~*~ Chapter 9 ~*~
REDDING, CA – The Addams’ House – Dec. 25th 2001
“Get up, get up, get up!” Kirstin, with her head on her pillow and with her eyes closed, frowned when she heard her sister scream from the hall “It’s Christmas people! Get up! Time for presents!”
Kirstin yawned and opened her eyes. She saw Tom was still sleeping. She stroked his head and kissed his cheek.
“Hey.” she said softly.
“Hey, baby.” he pecked her on the lips.
“Come on, Kirstin! Get up!” Kelly yelled and knocked on her sister door.
“We’re up!” Kirstin yelled from inside.
“What’s going on?” Tom asked, clueless.
“Christmas morning at the Addams. My sister loves to get presents, so Christmas is her favorite holiday. And as we only open our present when everyone is gathered by the tree, every single Christmas that she wakes up and doesn’t see everyone up already, she goes like this.”
“Oh, I see. Well, then we better go, before she gets in here and drag us down.”
“Yeah. I have to go to the bathroom.” Kirstin said pecking Tom’s lips before getting out of bed.
The Christmas tree looked beautiful this year. Mrs. Addams wanted everything to be perfect on her new house, so she decorated the tree perfectly for that year. Not that in the other years the tree was ugly, but that year, there was something special.
When they were all gathered in the living room, Kelly was already announcing.
“I’m first, I’m first!” she said picking the first box she saw with her name on it.
Kelly got from her parents Art material such as paints and brushes of all kind. Usually, this sort of material was pretty expensive. And from Tom and Kirstin a DVD player, since she didn’t have one in L.A.
From Kelly, Mr. Addams got a tie and a robe and Mrs. Addams got an apron and slippers. And from Kirstin and Tom, they got a new grill for the new house. They seemed very happy with all their presents.
“Now, it’s your turn, honey. Merry Christmas.” Mrs. Addams handed her daughter a box and she opened it “Wow, mom. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s for you to wear tonight at the Christmas dinner. I know you don’t have those sorts of clothes because you don’t like to wear them, but I thought I’d get you one so you could wear tonight. We are having guests, you know?”
“Yes. Thanks. It’s really beautiful.” Kirstin had got a dress, a really beautiful dress. It was purple, but it was a very dark purple, so dark, it was almost black.
“This is mine, K. It’s actually for you and Tom to put in your house. I paint it myself.”
“Thanks, Kel.” it was a big package and Kirstin unwrapped it carefully “Wow. It’s so pretty, Kel. Thanks so much.” she said looking at this beautiful painting with different shades of blue.
“I know blue is your favorite color, so.”
“Oh, thanks. It’s great.”
“Tom, we didn’t know what to get you, because we didn’t know you were coming until 4 days ago, so I made you this.” Mrs. Addams said, handing Tom a box.
“Oh, but you shouldn’t have. I wasn’t expecting anything. You just shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, it was nothing. Really.” Mrs. Addams said. Tom unwrapped his present.
“Oh, it’s great.” he said when he saw a green pull over on the box “Oh, I’m kind of embarrassed now.”
“It’s ok, honey. My mother likes knitting. So, it’s fine. And I told her I like you in green, so she made it this color.” he smiled at Kirstin and hugged her parents.
The family talked about how the dinner would be, what time the guests were coming and things like that. After a while, Kirstin and Tom excused themselves to go to their room.
When they got there, Tom started.
“Ok. Now you’re getting my present.” he put this little box out of his suitcase.
“I have to get yours too.” Kirstin got a box out of the nightstand on her side of the bed.
“Wait! You had my present there the whole time?”
“Yes. And it was on my nightstand at our home too.”
“Man! How did I miss that?” Kirstin smiled.
They both sat on the loveseat in the bedroom.
“Ok. Listen Tom, I’m terrible at buying presents. I mean, the worst! So I’m sorry if you don’t like it, please, let me know and we’ll exchange for something else.”
“I don’t care what it is, Kirstin. I have my biggest present sitting right beside me.” he looked deeply into her brown eyes and kissed her lightly on the lips. He opened the box and it was a CkOne bottle of cologne. He smiled slightly “So… are you telling me I stink?”
“No, Tom, no, it’s not like that. See? I told you I was the worst at buying presents. I’m so sorry, of course I don’t think you stink, it’s just that…” she stopped when she saw the smirk on Tom’s face “What? You hate it, right?”
“No, of course not. I love it. It’s great. Thanks.” he pecked her on the lips.
“Well, it’s just that I noticed the amount of colognes you had when you moved in, so I figured you liked colognes and…”
“Kirstin, it’s ok. You don’t have to explain your present. It’s perfect. And I do love colognes. Thanks.” he pecked her again on the lips “Now, here’s yours.”
Kirstin saw the small jewelry box that Tom handed her and joked.
“Are you gonna propose to me again?” Tom chuckled.
“Yes. I didn’t believe you the first time, so I’m proposing to you again.” now Kirstin giggled. Not opening the box, she answered.
“I’ll marry you, Tom.” Tom chuckled again.
“Just open it.” he smiled.
When Kirstin opened the box, she was amazed. Inside the box there was this white gold ankle bracelet with little white gold stars hanging around it.
“Tom, it’s… I don’t know what to say, it’s perfect.”
“Well, I know you like stars and you hate yellow gold, so when I saw it, I couldn’t resist.”
“It’s perfect. Wow.” she said, taking the piece of jewelry out of the box.
“Try it on. See if you like it on you. Give it to me.” he took the ankle bracelet from Kirstin’s hand and put it on her ankle “I think it looks great.”
“Me too.” she said looking down her ankle. She went in front of this large mirror they had on the master room and looked it over again. Tom was behind her “I love it. It’s perfect. Thank you so much, Tom.” she kissed him passionately.
REDDING, CA – The Angel’s House – Same Day
Ashley and Hailey were sitting on Ashley’s bed. They had opened the presents from Ashley’s family already and it was time for them to exchange their presents.
Ashley got a small box out from his coat and Hailey got a medium box out from her suitcase.
“I hope you like it. I had a hard time picking it out. It’s nothing really special, but I hope you like.” Hailey said, handing him the box.
“I know I will.” he opened the box and it was a special edition of Third Eye Blind’s first album.
“I didn’t know what to get you, so when I saw it at this store my brother drug me to, I remembered you liked it. Hope you don’t have that one already.”
“Thanks so much, Hailey. No, I do not have this one already. Thank you so much.” he kissed her gently on the lips. When he pulled back, he smiled into her eyes.
“Well, here is yours.”
Hailey took the small box from Ashley’s hand and opened it slowly.
“Wow, Ashley. It’s so beautiful. It must have cost you a fortune.” she said, looking at the pair of pearl earrings there were inside the small red box.
“Put them on.”
She took off the pair she had on her ears and replaced them with the new ones. She looked over the mirror on the wall.
“Wow, they’re great.”
“They sure are. They were worth every penny.” he smiled to her.
“Thank you so much, Ash. This is great.” she kissed him on the lips “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” he smiled weakly at his girlfriend “Come on, now let’s get ready because we have to leave to Kirstin’s house in an hour.”
* Thanx Taryn for reviewing and correcting the grammar errors *
~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~
~*~ Chapter 10 ~*~
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