Katie:

I watch my family unwrap their gifts. My parents first. Then from oldest to youngest my brothers and sister then it's my turn.

"Merry Christmas Katie," Jack kneels down next to me at the hearth by the fire and kisses the top of my head as he hands me his gift for me. He goes back to sit next to Jason and Jacob on the couch. My brothers don't have to deploy until the new year. I smile and begin to carefully open it to preserve the memories it's wrapped it. "Tear it open Katie I've got a bunch more of those pictures. They're copies." I do just that and find a small wooden box. I open it and look up at him in shock. His soldier tags. "This was my last year in the military." He confirms, "I want you to have my tags."

"Jack!" I stand up and race to hug him. The gift of him staying home far more precious to me than his tags. He embraces me tightly. "I'm so happy you'll be home."

"I'm going to school at MIT, but I'll be home as often as I can." He tells all of us.

"I love you Jack-Jack," I hug him tightly.

"I love you too Katie." Jack whispers

"But don't you want to hold onto your tags to give your fiance for when you get married or engaged."

"Maybe one day, when the right girl comes around; I'll come to collect my tags to give her," Jack says, "But for now," He pauses, "For now, hold onto them for me."

"Okay, Jack." I agree and put them around my neck. I give him another hug and sit down.

Jacob apologizes for not having a gift for me. I just hug him tightly him being home is gift enough. Jason gave me a journal filled with letters he wrote to me, but couldn't send to me from when he was overseas. James gives me a book of pictures, music, poetry, and letters. Jeremy gave me an album of polaroids from the past year. Jesse a composition of music that he wrote. Jim a book filled with sketches from the past year. John a storybook filled with his poetry, from sonnets to haikus. Jenny an ode to how amazing she is, and how lucky I am to have her as a sister. Mom and Papa each gave me a charm, for my bracelet, one being a camera with a treble clef charm and the other two interwoven hearts.

"Thank you, Mama, Papa," I tell them hugging them each tightly.

"What do you plan on doing with the lousy journals?" Jenny scoffs loudly.

"They're gifts from men that love me." I smile and look to each of my brothers, "From my parents. It's not about how much money went into the gifts, it's comes from the heart. The love that went into and the love that came from it. I'll treasure each journal, and each gift until I die."

Ding Dong!

"I'll get it." Jenny races to the door.

"Marco." Jesse and Jeremy both say at the same time.

I hear the door slam and Jenny returns in a huff.

"Who was at the door, Jennifer?" My father asks.

"No one." The doorbell rings again.

"I'll get the door." Jack stands up and ruffles my hair before heading to the door. "Kit-Kat, boyfriend."

I stand up and head to the door. "Hi, Red," I grin and I hug him. He wraps his arms around my waist as mine wrap around his neck. "Merry Christmas Axl."

"Merry Christmas Kate," Axl says. "I brought this for you." He pulls a rock out of his pocket, "It's not a diamond, it's not a pearl, it's just a rock from my dad's query. I found it last time when I went to see him."

"I love it thank you," I give him a quick kiss on the cheek as I pull him into the family room. We sit down at the hearth and Axl greets my family. "Axl this is for you." I pull the last wrapped present from under the tree.

"What did he get you?" Jenny asks. I hold up the rock, it glitters in the firelight.

Axl unwraps his own gift, a book of blank pages of sheet music.

"A rock?" Jenny scoffs again. "He got you a rock?"

"Its quartz from the query." I explain, "He found it and he was so excited to give it to me. I love it."

"It's a rock." Jenny deadpans. "A rock."

"So is a diamond." I tell her, "A diamond is just a rock." I point to the glittering diamonds surrounding her from all of us. The bracelets from the boys, the earrings from mom and dad, the necklace from me. Diamonds are Jenny's best friend.

"Mr. Winthrop, Mrs. Winthrop," Axl addresses my parents, "If it is okay with you, I'd like to take Kate back to have Christmas with my family this evening."

"We haven't had dinner yet." Mother frets.

"Mama, please," I look to her and the doorbell rings a third time this time Jenny dives for it.

"Markie," Jenny drags him in and I flinch away from the doorway.

"Perhaps it's best." My father says. "Shelly, we can have our Christmas dinner another night."

"But it's Christmas today."

"And Katherine has been with us all day." My father says. He puts his hand over my mother's before looking to Axl and myself. "Back by midnight young man."

"Yes Sir."

"I'll call if the weather gets too bad to drive home by 930," I promise my father. I jump up and hug both him and my mother before my brothers all wrap me in the middle of a bear hug. Jack is last to let go. "Bye Jack." I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. I touch the tags dangling around my neck that I'd tucked under the sweatshirt I'd shrugged into when it got cold.

"Always, no matter what no matter when no matter where you can count on me." He whispers to me.

"I know Jack. I love you too."

I walk with Axl to the door before heading up to grab the gifts I'd made for his family. I grab the big bag from my room next to the door. Mr. Clive lays sleeping on my pillow, Bravo sleeping on the dog bed next to the window, but Alpha is nowhere to be seen.

I think nothing of it and take the bag down to Axl's old red car.

"Hey, Merry Christmas Kate," Axl says opening my door as the snow falls down around us. I put the bag in the back before getting in. Axl smiles and gets in. "So Sue's excited because she got-" I put my finger over his lips.

"I want to see for myself," I tell him biting my lip to stop my smile. He nods and starts the drive.

I hear rustling in the background. I look at the back seat and see Alpha rummaging through the presents with his nose.

"Is that goofy pup in the car?"

"Yeah..." I tell him, "Sorry."

"Nah, as long as he's quiet he won't bother dad or Brick, Sue loves him, and he's house trained," Axl says.

"Thank you," I tell him as he pulls onto the highway.

***

"Hi, Mrs. Heck, Mr. Heck, Sue, Brick," I greet letting Alpha off the makeshift leash that I put together in Axl's car. Axl's carrying the bag of gifts for his family from me. Sue bounds up to the bag excitedly. "I've got something for everyone."

Axl sets the bag down next to their tree and they all take a seat. Axl in the armchair by the window Sue, Brick, and their mom on the couch, and their dad in the armchair next to and facing the television.

"Mr. Heck," I pull out a box that's wrapped in vintage beer logos. "My father gave me permission to give this to you." He opens it and grins, I've never actually seen him smile before.

"Thank your father for me." He says. He puts the box of alcohol samples that Dad put together for him.

"Mrs. Heck, this is for you." I hand her the kit I'd put together. "I thought that since you all don't have a lot of extra time to cook with your full-time jobs and school, you might want to have a little help with making homecooked dinners, so my brother John and I put together a few kits together, just add the meat and some veggies. All the recipes are there in the kits."

Mrs. Heck takes the kits and looks through it. "Thank you, Katie."

"Sue," I pause to find her gift in the bag. "I know how much you like your youth group, I thought maybe you would like this." I hand her my old Bible from my days in my high school youth group. It has notes jotted into the margins, and doodles and thoughts on every page. I have one for every year, two for Senior Year. I don't know what made me duplicate all my thoughts when I was in high school, but after every devotion, every youth group meeting, every Sunday morning, and every time I opened my Bible, I wrote the notes I took twice. I guess now I know why I did it. I did it for Sue Heck.

"Thank you!" Sue beams at me holding the book and immediately thumbing through it, Brick looks exasperated that she got the book.

"I didn't forget you, Brick." I hand him an envelope. "I had a friend of James' pull a few strings for me. There's a comic book convention coming up over spring break and they're featuring Planet Nowhere. I thought we could go."

"What?" Brick asks he looks at me in awe. "Planet Nowhere?"

"It's in Cincinnati, so it's only if your parents are okay with it, it'd be the whole weekend. Axl already agreed to stay in the room with you overnight, I'd be in the adjoining room, I've booked the rooms, and obviously bought tickets, all I need is your parents' approval."

"I don't know..." Mrs. Heck says. "It's a lot of money."

"Axl's already paying back everything, room, and tickets, and he's covering the gas to get there and back."

"And where did he get the money to do that?" Mr. Heck asks.

"The same way he paid for his tuxedo, a little bit at a time. He gives me so many dollars from his paycheck every week when he gets paid. The tickets were cheap like I said, James pulled a few strings. The expensive part is the travel and the room." I explain, "James' friend got the tickets for me for about thirty dollars, total. The room is about 150 a night Three nights is 450 for both of them, plus the twenty for his and Brick's ticket, the room is a work in progress."

"I think this offer is too generous, what would you do at a comic book convention."

"You'd be surprised what I find interesting hobbies Mrs. Heck, I happen to love some of the people that set up at these things. Planet Nowhere is the feature, but Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel and DC comics, and some of my favorite TV shows and book series will have booths."

"Well..." Mrs. Heck still seems hesitant, I know I should've talked to them first, but I was so excited, I had to give the tickets to Brick.

"I know I should've asked you first, but I was so excited when I found out and got the tickets."

"Okay," Mrs. Heck says. "But you don't take your eyes off him for a minute."

"It's going to be just fine Mrs. Heck. Brick will be just fine."

"Thanks, Katie," Brick says, then turns to his mother and thanks her as well he stands up and walks away. Leaving the tickets on the table.

"I'm going to hold onto the tickets until the convention, I have a spot on my wall calendar for them. I kept a space open just in case." I tell them before putting Brick's Christmas present into my purse and pulling out the last present. "Axl, this is for you." I hand him a small box, I notice Mrs. Heck ushering out the remainder of the family. "I know I already gave you the composition book, but there is one more thing."

He cracks open the box and finds cufflinks. "What are these?"

"They're cufflinks," I explain, "They used to be Jeff's. I talked to Jesse, Jeremy, and the rest of my family. They all agreed that you should have them." He turns them over in his hand. They have the Winthrop signet on them. "Jenny's been wanting to give them to every boyfriend she's had, but with her revolving door, no one ever wanted to lose them to a stranger."

"But why am I different? I'm still a stranger to your whole family."

"No, you're different than Brandon, Caden, and every boy that Jennifer's ever brought home. My family realizes that. I don't date just to have a boyfriend. You know that right?" He nods, "I was taught to date with the intention of getting married. All of us were. We've talked about building a future together. My family agreed, all but Jenny that is, that you should have the cufflinks. A part of the Winthrop family."

"I love you, Katherine," Axl says pulling me in for a kiss.

"I love you, Axl," I give a soft whisper of an answer to him just before he kisses me.

"Merry Christmas Katherine Winthrop."

"And a very Merry Christmas to you Axl Heck."