Gemma couldn’t help but smile as she taped the last few tags onto the small stack of Christmas gifts beside her. She had finished wrapping them all the night before, staying up into the early hours of the morning to make sure they were perfect. She hoped they would be — Elijah would be coming over soon. She could barely contain her excitement at the idea of having an actual Christmas — not just the small affair that she and Irene usually had as they exchanged two or three small gifts for one another.
Her timing couldn’t have been more perfect; just as she carried the last of her pile in to the small tree in the corner of the room, a knock sounded at their door.
“I’ve got it!” Irene hollered from the bedroom, maybe a little too eagerly. She bounded out of the room and to the door, breathless as she opened it. “Hey, Elijah! Come on in — Gemma’s in the living room. I’m almost done wrapping these last few things, and then I’ll be out.”
He chuckled. “Alright,” he said, watching her disappear back into her bedroom. Gemma watched then as he turned and sauntered into the living room, taking a seat on one of the couches across from where she was.
“Hey, you,” he offered as he sat down, playing it off as if she hadn’t been ignoring his calls and texts consistently the week before.
“Hey,” she answered back, blushing slightly as she remembered the past few days. She turned her attention back to the gifts she had been arranging so as to hide her embarrassment. Her diversion didn’t last long, however, as before she knew it he was kneeling down next to her, reaching a hand into his messenger bag to pull out a few small boxes of his own.
Guiltily, she avoided his gaze, instead busying herself with straightening the stack of gifts and making sure they looked perfect. Suddenly, however, she felt his hand brush against hers, and her cheeks grew even more red. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered into her ear. She turned to face him, matching his smile with a bashful one of her own.
Deceitful. Insubordinate. Devoted. Well, it wasn’t any different than last time. At least her headache hadn’t come back.
“Merry Christmas,” she answered back, feeling her cheeks still grow warm under his gaze.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything, you two,” Irene said, startling them both. Gemma’s cheeks grew even more red as she turned to face her roommate, who carried her own pile of presents to add to the tree.
Elijah stammered as he moved back to the couch. “Sorry. We were just, um —“
“No need to apologize. You’re fine!” she grinned politely, taking a seat near Gemma but leaving room for Elijah as well. “That being said, I really want to see your guys’ faces when you open your gifts, so….”
Elijah laughed. “Well then, what are we waiting for?”
***
“Oh my goodness,” Gemma said, grinning and laughing as she looked at the random presents and wrapping paper now strewn across the floor around them. “We made a mess.”
“Hey, nothing that a few extra hands can’t fix,” Elijah offered, holding up the hand-shaped back massager Irene had given him. The three laughed again, glancing at their own collection of miscellaneous knick-knacks and novelties.
“Well, merry Christmas, you guys,” Irene said. “This was fun. Maybe we’ll have to do it again next year.”
The group smiled and nodded. Even if they didn’t know what the year was to hold for them, it was nice, they decided, to sit and revel in the quiet joy of the holiday while it lasted.[vc_empty_space][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”10″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1451349182010-33ff36e0-e28e-9″ taxonomies=”12779″]