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"Yeah?" Miracle says. "Tell me about her."
I take the ring from the box and reach for her left hand. "She was the kind of grandma everyone would want. Funny but sweet. She'd always make cookies. She actually made all those stockings hanging on the fireplace," I say, pointing to the stockings on the mantle. "She loved crafts, like embroidering things and made everything by hand."
I slip the diamond on her ring finger.
Her eyes widen.
Mine do too, because it fits perfectly.It looks perfect.
"Wow," she says breathless, "it's even more beautiful than I imagined."
I smile. "Have you ever had a ring on your ring finger before?"
She laughs. "What do you think?"
"I don't know. You were in a convent, right? Maybe you literally get married to Jesus.”
“It's not that literal, but I get the sentiment." She moves to pull the ring off her finger, but her brows furrow. "Oh no," she says.
"What?" I ask.
"It's stuck. I can't ..."
I grin. "It's okay. It can stay right where it is."
She laughs playfully. "Stop it, Silas. You've got to get this ring off of my finger."
"Why? You don't like the look of it?" I ask. I am close to her now, and I lean in, cupping her cheek with my hand. Her eyes close as if swept away by the touch. I want to do so much more than that.
She whispers, surprisingly, "I like the way that feels, your hand on my cheek." Her sincerity is startling, the way she speaks telling me exactly how this moment makes her feel.
"I'm glad you like it," I tell her. "And I really like the way that ring looks on your finger." I take her hand in mine and squeeze it. "I lost my Grandma Holly about five years ago. She died from cancer. It was a horrible loss, obviously, but the memories I have of her will always stay. I don't know. I think she'd like this ring on your finger."
"Stop it, Silas," Miracle says, her eyes opening now. She presses her hands to my chest, both of them. I know I'm strong. I work out way too much to pass the time, and I know she feels my muscles as her hands run over my T-shirt. "So," she says, "it's early on Christmas morning, and you've already put a ring on my finger. I'm guessing this day is just going to get more and more…unexpected."
I smile. "Well, you should take off your boots and coat first, and I can pour us some coffee. Or we can crawl back in bed and wake up in a few hours pretending it's Christmas morning like we're little kids."
"But I don't even have a present for you to open."
I laugh. "And I just gave you my gift."
She looks at the engagement ring. "Oh, shush, Silas. This was not my Christmas present."
I shrug. "It should be, though. Why not?"
"You want me to marry you?" Miracle says with a gleam in her eyes.
"Maybe," I say. "That will be a good story to tell our kids."
"Our kids?" Miracle says. "Oh my goodness, this day really is getting insane."
"I know you like the sound of it."
She pauses, surprising me. "Actually, I do." She steps out of her boots and pulls off her coat. I take them from her and put them in the hall closet.
When I turn back to her, I see her in this adorable pair of Christmas pajamas. The bottoms are long johns covered in gingerbread men and a tight pink top dotted with cups of hot cocoa. There's a plunging V in the front. She's not wearing a bra. I can tell; her nipples are hard from the cold.
She looks down. "What?" she asks. "You told me to put on pajamas."
