Nag. Nag. Nag. That’s all he had heard from his wife since Thanksgiving.

Put the dogs in the garage.

Don’t eat the pie, it’s for dessert.

At one point all her phrases began with Do this or Don’t do that.

He was sick of it… he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take the abusive commands. Ok, so maybe they weren’t abusive, but they were annoying. He hadn’t had a moment to himself since his birthday, well except for being on the toilet and being in the shower, though she had started to invade his shower time by yapping away as she put on her make up and got ready for her day.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like helping her out… he loved her, that was one of the main reasons he married her. But sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder ‘what about me?’ Especially at Christmas time when he had given up so much of his free time to help her with the chaotic holiday season and the one thing he wanted the most wasn’t under the tree. He had checked. Every present labeled with his name was either too light or too heavy to be the Blu-ray player that was at the top of his list.

Maybe she was hiding it as a gift from Santa, he reasoned. But on Christmas morning when it wasn’t waiting for him under the tree, he couldn’t help but be disappointed. He tried to hide it, of course, there was no reason to spoil their first Christmas as a married couple because he was, self admittingly, acting like a little kid.

Since she wanted to extend the present opening festivities for as long as possible, the two of them took turns opening their gifts from each other. The smile on her face when she saw the diamond heart necklace and the latest book from the corny written-for-teenage-girls series she loved so much almost made him forget his disappointment about not getting what he really wanted for Christmas.

Then there were two final presents under the tree, both with his name on them. One was a small box and the other was large box. Deciding to go with the age old saying that the best gifts come in small packages, he picked up the smaller box and tore off the gold paper. He took off the lid of what looked like a box from a jewelry store and nestled on the white cotton batting was a small Christmas baby sock.

His eyes flicked from the sock, to her face then back to the sock. It took a couple seconds before it all registered in his mind. She was pregnant. He was going to be a dad. His missing Christmas joy surged through his body as he forgot all about that stupid Blu-ray player. He kissed her on the mouth then dried her tears with his thumb. This time next year they would be celebrating their baby’s first Christmas.

After several happy, tearful moments, she handed him his last present and he removed the paper with less gusto than he had before since his materialistic Christmas wish had been surpassed by a bigger lifetime wish. Folding back the sides of the box, he saw it. Nestled amongst miscellaneous odds and ends, added to obviously to throw him off about what was inside, was another box that held his formally drooled after Blu-ray player.

A pinch of excitement filled his body as he stared down at the box. It was the deluxe model, the box advertised, and would play anything his heart contented. Yet, he knew it couldn’t play everything his heart contented. He set the box aside and picked up the little Christmas sock, it looked so tiny against the palm of his hand.

He felt her snuggle up against his side and wrapped his arm around her. His every wish had been granted.

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