Even that reminded her of Adam.
‘What is it?’ He grabbed it impatiently. ‘What did you get me?’
‘Open it and see.’
He slid his fingers beneath the tape, ripping at the edges of the paper. Each tear revealed a little more of the package, until the remaining paper fell down and onto the floor. ‘You got me a magic box? Awesome!’ He pulled at the lid, opening it up and searching through the contents. ‘I’ve always wanted one of these.’
She smiled. ‘I know, you told me, remember?’
‘When can I do some tricks?’ He lifted out the cups and ball. ‘Maybe I can put on a show.’
‘Definitely. After you’ve had a chance to practise…’
‘I’m going to practise all day. Until I’m the best magician ever.’
‘I’m not sure you’re going to have much of a chance today. Maybe tomorrow?’
Tomorrow, ah tomorrow.
His face dropped. ‘But that’s ages away.’
‘It will fly by. Today you’ll have more presents to open and a family to spend time with. There’s plenty of time to learn magic tricks afterwards.’
‘I suppose…’ He pulled the rest of the tricks out, examining them one by one. ‘I guess I can wait.’
‘Good boy.’
After getting dressed they made their way downstairs. Everett and Mia were already down there, sipping coffee as Annie dressed the turkey. Jonas’s grandfather, Francis, was watching her work, passing the dressing when she asked for it.
‘Merry Christmas, darling!’ Mia held her arms out for Jonas, who ran into them. ‘Did Santa bring you any presents?’
‘So many, Mom. Kitty said I couldn’t open them until you were up. Can I get them now?’
Looking over his head she nodded at Kitty, as if to thank her. ‘Of course, sweetheart. Bring them down. I can’t wait to see what Santa’s brought you!’ She wiggled her eyebrows as if they were sharing a joke. But of course it was an adult one, not understood by Jonas. As far as he was concerned, Santa was a living, breathing, gift-giver.
Jonas ran out of the room and thundered up the stairs. Mia sat back down, looking relieved, taking another sip of coffee. ‘What have you done with the dog?’ she whispered.
‘Adam’s bringing him up later, when we open the tree presents. I said I’d meet him outside so we can surprise Jonas. Maybe you’d like to join us?’
Mia wrinkled her nose, looking out at the snow still falling onto the white ground. ‘Maybe you can bring him in here instead.’
When ten o’clock arrived, Mia was busy drinking a mimosa and gossiping with Drake, leaving Kitty to shrug on her coat and pull on her snow boots and trudge around the house to where Adam was hiding. The puppy was standing quietly on a leash, good as gold, not straining or fighting to get away. Adam had fixed a bright red bow to his collar, much to the puppy’s disgust. He tried to bite it off, but was having trouble getting the right angle.
‘You gift-wrapped him.’ She couldn’t disguise her delight.
‘Ah, I figure
d that if we’re going to do this thing, we should go all-out for kitsch.’
‘So how should we do it?’ she asked. ‘Just take him in and shout surprise? Bring Jonas out? What do you think?’
‘Let’s have a bit of fun.’ His grin was infectious. ‘We’ll hide him in the closet and then let him loose. Create some mayhem.’
Kitty’s eyes widened. ‘I’m not sure we should do that. What if he makes a mess in there?’
‘It won’t be for long, and we’ve trained him anyway.’ His expression was full of mischief. ‘Come on, let’s liven things up in there. It’s Christmas, for goodness sake.’
‘If you’re sure.’ Kitty hesitated. ‘I don’t want to cause any problems.’