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Mom and I both turn to look at him as he unwraps the box. I’m having a hard time not giggling as the paper comes off and shows the little brown box it was shipped in.
“What is it?” he asks as he picks at the tape keeping the box closed. “It’s really light. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s a…” He opens the box and sees the tie that I spent months hunting for.
Blue and pink flowers cover the gray polyester. It’s absolutely hideous, and as Phillip pulls it out of the box, he looks like he’s seen a ghost. I can’t help but poke him even harder. “Oh Phillip, that’s going to look so good with your charcoal suit. I picked it out special for that suit.”
“Umm… yeah, it matches.” He unrolls it to look at just how terribly it will clash with the suit and then he sees the cherry on top. Or should I say “saffron” stain on top?
A big splotchy yellow stain covers the bottom tip of the tie, and Phillip seems to sink into the couch next to me for a moment before he frowns. “You picked this tie on purpose…”
I can’t keep the laughter in anymore. “Come on, it’ll match that red shirt.”
“You little shit,” he says as the disgust fades and he laughs.
My mom is sitting on the love seat, completely confused. Phillip doesn’t leave her hanging, though. “When I first moved in with Addison, she convinced me to buy a shirt that had a yellow stain on it, and we’ve joked about it since then. This tie… matches it.”
I add, “That’s not his real present. He can buy his own ties. And on that note, your real present will have to come after we’re done with presents here. We have to go visit it.”
That makes him frown, but he doesn’t question it.
“You next,” Mom says to me, and I pick up the little box that could hold a bracelet if my mom was a different person.
“I didn’t know what to get you now that you’re famous, but then I remembered…” I open the box and see that there’s a pen inside it. At first, I think that she’s bought me a nice pen because I’m an author, and I guess every author needs fancy pens.
But then I pull it out of the box, and the whole thing lights up, and I almost drop it. “I remembered how you used to spin your pen when you sat at your desk and wrote. It was really cute when you learned to do it. I think you were probably five when you wrote your first story about a princess who fell in love with the dragon that kidnapped her.”
I remember that story, and I blush a little. “You got me a light up pen to spin?” I ask.
“I doubt you use a lot of pens these days. Nobody does. But you’ve spun a pen when you were thinking ever since that first story, and I doubt that’s going to change.”
I don’t know why, but the idea tickles the part of me that still thinks the princess should fall in love with the dragon instead of the stupid prince. “Thanks Mom. I love it,” I say.
She gives me a smile, and I say, “But now it’s your turn. Open up your present!”
Phillip and I bickered about this present for too long. I’m so excited to see her reaction.
She looks down again at the package in front of her that probably looks like a very large but thin book. With a shrug, she tears the paper, and I glance at Phillip. He’s smiling. This is the first time he’s ever met my mom, and this just goes to show how much he loves me.
“What is this?” she asks as she pulls out a stack of papers.
“A job offer,” Phillip says.
Her head whips around so fast, I worry she’s going to hurt herself. “A job offer?”
He nods. “Addison and I would like you to move to New York so she can see you more often, and that would require you to have a job. So I’m making you an offer at Loughton House. It’s an actual position with real responsibilities, but it should pay more than most of the jobs you could find back home.”
She flips through the pages with a frown on her face, and then the little piece of metal falls out into her lap. “A key?” she says, even more confused.
“That’s to my old apartment, Mom. It’s hard to find an affordable apartment in the city close enough to Loughton House. I’ve been paying for that apartment since I got here, so I can let you take over the lease after you get your first check from Loughton House.”
“But Addison, I don’t know how to live here. I’ve lived in that old house in Kansas since before you were born. I don’t know how to ride subways or shop in a city like this.”
I give her a smile. “Well, it’s a good thing that I have some extra time on my hands to get you more acquainted with city life. Mom, I’ve missed you. And there’s not a better company to work for than Loughton House. This way, you can be nearby, and you get a good job, too. We can actually spend time together this way.”
And I see tears welling up in her eyes. “Addy, you’re the best daughter I could ever have had. Yes, I’ll move to New York and have a grand adventure.”
Then Phillip chimes in. “Plus, if we have children, they’ll need their grandmother here.”
It’s my turn to whip my head around and stare at Phillip. Children are not something that we’ve talked about. He just grins at me before he says, “It’s your turn, Addison. Open up your present.”
