Tis The Season

Remi slid open the closet door and, not for the first time, was almost concussed by a falling duffel bag. Rubbing her hand over her face, she took a deep breath. Noah often seemed to forget that she was practically a midget compared to him so a tipping bag stacked precariously in the closet on his eye level was likely to knock her right in the head. The bag had been haphazardly tossed on a stack of gifts that had been wrapped and then covered with a blanket. Their daughter was still too young to go snooping but they didn't want her to see the colorful paper by chance. Remi wanted the wonder of Christmas to last for their daughter in a way she hadn't had the luxury of. After lifting the blanket to make sure the bag-alanche had not damaged the paper, she sat on the floor and unzipped the duffel, her original search for a jacket forgotten.

Opening the bag brought a small frown to her face. It had been too heavy to be clothes and the thump it made didn't sound the least bit fragile. It took her almost a full minute to realize what she was looking at. Remi always started Christmas shopping early. As in, if there were still skulls and skeletons out but she saw something Parker would like, or something that reminded her of Maezy, she picked it up. It was a habit she had fallen into at a very young age. Saving up money and getting gifts for her father had always been like a secret mission for her and everyone knows what they say about old dogs and new tricks. The bag had little knick-knacks that she had picked up for stocking stuffers. Her frown melted into a smile as she picked through the bag but as her hand landed on a small parcel she had hand picked for Parker her eyes widened. "Sh*t…" Feeling a little panic creep into her demeanor she pulled her phone from her pocket and messaged Noah. 'We need to go shopping today. We don't have anything for Matt!'