21. Tank Learns A Lesson

TWENTY-ONE

TANK LEARNS A LESSON

T he next hour is a whirlwind as we get the children together to open their gifts in front of the tree. My mom stayed up late last night talking with Debbie and Paula, so I figured they would all sleep in for a bit but they surprised us by showing up early. They all wanted to watch the kids tear into their presents.

Sasha is still in the kitchen keeping her parents company while they finish breakfast. The children have opened all their gifts and are happily destroying the playroom while Luke walks back and forth in front of the window with his daughter. She’s too young to understand what’s going on but seems to enjoy watching the snow fall outside.

Now that we’ve cleared away the wrapping paper, I sit to catch my breath. I only heard the tail end of what happened this morning before we were in the middle of presents. Plus, Finn has never been good at telling stories. He has a tendency to forget most of the important details.

I look over at Gabe. "So, what happened this morning? You accidentally penned a love sonnet to Finn's wife? Or did he just make that up?”

Gabe shakes his head. “He did that himself. All I’m guilty of is being forgetful. This was not my fault.”

I snicker. ”Oh, and whose fault is it, then?"

The room goes quiet for a beat before every eye turnstoward Emma, who is tying a trash bag filled with wrapping paper.

She scowls. "I was trying to help!"

The room erupts in laughter. Gabe pats her shoulder. “No worries, Emma. You just took a few years off my life thinking I had some competition."

Emma sticks out her tongue. "You're all impossible! The card didn't have a name on it, so I just assumed..."

I walk over to pull her into my arms. "You know what they say about assuming," I tease.

She pretends to think about it. “I think they say it ends up sleeping alone.”

“Touché. But hopefully you won’t kick me out of bed when you see your gift.”

It was a little too chaotic while the kids were opening gifts to sort through everything, but now it’s easier to see what’s left. I find a gift that has Luke’s name on it so I hand it to Seven. The next one is for Finn so I put that under my arm while reaching for the one in the very back. I recognize the gold paper I always use for Emma.

While everyone else is busy talking and opening their gifts, I bring the small package over to where Emma has settled on the couch. It’s odd, the packaging looks different from what I remember. But then again, I’ve bought so much stuff over the past month that I can barely keep track. I place it gently in her lap.

She pulls me down for a kiss. “Thank you. I can’t wait to see what you found for me even though I’m sure you didn’t stick to the budget."

I put a hand over my heart. "I'll have you know, I can be frugal when it matters.”

"Sure," she laughs, her fingers already tearing apart the wrapping paper.

My brow crinkles when I see a lavender box. I don’t remember this at all. Wow. My brain really must be mush from all this holiday stuff because I don’t even know what I got for her. I cross my fingers that I actually did stay within the budget.

Emma pulls out a certificate of some kind. That’s when I remember the hotel stay I booked. I let out a sigh of relief. I must have forgotten that I placed it in a gift box.

At least this is a gift I know she’ll like.

But her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes as she scans the words on the certificate. I had to make it myself since I wanted it to be fancier than just an email confirmation receipt. I printed out a certificate template I found online and filled in the information. I thought it looked pretty nice but based on her expression…maybe not?

“Tank, this is so sweet. Thank you.” She puts a gentle hand on my cheek and smiles but there’s a flicker of…something in her eyes.

No one else would notice but I know Emma. She doesn’t like the gift.

At all.

I look around and notice that everyone else is still busy talking amongst themselves so I tug on her hand. “Hey, follow me.”

She walks with me out into the hallway. “Is everything okay?”

“You tell me. I can tell you didn’t like the gift. I can pick another location if you want?”

She sighs. “It’s not the location. I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just that I had no idea you were even thinking about that.”

Suddenly she looks like she’s about to cry.

“Emma, talk to me. I don’t understand why you’re this upset.” I am mentally kicking myself for not asking her what she wanted. I thought it would be romantic to surprise her but clearly that was a fail.

She sighs. “I had no idea you were thinking about another baby.”

My mouth falls open. “ A baby? ”

“I'm exhausted," she whispers. "I love our little chaos creator, but I just don’t think I’m ready for another one.”

“Neither am I,” I whisper back.

The relief that floods her face is palpable, and she laughs—a real, genuine laugh this time. "Okay, because the one we have might be plotting our downfall as we speak."

I acknowledge that with a nod. “She is my daughter."

Emma shakes her head. “More like your co-conspirator."

“What made you think I wanted to have another baby in the first place?”

“Because of this.” She thrusts the certificate in my face.

I take it and scan the words. “Prenatal massage? What the hell is this?”

She looks confused. “You didn’t mean to give me that? I figured that was your way of saying…”

Without another word I walk back into the great room and hand the certificate to Gabe. “Did you lose another gift?”

He smacks his forehead. “I’m not allowed to wrap gifts next year.”

Sasha bumps her shoulder against his. “Clearly.”

I turn back to my wife. “Okay so I don’t know what happened to my real gift to you. At this rate, maybe Zack got it. I hope he wanted an overnight stay at a luxurious hotel.”

Emma grins. “A night at a hotel?”

"Just you, room service, and an entire king-sized bed all to yourself. No cooking, cleaning or kid duty. I thought you deserved a little escape from the madhouse.”

She sighs. “That sounds like heaven. But, you know what would make it even more perfect?"

I raise an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"If you came with me."

"I thought you wanted a break from everything. You know, to relax.”

She pulls me closer and whispers, "I like it when you relax me."

A dirty grin crosses my face. “I can definitely do that.”