"Mommy! Daddy! It's Christmas!" Brie yelled, running out of her own bedroom and banging on the door of
her parents'.
"I wanna open presents!" little Troy shouted, hurrying downstairs to look at his full stocking and the large gift
that was sitting next to it under the Christmas tree.
Inside Troy and Gabriella's room, Troy groaned, then rolled over to look at the clock. "Seven-thirty," he mum-
bled to his wife, who was curled up comfortably in his warm arms.
"Time to get up," Gabriella said.
"I want snuggles for Christmas," Troy complained, pulling Gabriella closer to his side. "That's all I want."
"Wildcat, you can have snuggles every day, now let's go."
"Come on Mommy and Daddy!" Brie said impatiently, turning the doorknob and peeking into her parents'
room.
"Brie, there's a rule in this house about not opening closed doors," Troy told his daughter sleepily.
"But I want you to stop sleeping and get up so I can open pwesents!" With that, Brie rushed downstairs. She
found her brother already ripping wrapping paper off his gifts. "I wanna open my pwesents, too!" She reached
for her stocking.
"I'm gonna open my big one!" little Troy announced to his sister, dragging the gift that was beside his stock-
ing to the middle of the room. "IT'S A BASKETBALL HOOP!" he screamed in delight as he tore the wrapping
paper off of it.
"I wanna open my big one, too!" Brie yelled. She grabbed the present that was next to her stocking and be-
gan taking the paper off of it. "It's a real ballet barre!" she shouted, looking at the picture on the box she had just
revealed.
Just then, Troy and Gabriella walked down the stairs. "Kids!" they both scolded as soon as they saw the mess
of wrapping paper and unwrapped gifts that their children were sitting in with smiles on their faces.
"Daddy! Mommy! I got a real basketball hoop!" little Troy exclaimed happily, holding up the box containing
his new item.
"Do you like it?" Gabriella asked.
Little Troy nodded eagerly as he put down his present.
"Mommy! Daddy! Look! A real ballet barre just like at ballet class!" Brie yelled as she pointed to her un-
wrapped gift. Then, after a moment, she decided, "It'll be too small for me, though. Look how little the
box is!"
"Daddy will have to put it together," Troy told his daughter. "It doesn't come ready to use."
"Can you put it togethew now?" Brie asked, looking up at her father with pleading eyes.
I wish she wouldn't do that, Troy thought. She has the same pleading look as Gabby. And that look is my worst
weakness. Then, aloud, he said, "Okay, Brie. Let Daddy look at it and see what he can do." He climbed over
all the wrapping paper and sat down next to his daughter.
"I want my basketball hoop put up, too!" little Troy told his dad. "You can put it in my woom."
"Well your sister asked me to help her first, so you'll have to wait a little bit," Troy said.
"I'll help you open it awhile," Gabriella offered, walking over to little Troy.
"Here," little Troy said, handing the box containing the basketball hoop to his mom.
"Okay, let's see." Gabriella took her son's gift from him and opened it up.
"A soft basketball!" little Troy shouted, picking up the plush ball he saw. "I didn't know it came with this!"
"That's so you have a ball to shoot through the hoop," Gabriella told her son. "And it's soft like that so you can
play with it inside. Once the hoop's on your wall, you can play basketball in your room."
"Yay!" little Troy yelled.
Gabriella then took the basketball hoop from the box and examined it. "I think Mommy can get this up in your
room," she told her son, deciding that it didn't look too hard to nail into a wall.
Little Troy jumped up and down. "Can you put it up now?"
"Yeah," Gabriella answered, standing up. She went into the garage and got two nails and a hammer, then took
them-along with the basketball hoop-to her son's room.
Little Troy followed his mother, bouncing up and down with excitement. "Will it be done soon?" he asked.
"In a minute," Gabriella replied. She took the nails, hammered them into the wall, then hung the basketball
hoop on them. After it was on the wall, she hammered the nails in further to make sure it would stay up. "It's all
ready."
"Now I can play!" little Troy said happily, running downstairs to get his new basketball that he had left in the
wrapping paper mess. He then ran back to his room.
Gabriella smiled as she walked downstairs. "How's the ballet barre coming?" she asked Troy.
"I got it about halfway finished," Troy answered.
"Then I can do ballet at home!" Brie exclaimed. "Awe we gonna put the barre in my woom?"
"Yes," Gabriella replied.
"Yay!" Brie shouted.
"Mommy, Daddy," little Troy said, running downstairs. "I fowgot to show you what I got in my stocking!" He
went over to his gifts, grabbed two things, and then held them up. "I got another wacecaw, see? And candy!"
"You got a lot of good stuff," Gabriella commented. "And you still have a couple more things in your stocking
to open."
"I fowgot about my stocking!" Brie yelled.
"Well then while Daddy's putting together your ballet barre, you can open the rest of your things. Troy, you
can finish opening yours, too."
The twins grabbed presents and ripped them open. "I got anothew ballet tutu fow my ballewina Barbie!" Brie
shouted.
"I got cwayons!" little Troy said. "I needed them fow school!"
"Me, too!" Brie announced as she ripped the paper off another present.
"Troy, you're right," Gabriella told her son. "They're to take to school."
"So we don't have to use the school's cwayons?" Brie questioned.
Gabriella smiled and nodded.
"Ouch!" Troy, who was still working on the ballet barre, exclaimed.
"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked worriedly, turning toward her husband.
"I pinched my finger," Troy answered, annoyed at himself. "This thing is getting harder to put together."
"I can try to do it," Gabriella offered.
"I don't want you to get hurt, baby girl."
Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I got candy!" Brie shouted.
"I got more candy!" little Troy yelled, very loudly. "Now I have two things of candy!"
"I got more candy, too!" Brie told everyone as she opened another one of her presents. Then, looking in her
stocking, she sadly said, "No more things."
Little Troy, hearing his sister, checked his stocking. "No more fow me, either."
"Well Grandma's coming later," Gabriella said as she let go of her husband. "And so are Grandma and Grand-
pa. You'll get more things then."
"YAY!" the kids both screamed.
"Wildcat, can I open my presents?" Gabriella asked Troy suddenly.
"Of course," Troy replied. "I'll take a break from putting this thing together and open mine, too."
"Okay." Gabriella grabbed her stocking, then handed Troy his. She then selected a present and began opening
it.
"What did you get, Mommy?" Brie asked.
"It's something in a box," Gabriella answered as she finished ripping all the paper off of her gift.
"Open the box!" little Troy shouted.
"I am," Gabriella assured her son. She removed the lid of the small box that was in her hands.
"What is it?" Brie asked.
"A bracelet," Gabriella said, smiling. "With a locket on it."
"What's a locket?" little Troy asked.
"This." Gabriella held up her new bracelet so her son could see it and pointed to the heart-shaped locket that
was dangling from the chain.
"Oh. I've never seen one befowe."
"It can open, too," Gabriella informed her son.
"I wanna see it open!" Brie yelled.
Gabriella opened the locket and saw Troy's picture on the right side. On the left, there was a folded up note.
She carefully took it out, unfolded it, then silently read the words that were written. Gabby: You are the music in
me. Forever love, your Wildcat. Happy tears gathered in her eyes. "Wildcat," she breathed softly, placing her
bracelet back in its box, "I love it, and I love you."
Troy, who had been watching Gabriella from the time she began opening his present to her, gathered her up in
his arms and pressed a gentle kiss on her nose, then on her soft lips. "I love you, too," he whispered.
Gabriella returned both the loving embrace and the kiss. "You're so sweet," she murmured. "So sweet. This
is a gift from you that I will keep for the rest of my life."
"Yeah," Troy murmured back as he began stroking his wife's hair carefully, savoring the feeling of each per-
fect curl beneath his fingers. "I thought I'd get you something you could add to your collection of treasures that
came from me."
Gabriella smiled, knowing what Troy meant. She had her 'T' necklace-the first present he ever gave her. Then
she had both her engagement ring and her wedding ring. And most importantly, she had his tender, caring, sweet,
passionate love. Now she had something else to add to those things.
"Mommy, Daddy, why awe you hugging?" Brie asked.
"Because we love each other," Troy mumbled half to himself in reply.
"Wildcat, you still haven't started on your presents," Gabriella suddenly reminded her husband.
"I was too busy watching you open yours," Troy told her. "But now I guess I can start on mine."
"Okay," Gabriella said, letting go of Troy.
Troy reached for his stocking and pulled out a package, then took the paper off of it. "Gabby, baby," he said,
an amused smile coming onto his lips.
"What?" Gabriella asked.
Troy held up his present and read the writing that was written on the box enclosing it. "Alarm clock. Super
loud. Will wake up even the heaviest sleeper."
Gabriella began laughing.
"What's so funny about this?" Troy questioned playfully.
"You need it," was Gabriella's only response.
"What? You are so silly, my love," Troy said, also beginning to laugh as he very gently tapped his wife's nose
with one of his fingers.
"Mommy, Daddy, what's so funny?" Brie asked.
"Daddy's present," Gabriella answered.
"Did Santa give him coal?" little Troy wondered.
"No," Gabriella answered. "He gave him a super loud alarm clock."
"Will it be scawy?"
"No, you won't be able to hear it. It'll be in Mommy and Daddy's room."
"Gabby, it says you can have a personalized wake-up message," Troy said. "Or the standard beeping sound."
"Really?" Gabriella asked, acting surprised. She had picked out a clock that had an option to create a personal
wake-up message on purpose, so she had known it came with that feature. However, if she said she already knew
about it in front of the kids, they might figure out that she had bought the clock and begin questioning whether or
not Santa was real. So to save tears from falling on Christmas, she pretended she knew nothing about it.
Troy handed Gabriella his gift.
Gabriella opened up the box, then took out the user's manual and quickly scanned it. When she was done,
she took the clock and found the record button. Pressing it and holding it down, she said in a clear voice,
"Wildcat. It's time to get up. Don't be lazy or I won't kiss you for a month." Finished, she let go of the button
and handed the clock back to Troy. "Here. Listen to it."
"What button do I press?" Troy asked, confused.
"Um, let me see." Gabriella grabbed the user's manual again. After finding the page where it listed which but-
tons did what, she answered, "The alarm sound demo button."
Troy found the needed button and pushed it. Suddenly, the recording Gabriella had made sounded very loudly
in the room, causing the twins to cover their ears. "WILDCAT. IT'S TIME TO GET UP. DON'T BE LAZY OR I
WON'T KISS YOU FOR A MONTH."
"Baby girl," Troy said, putting his clock down on the floor. "You really are silly." He leaned over to kiss her
on the cheek. "But I love you for it."
Gabriella giggled. "Well this clock better wake you up. If it doesn't, then I'm all out of ideas of how to get you
out of bed."
"My mom's here," Gabriella announced later that day as, through the living room window, she saw her mother
walking to the front door.
"Gwandma's here?" Brie questioned.
"Yes she is," Gabriella replied.
Brie, followed by her brother, ran to the door and swung it open. "Gwandma!" they both shouted in delight as
their grandmother walked into the house.
"Hi, Brie. Hi, Troy," Mrs. Montez greeted cheerfully. "Did Santa bring you good presents this year?"
"Yeah!" the kids both said loudly.
"Brie, shut the door," Troy, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room, instructed his daughter.
Brie closed the door. "What did you bring us, Gwandma?"
"You'll have to wait and see," Mrs. Montez answered, putting the gifts that were loaded in her arms down in
a corner.
"I wanna open my pwesents!" little Troy yelled.
"Can we?" Brie pleaded.
"I guess," Gabriella told her kids. "If Daddy and Grandma are okay with you doing it now."
"I'm fine with it," Troy said.
"Me, too," Mrs. Montez agreed.
"Alright," Gabriella decided. "You can open them. Let me just sort out which presents are for who." She went
over to the present pile and quickly divided them into two piles-one containing Brie's gifts and the other contain-
ing Troy's. "They're ready to open."
The kids ran over to their presents. "Which is my pile?" little Troy asked.
"This one," Gabriella told her son, pointing to one of the present piles.
Little Troy began hurriedly ripping paper off one of his gifts.
"Then this one's for me!" Brie exclaimed, sitting down in front of the pile her mother hadn't said was her bro-
ther's.
"I got a wacecaw!" little Troy shouted. "Now I have enough to make a huge wace! The biggest wace evew!"
"Wow!" Troy said to his son. "You can make a big race!"
"I got make-up!" Brie told everyone. She held up a play make-up kit meant for little girls around her age.
"That'll look nice on you," Gabriella commented.
"Look what else I got!" little Troy said excitedly. "It's a wacecaw track fow my wacecaws!"
"You'll have fun with that," Gabriella guessed.
"I got a ballet barre fow my ballet Barbie!" Brie shouted.
"Now your Barbie can do ballet at a barre, too," Gabriella pointed out.
"You can make her do what you do," Troy added.
"And my last pwesent is...." little Troy began.
"I'm on my last one, too!" Brie told her brother.
"A huge toy truck!" little Troy said loudly.
"And I got a phone!" Brie yelled. "Mommy, look!" She showed Gabriella the toy phone she had just unwrap-
ped.
"Now you can call Mommy and Daddy," Gabriella said.
"Daddy, look! I can call you now!" Brie happily exclaimed, showing her father her present.
"Wow, that'll be fun for you," Troy commented.
"Can you open it?"
"I guess. Let me just grab some scissors." Troy left the room, then appeared a moment later holding a pair of
scissors.
At that moment, the doorbell rang. "Wildcat, your parents are here," Gabriella told Troy as she peeked out the
window. She then went over to the door and opened it. "Hi."
"Hi, Gabriella," Mr. and Mrs. Bolton both said politely.
"You can come in."
Troy's parents made their way inside. "Hi, Troy," Mr. Bolton greeted his son.
Gabriella shut the door.
"Hi, Troy. Hi, Brie," Mrs. Bolton said to her grandchildren.
"Hi Troy. Hi, Brie," Mr. Bolton copied.
"Gwandma and Gwandpa! What did you bwing us?" little Troy questioned.
"Yeah, what?" Brie asked.
"Some presents," Mr. Bolton answered. "But I have to get them out of the car." Then, walking to the door, he
added, "I'll be right back."
"More pwesents!" both the twins yelled. "More pwesents are coming!"
In a minute, Mr. Bolton came back inside carrying four gifts-two for each of the twins. "Alright, here's pre-
sents for Troy." He put little Troy's presents in front of his grandson. "And presents for Brie." He put the remain-
ing presents by his granddaughter.
"Yay!" the kids shouted, immediately tearing the wrapping paper off their gifts.
"I got a dwess-up outfit!" Brie exclaimed.
"I got another wacecaw!" little Troy yelled. "Now I can have a big, big, big wace!"
"I got ballet stickers!" Brie shouted as she opened her second gift.
"And I got basketball ones!" little Troy announced when he was done unwrapping his last gift.
"You two got a lot of things today," Gabriella observed.
"You're gonna be busy for a while," Troy added.
"And you," Gabriella said, pointing to her husband Troy, "Will be getting out of bed on time every morning."
"Gabby!" Troy pouted, pretending to be annoyed. He went over to Gabriella and lifted her off the ground.
"Put me down!" Gabriella ordered, playing along with her husband.
"Never," Troy whispered in her ear. "You will never be released! And I will never get up on time!"
"Yes you will," Gabriella told him as she giggled. Or at least I hope so, she added silently.