The day had finally arrived. Colton was ten and there was nothing anyone could do about it. All afternoon he sat with his nose pressed up against the screen. His father was late as usual. Colton thought it might be the one day he made and effort to get the deliveries done quickly and turn up at home, on the hour, as promised.
There were so many things to do, but he was stuck with his sweating palms against his knees. Sitting there his neck turned into a solid mass and he wondered if he would be able to turn his head when his father walked up the sidewalk. His stomach gurgled when he smelled the stew from the crock pot.
Just when he had given up, the growing speck down the street turned into the van. Jack didn't even try to hurry. He could see his father collecting his thermos from the seat and jingling the keys before slipping them into his jacket. I never want to get old and slow, he thought to himself.
Colton's white limbs sprung from the foot stool and raced to the door. He stood there a whole twenty seconds while his father smacked his boots against the door mat. He thought he might burst out in a feverous rage if he didn't die on the spot. One moment more and it would have been over.
"Hi there, little one." His father tousled his thick blonde curls.
Colton bristled at the idea that he was still a child. A child would never be trusted with a pearl handled Case knife. He stared at the bulging pockets wondering where it might be hidden and if he was going to have to wait until supper was finished to finally get his birthday present, not that he wasn't starving.
He gulped down the huge chucks of roast beef and nearly choked on the potatoes that weren't quite as done as they should be. His mother fussed the entire meal because he refused to wait until it was fully cooked.
Colton sat with his back flat against the high back chair while they sang to him. He was nearly crying when they finished.
"Come here son." Jack led his boy to the side of the van. When he opened the sliding door a gleaming red bike was pulled from the back.
Colton couldn't understand how they had managed to come up with such an expensive gift. He knew things were tight. It was truly a miraculous sight. Then it dawned on him that it was never going to happen . The family could never afford the pocket knife as well as the extravagant gift. He swallowed hard. The tears were real streaming down his cheeks.
That night the bike was put away safely into the garage. His mother followed him to his room. He could smell her freshly washed face when she kissed him goodnight.
"I'm so proud of you." She whispered.
Somehow he knew what she meant. It was the first time all day he felt genuinely happy. He really was grown up. He saw how his parents smiled when he gave them flowers from the alley or paper cards, it wasn't the gift that mattered, but how they felt about each other and besides, he told himself, Christmas was only three months away.
