I quickly heat up five hot chocolates. I smile as I hear the sound of a box being rattled and then Tobias scolding Lucas. I pick up the mugs and carry into them into the living room.

"Thank you, Beatrice," my mother says. I smile and hand one to my father. Then, I hand Lucas and Tobias a hot chocolate. I smile and sit down on the sofa next to my mother.

"Can I start opening presents, mommy?" Lucas asks. I smile and nod. Hecrawls around in the floor, looking for the biggest box of all. I putmy legs on Tobias's shoulders. My mom puts her arms around me. It has been so strange not being with her for the last few Christmases. Ever since we saw each other in the grocery store that day a year and a half ago, we've been seeing each other a couple times a month.

Just after Christina and Will's wedding, my mother asked me to come over one night for dinner. She figured my father would be okay with seeing me again. When Lucas and I walked into the house, he wrapped me in a hug and it took several minutes to convince him to let go. Since then, we've spent a lot of time with my parents. My father has had a soft spot for Lucas.

Lucas tears the wrapping off the box, letting it make a semi circle around him. "Look, mommy! A carpenter's table!" Lucas says. I smile and nod. I snap a quick picture with my phone.

"A toy for you and daddy," I say in Tobias ear. He looks up at me with a strained smile.

"I'm thrilled," he says. I laugh at him. When I look back, Lucas is already tearing the wrapping paper off of another box under the tree. He opens it to find a gift box. He opens the lid. He scrunches up his nose as he pulls out the shirt and pants.

"That's cute," I tell him. He shrugs and throws it to the side. Lucas moves on to the other boxes. He rips the wrapping paper off and spends just a few seconds observing the contents before moving on.

When he is finished, there is a variety scattered across the floor: Legos, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures, clothes, stuffed animals. Once he is done with his stocking, happy to find all the sugary treats, he pulls out several boxes for Tobias and me.

We open them at the same time. I tear open the wrapping paper. Inside is a small, black box. I open the lid to find a beautiful necklace. It has two charms hanging from it: a football and a book. My eyes well up with tears as I look down at Tobias.

He has opened his box as well. Inside, there is the football from the championship from senior year. I had planned on going out and buying him something, but a few weeks ago I stumbled across the football in the attic when I was looking for Christmas decorations. The football was one of the things that he had left in New York.

Tobias reaches up and wraps his arms around me. I do the same. "Thank you. I thought it was lost forever," he whispers to me. I shake my head.

"Nope. I still had it. . . Thank you," I respond. We pull apart. Lucas has pulled our stockings over to us. The look on his face says that he really doesn't care what Tobias and I got, but he knows he has to watch us open our presents if he wants to play with his new toys. "Thank you, Lucas," I tell him. He shrugs.

I pull out a little box. On the outside, there is a picture of two birds. I open it and pull out the ornament. It is a pink bird and a blue bird sitting together on a stick. A little ribbon hangs from their claws saying Couple's First Christmas. I look down at Tobias.

He has pulled out his own ornament. His is of two old people sitting in lawn chairs holding hands. The old man has a fishing pole that has sign saying Couple's First Christmas. I stand up and walk over to the tree. I put the ornament right next to the personalized ornament we got this year. It has three snowmen having a snowball fight. Each snowman has one of our names on it.

I sit back down and reach down and put my arms around Tobias's neck. "This has been a pretty good Christmas," I whisper to him. He nods and smiles up at me.

"The best."