“Has the cat met Jim yet?” Brandon asked as he absently petted Jim’s furry head. She’d flopped down between him and Elaine on the floor in front of the tree. Gideon and I had the couch.
“Oh, that would be a funny picture.” Elaine joined the love fest on Jim, rubbing her belly. Jim wasn’t going to know what to do when the place went back to only the two of us. And the dog wasn’t the only one.
“I’m not sure Butterscotch does dogs.” Gideon’s voice was light, which made it hard to tell whether he was serious or merely deflecting the matchmaking. Setting his stocking aside, he pointed at Elaine’s haul. “Look at your stickers!”
She held up a pack of stickers with various science-based puns and another with famous female scientists. “Brandon knows me well.”
“More like Brandon has access to your wish list on that crafting site.” He dug around in his own pile to come up with a little envelope. “Cooking lessons. Is that a hint?”
“Yup.” Elaine smiled smugly, then held up a figurine with a huge head from some sci-fi franchise. “Wait. That’s what I got you.”
“Yeah, you did.” Brandon held up his.
“Too cute.” Gideon snapped a picture of them holding up their matching figures. “Paul’s turn.”
I revealed a number of candy items, including some from a California-based company Elaine apparently frequented, as well others I was sure came from Gideon even though he pretended to have had nothing to do with that or Jim’s favorite brand of chews showing up. The bottom of my stocking held a joke book and fancy pine soap, which were absolutely from Gideon, who continued to play innocent.
“Presents.” Elaine turned her attention to the stack under the tree, starting with a flat envelope she handed to Brandon. “This is from my parents to us both. They said they wanted something packable.”
“Weekend in Tahoe!” Brandon seemed happy but not overly impressed by the card, which made me want to hide my own card with the dinner gift certificate. No way could I compete with his potential in-laws.
“That’s awesome,” I said tightly, earning me a searching look from Gideon.
“And one for you.” Elaine handed me a beautifully wrapped box with shiny paper and a matching bow. Gideon was right that she did seem to love details, almost as much as Gideon himself did. The box held a framed picture of Brandon hard at work in his lab with some big model of a molecule next to him. “I wasn’t entirely sure what to get you, but the frame seemed so perfect.”
The wide frame had a poem off to the side about gratitude for support, more the sort of thing a kid might give a parent at graduation. I had a feeling it was far more her idea than Brandon’s, but he was nodding along with Elaine. “I wanted to name a particle phenomenon for you, but then Elaine showed me that on her craft site, and I decided something for the mantle might be more practical.”
“You don’t have to name something for me.” My neck heated, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the picture. He looked so happy. You did good. Gideon’s pride when we’d talked about Brandon echoed in my ears. I didn’t need some flowery poem of thanks, but maybe I had played a tiny role in that smile as he lived his best genius life. My chest went warm and way, way too full.
“I want to see what Gideon got you,” Elaine demanded next.
“He didn’t…” I started to protest but trailed off as she dumped a heavy box in my lap. It too was expertly wrapped, plaid paper with every line straight and a perfectly aligned red ribbon.
“I think we need to challenge Gideon and Elaine to a wrapping contest,” Brandon joked.
“That would be fun,” I said absently as I unwrapped the box. Next to me, Gideon looked like he was chewing nails, mouth tense and shoulders stiff. The box I revealed was older, which was curious, but it was the contents that made me legit need to suck in a breath.
“Oh. Wow. They match the cookie platter.” Elaine was first to speak, pointing at the set of dessert plates and mugs, all with the same Rockwell pattern as the platter.
“I have a friend who’s amazing at tracking down antique dishes.” Gideon sounded uncertain, voice soft. “I hope it’s okay. I didn’t want to overstep.”
“It’s perfect,” Brandon spoke when I still couldn’t. “I never knew it was part of a set.”
“It was.” My tongue was three times as thick as normal. That too-full feeling in my chest had intensified, a balloon stretched to the limit, lifting me up and alarming me both. “Thank you.” I swallowed hard, needing to get myself under control. “There’s one for you, but I’m not sure it’s gonna top this.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything.” Gideon gave me a stern look as Elaine handed him my gift. My wrapping job was nothing compared to either of theirs, snowflake paper that had been in a half-off bin near the register, but Gideon didn’t seem to mind, slowly unwrapping the box. He started laughing before he finished removing the paper. “Boots!”
“Dude.” Brandon made a rude noise. “You got your boyfriend work boots?”
“Next year, send me a text,” Elaine suggested, gentler than Brandon but no less concerned. “I can help you out.”
“They’re perfect.” Gideon beamed at me before turning to the other two. “It’s an inside joke. He doesn’t approve of my footwear choice for roof work.”
“Figured they might come in handy for taking everything back down.”
“They will.” His smile dimmed a little. Heck. What had I said wrong? But before I could apologize, Elaine continued in her amateur Santa role, giving Brandon a box to open. It contained a complicated LEGO set for the same fandom as their matching figurines. He made all sorts of happy noises as he posed with the box before giving her a long kiss.
“Your turn.” Brandon pointed at Elaine.