“Uh, sure. I’ll take her to my house.”
Emily smiles and takes his hand and gets loaded up in his truck. “We’ll see you later.”
After they have left, I turn to Damon. “What do we need to get?”
“More presents. I haven’t had a chance to grab anything, being on house arrest and all.”
I know it’s our first Christmas, but Emily doesn’t need a million presents. Yet, who am I to tell him he can’t buy her something for Christmas? Let him enjoy the little fun he’s getting to have. It’s the first time he’s been excited since he got out of the hospital.
“Let me put on some jeans real quick, and then we’ll go,” he says, heading inside to change.
I get in the car and start it, so it’ll be nice and warm by the time he gets in. The doctor didn’t say he couldn’t drive, but I figured it couldn’t hurt for him to let me chauffeur him around a little bit. He gets inside and buckles up.
“Let’s go get some Christmas presents.”
“Where should we go?”
“Wherever you want. I’ve never gotten to buy presents for kids before. I’ll need your help.”
I take off toward Target and find the closest parking spot, so he won’t have to walk a mile. He might not voice his pain, but his wincing tells me he’s still in pain whether he wants to tell me or not.
The automatic doors open, and the store is filled with last-minute shoppers, so much so, people are elbow to elbow at the checkouts.
“So, what should we get her?” Damon asks.
“I’ve got a hundred bucks to spend.”
“Baby, you have me. I want Emily to have a great Christmas and honestly, I’d like to buy her that dollhouse. She’s been raving about one she saw on TV.”
“I can’t let you do that. It’s like three hundred bucks. That’s crazy.”
I have to remember that every Christmas before this one, it was just me and Emily. Christmases have always been more about spending time together and not about the presents. Damon doesn’t struggle and just wants to buy her something nice.
“I have put back money to get it. Don’t worry. When you decided to date me, you knew that would come with added benefits. Well, one of them is having a man that wants to give Emily everything and more.”
He’s right. Although it’s a bit of a difference from what I’m used to, he just wants to give Emily the best he can. Who am I to fault him for that?
“I really wish I could have met you sooner.”
“Well, you have me now; you might as well use me to your advantage.” His eyebrow wiggles. “Now, let’s get to Christmas shopping.”
The first thing we grab is the Victorian dollhouse that Emily has been raving about ever since she saw the commercial on TV. A girl her age should have a dollhouse but I’ve never been able to afford one. Damon just keeps finding more and more things he wants to get her, and about an hour later, we have two baskets filled to the brim with stuff. It’s not all presents. We end up getting stocking stuffers, breakfast for tomorrow, and so much more.
“You excited to play Santa with me?”
“Extremely. Let the fun begin,” he replies.
“We have to stay up late, so we can put the gifts under the tree. Eat the cookies...”
“I can’t wait to see her face in the morning. This is so thrilling. She is going to be so surprised.”
After paying the ridiculous amount, Damon and I head back to the house to take everything inside so we can go pick up Emily. Don’t want to chance her seeing anything. I carry the majority of the stuff in, trying not to make it obvious that Damon didn’t need to be carrying anything, but he notices.
“Listen, I know you think I can’t. Let me help. It makes me feel worse when you treat me like I can’t do anything.”
“It’s not that. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself and have to spend Christmas in bed. No need to overexert yourself tonight.”
After everything was hauled inside, we head to pick Emily up from Liam. It’s around eight and we expect them to be awake, but we can see inside where they are both asleep.