Page 94 of The Cost of Love

“What’s all this?”

“I may have gotten carried away,” she says while placing her load on the island.

Once her hands are free, she pulls me into a hug. All the smells that are now wafting through the space have my stomach rumbling, causing her to laugh.

“Is this for us?” Gabby asks as she reaches the presents.

“No,” Chanice says just as I say, “Yes.”

She looks at me, and I shrug. “You said I couldn’t spoil you, but you didn’t say anything about them.”

She tries to hide her delight, but her eyes light up and her lips fight to stay in a straight line. Turning to look at the mass amount of gifts, she flicks her hand, encouraging them to go look.

Jamal can’t stop himself from running over and looking for his name. Imani slowly walks, like she is above it all, but when she sees the first big box, she tears into it.

“You should have seen what he got Theo, and the baby can’t even sit up on his own,” Mei says while walking over.

They hug before going to watch the kids open everything.

Gabby screams with each doll she unwraps, holding them to her chest like they might disappear. She is most excited about the kid-friendly book on finances I got her. Jamal seems confused by all the envelopes in his name until he opens them and sees they are experiences.

“I really get to go in and feed the penguins!” he yells, while looking over at me.

I nod, and he runs over to show Chanice the other marine experiences he gets to do. She looks so excited for him. I don’t know who is happier.

The gasp that Imani lets out when she sees her sewing machine is almost missed over the noise of the room.

They delight in each new gift they open, and I feel my heart expand a little more. Especially when each one of them comes over and gives me a hug. To my surprise, they have something for me too. Since it’s the first gift from my new family, it already feels special.

It means so much more, though, when I open it and pull out a stuffed rhino. I rub my chest and bite my lower lip as I stare at it. Then my eyes instantly go to Chanice, who blows me a kiss.

I look up at the sky, as if I can see my grandfather and wonder if he’s proud of me for what I have. Part of me knows that this is all he wanted for me, and that’s the final push I need to finally start to shift my life. I know what I want, and I just have to make it happen.

“Thank you,” I say to them, all and hold it tight against me. I don’t want to let it go, even as we get ready for dinner.

Chanice tells me it was a bad idea to let them open their gifts first, as we try to wrangle them to the table. Reluctant and slow, they walk up to the island like they would rather be anywhere else.

Mei pulls the lids off the trays, and steam billows up over all of the food. I look around at the holiday classics of mince pies and stuffing, and then the new-to-me stuff like macaroni pie, roasted spring vegetables, japchae, a beef stir-fry, and kimchi dumplings. The showstopper in the center of it all is the chipotle maple glazed turkey.

I have to use two plates to be able to try everything, and I’m not the only one. Everyone’s hands are full of overloaded dishes as they make their way to the table. We all say a quick thank you before digging in.

Just to see if she is right, I try the turkey first and am delighted when juices squeeze into my mouth with every bite. The spicy-sweetness with the pull-apart texture of the meat is incredible. I tear into it more, combining it with the cranberry sauce and gravy.

We’re all practically silent during the meal, our mouths too busy devouring to make conversation. It’s not until people start groaning from full stomachs that we meander to the couches and settle in.

“Imani is going to apply for the London School of Fashion in January. We won’t hear back until after March, but we’re excited,” Chanice says.

I look over to Imani to see her blushing.

“She’ll get in,” Jamal says, leaning on his sister. “But I’m definitely going to Australia for college.”

“Why Australia?” Gabby asks.

“The Great Barrier Reef, obviously,” he says, and then picks up his eggnog. Liv tells him about how she moved away for university, too, and that seems to excite him.

Soon, everyone is gushing about the future, and I look over at Chanice to see her staring off.

“You should go back to school,” I say.