Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
I cupped her cheek, swept my thumb over her cheek for a second, then went back to passing out presents.
Once they were all handed out, the wrapping paper started to fly.
The first gift I opened was from Chris.
My mouth dropped when I saw the canvas photo.
“Don’t know why, but I got it because I loved it, and felt like it’d look great on your wall,” he said. “I found it at a thrift store.”
It was an old black-and-white photo.
You could tell that it was old by the yellowing of the photo.
Someone had done some creative work on the photo itself, and somehow plastered it onto a canvas and given it a new life.
It was a photo of a man and a woman on a motorcycle.
They were both on the bike. The man was stopped in front of a mountain overlook. From the back, you could see the woman had her arms thrown around the man’s shoulders. The man had both hands on the handlebars, feet planted on the ground on either side of the bike, and he was looking up at the woman.
Neither one was wearing a helmet, so the woman’s blonde hair was a tangled mess behind her. The man’s hair was short, but his beard was impressive.
I loved it.
“I love it,” I told my brother.
He winked when he tore into his own gift. “I’m glad.”
My eyes went to the chair across the room where Anleigh was sitting with a mountain of gifts in front of her.
Neesha was bent forward—as best as she could with how pregnant she was—helping Anleigh tear into her presents.
Only when she’d gotten the hang of it did she lean back and open her own.
I grinned as I stood next to Chris, absently watching instead of opening our presents.
I noticed that someone else wasn’t opening any of hers, either.
Merriam’s eyes were entirely focused on her daughter as she blissfully opened her presents, her eyes so wide and excitement bubbling.
But still, I could see the tears in her eyes, too.
Just like her mama.
I walked over to Anleigh, helping her open her next one.
I grinned when I saw what it was.
A Christmas blanket.
“So pwetty,” she whispered.
I ran my hand over it. “Very soft, too.”
She hugged it to her chest, and those silent tears started to fall.
I reached for her and pulled her into my arms.
Then I turned for her mother and pulled her into my arms, too.
The people around us went silent as the two ladies in my arms had their quiet breakdowns.
Only when I was sure that they were both okay did I pull back and say, “That’s some blanket.”
Merriam started to giggle. Anleigh took my joke seriously and nodded her head.
I ripped the tags off of it, spread it out, then wrapped it around her.
“Christmas colors look good on you, Annie,” I teased.
She beamed.
I walked back to Neesha, who was also now crying, and winked at her before grabbing the rest of Anleigh’s unopened presents and brought them to Merriam, who now had Anleigh on her lap.
“Why don’t you sit down here with me,” I suggested. “Let your mama open her presents?”
“Yeah.” She threw herself into my arms.
Merriam watched me for a solid minute before she tentatively reached for her stack.
She carefully ripped the paper open and revealed a scarf.
“Oh,” she said as she ran her hand over it.
“That’s from me!” Grams said. “I wrapped it last night when I heard you’d be here. I’ve been wanting to give it to you since I moved in!”
Merriam ran her hands over the cashmere fabric before smiling at Grams and saying, “I love it.”
Anleigh and I opened the rest of her gifts as Merriam opened hers.
Between the two of them, they had a pretty good haul.
We were lost in wrapping paper and gifts when there was an interruption.
“Hey, who opened my gag gift for Chris!” Noel called out, picking up the box of condoms that she’d gotten for Chris.
I’d left them on the floor next to the bed.
I’d had no clue that they were going to be found, though, since they’d fallen between the nightstand and the bed.
She looked over at Chris while Merriam and I looked at each other.
“Wasn’t me,” Chris said.
They all looked to me as Kyle, Noel’s husband, said, “Did you see that they were the gag ones? I thought they were hilarious with their already poked holes. You can practically see through them, according to the box. But I thought you’d get a giggle out of the fact that they tasted like Kool-Aid flavors.”
My stomach sank.
“What?” I asked.
“They’re gag ones from Spencer’s,” Kyle continued, not realizing what he’d just said.
Merriam swallowed hard as everyone started to laugh.
Everyone but the kids who had no clue what we were talking about, Merriam…and me.
I opened my mouth, then closed it, then started to laugh.
Merriam covered her face with her hand, dropped her head, and yep. She was totally laughing, too.