It’s Levi turn, and I can feel my hands shake a bit when he unwraps his gift. I’m really hoping that he likes it. When he lifts the lid, he just stares at it and doesn’t say anything.
“Do you hate it?” I finally ask.
Victor asks what it is because he can’t see it. Levi gingerly lifts it up from the case and shows his dad.
“Smarty, I love it. It’s awesome. Thank you so much.”
I breathe a sigh of relief as he inspects it. Victor and him look at every inch of the Sidney Crosby hockey stick before putting it back in the case. I stare at the Christmas tree, enjoying the conversation between Levi and his dad, when I notice a present inside the tree. It’s a small box just tucked inside a branch.
“Hey, there’s a present in the tree.” I go to reach for it.
&n
bsp; “No!” Levi shouts and jerks me back onto the couch with a little bit of force that causes me to gasp.
“Levi James Carr. Let go of her right now, and don’t ever do that again.” Victor jumps up, and towers over Levi on the couch. His dad’s voice is stern and lethal.
“I’m so sorry, Presley. I didn’t mean to do that.” Levi looks at me and I think there are tears in his eyes.
“It’s…It’s okay. I didn’t mean to upset you.” I rub my wrist that Levi jerked on and stumble on my words. Actually, I’m not sure why he is upset.
Victor inspects my wrist and explains. “Every year, on Christmas, I buy my wife a charm for her bracelets.” When he is satisfied that my wrist is fine, he heads over to the mantle. I look over at Levi and he has his head down with his hands folded. I scoot over to him and grab his hand.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers in my ear.
“It’s fine. I swear.”
Victor comes back over and hands a box to me. It looks like an antique. When I open it there are three charm bracelets in there. Two are full and the third one only has a few charms on it. I see the tag on the the clasp and it says “Tiffany’s”.
“Oh my, these are Tiffany’s charm bracelets.”
Victor sits in his chair. “When we first got married, we had just graduated college, and we were so broke. I had just started on the factory floor and Amanda had started teaching. When Christmas came around, I wanted to get her something special and she had always talked about a charm bracelet. She thought of it as a timeline of your life on your wrist, and it was something that you could show off. So, I saved every penny I could grasp and headed into the city. I bought the bracelet and that heart charm” He points to the large heart charm on the first bracelet. “I hid it in the tree for her to find. She cried so much that year when she saw that blue box.” Victor closes his eyes, thinking about the memory.
“Every year since then, Dad hides the present in the tree. When I was little, I would help her search the tree for it. The year she died, I purchased the third bracelet and Dad keeps adding to it.” Levi’s voice is sad.
I look at the charms. There are hearts, an L, V, A, a baby carriage, a flower, and numerous other ones. The one that confuses me is the number eight.
“May I ask what the eight stands for?”
“I was born June eighth,” Levi confirms.
“I usually open the gift at night. When I am alone,” Victor adds. “That is why Levi reacted the way he did. But he’ll never do that again.” He gives Levi a pointed look.
“No, sir.” Levi sounds like a small child.
“I know he didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry I pried into something so personal.”
“You’re family, Presley. It’s not a secret. I love my wife and I know that she is gone, but I’ll buy a charm every year and hide it in the tree for as long as I live.”
I can’t help the tear that escapes my eyes and slide down my face. A love like they had is one in a million. I shut the lid of the box, stand, and hand it to Victor. I hug him tightly.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” I whisper in his ear and kiss his cheek.
“I think we have some dishes to do,” Victor announces as we pull out of our embrace.
We all head back into the kitchen and clean everything up. I’m surprised that most of the food is gone. I guess we all were really hungry. Levi tells his dad that he doesn’t need to help and sends him back to the living room.
“Smarty,” Levi wraps his arms around me and places his forehead on mine. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”