Thinking Outside The Card

I play with the ends of my scarf, shifting my weight from foot to foot, preoccupied in my dilemma. I stare at the rows upon rows of my doom: Christmas cards.

All of them are relatively the same. Pretty pictures on the front, and the inside with some cheesy saying along the lines of, "Remember the reason for the season," or "You make my cheeks Christmas red!"

None of these I think my new stepmother would appreciate. With her obvious displeasure at anything remotely sentimental, I'm fairly sure the holidays are the bane of her existence.

But what am I supposed to do? Not give her anything?

I already went through the mall for five hours looking for a gift that wouldn't make her scowl. I don't even like the mall. Thankfully for my sanity, I remembered the fact her house is oddly covered in mini figures of cats. I went for a glass sculpture of one, because I was fairly sure she didn't have it yet.

But now for the card: the ultimate challenge.

We were nowhere close to the "thanks for everything you've done for me," stage of cards. My father and her hadn't been married for three months. And she's not exactly a mother to me, thanks to the whole "step" prefix. Right now, my stepmother wasn't anything to me that could be put into a convienent card category. I sigh loudly.

"Christmas gift woes for you, too, Adriana?" A male voice says from next to me.

I turn, and see my new stepbrother, Caleb, right beside me. And for once, he doesn't look like he has it all together.

"Yeah. I have no clue what card to get your mom." I admit.

He smiles a little, the friendliest he's ever been. "Well, looks like we're in them same boat. All I know about your dad is he has a strange affliation for riding lawn mowers. And I can't really afford to buy him a mower."

I give him a smile, before turning serious. "How about you help me buy a card, and I help you get a gift for my dad?"

He shrugs, "Better than what we're trying to do. I also need a card."

"No problem." I answer.

"So, what did you get my mom?"

"A glass cat figure." At that, he bursts out laughing. Confused, I stare at him for a second. He's never been so friendly to me before. He'd wasn't exactly mean, but it was obvious he wanted a new parent about as much as I did. The difference was I was trying to make things less awkward.

Blinking out of my thoughts, I realize he has stopped laughing. "What was that about?"

His eyes glimmer with amusement as he wordlessly takes out an item from one of his shopping bags. And lo and behold: a glass cat figure. The same one.

I stare at it for a moment, before saying, "So, do you want to give it to her, or do I get to give it?"

"I'm going to be really nice and let you give it." He says, "After all, Christmas gifts are fairly challenging."

"Thanks, but what about buying a whole other gift?" I ask, concerned.

"They made gift receipts for a reason, Adriana." He smirks at me.

"Oh."

"Anyways, let's find you a card."

After several long minutes of browsing, Caleb makes his way over to me, an expectant look on his face.

"Found something?" I ask.

He gives me the card, and on the front is a picture of a cat playing with a red ribbon. Opening up the card, I'm praying that it doesn't say something ridiculously cheesy. But my eyes are greeted with white: a blank card.

"What..." I start, confused.

"I can help you think of something," he offers, "After all, easier to say what you actually want to say, right?"

Well, it's obvious that I overthought this one.

"Right," I answer, heading over to the cash register where other harried-looking shoppers wait in a long line.

"By the way, I thought of a gift for your dad. What do you think about a model of a John Deere?" He asks with a smile that's much easier than the one when we first met.

I can't help but return the smile. "I think that might just do the trick."

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Ever try to get a perfect card for someone? If you do, you have your work cut out for you!