Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Giselle whipped her head towards his. "So, do you like Christmas a little bit better now?"

Will glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the backrest. "It's alright."

Giselle beamed. "You do, don't you?" She laughed under her breath. "Welcome to the dark side," she teased him.

He ignored her, his eyes trained on the tree and the presents. "It reminds me of when I was a boy," he said, the wistful look on his face softening Giselle's teasing smile, "before Uncle Joseph died when he and Selene and my mother would decorate the house like this. Father always said he hated it, but I knew that he truly enjoyed it." His eyes swept over and landed on Giselle. "I didn't realize how much I missed all of this until now. And Selene missed it, too. I can tell she did." He took her hand in his. "Giselle—"

The sound of feet clambering down the staircase sprung Will apart from her. He quickly dropped her hand and stood, turning to the staircase and throwing on a smile as Albert and Barbara descended, Selene with Dorothy on her hip following after the pair with Frank bringing up the rear.

"Look, Albert, St. Nick came!" Barbara declared, beelining to the presents.

"Can we open them right now, Will?" Albert asked as he sat right in front of the tree.

"Not right now, we need to wait for Marguerite to—"

"Heavens! Look at all the presents!" Marguerite exclaimed as she entered the room, her face freshly made up and her hair perfectly styled. She sat next to Giselle on the couch, Selene coming to sit on the other side.

"Now can we open?" Albert asked his brother once more.

Will nodded. "Yes, but one at a time, please."

The children tore through the presents, shouting with glee each time they opened a new one—especially the ones that Giselle gave them. Once they were finished, Albert and Barbara took it upon themselves to pass out the presents to the adults.

Giselle ended up with a bottle of perfume from Selene and Frank, drawings from Barbara and Albert, and a mint green day dress from Marguerite, but Will's gift topped them all.

Albert had handed her a small, perfectly-wrapped box with a ribbon bow on it. "Who's this from?" she asked the group.

Will raised his hand briefly before turning to look out the window at the rising sun.

Giselle suppressed a smile as she looked back down at the present, slipping off the bow and ripping through the paper to reveal a leather-bound clamshell box.

She opened the box, her mouth parting in surprise as her eyes roamed over the dainty, diamond-studded silver wristwatch inside.

"Oh, it's so pretty," she cooed, drawing the watch out of the box to put it on. Marguerite helped her to fasten it. "Thank you," she told Will.

Will turned back to face her, the smallest of smiles on his lips. "You're welcome," he said. "I, uh, thought it would be comedic to get you a watch because—" his eyes darted to the children, who sat watching the exchange, "—well, you know."

Giselle nodded, smiling. "Yes, I definitely do know."

"Aunt Selene, may I use my paints?" Barbara asked, holding up a set of watercolors Selene had given her.