her, taking a seat beside her and watching her.
She looks at me, biting her lip. "Who goes first?"
I give her a tiny grin. "I think you do, by virtue of being more excited about them than I am."
She flushes. "When you come from a disadvantaged background like I did, you tend to get excited about every little thing. Don't shame me."
I laugh. "No shame intended. I just enjoy watching you, that's all. It's secondhand excitement, you might say."
She scrunches up her face and picks up the larger of the two presents, shaking the box a little. She looks at me with a mischievous smile and then starts tearing the gold wrapping paper off the box. In seconds, the whole box is shredded, and she is pulling out the most inexpensive of my presents. I watch the look on her face as she holds up a particularly naughty garment. It’s a black and pink négligée, reminiscent of the one she wore the very first night she and I met.
Her cheeks turn red and she gives me an embarrassed grin. "You know my taste, apparently."
I grin at her. "And mine too, if that's not patently obvious by now."
"I'll have to model that for you later." She gives me a wicked grin. She sets the entire thing aside, picking up the sheaf of papers. They are loosely held together by a gold wrapped manila envelope. It takes her a minute to rip off the wrapping paper and undo the twine but then she is looking at the papers, her brow puckering in concentration.
I know exactly what she's looking at: a trust that I've started or a children's charity in her name.
When she looks up at me, her eyes glitter with tears. “Ten million dollars? You started a charity for me for ten million dollars?"
I begin to nod but in the next second I am knocked nearly breathless by her sudden lunge towards me. She wraps her arms around me and buries her face against my chest. "Oh Stellan, I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much."
I am surprised at her reaction, though by now I suppose I shouldn't be. Of course her favorite thing that I got her was not even really for her. I put my arms around her, rubbing circles on her back. "Of course. To be clear, you don't need my permission to do anything like this. I just figured that I would get you started."
She looks up at me, tearful. "It's exactly what I wanted. You got it exactly right."
She kisses me then, her lips sweet as wine. I cup her jaw and deepen the kiss, amazed at how giving and generous she is. It seems that there are few boundaries that Margot will not cross for the sake of children. And I find myself feeling exceptionally lucky that I fell in love with her.
I may have had to move heaven and earth to keep her at my side, but by god, it was worth it.
She breaks away, pushing me back a few inches. She dashes tears from her eyes. "You still have to open my presents."
I splay my hands. “If that’s what you want, sure.”
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and reaches around me. She pulls the small box and the wrapped piece of paper onto my lap. I look at her as I unwrap the box first, smiling lightly as I produce a kiwi fruit. Raising a brow, I cock my head.
“Are you saying I don’t eat enough odd fruits?” I tease.
She blushes. “It’s the only thing I could think of to represent the present I got you. I figured since your father has been ill, you two might like to spend some time together. So I booked you both a trip to New Zealand in the New Year.” She bites her lower lip. “I’ve already told him about it, so I hope you are excited.”
Opening my mouth, I freeze. My heart beats loud in my ears. I look at her, speechless.
“Of course I am. I… I love that you thought of me,” I eventually say, reaching over and squeezing her thigh. I shake my head, shocked. “I’m really surprised. I haven’t really thought of spending time with dar.”
She beams at me. “I know. But I feel like one day, you will thank me.”
Pulling her close, I kiss her lips. “I’m grateful now. Really, I am.”
She sighs. “Oh, good. I’m glad.”
Wiggling my eyebrows at her, I take a bite of