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"Sunshine," Octavius warned lightly. They all laughed.
"We might not have presents to unwrap, but you do." Luca nodded toward Teagan.
Teagan was shaking. She had spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to get her sisters. Evie seemed to have everything. The three of them were identical in looks but so very different in personality. She had never given anything as much thought or obsession, minus who their biological parents might be, as she had these presents. Teagan, who was a very secure person when it came to her ability to handle an armed bad man, was shaking in her boots over her sisters' reactions to her Christmas presents.
She opened the festival holiday bag she had placed under the tree and pulled out three beautifully wrapped rectangle jewelry boxes. With shaking hands, she gave the gold one to Evie, the silver one to Ro, and kept the red one for herself. The women looked at her quizzically.
"I had these made for each of us," Teagan explained. "Go ahead, open them." As they opened their boxes, she slowly unopened hers. She knew what lay under the bright blue lid, nestled on top of the white tissue paper.
"Teagan, this is a Tiffany's box!" Evie exclaimed.
"Tiffany's?" It was Ro's turn to be confused.
"One of the finest and most expensive jewelry companies out there," Evie explained.
"I've worked hard my entire life. I've lived modestly, paid off my car and townhouse. I've never had anyone to buy anything for before. Believe me, money isn't an issue. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have spent it," Teagan reassured them. "Now open the box."
"Yes, ma'am!" Ro mock saluted. All three women opened their lids. Teagan watched her sisters' faces carefully.
They sat in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. Ro lifted hers out of the box and gently traced her finger over it. Evie's face had lost all color. Teagan had refused to look at the final product until that moment. She had told the jeweler exactly what she wanted on the delicate white gold chain.
Tears fell from her eyes before she could stop them. This time, there was no warning as she looked at the perfectly formed, white gold, three leaf clover with her initial on it and the identical replica of their mother's handwritten, Love, Mom. Teagan had noticed when looking at the blankets that each woman's initial was on a different clover. Teagan's T had been first, then Evie's E, and finally, the last clover trifoliate had the R for Ro. She made sure the bracelets followed suit.
"Teagan, I don't have the words," Evie said breathlessly.
"It's perfect," Ro said, immediately snapping hers on.
"We match." Teagan held her wrist up to show them.
"I am so glad we found each other." Ro smiled warmly at her sisters.
"Forever sisters," Evie said.
"Family. I finally have found my missing pieces. I've found my family," Teagan stated, the tears still falling from her eyes. Both women scooted closer to her, embracing as one.
* * *
After everyone had left, Luca went to work pulling out all of the stops to make Teagan's Christmas Eve extra special. She had never felt more cherished in her entire life. He had bought them matching pajamas, something he had sworn he wouldn't do. She had pointed out a pair, white tops with a Santa hat wearing, German Shepherd dog, and a plaid patterned bottom, and he had simply shook his head no. Much to her surprise, they were laid out on the bed. He warmed up some of the food from earlier, making one big plate for them to eat off of, cuddling her into his lap to watch It's a Wonderful Life. She had never seen it; he was determined to remedy that. After the movie, Luca disappeared into the kitchen and came back with two steaming mugs and a plate balanced between them. Teagan jumped up to help him.
"When we were kids, we'd open our special Christmas pajamas and watch the Christmas animated cartoon classics, you know, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph, while drinking a cup of mom's homemade hot chocolate and eating the cookies we had decorated together. Then, we would each get to open our special Christmas present, just one, before going to bed for the night. I thought I could share that tradition with you." Teagan's heart swelled with the sweetness of her Daddy friend. She couldn't get over how tender her giant, stern Daddy could be.
They sat side by side, munching on delicious iced sugar cookies, Teagan dipping hers into her hot chocolate, much to Luca's disgust. After the final chords of You'll Go Down In History played, he took the cups and plate to the sink and came back with a beautifully wrapped, square present. It looked like a book.
"You have to live in the present, darlin'. There is nothing you can do to change the past, and it isn't going anywhere. The future, well, it comes whether we want it to or not. Living in the present is the only way to guarantee a beautiful yesterday to look back on. I want that for you. I want your past to be full of happy, healthy memories instead of sad ones. The only way we do that is to make today and each today count. Can you do that for me, Teagan Anne? Can you live in today with me? I want our past to be one of the best stories ever written, and I want to write that with you."
"I'd like that," she whispered.
"Then, go ahead and open it."
With trembling fingers, Teagan started tearing the beautiful paper around the book, finally revealing the black leather. Flipping it over to the cover, she gasped. It was an exquisite leather-bound scrapbook. The front was engraved in gold with the title Luca and Teagan's Love Story. She flipped the book open to see that the first few pages were already filled with photos from the past couple months. Some were from before they started dating, and one from the white elephant exchange at Ro's house.
"We will have to add our picture from the tree this morning," Luca said.
"It's beautiful," Teagan said. It was more than a book. It was a promise. Every blank page, every empty photograph slot was a memory to be made together. The scrapbook was a representation of a future to be had and a beautiful past to look back on. Teagan's hand flew up to cover her mouth, and her head dropped, her chin resting on her chest. While she had hoped for things to come, she had never thought about having anything in her past worth looking back on. Luca had done that. He had not only given her hope for the future, he had promised to stay with her long enough that their memories would erase the painful ones of the past. That was the most priceless Christmas present he could have ever given her.
