Tessa suddenly patted my leg, holding up a Barbie doll. “Luke, you open dis?”
Clare and I had gone to bed late by the time we’d finished wrapping, and Tessa had gotten up at the crack of dawn, demolishing all of our hard work in less than an hour. It was only nine a.m., and I was already on my third cup of coffee. But it was worth every minute of the exhaustion to see Tessa smiling and laughing with her mother.
Maggie’s eyes twinkled as she squatted in front of her. “You wouldn’t happen to be Tessa, would you?”
Tessa looked up to me then back at my sister and nodded.
“Oh good!” Mags exclaimed, digging into her purse and pulling a small gift-wrapped box out. “See, Santa accidentally delivered this to my house. It was addressed to a Tessa, and Heath told me it was probably yours. I rushed over this morning as fast as I could.”
Tessa’s big, green eyes lit as her mouth fell open. “Yes! Dat’s mine!”
Maggie stood up and extended her hand. “What do you say you and I go sit down and open it?”
“Yes!” she squealed, bouncing on her toes as though it were her first and not hundredth present of the day.
Before taking off, Maggie pulled another box from her purse and slapped it against my chest. “Here ya go, Romeo.”
She tossed Clare a smile then took Tessa’s hand and disappeared around the corner.
“What’s that?” Clare asked, anxiety in her eyes.
I chuckled and curled her into my chest. Kissing the top of her head, I murmured, “Relax. It’s nothing big. I had her pick it up for me a couple of days ago.”
“Heath!” she scolded. “We agreed no presents.”
“Babe, it’s our first Christmas together.”
“Right. And I got you nothing.”
I smirked. “Oh, I don’t know. I plan to sneak you away for a shower in a little while.”
Her cheeks pinked as she swayed into me, repeating, “We agreed no gifts.”
I offered her the box. “Fine. It’s not a Christmas gift. But it’s something I’ve wanted to buy you for a really long time. I finally got the chance, and here it is. Better?”
She chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the box. “You’ve wanted to buy me something for a really long time?”
“Too long…so do me a favor and quit bitchin’ and actually open it.”
She glared up at me, but a second later, she snatched it from my hand and tore it open.
“Oh, Heath,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.” She traced her finger over the bracelet-style silver watch with diamonds surrounding the face of the dial.
It was beautiful. That was why I’d picked it out. But I’d made a modification that had thoroughly confused the sales person at the jewelry store.
She tilted it to the side and shook it. “It doesn’t quite work. It…” And then the words died in her mouth as she sucked in a sharp gasp and looked up at me with wide eyes. “Oh my God.”
I took the box from her hand and removed the watch. “I had them take the battery out.”
“Oh my God,” she choked out, tears slipping from her eyes.
I slid it on her wrist. “You’re with me now, Clare. I’ll make damn sure you don’t ever need another wish again. But, if you do, it’ll always be 11:11.”
“Oh my God,” she repeated, staring down at her watch. “I can’t believe…” She trailed off and shook her head. “I know you don’t believe in my silly wishes. But there is no other explanation for how I got you.”
And, if it were a wish that got me her, I’d kiss that clock every fucking day for the rest of my natural life.
She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to mine, inhaling reverently. “Thank you.”
I let her have her kiss, but when she was about to break away, I snaked a hand into the back of her hair and held her to my mouth as I murmured, “I love you, Clare.”
Her eyes popped open, and her head jerked away an inch. “Don’t say that!”
I cocked an eyebrow and reluctantly let her go. “And why not?”
“Because that’s my line. You got me an amazingly thoughtful and meaningful watch. Telling you I love you was kinda all I had left.”
I stifled a laugh. “And what if I hadn’t gotten you the amazingly thoughtful and meaningful watch?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I’d still love you, but I’d probably wait until I was absolutely sure you loved me before I told you.”
“Well, nothing says absolutely sure like me telling you I love you. So, how about you just say it back and we’ll be square?”
She adamantly shook her head. “Now, it doesn’t have as much impact. You ruined it. Now, we’ll just have to wait until I can catch you off guard.”
“Excuse me?” I said roughly, but I was smiling, so it didn’t quite pack the punch I had been hoping for.