This Gift

It had been a long and tiring day. There had been plenty of preparing for the Christmas dinner the following day, as well as decorating for the party as well. Exhausted, the girl with bleached blonde hair fell back tiredly onto the couch, letting out a long yawn before letting her eyes graze the room. She couldn’t help but grin at the glowing fire in the fireplace, three little stockings dangling from the mantle, where several little angel figurines stood, with garland and ornaments in between the stockings.

Each red stocking was decorated with glittery lettering: Mommy, Daddy, and Owen. The last one was written in a shaking, child’s handwriting, which made the blonde woman grin widely and crinkle her nose in love. Sighing, she relaxed and let the cushions of the couch pull her deeper into their overstuffed comfort. Her eyes fluttered a couple moments before shutting for a couple moments, then opened again. Matt stepped into the room then, walking quietly over to her with a smile on his face.

“Is Owen asleep?” The woman asked with a grin on her face, watching her husband walk towards her, those same dimples on his face. “Good. I never thought he’d go to bed.” She laughed softly, but was interrupted by a long, drawn-out yawn. Crinkling her nose, the bleach blonde inhaled slowly and then ran her fingers through her long hair, glancing back at her husband, who dropped onto the couch besides her.

“He takes after me,” Matt beamed proudly. “Owen’s a night owl.”

“Right,” Anna rolled her extremely light brown eyes at him, leaning deeper into the back of the couch. It was clear that the day’s events had worn her out, between decorating, preparing the turkey for dinner tomorrow, and chasing after their two year old son, Owen. “What’s worse is I think he has your mischievous behavior to match!”

Matt smirked. “Owen’s a little trouble maker, what can I say?”

“Way to go, Matt.” Anna playfully nudged her husband in the ribs with her thin elbow. Grunting, Matt rolled his hazel eyes and tossed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. Sighing, Anna complied and rested her head against him, her eyes fluttering shut in the near silence of the Christmas Eve night. The crackling of the fire behind the glass of the fireplace filled the peace of the Christmas tree lit room, where the couple sat without saying anything.

Anna stirred from her half-unconscious state when Matt’s large, calloused hand rested tenderly on her vastly protruding belly. She glanced over at her husband, whose smile slowly grew wider and wider until dimples formed in his cheeks again. His hazel eyes glowed with pure love as he moved his hand carefully around the soft, round flesh of his wife’s stomach. A gentle kick from behind the skin made his lips spread to expose a toothy grin.

“He’s kicking,” Matt murmured softly with the same amusement he had when Anna was pregnant with Owen. “My baby boy’s fucking kicking, Anna.”

She laughed. “Really? I hadn’t noticed, considering he is in my belly, Matt.”

“Oh shut up,” he jokingly said. “A dad can get excited, can’t he?”

“Of course,” Anna smiled sweetly up at him and adjusted slightly beneath his large palm. After a long moment of letting his hand roam around her growing tummy, the bleach blonde girl raised her eyes with concern and care to her husband’s hazel ones. “Have you thought of a name?”

Matt sighed softly, his hand withdrawing from her stomach to settle back on the back edge of the couch. Anna watched with care as she took one of his hands in both of hers, kissing the tattoo of the deathbat of Jimmy. She pressed the same hand against her cheek and stared at Matt until his slightly saddened eyes met her light brown ones.

In the softest voice ever, Anna spoke, “It’s okay, Matt…you can name him.”

Matt’s lips curled into a grin as he pulled his hand back, taking a long moment to stare at the tattoo of his lost friend on his hand. Taking a deep breath, he thought about Owen, who he had also named after his lost friend when he was alive. However, the urge to name their child after his friend was even stronger. The muscular, hazel-eyed man bent down and pulled Anna’s shirt up, exposing her belly that held their second song. He laid his lips upon the soft flesh and smiled softly.

“Our son Jimmy…” he whispered lowly, ignoring the stinging in the back of his eyes. Anna’s eyes were filled with tears as she put her hands on either side of Matt’s face turning him to look at her.

“Matt,” she whispered quietly and carefully. “Don’t cry,” she paused to catch one of Matt’s tears with her thumb, quickly brushing it away, “you gave him the best gift anyone could ever ask for. You gave him a best friend for his whole life. You gave him love and friendship. He was your brother. I’m sure he’s happy with this gift you’re giving him as well.”

“Thank you, baby,” Matt murmured softly, pressing his lips against Anna’s in a long, gentle kiss. “I’m glad you understand.”

“Matt, my cousin was like a brother to me,” Anna spoke, bringing her husband to her chest, laying a kiss upon his temple. “If it helps, we can go to his grave tomorrow and wish him a Merry Christmas.” Matt pulled away and smiled at his wife, staring at her through love-drowned eyes and leaned in to lay kisses all over her face. Giggling softly, Anna returned the favor, but soon stopped.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Matt asked, watching Anna’s expression contort in momentary pain. It was then that Matt felt a dampness soak into the couch, causing him to jump up and help Anna to her feet, fumbling with the phone in his pocket. Needless to say, Anna’s water broke. Matt was quick to call the others, ushering Anna into the car before he ran upstairs and collected Owen in his arms.

“Where are we goin’, daddy?” Owen asked tiredly, clutching to his father’s shirt.

“We’re going to the hospital.” Matt explained, stepping outside and locking the door behind him. He was careful to put Owen in his car seat.

“Why are we goin’ to da hop-sital?” Owen asked in his tired, two-year old voice. Despite the situation, Anna smiled in the front seat at her son’s broken speech. She was the one to turn around and grin at their two-year old.

“Mommy’s going to have your baby brother,” she said. “The one in Mommy’s belly, remember?”

“Yeah!” Owen threw his tiny, yet chubby arms up in excitement. The parents didn’t speak further as Matt sped to the hospital at nearly 8 at night, with their two-year old quietly sitting in the back.

Hours passed and everyone was in the waiting room, excluding Matt. Brian’s arm was around his own wife, Aly, who looked around at the others impatiently. She wasn’t nervous, for she was really confident with her friend, but she was rather impatient. Meanwhile, Owen who was rambunctious as ever was playing a game of Go Fish with Uncle Zacky…who was epically fucking failing at it.

“You aren’t good at dis, Unka Zacky.” Owen pointed out, making the others laugh. Matt stepped into the waiting room, making everyone turn their attention to the man who was smiling, but shaky. Aly was the first to jump to her feet and rush over to Matt to hear the news, looking at him expectantly.

“Well?” She urged.

Matt beamed. “James Sullivan Sanders, born at 12:06 on Christmas Day. He’s 9 pounds and 7 ounces and 22 and a half inches long.” The whole room cooed in excitement, grinning widely at the name and size of the newborn baby.

“What does he look like?” Zacky asked, picking up Owen and holding the lost, confused toddler.

Matt Sanders grinned stupidly at everyone, lowering his head before raising his eyes, which were, once again, filling with tears.

“He looks like Anna’s cousin,” he paused, “big fucking blue eyes and a head of light brown hair. He’s fucking beautiful.” Aly smiled at the man before her who was now crying. She had only ever seen Matt cry two others times: when Owen was born and at Jimmy’s funeral.

“Congratulations, Matt.” She smiled and gave him a huge bear hug. Brian stood up and patted Matt on the back, who nodded, crying in happiness as he let out a soft chuckle.

Later in the evening, the family ventured to the cemetery on that same Christmas day, little Jimmy all wrapped up and sleeping in Anna’s arms. Meanwhile, Matt held onto Owen’s hand, approaching the gravestone that read James Owen Sullivan.

Owen, having been here before, raced over to the headstone and pointed at it. “Unka Jimmy?” Matt nodded his head and stopped in front of it. He kneeled down and placed the flowers he had brought.

“Merry Christmas, Jimmy,” he whispered. “I think you should meet your cousin’s second son…” Anna beamed and kneeled down with the bundle, eyes dancing over the engraved words of the grey, cold headstone.

“His name is James Sullivan,” Anna stated slowly, feeling her eyes fill to the brim with tears. “He looks just like you, ‘cuz.” Seeing his mom cry, Owen walked over and hugged her with his arms, burying his face in her side. Anna inhaled slowly and smiled at her husband before they both stared back at the grave.

Matt’s voice was soft. “Thank you for this wonderful gift, Anna.” Anna looked at Matt and nodded her head. “And Jimmy, our child is your gift, too. He already looks like you…maybe he’ll carry on your fucking psycho spirit, too.” Matt and Anna let out soft chuckles.

“Merry Christmas, ‘cuz.” Anna uttered softly, slipping one arm around her son Owen while the other still expertly cradled little Jimmy. As the family stood before the gravestone, a delicate breeze filled the silent air, hitting their faces gently. Matt grinned and looked up at the sky, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them.

Somewhere up above, the couple was sure that Jimmy was thanking them for this wonderful gift…