and now questioning everyone’s motives, I reach for the plain envelope that sits on the last box. Greyston snatches it up before me, confirming my suspicions. “This one is actually to be opened last, sweetheart.”
I arch a brow suspiciously. “Okay.” I grab the final box and open it. “Winter boots.” I nod, pulling the gorgeous white boots on and loving how the fur cuff around my calf looks. They’re really quite beautiful, even if extremely unnecessary.
I’m quiet for far too long, and everyone is staring at me, probably expecting me to say something, but all I can do is wonder where we might be going that I’ll use all this stuff. Colorado? Montana?
“They’re awesome, but I have to wonder if you’re all insane or expecting some kind of ice-age apocalypse, or…?”
Laughing, Greyston hands me the envelope. “Here. This one’s from me. Maybe it’ll help clear everything up.”
My excitement surges, and I tear open the envelope, pulling out a folded piece of paper and a photo of a log cabin nestled somewhere in a winter wonderland.
The final pieces of this strange puzzle click into place, and I look up to Greyston.
“A cabin? You bought me a cabin?”
Greyston shakes his head. “No, I didn’t buy you a cabin. This one is only on loan.” He nods toward the folded piece of paper. “Open it.”
I do, and I find plane tickets to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada inside. He’s taking me on a vacation? Suddenly my gift seems lame. “No. Greyston, this is too much,” I try to tell him, even though I’m feeling pretty excited about it.
“You said you wanted a relaxing vacation.” His smile widens. “And what’s more relaxing than a cabin in the mountains of Canada?” I stare at him, completely perplexed. “Whistler is beautiful this time of year, and there’s no better place to go skiing.”
I almost choke on the breath I take. “Skiing? But I’ve never—”
“New experiences, right?” he says with a wink.
While I do feel he went above and beyond in the gift department, I can’t help the smile and excitement from pushing my concerns aside. I jump to my feet and throw myself onto Greyston’s lap. “Thank you! This is amazing.” Now that I’ve opened Greyston’s gift, all the others make sense. “Thank you all so much.”
Mom looks at us, her expression reflecting just how happy she is. “We just want you to have a good time. And be sure to take a lot of pictures.”
> “I will,” I tell her. “I promise.”
It’s Greyston’s turn to open his gifts now, and while mine isn’t nearly as extravagant as the one he gave me, I really hope he loves it. I slide off his lap and hand him the box. “In light of your gift to me, this seems…lame.”
He’s quick to tear the wrapping off and open the box, revealing the titanium Michael Kors watch I spent a pretty penny on. He immediately takes it out and puts it on his wrist. It’s a little too big, but he doesn’t let that stop him from wearing it. “This is amazing, Juliette.”
“Yeah? You like it?”
“I love it.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine softly—any harder and we’d probably get carried away like we so often do. “Thank you.”
Next, he opens his gift from his parents, extremely happy with the gift cards because he states that he’s in need of new boarding equipment. Just mentioning snowboarding makes me nervous and excited all at the same time.
“Here,” I say, handing him the last gift.
Inside is new winter gear—a jacket, ski pants, and gloves—and he seems pretty pumped about it. He’s about to thank my parents when my mom speaks up.
“If you don’t like them—or if you have a set already—the gift receipt is in the bottom of the box there.”
Greyston is quick to dismiss her concerns on whether or not he likes his gift. “It’s great, Anne. Really. My current set is more than a couple years old, so I was due for an upgrade. Thank you.”
We sit around for the next hour, talking about and showing off our gifts. I am so excited about the trip, I keep asking Greyston questions and telling him I can’t wait to go away with him—just the two of us, no interruptions. I do voice my concerns that maybe he spent a little too much.
“The cabin belongs to my parents, and they were more than happy to loan it to us for the week we’ll be in the mountains. All I paid for were the tickets,” he assures me, and this makes me feel a little better.
Our mothers and Gran head into the kitchen to check on the turkey and prepare some of the other dishes, while our fathers follow them to grab a beer. Finally alone, I crawl onto Greyston’s lap.