Ana came running up to Camillo, her arms held out wide for him. He picked her up and swung her around.
“Merry Christmas, my princess,” he said.
“Can we open presents now?” Kevin asked.
“Yeah, uncle, can we?” Junior asked.
“Of course,” Camillo said. “You boys can go first.”
One by one, they unwrapped gifts. Portable game consoles and new games for their new Play Stations, clothes they could wear and jackets for the winter in the Poconos and all their favorite treats. Cassie’s smile was broad, and my eyes were filled with tears. This was the type of Christmas I’d always wanted to give Kevin, but never had the money to.
Ana was tearing into her presents, peeling the paper back and giggling at the shredding sounds. She unwrapped new toys that sang and a tablet installed with all the latest learning games. She pulled out beautiful dresses I knew Camillo had made and tailored just for her, and there was even a fuzzy blanket with a massive unicorn head at the corner of it she could cuddle with.
She was already dragging it everywhere with her while Cassie grabbed one of her presents.
“The hell’s this?” she asked as she opened the envelope.
“Probably should’ve opened the big one first,” Camillo said.
“It’s just a bunch of jumbled up letters and numbers,” she said. “Thanks?”
“Open the big present beside your knee, Cassie,” he said.
She ripped it open, and her eyes widened when she saw the Keurig. I couldn’t help but throw my head back and laugh while her fingertips scanned the packaging. It was like Camillo had given her the holy grail of presents. He’d revived her mornings with the coffee machine of her dreams. She reached for a smaller gift and unwrapped it, pulling the massive coffee mug, tailored only for her from the packaging.
The cursive on the coffee mug was in all the colors of the rainbow, and it read “Coffee… because it’s too early for wine.”
She threw her head back in laughter while the boys tried to get their new handheld game consoles going.
“The jumbled letters and numbers are the username and password to the website on the back of the card,” Camillo said. “It’s a site that specializes in nothing but k-cups for your machine. It’s a premade account with a thousand dollars loaded onto it.”
“A thousand dollars?” Cassie exclaimed. “What?”
I looked at Camillo with widened eyes, and a smirk crossed his face.
“Enjoy the next three years of coffee on me,” he said.
I couldn’t believe my ears.
“Camillo,” I said, whispering. “What in the world?”
“I believe it’s your turn,” he said, smiling.
He handed me a small gift, and I unwrapped it carefully. It was in a beautiful velvet box, complete with sparkling edges. I held my breath as I opened it, revealing two beautiful pearl earrings that sparkled in the Christmas morning sun streaming through the windows.
I felt tears crest my eyes, and my gaze panned up toward him.
He handed me gift after gift. A matching pearl necklace and lingerie that made me blush. New outfits to take home with me and makeup he somehow knew I adored but could never afford. There was a perfume fragrance that entranced me, and a pair of high heels that were absolutely astounding, and somehow, all of it was just perfect for me.
And then, there was a manila envelope he handed to me.
“This was a last-minute adjustment in plans. There’s a combination gift for you and Cassie behind the tree, but I want you to open this first.”
I nodded at Camillo before I plucked the envelope from his fingertips.
I opened it up and pulled out a bunch of official documents with words I didn’t understand and percentages that made no sense. I scanned the lines like I understood what I was looking at, but I could feel the grin crawling across Camillo’s face.
He knew I had no idea what I was looking at until I got to the letter he wrote at the back.
Rose,
In this envelope are the documents to two different investment bank accounts. You are the primary name on both of them, but the secondary names are different. One is for Kevin, and the other is for Ana. Both of them have five hundred thousand dollars in them, and they are designated as educational accounts. Schooling children is expensive, and I want them to have the best start possible. By the time they reach college age, there should be around one million dollars for each of them to use for whatever purpose is necessary.
I don’t want you to have to worry about their future when you’re always so preoccupied with their present.
Love,
Camillo
Tears stung my eyes, and I brought my hand to my mouth. I gasped, my chest hiccupping with tears. One million dollars. For each of the kids?
I held the documents close to my chest while my eyes sobbed tears of joy and relief.