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Michael sat comfortably on the soft rug in his parents' living room, happily blowing on a mug of hot chocolate.
The Christmas tree lights twinkled in the background.
He had just opened his presents from Terry and Janet.
"I cannot believe you found this," Michael said, holding up a beautifully bound, vintage leather notebook and a stunning, silver-plated fountain pen. "Thank you both so much."
"Your father actually went to three different antique shops in Orlando to find that specific pen," Janet smiled warmly, sitting on the couch next to Terry.
"It belonged to a famous poet in the 1920s," Terry said proudly, puffing his chest out a bit. "I knew my boy needed the best tools for his trade."
"It is perfect. Truly," Michael smiled. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and then reached behind the tree.
He pulled out two small, flat, beautifully wrapped boxes and handed them to his parents. "Now, it is your turn. Merry Christmas."
Terry and Janet exchanged a curious look.
They untied the ribbons and opened the boxes at the exact same time.
Janet pulled out a heavy set of keys with a silver emblem. She gasped loudly, covering her mouth. "Michael! Are these... are these keys to the summer house in Italy we rented 2 years ago?"
"Not rented," Michael corrected with a soft smile. "Bought. It is yours now, Mom. The deed is in the envelope underneath."
"Good heavens!" Terry shouted.
He was staring down into his own box, his eyes wide as saucers. He carefully lifted out a pure gold, vintage Patek Philippe watch.
It sparkled under the room's lights. "Michael, my boy... this is a museum piece! This must have cost an absolute fortune!"
"Michael, this is way too expensive!" Janet said, her eyes filling with happy tears. "We cannot accept a whole house and a watch like this! You need to save your money!"
Michael threw his head back and laughed a rich, joyful laugh.
"Mom, Dad, please. Do not worry about it. It is perfectly within my budget. Consider it a very small thank you for putting up with me all these years."
"Putting up with you?" Terry chuckled, putting the heavy gold watch on his wrist. "Never say that! Or else will know the power of these guns."
Janet swatted Terry's arm playfully. "Oh, stop it, you old fool! Michael, thank you. This is the most wonderful Christmas."
They sat together, drinking hot chocolate and laughing about Terry's new obsession with looking at the time every five seconds.
After a few minutes, Michael looked at the clock on the wall.
He stood up and brushed off his trousers. "Alright. I will come back later. I need to go give Emma her present now."
Janet and Terry both stopped laughing.
They looked at each other, and then looked at Michael with identical, very sly, teasing smiles.
"Oh, of course," Janet purred. "Emma's present."
"Don't keep the lovely lady waiting, son," Terry teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
A bright red blush immediately spread across Michael's cheeks.
He grabbed his car keys from the table. "Don't look at me like that! I am just giving her a gift!"
"We didn't say anything!" Janet laughed out loud as Michael hurried out the front door.
Michael jumped into his SUV. Because Emma lived so close, it only took him two short minutes of driving to reach her street.
As he parked the car and grabbed the multiple gift bags from the passenger seat, a nervous thought popped into his head: "I really, really hope they like my gifts."
Inside Emma's house, it was loud and full of life.
Her two younger sisters, Lily and Chloe, were running around the living room, chasing each other and laughing at the top of their lungs.
Emma's older sister, Sarah, was standing by the fireplace, having an intense conversation with Erica Spector.
"I am telling you, Erica, the marketing department is completely losing their minds," Sarah said, holding a glass of wine.
"I know," Erica nodded in agreement. "But if we just push the campaign to January, we will get double the engagement."
On the other side of the room, Emma's mom and dad were sitting at the dining table, having a very serious discussion.
"If we put the roast in the oven right now, it will be dry by dinner," her dad argued, pointing at the kitchen.
"If we don't put it in now, we will be eating raw meat at midnight, David!" her mom argued back.
In the middle of all this noise, Emma was sitting completely alone on a small chair in the corner.
She was staring at her phone screen, but she wasn't actually reading anything.
She was biting her lip, deep in nervous thought.
"Will Michael actually like my gift?" she thought, panicking slightly. "I was procrastinating for weeks, and I didn't have time to buy something deeply meaningful! It is a very nice watch, a really good brand, but is it good enough for him? He is not going to hate it. Right? He should like it... right?"
Suddenly, her phone screen lit up with an incoming call.
The caller ID said: Michael🤍.