The Christmas Package
Bobby got home to his apartment after and exhausting day. Alex had dropped him off to go home and have a very long hot bubble bath. Both of them needed to recover their equilibrium after the crime scene they'd witnessed today. Several victims killed in a foster care home, the decorations for Christmas shredded all over the house, thankfully all the foster kids had been locked in a room together and were fine, but the perp was a very disturbed young man who'd been released from the only home he'd known for five years just before the most important holiday of the year. He'd not taken it well and gone crazy on the caretakers.
They'd spent a week looking for him, fearing it would happen again somewhere else. It didn't and he was safely locked into a mental institution for observation but it didn't look like he'd ever be fit to stand trial. That was depressing in a season where there was so much hope and joy being expressed everywhere you looked.
He walked upstairs and put his key in the door. The door down the hall opened and Mrs.
Skopt stuck her head out. "Bobby, I'm glad you're home." She said.
Bobby hoped like the devil she didn't want to talk. He wasn't up for a long conversation. "Hello, Mrs. Skopt. How are you?"
"I'll be better when you come get this package that was delivered for you. It's taking up most of my living room."
"A package for me?"
"That's what the delivery ticket says. It says open immediately and it's addressed to you." She nodded.
"Okay." He said with a sigh and came over to her door.
She opened it and he saw the biggest Christmas present he'd ever seen. It was at least as tall as he was, wrapped in decorative paper with a huge yellow ribbon and bow on top of it. It read exactly what she'd said it did. The return address was Michigan and he grinned. Emily. It had to be.
"Do you know who it's from?" Mrs. Skopt asked curiously.
"Yes. How did they get it in here?"
"It rolls." She said pointing to the castors visible under the present.
Bobby got behind it and maneuvered it out the door and down to his door. "Thank you, Mrs. Skopt."
"Let me know what it is, will you?" the older lady asked worried.
"I will." He promised. He was smiling.
He opened his door and managed to get the package inside without too much trouble. It sat regally in his living room while he took off his coat and weapon and put them away. He noticed the envelope attached to it. He opened it and read the inserted sheet.
"Merry Christmas, Bobby,
I couldn't come to you for the holiday so I'm sending it to you. Read the directions and follow them exactly, no peeking. Open the big one first and water as needed. Then put your feet up and watch the Really Red present. The rest will be obvious. Call me when you're done. Love, Emily."
Bobby grinned and pulled off the paper and ribbon. There were wooden supports and cardboard sides but they were tied with binder twine. He pulled the bow knot and the sides fell off. A fully decorated, potted Christmas tree sat on the platform with casters under it. Presents had been fastened to the sides so when they fell off the presents were laid out under the tree along with a tree skirt.
Another note on the tree caught his attention. "I figured you'd have one of those dinky table top trees if you even had one so here's a big one. E."
He pulled the extra cardboard off the top and pushed the tree over to the corner of the living room, found the plug and plugged it in. The entire tree glared to life. It was the brightest tree he'd ever seen. He laughed. His cousin knew how to decorate a tree. He peered closer; the light strings were tied onto the branches with twister ties.
The Really Red present was fastened to the trunk of the tree. He pulled it off and opened it. It was two DVD's marked 1st and 2nd. He put the first one in the player and waited for it to load. He got himself a drink and sat down and pushed play.
"Merry Christmas, Bobby. I thought you'd like to see what we did here for Christmas. Stas is running the camera so look for almost anything to happen. Here goes." Emily teased and narrated while the camera spanned the gaudily decorated main room and a beautiful tree in the corner of the farmhouse. The camera panned back to Emilys grinning face. "And next year you'll have a new relative to celebrate with." The camera moved down to her showing the small bump of her stomach then back up to her grinning visage.
"On the other DVD are some old movies I found from Christmases past. Some of them I can tell who they are, some I can't but I wanted you to see them. I hope you like them. I miss you. Maybe after the baby's born we can come see you. I love you, Bobby, Merry Christmas."
Stas bumped the camera around a bit evidently setting it down and came around to stand behind Emily, putting his arms around her and rubbing the baby bump on her abdomen. "Happy Holidays, Bobby, to you and Alex."
The DVD ended and Bobby rewound it and played it again. He was smiling. He went over to the tree and knelt down to look at the presents. There were presents there with his name on them and ones to Alex as well.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed her number.
"What?" she said wearily into her phone.
"I'm sorry. I'm interrupting your bath. I just wanted to share something with you."
"What?" she asked with a hint of curiosity.
He described enthusiastically the biggest present he'd ever gotten and the rest of it. "So when you're done at your folks house can you come here and we can open these?"
"S-Sure. They really did all that?"
"I'm looking at it now. Which reminds me, I should water it. I'll let you get back to your bath. I-I'm sorry I bothered you."
"I'm glad you did. Thank you."
Bobby hung up and sat down on the couch to watch the tree which had begun to blink in some spots. He saw all the usual ornaments and admired the amount of effort it had taken to get it here in tact.
A knock on the door surprised him. He got up and cautiously peeked through the peephole. It was Alex and he grinned and opened the door. She looked refreshed somewhat and grinned at him. "It's technically Christmas and you did say something about presents."
He laughed and invited her in. She gave him the bags she'd been hiding behind her. "Eggnog and your present." She said sheepishly.
"I have yours in the bedroom." He acknowledged.
She entered and saw the tree glowing in the corner. "Wow. That is quite a tree."
"She tends to go overboard on things. She's pregnant. I'll show you the DVD if you want."
"I'd like that. Let's have some of that eggnog while we watch it."
Bobby poured them each a huge glass and they sat and watched the DVD. Then Bobby put in the one he'd yet to watch. There were parts that were funny, parts that were sad, some that were sweet and a few that showed the less than loving family. Emily came on at the end. "That's our family, Bobby. This is yours to keep. Just remember we can be our own family. Love you." She blew him a kiss before it ended.
Alex looked up to see Bobby had tears in his eyes. "Maybe we'll surprise her before the baby is born, huh?" she asked.
"I'd like that." He admitted. "Now let's see what she sent us."
The presents were fastened to the cardboard so they had to be opened where the were sitting. Bobby and Alex got matching sweaters, Alex was swimming in hers, Alex got a beautiful necklace that had a small stone set in gold, Bobby got a dress watch which he probably would never wear, there were other presents, seven apiece. And one that was to be opened on Christmas morning.
They decided to leave that one for the morning proper. Alex took him up on his invitation to stay over. They opened their presents from each other in the bedroom and then unwrapped each other.
Bobby tried to stay still the next morning, but he was dying of curiosity about the last present and his twitching work Alex up. She took one look at his grinning face and groaned. "Okay, let's go open it up."
He shot out of bed pulling on his sweat clothes in a hurry and waited impatiently for her to get up. She was still pulling her robe on when they trudged out to the living room. She plugged the tree in and turned to see Bobby had the present on the coffee table. "It says it's for both of us." He said.
She padded over to sit next to him. "So open it."
He did and there were two stockings fastened to the back of the box with their names on them. "A stocking? I never had one."
Alex grinned at her. "Your cousin thinks of everything. See what's inside yours."
Being really careful of it, he did and grinned at the miscellaneous things inside. Way down in the toe was a note from Emily. "Now you know how a Christmas should be. I'll call you the day after so you can enjoy your whole day. E."
Tears were streaming down his cheeks. "I'm so blessed." He told Alex.
"We're all blessed to know you, Bobby. Me especially. Let's have some coffee and go see what my family has for you."
Bobby was back at his home at 11:30 in the evening and he turned on his tree just to enjoy the lights. His phone rang. "Goren."
"Hey, Cousin." Emily said.
"Emily. It's good to hear from you. Merry Christmas."
"Same to you. So did you get my present?"
"I got all of them. Thank you. I love it. I can't remember what a grand Christmas I ever had."
"They'll all be wonderful from now on if I can help it. So tell me all about it."
They talked until well after Christmas had passed, but it didn't matter. Christmas was now something they could both look forward to from year to year.
TBC
May all your holidays be this warm and welcoming.