The_1st Christmas Present

It was Christmas Eve and last chance to shop. Already fed up with the crowds and long lines, I was out of ideas of what to get my wife. We had been together for 29 years and I felt like we had shared every moment, every experience, and every memory there was to be shared. Already fed up with the crowds and long lines, I was out of ideas of what to get my wife. We had been together for 29 years and I felt like we had shared every moment, every experience, and every memory there was to be shared.<br><br>As I stood at the last counter in the jewelry store, waiting for them to gift wrap the diamond necklace I had chosen for her, I noticed a small wooden box on the last shelf of the corner display near the cash registers. It was intricately carved with leaves and flowers, and it seemed out of place among the elegant gold and silver chains and glittering gemstones that filled the rest of the store.<br><br>"What's that?" I asked the saleswoman as she handed me the wrapped jewelry. I pointed to the box on the corner shelf.<br><br>"You mean the music box?" she replied. "It's been there for as long as I can remember. No one's ever bought it, and we've stopped even trying to sell it."<br><br>"Why?"<br><br>"I guess it's just not very pretty," she said.<br><br>"I'll take it," I said.<br><br>"You mean, you want to buy it?"<br><br>"Yes, I want to buy it."<br><br>"Okay," she said. She got the box down and opened it. "It plays a song," she said, demonstrating.<br><br>"How much?"<br><br>"10 bucks."<br><br>I gave her a 10-dollar bill and took the box.<br><br>As I pulled into the driveway, my wife was already in the doorway, as was her habit, waiting to greet me when I came home. I got out of the car and held the box out to her.<br><br>"Merry Christmas," I said.<br><br>"What is it?" she asked as she took the box from me.<br><br>As soon as she touched the box, it opened, and Jingle Bells played.<br><br>"What is it?" she asked again.<br><br>"It's the first present I ever gave you."<br><br>"What do you mean?"<br><br>"I mean, I gave it to you when we were kids, in the first grade. You sat across from me at our desks, and when I gave it to you, you gave me a pencil with all your numbers on it."<br><br>"Why didn't I ever see it before?"<br><br>"I don't know," I said. "But I think it's been with us the whole time."<br><br>"You mean, like magic?"<br><br>"Yeah," I said. "I think it's magic."<br><br>She smiled and put the box in her pocket. "So, what's for supper?" she asked.<br><br>"Whatever you want."<br><br>"I want pancakes."<br><br>"Okay," I said. "I'll start mixing the batter."<br><br>"You were always so good at making pancakes," she said.<br><br>"I always loved making them for you," I said.<br><br>"You always loved me," she said.<br><br>"Forever," I said.