Love is a Luxury

It was already Christmas Eve, and I was doing some last minute gift wrapping for Colby at about ten at night. Everyone was asleep except for Jimmie and I.

“He’s only gonna tear up the paper,” Jimmie stated upon noticing how perfectly I was trying to wrap the presents. I sighed, getting aggravated. I had been wrapping gifts for about two hours now. “Come on,” he rubbed my shoulders when I laid my head down on the table. “He’ll never know the difference on whether it’s wrapped or not. Go to bed, and I’ll throw these under the tree.”

I nodded my head and got up, walking up the stairs into my room. I changed and laid in bed, where I fell asleep shortly after.

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when I heard a very excited toddler and a very annoying older brother throw open the door.

“WAKE UP! IT’S CHRISTMAS!” They pounced on me. I groaned and threw the covers off me.

“Come on, Mommy!” Colby grabbed my hand and lead me down the stairs just as fast as he could drag me.

“Did you wake him up?” I narrowed my eyes at Jimmie.

“Would I do that?” He grinned.

“What time is it anyway?” I asked, rubbing my eyes, reaching the bottom of the stairs.

“Like, 4 something.” I shot daggers his way. “Oh, come on. He’ll take a long nap at noon and he’ll be fine.”

“I was worried about me, asshole,” I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room where Colby was eagerly sitting around the tree. What I failed to notice was somebody extra sitting on the couch. My eyes went wide when I realized it was John.

“Oh my gosh!” I yelped and bounded into his arms and gave him a long kiss.

“Merry Christmas,” he smiled, giving me another kiss.

“I thought you were spending Christmas with your family?”

“Surprise.”

“You’re welcome Olivia. I planned this, so don’t expect another gift from me,” he said from beside me on the floor. I kicked his leg and kissed John again.

“Hey kids,” my mom came into the living room with her robe on, and a cup of coffee in her hand. “And yes, I knew about this too,” she said, taking a sip.

I sat down on the couch and pouted while I watched Colby open his gifts. John sat down beside me, putting an arm around me, and pulled me into him. About an hour had passed and everyone had opened their gifts. Jimmie and Colby were on the floor, playing with some toy cars, and John and I were still on the couch. Mom watched us from her chair.

“Oh,” I said, rather startled, putting a hand on my stomach. “Oh,” I said, even more startled when it happened again.

“What is it?” John said, voice full of concern.

“He’s moving,” I said, grabbing his hand and placed it on my stomach.

“OH MY GOSH, LET ME FEEL!” Jimmie shouted and crawled over to me. Mom was next.

“This is so weird,” I said, considering this was the first real time I had felt a kick. John laughed and kissed my temple.

Once the baby had stopped moving and the shock had worn off, we were all back to what we had been doing just a few moments before.

“All right, I have one more gift for you,” John announced.

“Oh really?” He nodded his head and pulled a rectangular box out of his pocket. This wasn’t a jeweler’s box though. I gave it a questioning look as he handed it to me.

I flipped open the lid to reveal a house key. “I want you to move in with me. And you don’t have to decide right now. I figured you’d wanna talk it over with your mom first, but I ran it by her before I even came to visit. I just figured, ya know…”

I looked over at my mom, and she gave me the “you need to go” look. I look back at him, nodding my head with blurry eyes and a smile.

“Yes? Oh my gosh,” he smiled, pulling me into a hug.

“I CALL DIBBS ON YOUR ROOM!” Jimmie announced. I rolled my eyes and laughed at him. I looked over at my mom who did the head nod in the direction of the kitchen. We both got up and walked that way.

“I think you’re making the right decision and I couldn’t be any more proud of you. I’ll be out there before you have him, and I’ll be a phone call away if you need me, even if it’s some ungodly hour. You’re still my little girl,” she pulled me in for a hug. “I love you,” she sniffled.

“Aw, Mom, don’t do this. You’re gonna make me cry too,” I laughed and we pulled apart. She pushed the hair out of my face, taking a long look at me and hugged me again.

“You’re going to be just fine,” she assured me, and God, I hoped she was right.