Page 94 of Angel

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Angelo

I rubbed my eyes again to get the sleep out of them.

“Aw,” Paige cooed from next to me on the couch.

“Poor baby Angelo,” Lia teased.

I gave her a thumbs-up. If it were the day before I might have been tempted to make it the middle finger instead, but her attitude had dramatically improved in the last twenty-four hours.

I knew why. Paige gave me the entire breakdown of what happened at the coffee shop as soon as they got back.

The change came not a moment too soon. I’d been about to lose my temper big time with Lia. Seeing both her and Paige happy and relaxed made me feel the same way. The storm had passed. We survived it.

Mom and Mariel came into the living room, the last two people to join Christmas morning.

“Merry Christmas!” we all shouted to each other.

Mom beamed. “Were you waiting for us to open presents?”

Lia, sitting on the floor next to the tree, picked a present up and shook it.

“Pops first, Lia,” Mom told her.

She shot our mother a dark look. “I know.”

At least some things didn’t change.

We passed around presents, taking our turns one at a time. I held my breath as Paige opened the complete knitting kit I’d put together for her.

“You keep saying you want to start,” I explained.

She smiled wide. “I love it! I’ll make you a scarf first.”

I went in for a kiss. From the other side of the room, Franko made a choking noise.

The pile got smaller and smaller. The last one passed out was for me. I already knew who it was from. Paige ducked her head as I undid the bow and tore off the wrapping paper.

“A book?” I questioned out loud.

She didn’t answer.

Instead of the coffee table book I expected, a scrap book revealed itself, the picture on the very front one of me and Paige taken on the Staten Island ferry last August.

I opened the book and flipped through the pages. Each of them contained photos of us together, some familiar and some I’d forgotten were ever taken.

I shook my head in amazement. “Paige… This is… Wow.”

“Lia helped me. I couldn’t figure out what to give you. Until yesterday I only had that.” She gestured at the underwear and socks I’d opened earlier. “We stayed up late making it.”

I stared at Lia. “Really?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, you know.”

I smirked. She could act coy as much as she wanted, but deep down my sister had a heart of gold.

“Thank you,” I told them both.

Paige grinned up at me. I squeezed her knee and gave her a kiss. She didn’t pull back after a second, though, and it turned into a long, sustained one.