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He was reading the news on his phone and sipping his second cup of coffee when he heard the bathroom door shut, then noted that it was a little after six.
He might as well start breakfast for the two of them.
When Mia came out twenty minutes later smelling sweet like her lotion, she walked over and took the coffee he’d prepared out of his hands. “Merry Christmas,” she said.
“You too,” he said back.
She winked at him and sipped her coffee. “Thank you for doing this. When did you wake up?”
“About an hour ago,” he said. “Once I open my eyes it’s hard for me to go back to sleep.”
“Not me,” she said. “If I’m tired enough I’ve got no problem with it.”
“That means you need it.”
He finished with the eggs and the toast popped, so Mia went over to butter it and the two of them sat down to eat.
“What time are we going to your grandfather’s?” she asked.
“I told him around nine. He’s an early riser.”
“What is he doing today?” she asked. “I hope he’s not alone?”
“Nope,” he said. “The same as he did at Thanksgiving. He’s a social butterfly and likes to spend time with his friends. I always felt like he gave it up so I wasn’t alone, but I could have cared less for most holidays.”
To him, holidays were another day. He’d work if he had to so others could spend it with family. His family that he would have liked to be with was long gone.
The last thing he wanted was for his grandfather to give up something he enjoyed.
“We’ll go to Morgan’s right after then if you don’t mind. I think they are doing an early lunch type thing. Nothing heavy. By the end of the day I think everyone just wants to relax. My parents are leaving tomorrow and we all have to work tomorrow too.”
“Except Cooper,” he said.
“That’s right. He’s got one more week before he’s back, then Leah is with the nanny.”
“Sounds like it’s all working out well,” he said.
He knew the nanny started at Caden’s a few weeks ago and then they’d be rotating houses each month after with both babies.
If his mind was wandering and hoping maybe he and Mia could join that at some point, he wasn’t bringing it up. That was a long way down the line and not anything he wanted to scare her by saying.
They cleaned up their breakfast and Mia said, “Do you want to open gifts? Not that there is much to open, but they are sitting there staring at us.”
He laughed and they moved over to the tree. “Why don’t you go first,” he said.
“No, we can do it together,” she said.
She handed him one of the three boxes she’d had for him. He had three too. They’d put a limit on boxes. She said the price too. He found it funny but understood that. Not that he listened when it came to the price, but he did the boxes.
He opened his and pulled out a nice button-down shirt. He didn’t have many of them and made a comment he should.
She opened up a silk scarf.
They went back and forth a few times and he gave her the small box last.
“I know you went over,” she said, squinting her eyes at him.
“So?” he said. “Three boxes.”
