Noelle was nervous about a gift. She had always thought herself a decent gifted, always being thoughtful and practical for the most part. She preferred to be the giver rather than the receiver and it had been known in her family to always just ask her what she wanted specifically. It wasn't that she was materialistic, but she liked to choose gifts she needed rather than things she wanted. If it were up to her, she'd take groceries and household products so then she wouldn't have to worry about buying them all the time. When her family tried doing a secret Santa one year, everyone fought about selecting Noelle so when she chose herself she said nothing.

Watching Cole open the gift with her breath stuck in her throat, she worried she didn't know him well enough yet to give him a decent gift. However, when Jacob had seen the shop that made specialty snow globes, he'd jumped for joy and dragged his mom in. The shop was new and the manager said they were a 'pop-up' shop, only there for the day before they packed up and headed to the next town so if they found something they wanted, they better get on it quick.

The back of the shop had what Noelle could only think of as a buffet of items to set up your snow globe. You could choose many different types of snow or glitter, you could even choose to have the water a translucent color. She didn't want to get too complex and over complicate something that could be simple and special. She let Jacob take over in the scene he wanted to create and she immediately knew what he was going for with his base selection.

The base was green, had a few small pine trees and a small red barn in the background. It was a replica of a farm.

"Who is this globe going to be for?" Noelle asked, but she was 99.9% sure of the answer, she just wanted to make sure so she could help him out if he got stuck anywhere.

"I want one for Cole! See how this looks like the farm he lives at?!" The wonder and excitement in his face was contagious and Noelle felt just as much glee at the idea of giving Cole something personalized.

The next choice was to add people, animals, or characters. There were a few cartoons Jacob watched that she thought he might enjoy, but Jacob was sticking to a theme and chose a male figure that was wearing plaid. Noelle hadn't seen Cole wear much plaid, but when he did it was perfect on him. He rocked the Paul Bunyan look with ease. Jacob then grabbed two more figures and started moving to the next area before Noelle could see. When she caught up with him a small gasp left her. Jacob had chosen a small goat, probably because he loved goats, a figure of a small boy in winter gear and the last was of a woman with light brown hair. They were so similar to her and her son that she almost wanted to convince Jacob to choose something else. This was assuming too much about the future and she didn't want to put any type of pressure on Cole. However, Jacob was determined to keep it that way and she didn't want to bring his spirits down in anyway.

At the end of it all, Noelle and Jacob watched a lovely older woman make a snow globe for them. They tried to recommend adding a music box or lights to it, but Noelle thought it was quaint and cute. It was perfect, the three small figures and a farm scene around them. Jacob had expertly told the woman to place the man and the woman with the little boy in the middle of them and the older woman fawned over him and how thoughtful he was. The final product made Noelle hope Cole loved it because she looked at it and saw what she wanted in her future and that was him.

Now that they were here on Christmas Day, and plenty of life happened between them, Noelle was a bundle of nerves watching Cole stare at the opened box. Did he hate it? Was it too presumptuous? If he hated it, Noelle could only hope he didn't make a scene of how much he disliked it in front of Jacob. She wouldn't let anyone ruin his day, even the man who'd stolen their heart.

"Do you like it?" Jacob's question broke both Cole and Noelle out of their spell and when Cole's face looked up Noelle was instantly shocked at what she saw on Cole's face. Tears.

"I love it, little man," he choked out. Noelle worried for a moment that the tears weren't good news, but when Cole also let out a laughing sob before wiping his hand over his face and turning towards Noelle with with a gleaming smile, his eyes still watery. "This is the best gift I've ever received. Even better than the Nintendo I got as a kid," he joked, putting Noelle at ease even more. She thought he would like it, but the tears that glistened his face and the smile that brightened it all was more than she anticipated would happen.

"It's not too much?" Noelle asked in an almost whisper so Jacob, who had gone back to organizing his Christmas haul, wouldn't hear.

Noelle felt a hand cover hers before she felt the weight of the cough change. "It's never too much," Cole's soft whisper tickled her ear. His hand squeezed hers once before letting go and putting his attention back to Jacob. "So, did you get everything you wanted?" Cole's question to Jacob felt like a jest since they both knew one thing he didn't get and it was the one thing he asked Santa for. Noelle felt her cheeks heating up almost instantly.

"Uh huh," Jacob mumbled while focusing on the mountain of boxes he collected. His answer made a weight on Noelle's shoulders lift almost immediately. She was more than grateful to have him seemingly forget about his request for a father. Maybe he knew something like that wasn't what you get for Christmas. Either way she was grateful. Noelle and Cole glanced at one another and shared a knowing chuckle. It felt nice to have an inside joke with someone.

"Why don't you open your gifts now?" Cole's question to Noelle reminded her that the gifts she did get were set aside so she could focus on Jacob and what he got and also feeling the heat Cole left sitting next to her. Since Jacob seemed too occupied with his own pile she decided now was a good time to dig in herself.

She opened the cards first. A few were from her clients who gifted her with certificates and gift cards for her job well done. Most knew that she had a sweet tooth and got her gift cards to her favorite cafe and bakery. Her mother and father would give their gifts later in the evening before they had their Christmas dinner so the rest were from distant relatives as well as a macaroni bracelet Jacob made for her. One last box was left unopened and Noelle knew right away that it was what Cole placed under the tree when he arrived.

The box was medium sized and sounded like it had more than one item. One of them definitely sounded fragile and she made sure to place the box gently next to her so she could open it carefully. The wrapping on the box was delicate and the ribbon around it was silky and intricate. Noelle didn't know why she was nervous about opening a gift. Perhaps it was the gentleman next to her who was watching her like a hawk, looking almost as giddy as Jacob was when he was opening his gifts.

"Are you going to open it sometime today?" Cole's joke got the attention of Jacob who looked up to his mother with his head titled and joined in.

"Yeah mom, you gotta open it now!"

The pressure was enough for her to pull at the ribbon as she held her breath.