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"Thats all of em, Nana," one of the kids yelled, and that was all it took. Everyone started opening their g
ifts. The sound of ripping paper was as loud as a chainsaw. People and children squealed with delight and jumped up to kiss one another.
Lauren bent down and picked up a present from her pile. It was from Mira, Vince, and the kids.
She was almost afraid to open it. Then the moment would be over. She ripped the paper along the seam and carefully folded it back up for reuse. She looked up quickly to see if anyone was watching her. Thankfully, everyone was busy with their own presents. She lifted the white box top. Inside lay a beautiful hand-embroidered peasant-style blouse. It would work as maternity wear.
The thought of it squeezed her heart. She looked up, across the room, but Mira and Vince were busy with their own gifts. Next, she opened a silver link bracelet from Livvy and her family. From Maria she received a cookbook. Her last gift was a gorgeous hand-tooled leather journal from Angie. The inscription read:
To my dear Lauren:
The newest member of our family.
Welcome.
Love,
Angie
She was staring at the inscription when Angie gasped beside her. "Oh, my. "
Lauren looked to her left.
Angie had opened the gift Lauren had brought. It was a plain oak frame, seventeen inches by twenty, with ivory matting that had cutouts of different sizes for pictures. Lauren had chosen photographs from the box for most of the openings. A few held color shots shed taken at Thanksgiving with her disposable camera.
Angies forefinger traced the glass over the picture of her and her father. In it, Angie wore flowered bell-bottoms and a tight V-neck sweater with multicolored horizontal stripes. She was sitting on her fathers lap, obviously telling him a story. The photographer had caught him laughing.
"Where did you find these pictures?" Angie said.
"Theyre copies. The originals are still in the box. "
The room seemed to go silent by degrees. One conversation stopped, then another and another. Lauren felt everyone looking at her.
Maria was the first to rise and cross the room. She knelt in front of Angie, took the picture into her own lap, and stared down at it. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. "This is our trip to Yellowstone . . . and our twenty-fifth anniversary party. Where did you find these?"
"They were in a box under my bed. At the cottage. Im sorry. I shouldnt have--"
Maria pulled Lauren into a tight hug. "Thank you. " When she drew back, she was smiling brightly, even as tears streamed down her face. "This brings my Tony back to me for Christmas. It is the best gift. You will bring the photographs to me tomorrow, yes?"
"Of course. " Laurens smile seemed to be taking over her face. She couldnt rein it in. She was still grinning when Maria left and Angie squeezed her hand, saying, "This is beautiful. Thank you. "
CHRISTMAS DINNER AT THE DESARIA HOUSE WAS slightly quieter than a Mariners home game, but not much. There were three tables set up. Two in the living room with four chairs each and the one in the dining room that held sixteen people jammed together. One table was for the little kids and one was for the teenagers, whose job it was to look after the little kids. This was a job that was handled poorly most of the time. You couldnt take more than a few bites before someone big came in tattling on someone small, or vice versa. Of course, no one paid much attention to either and by the time the third bottle of wine had been finished, the children knew it was pointless to come into the dining room. The grown-ups were simply having too much fun.
It was not what Angie had expected for this first Christmas without Papa. All of them had expected quiet voices and sad eyes to be the order of the day.
Laurens gift had changed all that. Those old photos, unseen for decades, had brought Papa back to them. Now, instead of talking around old memories, they were sharing them. Right now Mama was telling them all about the trip theyd taken to Yellowstone, and how theyd accidentally left Livvy at the diner. "Three little girls and a dog is a lot to keep track of. " She laughed.
The only one who didnt laugh was Livvy. In fact, shed been quiet all day. Angie frowned, wondering if her sisters marriage was already in trouble. She smiled across the table; Livvy looked away.
Angie made a mental note to talk to Livvy after dinner, then she glanced to her right. Lauren was engaged in an animated conversation with Mira.
When she turned to her left, she found Conlan staring at her.
"Shes really something," he said.
"She got to you, too, huh?"
"Its dangerous, Ange. When she leaves . . . "
