Part 4 The grandfather let out a barely audiable gasp, and stood frozen, still holding the tag.

"What is it grandpa?" the young man asked.

He turned again to stare out the window, holding the gift.

Without turning around, the grandfather asked,"So, you said that was her last time going to the tree was two nights ago?"

Slightly confused, the young man answered,"No, she said that she will return there one last time for New Year's Eve. Why?"

His grandfather was not reacting to the story and gift as he had expected him to. He seemed more moved by it than even the young man himself had been.

The grandfather sighed and turned to look at his grandson. There was something in his eyes that the young man had never seen before in his grandfather. He didn't even know if he could describe it. It was a certain look of tenderness he guessed, of longing maybe.

Quietly and almost fearfully he asked his grandson, "I want you to take me to the tree for New Year's Eve, if you would please. Whoever this old woman is..I....I want to give her gift back to her."

He quickly turned back to look outside the window again.

The grandson was completely confused now.

"Yes, I can take you there, but the old woman doesn't know I took the gift, and she obviously meant for it to be left there. It symbolized something to her. Perhaps she doesn't want it given back to her."

"I know it doesn't make much sense, but I just feel I must give it back to her. I need you to trust me on this." The grandfather pleaded.

"Ok, grandpa. I will trust you on this and I will take you there for New Years Eve."

"Thank you. Oh, look! Your mom just arrived," the grandfather said and smiled from ear to ear at the sight of his daughter.

He turned back quickly to the young man and said,"Please, lets keep this gift, story and our New Year's plans to ourselves."

He just nodded in agreement, and opened the door for his mother.

"Hi mom! It's so great you could make it! We weren't sure if you would be able to."

He gave her a big hug.

She smiled said,"You knew I would do my best. I could never miss a holiday with my three favorite men."

She then walked over to her dad, and he gathered her in a big loving hug, with his eyes just shining.

"Oh, Mattie, I am so glad you came home for Christmas."

The young man had always marveled at the relationship that his mom had with her dad. They were so close. He knew that his mom had been adopted by his dad when she was 15 years old, but yet their bond would be what would be seen in a relationship between a parent and their child they had raised since birth.

Their early years together, he had been told, were not always easy. His grandfathers involvement in something top secret shortly after he adopted her, had caused them to leave suddenly, and go into hiding. They had spent the next 5 years living overseas. When they returned to the states, his mom joined the Navy, and made a career out of it. She married the young mans dad, who was also in the Navy, but he had been killed in a car accident when the young man was only 3 years old. It was always just him and his mom from then on out, as she never remarried. She made her career, her life. He spent a lot of time with his grandfather while his mother was busy in the military.

His grandfather had never married. When the young man was a boy he would ask his grandfather why he didn't have a grandma. His grandfather would always get a look of sadness in his eyes and had the same answer each time.

"There was only one woman your grandpa ever loved. And I loved her so much that I was going to ask share the rest of her life with me, but then I had to go into hiding for a few years. I was not allowed to tell her. I knew that I hurt her so badly that the best thing for me to do was to stay out her life forever. I always seemed to hurt her, and I promised myself I would not do that ever again. You see, she would have been the only grandma you could have ever had because she is the only woman I ever loved."

The young man's inner reflection of his mom and grandfathers life was interupted as his son came bounding through the door.

"Grandma! Grandma! You are here!" as he jumped into his Grandma Mattie's arms.

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The National Christmas Tree Washington, D.C. 11:00pm December 31, 2044

The young man had picked his grandfather up and they made the 2 hour drive to The National Christmas Tree. The trip from Richmond to D.C. had been rather quiet. The grandfather was very much in his own thoughts. He held the gift gently in his hands the whole way. He softly traced the same worn area that the old woman had. The young man was still confused as to why it was so important for his grandfather to make this trip and return a gift she had given away. He was trusting in him though, as he was asked to do.

They arrived at The National Christmas Tree, parked and sat quietly in the car. Finally the young man spoke.

"Grandpa, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is it that you plan to do?"

He took a deep breath and said simply,"I will walk up to her and return her gift to her. It was too special to have been left under the tree."

The young man sighed.

"Grandpa, I told you it meant something to her to leave it there. I just don't know if its such a good idea to give it back to her."

He could not figure out what had gotten into his grandfather and why this was so incredibly important to him.

"Trust me. It will mean more to her for me to give this gift back to her than it could have ever meant for her to leave it."

The grandfather then turned and looked out the window towards the tree. That's when he saw her. She was walking towards the bench a few yards in front of them. He felt emotions run through him that he had not felt in 40 years. He was seeing her again, he was actually looking at the woman he had always loved. His heart began to race. She may be an old woman now, but she was still just as beautiful to him as she ever was. To him, she was the most beautiful woman that had ever lived. He wondered to himself how her life had been. Had she loved and married? Did she have children? And most importantly, did she still love him, after all these years, and is that why she kept returning here?

TBC