The monotonous, but terribly
irritating buzz of the alarm woke Hein.
It was 4 a.m.
"Oh, it
can't be this early can it?" he groaned and reached over to switch off the
alarm clock.
"Yes, its
time" his groggy wife, Jamie, answered.
"Alright…just
give me a minute." It was so
tempting to just close one's eyes and fall back asleep. But today was Christmas morning and Santa
still had to deliver his presents. Hein
grumbled as he slowly turned upright and slid his feet off the bed. He couldn't see—the lights were still
off. He fidgeted for his slippers and
finally found one, the other was nowhere in sight.
Hein
grabbed the flashlight off the bedside table and peered under his bed. He flipped it on and squinted.
"What are
you doing?" Jamie asked.
"Trying to
find my other shoe," he replied.
Someone had managed to kick his fluffy brown shoe behind the bottle of
hand lotion. Hein made a mental note of
where the bottle was—he hadn't seen it since the day before yesterday. He reached out and grabbed his slipper, then
got back up on his bed to put on his last shoe.
Hein stood
up and made way for the closet. It was
still cold and he wanted to wear his black cotton robe. Behind him, Jamie was slowly creeping her
way out of the bed. She was wearing a
red satin gown. Hein loved that dress.
He turned
around to wink at his wife and then went around into the walk-in closet. Hein flipped on the blinding light and began
to hunt for his robe. He found it on a
hanger—Jamie must've hung it up for him before they climbed into bed. He smiled.
Jamie
sauntered by, went into the bathroom and closed the door.
"Don't use
all the hot water," Hein said.
"Make me,"
she replied. Hein laughed and put on
his robe. He went out of his closet and
opened the bathroom door. Jamie was
already starting to undress herself when she saw the door open and yelped.
"Shhhhh,
it's only me," as he put a finger to her lips.
"What are you—" Hein broke her
thought with a kiss.
"Why don't we save the shower until
later, hmmm?"
"Oh…the presents?"
"Yes"
"Alright, let me get dressed
first…" Hein grinned and they kissed once more before he turned to head out of
the bathroom. Jamie smiled to herself
and started to put her gown back on.
Hein went back into the closet;
grabbed three wrapped boxes and moved back towards the door. He winked at Jamie as he went by and started
for the stairs. When he got to the
first step, he began to inch his way down.
The stairs in his house were always so noisy. It would be a miracle if he could get to the last step without
the wood sighing and letting out a creak. But fortune was shining on him today
and he was able to successfully infiltrate his living room. The tree, of course, was not real—ever since
the days of the appearance of the Phantoms, no one ever could get a real tree
again. Growing such large plants was
difficult indoors and besides, the water was too precious.
It was real enough for Hein. They had spent the previous evenings
decorating it with red, green, and blue bulbs along with strings of lights and
various decorations—some family heirlooms dating back to the 20th
century. Holo emitters juxtaposed
around the tree allowed a miniature Santa and his reindeers to ride in a silent
circuit up and around the tree. He
smiled as he watched the golden star on the top pulse its yellow light.
Jamie showed up right behind him
and she stopped to look at the tree.
"Beautiful isn't it?" He asked.
"Very"
Hein saw what she was carrying: a
fuzzy brown bear with a red bow along with a pillowcase.
"What's the pillowcase for?" He
asked.
"Stockings"
"Ah…Alyssa will love that bear you
got her at the store the other day."
"I know—she always pointed to it in
the window each time we walked by."
Hein smiled and could only wonder at how happy she'd be to finally get
it.
"C'mon, we've got lots of presents
to hide under the tree." Hein laughed
as he started to place the presents on the floor. Each was wrapped in gold or silver paper, striped with velvet
green ribbons. Hein looked at the
label.
"Hey this one's for me—and it's
from Santa."
"I know" she grinned back at
him. Genuine curiosity piqued his mind.
"Hmmm" he said and tried to shake
it.
***
Alyssa awoke to a loud thud that
echoed through the walls.
"Santa?" She sprang out of her bed
and ran down the stairs. She screamed
in delight as she saw the fantastic sight of colorful boxes that gleamed and
shined with the lights of the Christmas tree.
"Mommy!!!! The presents are
here!!!" she boomed.
They both had heard their daughter
downstairs. Hein was desperately trying
to dry himself. He beamed a sheepish
grin back towards his wife in the shower.
She only giggled and tried to hide her smile with her hand. Hein's face began to redden.
Alyssa was thundering up the stairs
to figure out why her parents hadn't come down. Surely Christmas was a momentous occasion that demanded their
complete and total presence? Alyssa ran
into her parent's room to see her soaked father trying to get his feet into his
slippers. He was only wearing a white
towel wrapped around his waist.
"He...He...Hello honey. Merrrrry Christmas! But wait a few minutes…daddy needs to get
dressed mkay." She watched as he shot
into the closet and closed the door behind him. His voice was shaky.
Alyssa frowned.
"Is mommy OK?" she asked.
Hein's muffled voice stammered
"Uh…yes." Jamie started to laugh.
"Mommy's just in the bathroom—she'll be out in a moment."
Confused, but relieved to know that
her parents were all right, she agreed, "OK."
She didn't know why her parents were acting so awkward, but at least
they were up and about. She turned
around and started to race back towards the stairs.
Both of her parents bellowed,
"Don't open any presents!"
***
Alyssa had done as she was told and
did not open any presents, however she took delight in shaking each box until
its ribbons were about ready to fall off.
She could barely contain her jubilance as Hein and Jamie came together
down the stairs.
"Hurry hurry!" she shouted at her
parents.
"We're coming sweetie—don't fret
just yet," Jamie answered. Hein was
grinning wildly. He could remember
himself doing the exact same thing when he was Alyssa's age.
Both Hein and Jamie went into the
living room he took a seat on the couch.
"OK which one do you want to open first?" Hein asked Alyssa. She immediately scooped up a bright red box
that sparkled as the light hit it.
"This one!" she exclaimed and began
to rip the coverings off the box. Here
eyes glowed as she caught sight of its contents. The box contained a holographic unicorn that started to gallop as
soon as someone picked the emitter up.
Hein got off the couch and grabbed a green box with twin silver
tassels from underneath the tree. He
gave it to Jamie, who began to grin as she undid the seals. She removed the
cover to see the flaky paper and then a cashmere sweater underneath.
"Thanks
Duggie!" She gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek. It was now her turn to get him something—she got up and retrieved
a small box not far from where Alyssa was sitting. She was already unsheathing her third present as Jamie came back
to hand him a little black case. It had
the name PRESSMAN engraved in deep gold letters.
"Oooh" Hein said aloud as he opened it. Deep black sunglasses stared back at
him. He gasped. These weren't your normal bargain shades, oh
no, these were worth a fortune.
Pressman built their glasses using carbosteel frames. They had photosensitive lenses that could
automatically adjust to any light level—even if one tried to stare directly at
the sun. "WOW…where did you get these?"
he asked. "The local stores haven't
carried these in ages." Hein was
smiling like a little boy.
Jamie was caught his infectious
smile. "I'll never tell," she
said. Hein laughed and leaned towards
her.
"Thanks" he gushed. "But do you think we should give her what
she wanted?"
"Yeah"
"You wanna get it?"
"I'll get it—it's around the corner
isn't it?"
"Yes"
Jamie got up and went out of the
living room. "Alyssa" she called. "We have something special for you." Alyssa quit playing with her holo Unicorn
and twisted around to see where her mother was.
"Huh?"
Jamie returned carrying a golden
bag. Something inside it was brown and fuzzy.
"The bear!" she screamed and ran
towards her mother.
"Yes, here it is—but remember to
thank your father too." Alyssa didn't
seem to hear since she crashed into her mother's legs and tried to bestow her
with a thousand praises of "thank you".
Hein chuckled as he stood up.
"Be right back" he said.
When Jamie had finally managed to
dislodge her daughter from her legs, she went to sit back down on the
couch. Hein was walking back into the
living room—he was carrying something pretty small. He handed Jamie a rectangular wrapped box. She stared at him quizzically and thought shouldn't
something this small go into the stockings…unless? She took off the wrapping and touched the
purple velvet case. When she opened it,
she gulped in a breath and froze. "Oh
Douglas…" Inside lay a golden necklace
with several rubies woven into the chain.
It must have cost him months to save up for such a gift.
"For you," he beamed. She closed
the case and moved over to kiss him.
"Ewwww mommy!" Alyssa exclaimed,
but neither Hein nor Jamie had heard her.
"Let me get
you something" she said into his ear.
Jamie got off the couch and snuck around the tree to retrieve the
mysterious box that was supposedly from Santa.
Hein raised an eyebrow.
"What's
this?" he asked as she handed him the small present. He tore off the wrappings and found a data pad. On it listed all USMF flights available for
civilian travel to Europe throughout the next year. Hein was utterly shocked—he had always wanted to take his family
there, but never though he could get the tickets. But she had. Tears welled
up in his eyes and he managed a "thank you" before giving Jamie a tight hug. Europe—finally
a reality, he thought to himself. This
is surreal.
***
Dinner that night was
exquisite. How Jamie got a hold of some
genuine vegetables and a real turkey Hein would never know. But he did know that the meal he ate was the
best he ever had. Far better than the
synthesized paste the city dispensers tried to pass on as food. Although Hein
had performed his own an equally astounding act for dinner: Earlier in the
month, he obtained a bottle of Chardonnay from the old Santa Barbara
vineyards. It hadn't quite spoiled yet,
but it was one of the last years that were produced. To say it would be expensive would be an understatement of epic
proportions.
Long before dinner, Hein realized
that he would forever remember and cherish today's events—the food, the gifts,
and the closeness of his family—especially their laughter. But little did he
know it would be their best and last Christmas together.
