“Oh, I remember,” Logan said, as he walked around the table and slid back into his chair. “It’s not for you—well, not technically that is. It’s for my future brother-in-law. God knows he’s gonna need all the help he can get.”
Everyone helped clean up, Craig accepting dishes to wash as Barbara stood at his side, drying them. When they were done, he turned to give her a hug. “What happened to the spider?” he asked, when he realized he hadn’t seen it during the clean-up.
“I’m never telling.” Barbara giggled. “We poor girls have to stick together.”
Craig laughed and shook his head. He wondered how long it would be before the truce was broken, but admitted to himself that he couldn’t wait to see the next prank. An hour later, everyone was seated in the ballroom, the loveseats and chairs pulled into a circle. It didn’t take long before it was understood that there was going to be a great deal of laughter associated with the opening of their gifts.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Nancy said, as she opened a huge box that had been wrapped in beautiful silver paper. Expecting something just as elegant inside, instead she found a dozen Happy Meal boxes, each one containing a pair of white “granny” panties. She shook her head as she unrolled each pair of panties to discover a different small toy. Everyone joined in with laughter as she tossed a few aside, with claims of; “Have that, yup—that one too. Oh, that one was fun to play with. Look,Jason, do you remember this little car? It runs with a penny.” It soon became apparent to all that her special “McDonald’s nights” were far more frequent than they had believed.
Jason presented his gift to Nancy out of order, after explaining that his reasoning would become clear. Tearing the paper from the box, Nancy revealed a beautifully crafted cabinet. The wood gleamed with its coating of oil, dozens of small recesses just waiting to be filled.
“It’s beautiful,” she said, running her hand across the surface. Jason grinned and, reaching into his pocket, pulled out a little snowman.
“Remember this one?” he asked, her answer evident on her face as her cheeks reddened. She watched as he tucked the small toy into one of the recesses. “Since it has become apparent that you, my love, are well on your way to becoming a serious collector, I thought you’d appreciate having a special place to display your prizes.”
Nancy gave him a kiss as she laughed, assuring him his unexpected gift was one she’d treasure forever.
Ariel passed out her presents. As they were opened, she basked in the looks of pleasure each brought to the faces of the recipients.
Craig ran his fingertip across the glass of the frame that held a beautiful photo of him and Barbara, taken the first day at the lake, her hands on his waist, his fingers pushing back her hair, both their smiles brilliant as the first bloom of love was captured forever on film.
Logan, understandably very leery of accepting her gift, made her swear on their treaty that it was not a prank. Elizabeth smiled when he appeared nervous despite the promise, and then blushed when he tore the paper away to reveal his gift. It was a photo which captured the antique slate board where Liz had scrawled the words ‘Safety 1st’ the day they had discovered andinitiated the woodshed. His pleasure was evident as he kissed Ariel’s cheek and said he would hang it in his bedroom.
Garrett was presented with a photo that showed the joy on Ariel’s face as he held out his hand, her engagement ring on the tip of his little finger.
Jason’s hearty laugh told of his pleasure of Ariel’s gift. It was a picture of Nancy dressed in her school-girl uniform, a very naughty smile on her lips, with a Happy Meal box dangling from one hand, an ice cream cone held in her other.
Ariel presented her parents with a photo of all eight of their “children” dressed in blue jeans and white t-shirts, arms around each other as they stood before the window, the blue water of the lake and the green of the trees telling of the location that all would call their second home.
Barbara squealed with delight when she opened a box and pulled out a new pair of bunny slippers. She instantly kicked off her old ones, slipping her feet into the new pair. “I still can’t believe you actually kept those,” Ariel laughed.
“I not only kept them,” Barbara said, wiggling her feet to make the ears on her slippers flop around. “As you can tell, I wore them out! Thanks, sis.” She was just as happy with the many pairs of cute panties the other members of HOPEFUL presented her. Watching Ariel look at each pair, the women laughed, the young woman’s fascination with her sister’s lingerie having become legend.
Ben’s friendship with Harry became evident as he passed out boxes to the men while stating the gift was one that that his friend had entrusted him to deliver. Ribbons were untied and boxes opened. Male expressions of approval mingled with female ones of distress as each Dominant lifted out a leather paddle exactly like the one Harry had shown the women in his shop. Each one was a thing of beauty, with each woman’sname engraved on one side, vines, flowers, small animals and curlicues carved to curl around each name.
“Beautiful work, Harry, thanks,” Garrett called out, easily pulling Ariel across his lap and popping her pajama covered rear with the paddle. It was no surprise that the other four women received the same treatment before their paddles were returned to them, each being quickly placed back into its box, requests of being allowed to examine them all refused by the men.
Elizabeth loved the look on Helen’s face as she presented her with a lacy shawl in a soft lilac color that she had knitted. Her future mother-in-law instantly wrapped it around her shoulders, her hands reaching up to cup Liz’s face, drawing her down for a kiss. “It’s lovely, my dear, especially since I know the time you spent making it for me.”
Liz was touched, and then giggled when Ben leaned over and added, “The only thing that would make her happier is if you’d start making grandbabies.”
“Dad!” Liz said, shaking her head. “Don’t you think we should get married first?”
Logan took that as his cue, reaching to take Elizabeth’s hand. “Since I have always been the perfect son,” his voice rising above his sisters booing at his statement, “my gift to you both is an invitation to both our commitment ceremony and our wedding—exactly one week from today.” His announcement was met with screams of excitement, the women bowling the couple over as they rushed to give hugs and congratulations.
With the last box opened, silly gifts mixed with new sweaters, boots, gloves, books and other presents normally exchanged by families and friends, piles of wrapping paper and ribbon tossed all across the floor, they agreed that it had been an amazing Christmas. Stuffing trash bags full of the debris, everyone soon had the room back in order. Gathering up their gifts, Logan walked to the door and turned back as the others joined him.Looking up from where he had been helping Helen pick up boxes she had dropped, Ben saw them standing in a huddle.
“Dad, Santa has left you something,” Ariel said. “Unfortunately, your perfect son couldn’t get it up the stairs.” Logan swatted Ariel’s butt as he gave Barbara a nod. The group parted as Logan opened the door, and Barbara picked up the end of a ribbon that Logan had placed after pretending he’d forgotten something downstairs once they had all gathered in the ballroom. The ribbon led down the hall and continued down the stairs.
“Merry Christmas, Dad,” Barbara said, handing him the ribbon. He looked at the people he loved, a grin lighting his face.
“Just follow the ribbon,” Logan instructed, taking his mother’s packages and nodding to indicate she was to follow. The older couple began to walk down the hall, Ben shaking his head as Helen requested that he be careful rolling the ribbon up, as she was sure she could find a good use for it later. Everyone followed until the ribbon disappeared beneath the front door. Ben waited until Garrett opened the door before stepping through, the large ball of ribbon in his hands.
“Merry Christmas!” was shouted by eight voices as he stopped abruptly, not needing to go any further. The end of the ribbon was attached to a key—a key that was inserted into the ignition of a brand new, gleaming black four-wheeler ATV.
“Whoa,” Ben said, absently dropping the ball as he went down the steps to run his hand across the machine. “She’s a beauty,” he declared. “Kids, you didn’t need to do this.”
“We didn’t, it’s from Santa Claus,” Ariel said, as she took the ball of unfurling ribbon Helen had retrieved from the porch. “Go on, take it for a spin.”
