and waited patiently.
Her expression immediately turned playful, and she darted past him in a blur into the dining room. “Are both of these mine?” she asked happily with a tone reminiscent of a child’s at Christmas.
“Yep,” he replied, following her into the dining room to watch. He glanced over to the couch and noticed that while Katrina still lay there, she had cocked her head to one side to listen more closely.
Both gifts were wrapped in bright red paper, one the size of a small jewelry box and the other about one foot square. Paige picked up the larger box, shook it, and tore the wrapping off in a flurry of hand movements. She popped the cardboard box open to reveal a black t-shirt. When she shook it open to look at the front, it had a picture of two white fangs with blood dripping from them and a slogan in white letters reading Got Blood? below the fangs. She giggled, held it up to herself, and glanced at him.
“I love it!” she exclaimed with a gleam in her eyes. “It’s so me!”
She set the t-shirt down and smirked as she picked up the smaller box. That one she took the time to open delicately at each end and slowly remove the wrapping paper from around it. It was a small, black velvet jewelry case, which she deftly popped open with her fingers. Inside was a sterling silver bracelet with an inscription.
She beamed at him and removed the bracelet to place it on her wrist. The engraving stated: Happy V-tines to my guardian & babysitter. Luv, Caleb.
“Oh, Caleb, I love it,” she offered and moved in a blur to wrap her arms around him in a warm embrace.
He embraced her happily. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Paige.”
“They’re both perfect,” she assured him softly. “Thanks, tiger.”
“You’re welcome. I’m really glad you like them.”
“The t-shirt is too cute,” she added. “And if it wasn’t for Red, I’d kiss --”
“Oh, shut up, and kiss him!” Katrina barked with exasperation from the living room.
Paige giggled and reached her head up to kiss him on the lips discreetly. He responded in kind and gave her a big hug, lifting her off the floor momentarily.
“You’re the best, kiddo,” she said, her blue eyes seeming to sparkle in the light. She was touched and particularly loved the bracelet, suddenly realizing she hadn’t received a gift so special and sentimental from anyone in a very long time.
He smiled, watching as she gathered up the small jewelry box and t-shirt and walked back through the house with a huge grin.
“Nice earrings, Red,” Paige remarked as she passed by the living room and glanced in at Katrina.
“Thanks, Shorty,” Katrina replied. “All right, now get back in here and snuggle with me before I get jealous...kiddo,” she teased Caleb.
He shook his head with a smirk and dutifully proceeded back towards the couch. He beamed with contentment that it was a memorable first Valentine’s for the two most important women in his life. But as he started to lie next to Katrina, she held up her hand and regarded him with a conspiratorial expression.
“It seems you have one last item to open,” she prompted.
He looked at her with a puzzled expression and glanced around the room for anything resembling a gift or envelope. “Really? Where?”
She smirked and pointed to the cabinet doors on the entertainment center across the room. He walked over and opened them, revealing a small, rectangular gift wrapped in shiny blue paper. He picked it up and noted that it felt rather weighty. He glanced over at Katrina, who was watching him intently, and slowly unwrapped the gift.
After removing the paper, he was left with a plain, white cardboard box. She put the television on mute and waited as he removed the box lid. It contained an eight-by-ten dual-picture frame made from sterling silver. He parted the frames, revealing two photographs. The one on the left was Katrina in the sexy, blue sequin dress she had worn the night they went clubbing. The photograph on the right was of Paige, wearing the red dress she had worn that night. Both were smiling in their photos, and each had signed their pictures. Katrina wrote: To Caleb, my love forever. Kat. Paige wrote: Always watching out for you, kiddo. Love, Paige.
He was so proud to have those photos, and he looked up at Katrina with surprise. “These are wonderful! I’ve always wanted a picture of each of you. But I thought that vampires