Page 352 of Under Her Skin

DELANEY

My father has managed to act like a nice, normal man for the Christmas dinner, which we ate later than expected. All of us are stuffed and moving into the den where we have the tree setup.

We have a limited amount of time to open gifts, then Blaine and I need to get back to the hospital. We haven’t told anyone about how we’re going to be baptized in a fewhours.

I printed out pictures of the Lake Tahoe cabin, as Blaine calls it. I tend to think of it more as a lodge, it’s so huge. And I know my parents are going to be shocked by thegift.

Kent and Kate have quite a shock coming to them as well. Blaine has outdone himself this Christmas. With plenty of gifts under the tree, Blaine puts on a Santa hat and tosses me a green elf hat. “Care to play my elf once more? Last time this year, I promise,” he says, ending with a ho, ho,ho.

I place the little pointy hat on my head and go to his side. “Okay, but next year I want to be a Christmas fairy. Not anelf.”

“We’ll see what we can do about that, Delaney,” he says and hands me the first gift. “This one is for Tiffany and here’s one for Kenttoo.”

Taking the neatly-wrapped gifts, I hand them off to his brother, who hands his date hers. “Now, wait until everyone has one,please.”

Nods of agreement assure me they will, and I go back to grab two more from Blaine, who says, “Kate andRandy.”

I take those to them and watch my parents as they stare at the loads of presents under the tree. When I go back to Blaine, he hands me two more. “Your mother andfather.”

Handing them theirs, I find my father looking grim. “We weren’t notified in time to buy you anything. I’msorry.”

“Dad, don’t worry about that. Blaine and I need nothing in return.” I step back, and Blaine stands up. “Okay, open themup.”

Blaine and I hold hands in anticipation and see smiles everywhere we look as they all find the boxed sets of different perfumes and colognes we bought. It was the first time I had ever purchased such extravagant things. But I did enjoy itimmensely!

The next round of presents gives them all manicure and pedicure sets in sterling silver. “You should never have to buy another set of nail clippers ever again,” I say as they look their giftsover.

One more round of presents leaves them each with titanium bracelets for the men and diamond earrings for the ladies. Everyone seems really happy with theirgifts.

Kate notices the grins Blaine nor I can manage to wipe off of our faces, as we know the best is yet to come. “You two look like a couple of cats who atecanaries.”

Blaine reaches under the tree to retrieve the four small boxes and letter-sized envelopes that go with each box. He hands Kent his, Kate hers, then my parents theirs. “I hope you like this, Mr. and Mrs. Richards. It comes from the heart.” He looks at his brother and sister. “You guys too. I really thought a lot about this, and with Delaney’s help, we found what we think are perfect gifts for youall.”

They all are looking at the small boxes and the long envelopes and all seem curiously confused. “Open them!” I say, and Blaine comes back tome.

He wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in tight to his side, leaving a kiss on my cheek. I can feel his excitement, and I bet he can feel mine too as we watch them discover the gifts he’s giventhem.

My mother is shaking her head as she looks at the set of keys on a keyring that says, ‘There’s no place likehome.’

Dad’s face is stoic, the expression he usually wears, as he opens his box to find a set of keys. His keyring is a souvenir from Lake Tahoe, with the city’s name on it. “What does this mean?” he asks as he looks atme.

Kate rips open the envelope with an excited rush and shouts, “It means Blaine has bought us all new homes!” She pulls the pages with the pictures of her brand-new, upscale Houston home out and looks at them as I watch her eyes go shiny with emotion. “Blaine! How gorgeous!” Then she’s up and hugging him with all shehas.

Kent opens his envelope and looks at the picture of his country home with acreage and a brand-new tractor sitting outside the red barn. “Blaine, no way!” He’s up and hugging him, too, after he pulls his sister off ofhim.

I make my way to my parents, who are looking over all the pictures of their new home and not quite understanding them. “How do you guys likethat?”

“Is it a vacation?” Mom asksme.

“Can we pick when to take it?” Dadasks.

Kneeling down in front of them, I place one of my hands on each of their legs. “That’s no vacation. That is your new home in Lake Tahoe. It comes with a full staff. It’ll be like you’re living a vacation. It’s Blaine’s gift to you. He knows it won’t make up for all you’ve lost, but he’s got more to make up forthat.”

“We can’t take this.” Dad looks at me with a frown. “We couldn’t even afford to pay the taxes on thisbehemoth.”

“You will after you get the settlement he’s giving you for ruining your tire business. So feel free to thank him for this.” I stand up and hold out my hands to help themup.

They look at one another as they have a silent conversation, using only their eyes. Then mom takes my hand. “We can accept it. Come on. This is our time, honey. The hard times are officiallyover.”