Paige slowly opened her eyes and reached for her cellphone. It was the first morning in a while that she didn't mind waking up in the wonky, underinflated air mattress. She felt excited about the upcoming day. She sat up and peaked over at Sienna who was still sound asleep, she laid her head on the side of Sienna's bed and watched her sleep. The tiny freckles on her face, her eyelashes, there wasn't a moment in Sienna's life where she wasn't beautiful. Paige reached over and ran her finger across Sienna's cheek. She noticed Sienna's eyes begin to flutter and suddenly her half asleep eyes were looking back at Paige. A faint smile slowly formed on her face.
"Merry Christmas" Sienna said, her voice was raspy and groggy. Almost as if it hadn't gotten the memo that it was time for it to start its day.
"Ditto" Paige replied, leaning over and kissing Sienna softly.
"So, are you ready for your Christmas present?" Sienna asked.
"YES!" Paige answered excitedly. The reaction was a knee jerk reaction, something Paige had conditioned herself to do even when she didn't care about what was being given to her.
Paige had always gotten everything she wanted but very rarely got what she really needed. She realized at a very young age that giving her presents made her parents happy but it did very little for her. When you have everything you want, nothing ever feels special.
Sienna got out of bed and walked toward her closet. She reached toward the top shelf and pulled out a small gift bag, as she walked back toward Paige, the smile on her face gave away the fact that she was very excited to give her the Christmas present.
"It's nothing super big or anything." Sienna said, almost as if she had become a little self conscious.
"I'm sure whatever it is will be awesome, Arkansas." Paige responded, making an effort to ease some of Sienna's sudden nerves.
Paige sat down on the bed and Sienna excitedly followed suit. As Paige slowly began pulling out white and red sheets of tissue paper, she could tell Sienna was becoming inpatient. She loved getting a rise out of Sienna, she took her time getting to the bottom of the bag and then she pulled out a small box.
"I didn't take you as a cheesy Christmas proposal kinda gal. Don't you think you're moving a little too quickly?" Paige asked playfully.
"Shhhh! Open it!" Sienna blurted out.
Paige opened the lid on the small box to find a bracelet with some charms attached to it. She pulled it out of the box and slipped it on. The charms sat in between a mix of sea green beads and metallic stud accents. As Paige examined the charms she realized one of them was a small bar charm with what seemed like very small numbers etched on it, the next charm was an arrow, and lastly there was a charm that resembled their Crystal River University mascot on it.
"Sienna Phoenix never disappoints, huh? Thank you" Paige said, while kissing Sienna on the cheek. "Will you tell me what the charms mean?" She asked.
"Oh you got that right." Sienna replied, giving Sienna an exaggerated wink. "Well, the numbers on the bar charm are actually coordinates. If you type them into the computer they are coordinates to the cabin we stayed at when we went to the hot springs." Sienna said, biting her lip. "I got the charm the day we were there."
"Aren't you a little sneaky, sneak!" Paige exclaimed. "What is the arrow?" She asked.
"Well, if you must know...I've always admired how you follow your arrow. You say what makes you happy, you do what makes you happy, and you don't care what anyone says or thinks. I figured an arrow was perfect." She replied, looking down shyly.
Paige kissed Sienna softly, trailing from her chin to her lips.
"You really are something else, Sienna." Paige whispered.
"Lastly, I couldn't ignore the hideous school mascot charm. It was where we met and even though we had a rocky start, I'm glad I took the plunge and decided to go to Florida for school. It brought me you." Sienna put her forehead against Paige's and then kissed her lips softly.
Paige swallowed hard, were these gestures a confirmation of what Sienna was feeling toward her? Did this mean they could possibly make it work?
The girls were suddenly interrupted by Sienna's dad on the other side of the door. His knock was hard and he yelled into the door. "Are you girls decent in there? We're opening Christmas presents!" he said, his voice sounding slightly muffled as if he had gotten too close to the door.
"We'll head down in a sec., dad!" Sienna responded. A hint of red appearing on her face, clearly embarrassed that her dad had asked if they were decent. What a dork.
Paige was a little disappointed that their moment had been interrupted but she had a feeling they'd have plenty of chances to have more moments like that one.
When the girls made it to the living room the smell of cookies invaded their nostrils. Paige grabbed a hot chocolate from the counter and looked over at the fireplace which had been turned on, making the moment more special. Being from Florida, she had never experienced a real fireplace. Something told her the warmth she felt wasn't coming from the fireplace, though.
"Paige! We all got you something." Sienna's mom said, practically jumping for joy.
"You guys didn't have to do that. I didn't get you anything...." Paige replied, sounding disappointed. "Just kidding!" Paige said, a huge smile spread across her face.
Paige pulled out a present she had strategically hidden behind the couch for this very specific occasion. She handed it over to the Phoenix head of household.
"Here you go Mrs. Phoenix, I hope you guys like it." She announced.
As the Phoenix clan gathered around the nicely wrapped box Paige had spent forever wrapping. The sound of the wrapping paper was extra loud as everyone in the room went quiet in anticipation of what was hidden under it. Mrs. Phoenix gasped when she saw the framed picture Paige had given them.
"When did you take this?!" Sienna's mom asked.
"It was the night we were all preparing dinner together. You guys were all in the kitchen, everyone was enjoying themselves, having a good time. I figured I'd get a nice candid shot of you all." Paige replied.
Sienna's mom opened her arms and took Paige in. All of a sudden, Sienna's dad and sisters were in on the hug. Then, Sienna joined in on the hug.
"How do you like the cute little Phoenix dogpile?" Sienna whispered.
Paige smiled saying, "This really has been the best Christmas ever."
After everyone got through unwrapping their presents, Paige pulled Sienna to the side.
"Time for your present" Paige said.
Sienna was slightly shocked. She didn't expect anything, especially because she couldn't imagine when Paige could have gone to get something.
"Yeah? You got me something..." Sienna asked, moving closer toward Paige, almost as if Paige was pulling her closer with an imaginary magnet and she was steel. She created a little space once she realized her family would easily notice their closeness.
Inside the rectangular box Paige had wrapped in kraft wrapping paper with a burlap ribbon there was an item of clothing folded. Laying on top was what looked like a card. As Sienna slowly opened the envelope she found a black and white picture of her grandmother. She was much younger, the picture looked like it was from the 70's way before Sienna was born. Her grandmother stood next to a brand new cherry red Corvette with a huge smile pasted on her face. She wore a t-shirt and jeans, the t-shirt featured a circle with writing inside of it. Sienna made out the word "Corvette" with the fleur-de-lis directly under it. The two crossed flags had been the Corvette symbol since 1953, which was the year the first Corvette was produced.
Sienna's grandmother had been a fan of the car from the very beginning. She owned a few throughout her lifetime but her favorite was the one she passed down to Sienna. The picture brought a tear to Sienna's eye, it had been so long since she had seen it that it felt like the first time she saw it.
When Sienna pulled out the t-shirt that laid under the picture her heart skipped a beat. It was the same t-shirt her grandmother had been wearing in the picture.
"Paige...this is so thoughtful." Sienna said, unable to find the words to describe how grateful she was for the gift. She hugged Paige tight and whispered in her ear. "I love it. Thank you."
"When I saw the picture I knew I had to find a way to replicate that shirt. I know how much your grandma meant to you and I know she passed down the love of classic cars to you. It just made sense." Paige smiled, she felt proud.
Sienna never imagined Paige being such a thoughtful gift giver. She was floored by how much thought she had put into the Christmas present. Sienna loved the present and she knew on that day that she not only had gotten a really meaningful gift but she had gotten very lucky in the girl she had chosen to be with.