I sit back down next to Aiden. We’ve exchanged gifts like clothes and shoes, but I bought him something special too. Something to remember me by. I grab his hand and lead him into the library and shut the doors behind us.
“I have something else that I bought you. It’s a bit extravagant. I went a little crazy on Christmas this year. I guess now, at least, you understand why I did.”
“Because you’re afraid you won’t be here for another one?”
“When I bought the gifts, yes, I was worried about that. But I’m not anymore.”
“Why not?”
I give him my best smile and lie through my teeth. “Because Grandpa thinks the takeover will go through. And once that’s complete, he won’t own the rights to the movie anymore. Which means his whole dream of making it goes away.”
“And if he can’t make the movie, he won’t want you?”
“Exactly. Okay, so, here.” I shove the present into his hands.
He sits down and opens the beautiful Van Cleef & Arpels watch with a black alligator strap, white lacquer dial, and a bezel set with diamonds.
“This is incredible, Boots.”
“I got this brand of watch because throughout history their jewelry designs place a special emphasis on luck. In fact, Jacques Arpels liked to say, To be lucky, you have to believe in luck.” He places the watch on his wrist. “It looks good on you. I knew it would.”
“I love it.”
“I love you,” I say.
“And, so you know, I don’t just believe in luck. I believe in our luck,” he says, giving me a sweet kiss. “We’re lucky together.”
As we rejoin everyone in the family room, Mom is telling Gracie that she needs to change out of her red tutu and into her pajamas.
Gracie throws herself on the floor and screams.
When no one pays attention to her, she calms herself down.
I figure I’ll give it a shot. “Okay, you munchkins have to get to bed. Otherwise, Santa won’t come.”
Gracie folds her little arms across her chest. “NO! NO BED! Gracie not tired!”
The triplets all roll their eyes. They’re used to her tantrums.
“Why don’t I give you a piggyback ride?” Aiden says, dazzling her with his smile.
She smiles back at him, says, “O-tay,” and jumps on his back.
I never did do research to find out how other girls react to his smile, but I could obviously add Gracie to the affected list.
Mom is standing there watching Aiden with big eyes as Gracie bosses him about which way to go.
“Can we keep him?” she says to me.
I laugh.
“Are you keeping him?” she asks pointedly.
I frown at her.
“What’s the face for? Don’t you want to keep him?”
“It’s complicated, Mom. That’s all.”
“Love isn’t supposed to be complicated.”
“Well, I didn’t think so either. Kinda like I thought you and Tommy went to the ballet and lived happily ever after.”
She scrunches up her face. “Okay, fine. Love isn’t supposed to be complicated, but it always is.”
“Mom, can I ask you a question?”
“You just did,” she teases.
“Did you like B? Did you like us together?”
Mom rubs her fingers across her eyebrow. I do the exact same thing when I’m stressed.
“I think that’s complicated.”
“Tell me.”
“Keatyn, all I’ll ever want is for you to be happy.”
“I know, but . . .”
“When you and Brook started dating, you seemed deliriously happy. I was happy for you. But when you came back from Europe, it seemed like you weren’t as happy.”
“I wanted a relationship and he didn’t. In retrospect, I understand why he didn’t. He didn’t think we needed to label our love. I should have known better. You and Tommy didn’t need labels.”
“That’s not true at all. We have been in an exclusive and committed relationship since a few months after we met. But it was kept between us. Not something we needed to shout out to the world, because it didn’t matter to us what anyone else thought. All that mattered is what we felt.”
“B got us matching tattoos because he thought we’d be together forever. That was his big commitment. I was just too immature to see it. I thought if I couldn’t scream it from my social media that it wasn’t real.”
“And now?”
“I know better. And I love Aiden, but B . . .” My hand immediately goes to my chest.
“Is still in your heart?”
“Yes. And I don’t know what that means.”
Mom pats my hand. “You’ll figure it out, honey.”
“Are you serious? That’s your advice? Can’t you use the wisdom you’ve gained from being alive for almost forty years to tell me what it means?”
“I’ll give you the advice Grandpa Douglas gave me when I was struggling with my own feelings.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to follow my heart because it would always lead me home.”