A Very Reckless Christmas

Nick

"Ow," I flinched snatching my hand away from Charlie's teeth. He tried to slip away but I wasn't going to let him get away that easy.

I grabbed him before he could escape, wrestling with him to attach the festive jingle bells to his collar. "Please, be still for me," I begged as I tried not to get a chunk bitten out of my hand. "Don't you want her to see how handsome you look?"

"Nick is everything okay?" Maya called from the hallway. I told her to stay there until I was ready, or when Charlie was ready. I woke up at six-thirty, even after staying up until three in the morning watching Christmas movies, to set out Maya's gifts. I had done too much, but I was hoping she would be so excited that it wouldn't register that I went overboard.

The gifts I got, well, they were big.

The biggest tangible gift is a flat-screen television, no more watching movies on Maya's laptop. We could now watch all of her favorites in high definition with surround sound. Of course, I got her some other things, smaller things, like a waterproof speaker, a robot vacuum, and a new coffee maker. It's the fancy one with the pods.

But I think she'll be most excited about her other gift, the gift that sat under the tree in a white envelope with a red bow on top.

This was her first real Christmas, and I wanted it to be perfect.

My Christmas was already perfect. The house sold faster than expected. The realtor we went with was quick to get it on the market, listing it fully furnished helped a lot. I got the asking price plus some, which helped with the Christmas gifts, and my newly opened trust fund helped too.

I successfully clipped the bells to Charlie's collar, releasing him. He turned back to me with a hiss. I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, get over it," I huffed.

I looked over everything one last time. Lights on the tree—perfect. Breakfast of cinnamon rolls and coffee—perfect. Everything was perfect.

"Okay, baby, you can come in now!"

Maya came into the room, in a bright red sweater, and a wrapped present in her hands. Her jaw dropped when she saw all the gifts under the tree, and even more so when she laid eyes on the sixty-inch TV.

"Merry Christmas!" I exclaimed.

"Merry Christmas..." she whispered as she openly gaped at all of her gifts under the tree.

"It's so you can watch movies without straining your eyes," I said, following her eyes. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah—yeah, it's nice. Really nice, too nice," she muttered.

"I know I might have gone a little overboard," I admitted. "But don't think of it all for you it's something for the both of us."

I gave her a peck on the lips. "Is that gift for me," I smirked looking at the box covered in Christmas tree wrapping paper.

"Maybe," she teased. Maya moved past me to sit on the couch. As soon as she sat down Charlie rushed out of his cat tree and into Maya's lap, jingling all the way.

"Oh my god, look at how festive you look!" She lifted him up to see the multi-colored bells on his collar. Setting him in her lap, she gave them a little jingle. He pounced on her hand. "Ow," she laughed. "That's not very merry of you. Did he attack you when you put them on?"

"He just nipped at my hand a little. Nothing major." The two wholes in my right hand beg to differ but she didn't need to know that. I sat on the rug in front of her to make it easier to hand her presents. "Can I open it?" I asked staring at the box.

"It's not as extravagant as yours."

"I don't care." I tore off the paper to reveal a plain brown box. "I'm sure I'll love it." Inside the box, there was a blue button-up shirt with an embroidered red patch on the pocket. On the patch was my name. It looked like the one Troy always wears at the store. "Babe, I love it." I picked it up out of the box sending red tissue onto the floor. It looked like it would fit me perfectly.