We spend the next fifteen minutes slowly helping Milo open gift after gift. New clothes, some bath toys that squirt water, and a bunch of little toys for his young age. He seems completely fascinated with the red tractor I found. When you pull it back, it rolls forward. Every time his dad pulls it back and lets it go, he laughs.
I realize I’m still holding onto my gift, and Colton does too. One eyebrow rises as he glances my way and down at the box. “Are you going to open it?”
Nodding, I reply, “Yes, I just wanted to see Milo open his stuff first.” Then, I quickly get up and pull the three gifts I stuffed behind the tree out for Colton.
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” he says when he spies the presents.
“I could have told you the same thing.”
“Fine, but you have to open yours first.”
With a smile, I slowly pull the ribbon off the small box and lift the lid. It’s hard to see the necklace through my watery eyes, but I manage. There, nestled against the ivory lining, is the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever seen. “Colt—” I start but can’t seem to get anymore words out.
He’s moving, kneeling beside me, and takes the box from my shaking hands. “This is a dual gift from both Milo and me.” He holds up the piece of jewelry, giving me a closer look at the two items dangling from the white gold chain. “This heart, that’s for Milo. When we went shopping, he picked it out because he said he loves you with all his heart.”
There’s no stopping the tears as they slide down my cheeks now. The heart is small but surrounded in gorgeous diamonds that shimmer under the sunlight filtering through the window. “I don’t know what to say,” I whisper, my hand covering his as I clutch onto that tiny little heart as if I were clutching the one in Milo’s chest.
He moves my hand and carefully clasps the necklace around my neck, kissing the tender skin behind my ear. “Well, there’s more to this necklace,” he starts, holding up the other charm. It’s a key in white gold, a single heart diamond in the middle. “This key represents me. My heart. And I give you the key.” He smirks just a little as he adds, “Hell, I think you’ve owned it since I opened the door and found you standing on my porch.”
My arms wrap around his neck as I hold on tighter than I may ever have before. “It’s amazing. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received,” I whisper.
He turns me and places his lips against mine. “I mean it, Hollis. You own me.”
“I love you,” I murmur, right before he starts to deepen the kiss. His tongue slides in my mouth as his hands move to my back and then up to the back of my neck. Prickles of awareness slide up my skin with each stroke of his tongue, every touch of his hand.
We’re unable to take the kiss further, though. Milo can’t reach his new toys and takes the opportunity to tell us about it. Colton and I laugh as we separate and retrieve all the new goodies that fell just out of reach for Milo’s short arms.
“Oh! It’s your turn to open your gifts,” I tell him, wiping the remaining tears from my face as my right hand touches the necklace around my neck once more.
Colton settles back on the floor and reaches for the first box. It’s a shirt-box-shaped gift, so I’m pretty sure he already knows what’s inside. He pulls out the gray Henley and smiles. “Thank you.”
Shrugging, I tell him, “It’s not anything really personal. I just saw it and thought the gray would look amazing with your eyes.”
Those hypnotic orbs are focused solely on me as he smiles. “Thank you.”
“There’s more,” I say, brushing off the compliment and pushing the smaller package his way. I watch as he opens the travel coffee mug that reads Best Daddy Ever and offers me the biggest grin.
“Thank you. This is the best,” he says, glancing back down at the mug and then over to his son, who’s happily chewing on a teether shaped like a chicken drumstick.
Finally, he looks at the last gift. The big one. My heart starts to skip a little bit in my chest. He unwraps the paper and opens the box. There’s a large envelope inside, which he sets aside. Colton moves the tissue paper and reveals the image I purchased and had framed earlier in the week.
“Hollis.” My name is barely audible as he looks down at the picture of his son sitting with the Army jacket and smiling a big cheesy grin at the camera while holding the helmet on his head. He doesn’t say anything else, just stares down at the framed photograph.