Chapter 21 - THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
Our first Christmas as a family was quieter than I expected.
No giant ballroom.
No hundred-guest dinner.
No reporters.
Just the three of us in the lake house.
Lena woke before sunrise.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
She ran downstairs in pink pajamas.
Lorenzo lifted her into his arms.
“Good morning.”
“Is Santa here?”
He looked at me.
“I believe so.”
She pointed at the tree.
“There!”
A mountain of presents sat beneath it.
Lena screamed.
I laughed.
Lorenzo smiled at her in a way I had never seen before.
Later, when she was opening gifts, she suddenly became quiet.
“What happened?” I asked.
She looked at the tree.
“I wish I could remember Grandma.”
Lorenzo's expression softened.
“She would have loved you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she loved your father.”
Lena looked at me.
“Did she know Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“And she knew me?”
“She did.”
Lena smiled.
That night, after she fell asleep, Lorenzo and I sat beside the fireplace.
He reached for my hand.
“This is the first Christmas I've actually wanted to remember.”
May you like
I rested my head against his shoulder.
“Me too.”
