It was two weeks before Christmas when I walked into the living room and found Dane sitting cross-legged near the decorated tree. He scrambled to his feet when he saw me and his cheeks turned a guilty shade of pink.
"What are you doing?" I asked calmly, knowing exactly what he had been doing, and getting a little frustrated since we'd had a talk about this a few day ago. Dane was a present-peeker, and he couldn't seem to grasp the idea that it spoiled my fun if he looked at his gifts ahead of time.
"Um...um...." he said lamely.
I walked over to the couch and flopped down, then gave him a very disappointed look. He had the grace to flush a little, and look down as if truly embarrassed.
I continued to look at him, feeling frustrated that even after I had explained to him the reasons why he shouldn't do this particular activity, he did it anyway.
A plan started forming in my mind as I spoke to him. "Dane didn't we just talk about this?" I asked impatiently. Then pointing under the tree, I ordered, "Bring the one you opened over here."
He hesitated for a minute, and looked at me warily. "But, Max, I-"
"Bring it here or I'm going to warm your butt good!" I threatened, losing patience.
He looked balefully at me, and then crouched down, his Levi's riding so low that the top of his crack seemed to be smiling at me. I pushed down my amusement at the sight and drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch.
"I can't find it," he finally mumbled.
I exhaled loudly. "It's probably the one that has either torn paper on the ends or isn't taped up properly. You want me to get up from my comfy seat and help you find it?" I questioned ominously.
He grumbled something incomprehensible then grabbed at something under the tree. Standing back up, he held the gaily wrapped gift protectively against his chest, and slowly approached me. "Max," he said quietly, "I won't do it again, please...."
I held out my hands, trying not to be affected by his plea. After all, we had discussed this and he had broken his promise. "Give it to me," I growled.
His velvety eyes filled with tears as he parted with the gift. I took the box from him and immediately noticed where the paper had been carefully pulled away to reveal a cotton candy machine. My disappointment deepened.
I set the gift on the coffee table and then reached out and snagged the sleeve of his pullover sweater. "Sit down with me a minute, monkey, we have to talk."
He plopped down beside me, and automatically, it seemed, reached a hand toward the cotton candy machine.
As if dealing with a two-year-old, I slapped lightly at his hand. "No no," I said quietly, and then gently turned him by the arms so he was facing me. "How old are you, young man?" I asked brusquely.
"Twenty-four," he mumbled while looking away.
"Yes, you're twenty-four and not four. You know better that to break promises. You did promise me that you wouldn't peek at your presents this year, didn't you?"
"God Max, what's the big deal about it? I just looked at it, I didn't play with it or anything!" he suddenly snapped at me. It was then that I noticed the big splotches of color spreading across his cheeks.
My eyes widened in surprise when I looked down at his tightly clenched fists. I took a deep, calming breath and when I next spoke my voice was as soothing as I could make it. "The big deal is that we talked about this only a few days ago, and I expressed my feelings of let-down when you look at your presents ahead of time. At that time you gave me your word that you would not peek this year, and I believed what you said."
I saw a distinct eye roll.
"Dane?"
He sat motionless, tense and still as a statue.
I sighed. "All right, I won't force you to talk about it, but as you know the present is going back. Now, I'm going to pick it up off the table, and you'd better just continue to sit still while I do that."
I heard him sniffle as I picked the package up and I felt just like the Grinch at that moment. I refrained from saying anything as I hefted the gift, knowing it wouldn't help when he was like this. I also knew the sooner I got the box out of his sight the better.
I stood up and brushed past his knees as I headed for the car to stow the damn thing in the trunk.
As I unlocked the trunk, I considered giving him a spanking for breaking his promise to me, and letting it go at that, but I had already made up my mind that I was going to teach him a lesson in another way. Hopefully it would work and I wouldn't have to worry about the issue ever again.
When I walked back inside, he was flipping impatiently through the channels on the TV set. I began to dust a light layer of snow from my hair as I watched him.
When he refused to acknowledge my presence, I walked over to the couch and sat beside him. "It seems kind of odd that you're angry, Dane," I said as I lightly tweaked his hair. "You're the one that broke your promise, and I think you owe me an apology."
He shrugged as if I were speaking a foreign language.
"OK, well I'm going out for a little while. If you decide to go out while I'm gone, please leave a note."
He jerked his head and looked at me, his eyes blazing. "Taking it back, huh?" he practically spat at me.
"Yes, I am, Dane, that was the deal, and if you don't want any more of your gifts returned, you had better not peek again."
He mumbled it, but I heard it clearly enough, "Screw you."
"What did you say?"
"I don't want to talk to you right now, Max!" He suddenly shouted right into my face. "You can't just take stuff away and then expect it to be all right with me!"
"I hadn't given you the present yet, young man," I reminded him. "How can I take something away that wasn't yours yet?"
"Bitch," he mumbled, the word barely audible.
I shook my head. "All right, that's enough. You're the one in the wrong here, mister, and if you don't want to admit it right now, that's fine, but no more name calling."
"It's not fair, Max," he said his brown eyes snapping with anger. "It's just not fair."
"No, and it's not fair to break a promise either," I said. "I'm trying to help you to understand that in the best way I know."
"Aw, screw your help, Max, I don't want it!" he spat out.
"Well, you've got it, like it or not," I told him, before I left to take the gift back.
As I walked through the mall with the cotton candy machine in my arms, I saw a Santa sitting on a red velvet chair in a big booth. There was a line of kids waiting to have their pictures taken with him, and I stopped for a minute in front of the booth to take in the candy canes and holly lining the top.
"Merry Christmas!" the Santa boomed out at me as I stood there feeling like the Grinch himself. I smiled, imagining the corners of my mouth twirling up in a very Grinchy way.
I doggedly continued to the department store where I had purchased Dane's gift, and carried if with me down the aisle where the Christmas decorations were. I smiled ruefully as I picked up the object that I had noticed on my last trip there: a lightweight paddle ball set, shaped and decorated to look like Santa Claus.
I carried it up to the counter and set it down along with the cotton candy machine. I had plans for that paddle. Plans that included drilling holes in the thin plywood and stenciling Dane's name in big blocky gold letters.
He would learn, I thought to myself grimly, how important promises really were if he happened to break his and open the gift I would place prominently in the front of the tree.
Do you really think Christmastime is for teaching lessons in this way? I asked myself as I headed out to the car.
But then I told myself if not now, when? Trust was the whole basis of our relationship and it was a two way street.
As I was backing out of my parking spot, I suddenly slammed my palm on the steering wheel. "Oh, I have to get another gift," I mumbled to myself before re-parking and then heading back into the crowded mall.
His eyes widened. "No, nothing's wrong, he said as he went to get the molasses from a cabinet. "It's just..."
"Just what?" I asked while I added a teaspoon of ginger to a bowl.
He was trembling as he set the molasses on the kitchen table, and I automatically reached out and clasped his hand in mine. "You're shaking," I said while making eye contact. "You sure everything is all right? You know I'll always listen if you need to talk about anything."
He moved his lips soundlessly for a second or two, then shook his head. "No, I guess everything's OK," he said in low tone.
I nodded then released his hand, wishing he would go ahead and confess so he could enjoy himself before Christmas.
On Christmas Eve we stayed home and sipped spiced tea in front of the fire place. I smiled contently as he snuggled against me. "Do you know how much I love you?" I asked as I ran a hand in lazy circles across his chest."
"I love you too," he murmured as he leaned in for a kiss.
Soft, cinnamon-laced lips sucked gently at my bottom lip, and I set my cup of tea down on the coffee table so I could concentrate fully on him.
In the middle of a particularly deep kiss, he pulled away and looked at me questioningly. "Max, you know I could never count on my father, right? I mean he let me down all the time."
"Yes, I know," I said thickly, still in love making mode. "I wish it hadn't been that way."
He opened his mouth to say something else and I leaned forward slightly, hoping he was going to tell me what he needed to tell me.
He sighed, and then leaned against me again. I followed his gaze to the tree, and seeing the package that stood only a little ways from where I had placed it, I started to wonder if I had made a huge mistake.
Christmas morning I opened my eyes to see Dane's Face only inches from mine. "Merry Christmas!" he crowed before digging his slender fingers into my rib cage
and wriggling them around.
I laughed and rolled away from him. "Stop that and let me get my beauty sleep," I said as I ran a hand groggily over my eyes.
"Get up! It's time for Christmas, Max!" he said as he impatiently tugged at me.
"You're as bad as a little kid when it comes to Christmas," I told him as I got up and slipped on the red robe he had given me the year before.
He followed me impatiently into the kitchen and bounced around the entire time I made coffee, and even though I grumbled a bit, I loved every minute of it. His eagerness about opening presents made me smile, but I couldn't help but wonder if he had forgotten about the 'special' present he had found and peeked at.
I handed him a cup of steaming caramel coffee and then followed him to the living room.
He plopped down in front of the tree, donning the Santa hat he wore to pass out presents, while I settled onto the sofa.
After taking a sip of coffee to help me wake up, I cast a glance under the tree and was surprised to see the package that contained the paddle was nowhere to be seen.
It explained why he didn't seem worried anymore.
"This is the last one," he said with a grin as he handed me a package. "I hope you got enough presents, I know I did," he said as he looked happily at his opened pile of gifts.
I took the gift from him, and then casually said, "There's one more gift, Dane, but I noticed it wasn't under the tree. Do you know where it could be?"
He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Please, Max..." he said with a whine in his voice.
I played dumb. "Please what? I distinctly remember putting a package with green wrapping paper and a red bow under the tree. Have you seen it?"
"Yes...."
"Well, where is it, pixie?" I questioned gently.
He nibbled at his lower lip at he stared at me, then suddenly he broke. "Please don't make me get it, Max! I'm sorry I peeked, but why did you buy it?"
I reached out and patted his leg. "Go and get the present, Dane."
I heard him sniffle as he left the room, while I stared gloomily down into the depths of my coffee mug, hoping that this little saga of learning I had created was going to end on a positive note.
Dane eyed the paddle with obvious horror. "Max, you promised me you would never paddle me."
I looked at the cheery face of Santa; the bulbous nose and eyes that seemed to twinkle, and I lifted it out of the tissue paper and held it up so he could see it well. Three dime sized holes marred the cheery Santa scene, and that frightening detail along with his name stenciled in gold--and the absence of a ball and string--seemed to make an impression on him.
"Yes, and you promised me that you wouldn't peek at your presents this year. So, my question for you is how important are our promises to each other?"
He was still staring at the paddle when he answered, "OK, I get it, Max. Our promises are really, really important. I'm sorry and I won't do it again."
"I hope you do understand that every promise we make is important to the trust we share. One broken promise can ruin that trust."
He nodded, tears glistening in his eyes. "Are you going to break your promise not to ever paddle me, then?"
I slapped the paddle lightly on my hand, letting him sweat for a minute, then smiled and held it out to him. "No, We'll just use it for a decoration today... and then I'll take it back from you since you peeked at it," I told him. "Hang it somewhere where we can see it."
He took the paddle from my hands as if it were a snake about to strike.
"God Max, you really made your point this time," he said with wonder in his voice.
While he was going about hanging the paddle, I rummaged in my pocket for my car keys. "I think Santa forgot to leave a present under the tree,"I said, excitement building within.
Dane turned from his task, a questioning look on his face. "Huh? For real? There's another present?" I jingled the keys, beckoning for him to come and get them.
He snatched them from my hand, a huge grin plastered across his face.
"Give me a kiss before I go and get the present," he ordered as he tilted his chin up to me.
I smiled, glad that the lesson was over with and I could relinquish my role of older and wiser for a little while.
When we parted he looked me with a warm, soft look in his eyes. "You would have never used the paddle on me. I know that, because I know you," he said dreamily.
I felt all of my former Grinchiness seeping out of my pores as I reached behind him and gently swatted his bottom. "You know me too well, my friend," I said before sending him to the car to get the cotton candy machine I had re-purchased for him.
Copyright © 2008 Tris