2007

There were just a few weeks left until Christmas, and two weeks left before winter holiday break. Maria Montez came downstairs on Saturday morning, surprised to see Gabriella at the dining table, poring over a pile of catalogs that had come in the mail throughout the week. She had a pen and some post-it notes and had flagged some pages. Her laptop was also open on the table, and as Maria rounded the table, she could distinctly see a basketball on the page.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked.

Gabriella looked up. "Trying to find a Christmas present for Troy."

Maria nodded with understanding. "Oh, I see. Any luck?"

Gabriella pouted, shook her head and sighed. "Nope. Nothing is right."

Maria gave her daughter a sympathetic squeeze on the shoulder and went into the kitchen. She returned five minutes later with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal and sat down with Gabriella at the table.

"What ideas do you have? I can see you've flagged some things."

Gabriella sighed. "I can think of lots of things he'd like but nothing that he'd love.."

"Like?"

"He wants the Lil Wayne CD. And he loves Family Guy, I could buy him a DVD set. Or I could get him a video game. But I just... none of these things are very personal." Gabriella pouted. "It just... it needs to be special."

Maria understood the sentiment behind Gabriella's angst. "You care for him, so you want to get him something meaningful."

"Exactly!"

"Maybe instead of looking through these catalogues, we're better off on a trip to the mall."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows. "You're going to help me?"

"If you want company. If you'd like me to just drop you off then..."

"No, please come!"

…

Troy was pacing around in hallway, just beside where his mother was doing some cleaning in the kitchen. He had been waiting for the right time to ask her a very important question, and it felt like the right time just wasn't going to come. After a few minutes, it was Lucille who spoke up.

"Troy, is this some sort of new exercise your father has prescribed?"

Troy sheepishly stopped pacing, and instead stepped into the kitchen.

"No. It isn't."

"Then why are you pacing?"

Troy bit his lip. "You look nice today."

Suddenly, it all made sense. "What do you want?"

"I uh..." Troy scratched the back of his neck, and decided on a direct approach. "I am wondering if there would be any possibility of me borrowing some money."

"How much?"

"Well, I uh... I want to buy... this..."

Troy reached into his pocket and pulled up a folded up page from a catalogue he'd torn out, and circled an item.

"A charm bracelet," Lucille said out loud, looking at the picture. It wasn't a particularly expensive bracelet, it was in sterling silver and fairly basic.

"Um... yes."

"For Gabriella?"

He nodded. "For Christmas. And, well, also for our anniversary."

"I'm assuming you want to get some charms as well."

"Yeah. Just four for now. A music note, and a snowflake, and Pi symbol, and uh... a heart."

Troy was suddenly questioning if he'd had the right tactic in asking his mother for money, feeling rather embarrassed. But then her face softened, and he knew he'd had the right move.

"Aww," Lucille cooed. "When did you get all grown up and everything?"

Troy made a face. "Mama..."

"Yes, you can 'borrow' some money."

He grinned and gave her a hug. "Thank you! You're the best." He then paused. "Do you think it's a good present idea?"

"I think I can guarantee you that she'll love it."

…

Both Troy and Gabriella's family were staying in Albuquerque for the holidays. At Troy's house, they had family who lived in Santa Fe coming down to spend the holidays with them, and at Gabriella's, family from El Paso had made the drive. After negotiations, Lucille had agreed that after their family Christmas Eve dinner, that Troy could go over to Gabriella's so they could do their own gift exchange.

Troy arrived at Gabriella's just as they were serving dessert, and so although he'd just eaten his own huge feast, an extra chair was located and dragged up to the table, squeezing in between Gabriella and her cousin Elena to consume another plate of sweetness. Only after all the plates were cleared away from the table was Gabriella able to excuse herself and Troy from the table and they escaped up to her room, him bringing with him the small gift bag he'd temporarily placed under their large Christmas tree in the living room. Gabriella also collected her gift for him, a larger rectangle shaped box, about twice the size of a tissue box. Hand in hand they bound up the stairs and wound up sitting crossed legged across from each other on Gabriella's bed.

"You first," two voices said simultaneously.

"No, you first," Gabriella insisted.

Troy looked down at her neatly wrapped gift – it contrasted to the small present that was inside the gift bag, clumsily wrapped with a big bow and then in a gift bag for ease of transportation. She'd written him a Christmas card, which he opened first – she'd used a silver gel pen, scrawling not just a "Dear Troy, Love Gabriella x" but also a whole letter on the blank inside page.

"Read that later," she said with a blush, taking the card from him, feeling embarrassed.

"No!" Troy insisted, and took the card back.

She sat drawing patterns on her bedspread while he read each and every word of her little note to him – a reflection of how glad she was that he was in her life and how amazing the last year had been. He smiled, taking her hand and squeezing it, in a silent acknowledgement, and then turned to the box. He carefully unwrapped it, revealing a blank gift box, which he also carefully opened, and finally revealed a set of bookends – or rather, it wasn't a set, it was a mismatched set, with one end being a basketball, and the other end, a music note. In between the two bookends was a biography of Spud Webb, a basketball player who Troy admired who was well known for his slam dunk ability, despite his shorter stature. Troy grinned, admiring the woodwork of the bookends.

"Um, it seems kind of lame, I know, but I thought they were really pretty and they were selling them individually so I could mix and match, which I thought was cool, and appropriate. And I thought they might be appropriate in your dorm room next year... at U of A, or wherever you wind up..."

Her ramble was interrupted by Troy's lips pressing against hers.

"I love them, really. And this book too – Spud Webb was awesome, I love watching old footage of him."

"I know."

"Thank you," Troy said sincerely, leaning over to kiss her softly on the lips. He then pushed the gift bag toward her. "Now you!"

He waited nervously as she peeked inside and hid a laugh at his awful gift wrapping effort and the giant bow. However her smile dissipated into a gasp as a velvet jewellery box was revealed, and she opened it to reveal the beautiful charm bracelet.

"Troy!"

"I hope you like it," he said nervously. "I uh... I could only afford to put on a few charms but I thought that was okay because then you can put some on that you like. And I hope you like the ones that I chose."

She carefully fingered each of the charms – all chosen specifically to represent her, and their relationship. The biggest of all the charms was a heart, studded with cubic zirconias.

"It's perfect," she breathed.

Troy's smile grew as he watched her genuine reaction. "I wanted to get something meaningful, you know, since this is for our anniversary too. The snowflake for when we met – New Years Eve, at the ski lodge. The Pi because I'm proud of you for being you, for the decathlon, for the Pi Pie that Zeke baked..." Gabriella laughed at the memory. "The music note because music is what brought us together – and back together over summer, as well. And the heart because... well..." he took a breath. "You have mine."

"I do?"

Troy swallowed, before nervously saying the three little words that had been on his mind. "Gabriella I... I love you."

Gabriella's eyes widened, her fingers clutching around the charm bracelet.

"I love you too," she replied, her voice quiet, but distinct.

All the worry that had been in him drifted away in that moment. For both of them, it didn't matter what presents they'd given each other. It was December, which was their month, and they had each other. That was all that mattered.