Chapter 9

Jim finished wrapping the packages late Christmas Eve. He started to take the packages down to the pickup truck. He was glad that he had had a fiberglass bed cover put on the pickup as they were predicting snow for later tonight. He had the cell phone clipped to his belt in case Jessica called. It took several trips to get all of the presents into the truck and he had to put the presents that he had bought Jessica, earlier in the day, into the front next to him. He went back inside and waited for Jessica to call.

It was after midnight before she called, "She wouldn't go to bed. She wanted to talk all night. You can come over now. I'll keep an eye out for you."

Jim drove over to Ann's house. He pulled into the driveway slowly to avoid making any noise. Jessica was waiting at the door for him. He started to carry in the packages, taking as many as he could each trip. Jessica held the door for him each time he neared the door. After the 4^th trip she asked if he left anything in the store for other people to buy. He finally emptied the pickup bed. He started to carry in the presents from the front of the pickup and set them in a separate pile by the tree. When he had all of the presents in the house he walked by Jessica and whispered Merry Christmas and got in the pickup.

He drove home very proud of himself. He had gotten everything inside without waking Ann up.

Ann got up in the morning and made coffee. After the coffee was done she went to Jessica's bedroom to wake her up. She hadn't gotten Jessica many presents because she knew that she would have trouble getting them back to California. She intended to give her cash so that she could buy what she wanted when she got back to California.

When Ann and Jessica walked into the living room she stopped and put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"When did you have time to buy all of this. Jessica, you shouldn't have spent all of this money, you can't afford it."

"Don't blame it on me. I had nothing to do with it. I have your present from me in my room."

Ann started to pick up packages and read the labels. They all said the same thing-To Ann From Santa Claus. She looked at Jessica as if trying to see if she was lying about not buying the presents. Finally the light came on in her head. She went to the phone and dialed Jim's number. After several rings he answered.

"Hello Jim, you should see my living room. Santa Claus brought me a whole lot of presents. I was wondering if you would like to come over here and watch me open them." He laughed and told her that he would be there soon.

When he knocked on the door Ann greeted him with a hug and a kiss. She didn't looked at his vehicle. She took his hand and dragged him into the living room. After he sat down she went into the kitchen and got him a cup of coffee. She handed him the coffee and he told her that he wanted to see what Santa Claus brought her. He asked Jessica to make sure that the separate pile of presents went to the right person. Jessica went to the pile of presents and squealed when she saw that they were for her. The pair of them opened presents like two little kids. Jim had purposely put the larger present on the bottom of their pile.

Jessica opened her presents first except for the last one. Jim stopped her before she opened it.

"That's not really your present. That's just to show you what your present is."

She looked at him quizzically and then started to open the present. Ann had paused went she heard what he had told Jessica. Ann had no idea what he was talking about either. Jessica torn the paper off of the package. She put her hand over her mouth and gasped.

"It's a laptop. Are you serious?"

"You mother mentioned one time that you needed a laptop. That one is mine. A Dell laptop will be delivered to your home in California a day or two after you get home. It's powerful enough to be used as a desktop. I just hope you enjoy it."