The Perfect Gift

The following is my submission for the Holiday Flash Fiction Carnival. The theme is "anything holidays," so I went with writing a simple Christmas story. Enjoy!

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The Perfect Gift

"Why do I do this every year?" Ray thought to himself as he crunched through a patch of icy slush on the sidewalk. "I've walked through every store here and I can't find anything for Ally. Everything has been picked over, I have no clue what I'm even looking for, the car is at least a ten minute walk away, and our family Christmas dinner is in a couple of hours... I'll have no time to look around after that... I can't believe Christmas is two days away...and who builds a mall where you have to walk outside!"

Ray was having more difficulty finding a great Christmas present for his wife this year. After fifteen years of marriage, he had ran out of great ideas. The fact that they had never had children made things a little more tough. Most couples would just spend the extra money on their children, or maybe take a winter trip to someplace warm. But, Ray and Ally Prince had no children and wouldn't dream of being away from their families during Christmas. In fact, their families fully expected them to host the family gatherings and Ray and Ally always cheerfully obliged.

After ten more useless minutes of walking in the cold, wondering and hoping, Ray started to think about all the things that had to be done for tonight's gathering. Ally had taken care of most of the planning so there wasn't much left to do. But he thought that it wasn't quite right that he was out wasting time while she was working away in the kitchen. Ray decided to just head on back to his house and help where he could. With the wind at his back, he made his way down the long stretch of stores that eventually lead to the parking lot.

As Ray drove home, he began to think about his nieces and nephews and how much they would have grown. He thought about what it would be like to have his own child playing along --running through the house being entirely too loud-- and how he would pretend to be stern while smiling on the inside. Ally had mentioned adoption in the past, but Ray had insisted on not giving up on having their own... but after all these years, the idea did not seem so foreign now.

"Maybe that could be Ally's gift," Ray thought. "Maybe I could do some quick research on adoption, and maybe present her with an adoption application as a gift! Brilliant!"

Quite satisfied with his idea, Ray made his way along the slushy side roads that eased away from the city. The snow on the road slowly became more and more thick until they were completely white. Only the soft depressions on either side told where the edges of the road lay. A fresh snow had fallen the night before giving the surrounding land a beautiful white blanket. Households with children became more evident as the evenness was broken with trails of footsteps and the occasional snowman. Seeing these artifacts strengthened Ray's idea of adoption to the point of nervous excitement. He couldn't wait to tell Allyson that he was ready. He almost wished it possible to just bring a child home in his arms to present to his wife.

Ray made the last turn on his trip home and coasted down the gentle slope towards his house. He could see a maroon minivan parked just past his driveway, which meant that his sister, Rachael, had arrived (she was always early). Ray eased into his driveway and pulled into the garage. Once inside, he had just made a few steps towards the kitchen when he saw a small, round face and too little hands reaching up for him. It was his youngest niece, little Lisa, who loved nothing more than to be picked up and tickled. Ray picked her up and spun around with a smile, kissed his wife on the cheek and gave his sister a half-hug with his free arm.

"Oh, I'm glad you made it back in time," said Allyson as she turned to open the oven door. "John and Carrie just called... they'll be here in about twenty minutes or so. They're bringing your parents with them... didn't want them driving on these white roads."

"Oh... good," said Ray while tossing a small piece of turkey in his mouth. "Say, I'm going to go change clothes. My pant legs are soaked from the snow."

"That reminds me, how was everything at the office? Did you get there in time to meet Henry with a key?" said Allyson with a hidden smirk.

"Oh, yeah... yeah... got there just in time. He, uh... had only been waiting for a few minutes. I let him in and then decided to help him run the monthly report. Its never easy being the new kid, and that Henry's seems like a good fellow."

Allyson turned and met Ray with a soft smile and said, "Well, that was nice of you. Maybe Santa will be extra good to you this year." Rachael turned away and pretended to organize the silverware.

Ray smiled and scratched his head, which told Allyson that he had been caught in a fib. It was alright, though. It was the good kind of fib that he told once or twice a year to buy him a little more time for Christmas shopping. Allyson pretended to be none the wiser and went back to her kitchen duties. Ray, feeling a bit relieved and as if he had gotten away with something, walked back to the bedroom to change.

The family Christmas dinner went well as usual. After eating, the children opened their presents from each other while the parents, who had stopped exchanging gifts with one another a few years back, made conversation and enjoyed everyone's company. Everyone stayed the night (the roads were much to dangerous to travel in the dark) and left after breakfast the next morning. Ray spent the midday helping Allyson clean up the house and suggested that she should take a nap. After all, she had worked so hard to get everything ready. To Ray's relief, she agreed with no reluctance and settled onto the couch. She was asleep within minutes.

Ray snuck upstairs to his study and hopped onto the computer. He spent the next hour searching through the nearest adoption agencies, printing off information and applications. He picked out the one that seemed best to him and set it aside and then placed the others together into a folder. Ray picked up the adoption information that he thought best suited them, attached them together with a paper clip, and loosely tied a red ribbon around the middle. He then placed the papers in a box, and proceeded to wrap it the best he could without making too much noise.

The next morning, Ray got up earlier than usual. He hadn't felt this sort of excitement for Christmas since he was eight years old. He absolutely could not wait to see Allyson's excitement when he gave her the adoption papers. Allyson, who was usually a late sleeper like Ray, had already gotten up. Ray chuckled to himself about how they both were like little children, eager to open their gifts. Ray walked into the living room to find Ally sitting on the couch with a small box in her lap and big smile on her face. Ray returned the smile as he walked over to the Christmas Tree and picked up Ally's present.

Ray sat down and felt a sudden nervousness as he extended the arm holding Allyson's gift. "Here... I want you to go first. I think you'll like it," he said with a growing lump in his throat. Allyson took the box and showed some surprise at how light it was.

"I'm sure I'll love it. You always manage to surprise me, " she said as she struggled with Ray's somewhat unconventional wrapping technique. At last, she had removed the wrapping paper and began to open the box. She lifted the lid and looked inside, puzzled. Ray felt his face run hot. Allyson, finally understanding the meaning of Ray's gift looked up with great tears in her eyes and smiled.

"Oh, Ray... you wonder man. Open your gift." Ray, feeling a bit stunned but still nervous as ever, unwrapped the tiny box that he was given. He removed the lid, and pulled out two tiny hand-made socks. One was blue, and the other was pink. Ray's eyes, wide and full of tears, looked up at his wife.

"Ray, honey. I'm pregnant!"



© Jared Holt, 2007