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“Sure,” he said. “Not that I’d wear them. They look much better on you.”
She pretty much dove on him to hug him. “Thank you again.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Open yours,” she said. “It’s not as exciting.”
He’d already unwrapped his but didn’t take the top off. He did and there was a nice fleece vest in there with fingerless gloves.
“You heard me talking about how cold I am working in the office,” he said.
He’d commented more than once and that it was stupid to keep turning the heat up because then the rest of the house would be too hot. His office didn’t get hit with much sunlight this time of year, at least until the afternoon.
“No reason to be cold while you work. These will warm you up and not be cumbersome.”
“Exactly what I needed,” he said, leaning toward her for a kiss. “Now it’s time for stockings. Those are always the most fun in my eyes.”
She enjoyed a good stocking too and it was funny he’d said that as they’d never talked about that before either.
They each reached for their stockings, hers bigger than his and she wasn’t shocked, then pulled out the items. Some candy, lotions, soap, ChapStick. She’d done the same for him, minus the lotion.
When she got to the bottom there was a box and she frowned. It was a jewelry box. “Rick!”
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s not big. See, small in size.”
She wanted to growl but reminded herself that she’d seen signs of this already. She supposed in his eyes this wasn’t much compared to his wealth.
She flipped the lid and saw the beautiful tiny white gold hoop earrings with a row of diamonds down the center.
“Way over the top,” she said.
“Be happy it was the lowest price wise of what I had in my hand because I knew you’d feel this way. But I want to spoil you. I wanted to give them to you because you deserve them. Put them in.”
She let out a little sigh over his words and was having a hard time being mad about it. “They’re stunning and perfect.”
She swapped them out with the studs she had in. Her hair was already pulled back. “They look perfect,” he said. “Just like you.”
“I’m far from perfect,” she said, scooting closer to him to hug him. “But I do love them so it’s hard to stay mad.”
“I’m glad,” he said. “You deserve them because I love you.”
He kissed her on the forehead and she said softly, “I love you too.”
There was no reason to keep the words in. She might have said them if he didn’t first but part of her was glad she didn’t have to.
George dropped his toy and came over and dove on their laps. “I think he wants the rest of his stuff now,” Rick said.
“Then let’s give it to him.” They unwrapped the rest of George’s treats and toys and put them on the floor. “This is the best Christmas ever. Not because of the gifts or even the words for what I’ve been feeling for a while, but because I’m here with you and feeling things I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel.”
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” he said, pulling her close to his side again as the two of them watched the puppy playing amongst the papers on the floor.
Yep, best Christmas.
24
Doing Well
“How were your holidays?” Dr. Mason asked Rick almost two weeks later.
