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She fingers a bow on her dress. ‘Last night. I saw him eat two cookies and drink half of the milk that I put out for him.’
‘Wow,’ I say in an impressed voice. ‘Did he say anything to you?’
‘No,’ she says shaking her head vigorously. ‘I was hiding behind the door.’
‘Why didn’t you show yourself?’
‘I didn’t want to frighten him, Uncle Shane,’ she says as if that is the most obvious thing in the world.
‘Anyway,’ she carries on, ‘he left three presents. Two for me because I’ve been so good, and one for Laura because she’s just a little baby and babies just need milk.’
‘Right.’
She cups her hand over my ear and whispers, ‘Don’t tell anyone, Uncle Shane, but I woke up early and sneaked downstairs when everybody was still sleeping, and opened all my presents.’ She claps her hands. ‘And then I closed them all back.’
‘So you know exactly what you’ve got for Christmas?’ I ask, amazed that she actually did that. Even I never did something like that at her age.
She nods happily.
‘So what will you do when you open your presents later and everybody looks at you?’
‘Pretend to be surprised and happy,’ she says coolly.
I have to laugh. ‘Show me your surprised and happy face,’ I ask.
She opens up her eyes, drops her jaw, and smacks her cheeks with her palms while managing to look like she is grinning. ‘Yeah, that’ll work.’
She makes her face normal again. ‘Did Santa leave you presents?’
‘He gave me mine early this year.’
She crosses her little arms over her chest. ‘What did he give you?’
‘He gave me a wife.’
She frowns and looks at me as if I am stupid. ‘Auntie Snow is not a present. A present is like a real thing. Like a toy or a doll.’
‘That’s true. Maybe he’s left one under the tree for me.’
She slips off my lap. ‘I’ll go and look for you, OK?’
‘OK, but don’t peek.’
She shakes her head solemnly. ‘No, I only peek at my own presents.’
At the front door, I hear Layla, BJ’s and Tommy’s voices wishing my mother a merry Christmas. Liliana forgets about looking for a present for me, and rushes off to the front door. Jake returns from the garage where my mother keeps her fridge, carrying two bottles of whiskey. It has started snowing and there are snowflakes on his hair and shoulders. He sets the bottles on the table.
‘What time will Dom be here?’ he asks.
I look at my watch. ‘Anytime now.’
At that moment BJ and Layla come through the door. BJ is holding a baby carrier. The room fills with the sound of us wishing each other a merry Christmas. A pink-nosed Layla kisses both Jake and I and then disappears off to the kitchen to see what the women are up to.
BJ leaves the baby carrier on the floor by the chair next to me and collapses into the chair. ‘Where’s the fucking alcohol?’ he asks.
I laugh and Jake pours out whiskey for us all. Before we can take a sip, Dom and Ella arrive. Ella is carrying their little boy, Noah. Jake pours another glass. Again the room fills with sounds of Christmas greetings.
‘You guys started without me,’ Dom complains, as Ella goes out with Noah.
