Emma sat with her pad of pretty pink paper, her arms resting on top of the white desk located directly next to her window. It was a chilly Winter morning, December 18th, to be exact. One week till her 18th birthday; Christmas.

Her friends were constantly asking her what she wanted for her birthday, but she couldn't really think of anything at that time. But now, Emma was determined to figure out what she wanted.

You see, her older brother, Randy, was sent over to Iraq with his best friend who was also Emma's boyfriend, John, almost one year ago. She had been dating John since she was 14, and he was 16. John was her next-door-neighbor, constantly over their house all through Randy and Emma's childhood. She constantly got letters from the pair, but it wasn't the same.

So, she made up her list.

My Wishlist:

1. Randy

2. John

3. A Car

The last wish had to be included, since she had been driving Randy's car while he was away in the war. It was nice, since he had enough money to include many extra features to the car. However, it could also make things worse.

She ripped the piece of paper off the pad, folded it in half, and placed it on her desk with the words 'Wish List' able to be seen on the front.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Emma's Birthday~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma woke up on her birthday, Christmas morning, to what felt like nothing special. There was a light layer of snow on the front lawn, but not enough to truly make it feel like Christmas. She got up out of bed, pulled John's green 'ARMY' hoodie over her head, and slipped on her green fuzzy slippers Randy had given her for her birthday years ago.

Walking down the stairs, everything felt the same as years past, except subtracting Randy and John. Her parents sat on the couch with odd looks on their faces. Emma wasn't really sure what was wrong, but didn't feel like asking. "Is breakfast ready, mommy?" Emma looked over to her mom who nodded her head and replied, "Yes, honey. But how about we go open some of your presents? They were too big to get inside the house so they're in the garage." Emma nodded her head, and began walking towards the garage door.

When she opened it, the lights were off. She flipped the light switch and noticed a giant red bow tied to the top of a blue mustang. There was a white pinstripe along each side, and two rather large stripes down the hood of the car. Emma ran over to the car, pulled open the driver's side door, and sat down in the car seat, checking out everything about the car. After a few minutes of looking around, Emma finally noticed something shining on the seat next to her. Looking down, she saw a beautiful ring with three diamonds on it. Looking closer, she saw it was an engagement ring.

"Mommy, what's this doing here?" she asked her mom.

"You tell me. Yes or no?" a strange voice replied that she hadn't heard in a while.

Emma was shocked. "J----Joh------John?" She felt tears come to her eyes as she looked out of the car and saw his beautiful face standing right outside of her reach.

Getting up quickly and almost hitting her head on the roof of the car, she wrapped her arms tightly around John's well developed, muscled body. She felt his arms snake themselves around her shoulders, and his lips connecting with her entire head, John kissing her anywhere he could.

With tears streaming down her face, Emma managed to let out her next sentence. "I missed you soo much, John." She pressed her head into his shoulder, not wanting to let him go.

"I missed you too, Em," he replied, "But I would appreciate an answer to that ring in your hand. So, will you marry me?"

Emma looked up into his gorgeous eyes, examining him and making herself more comfortable in his arms. She nodded her head quickly and kissed him passionately.

Another voice popped into the room as well. "Oh so I don't get a hug now? I see how it is. Abandon me for my best friend."

Emma laughed, shaking her head in the process. "Randy, you can wait your turn! You'll have plenty of time with me when I force you to help me plan our wedding."

Randy groaned loudly, causing everyone in the garage to burst out into laughter.

This was one of the best christmas/birthdays ever.