Chapter 10 - The First Real Christmas
Two hours later, a soft knock sounded at the parlor double doors.
Maria, the estate's head housekeeper who had worked for our family for twenty-five years, walked in carrying a large silver tray. Maria had red eyes from crying tears of joy; she had loved Lorenzo like a son and had spent years quietly sneaking treats to Renata when my mother wasn't looking.
On the tray were two steaming mugs of hot cocoa topped with towering mountains of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles, alongside a platter of freshly baked gingerbread cookies.
"Mr. Mauricio," Maria smiled warmly. "There are some boxes in the private library that were delivered yesterday afternoon. From your private office in New York. Would you like me to bring them in?"
"Yes, Maria, please," I replied.
A minute later, Maria and two junior footmen carried in twelve large, beautifully wrapped presents in emerald green and gold foil—the presents I had purchased for Renata weeks ago, which Carmen had forbidden me from placing beneath the family tree earlier that morning.
Renata gasped, her hands covering her mouth in pure, unadulterated shock. "Are those... are those for me?"
"Every single one of them, sweetheart," I said, laughing as I stood up.
She ran to the tree, her laughter ringing like music through the grand hall that had been silent for so many years. She tore through the green paper, revealing art sets with hundreds of colored pencils, professional sketchbooks, an antique Victorian dollhouse, a telescope for stargazing, and miniature building blocks.
She sat on the rug, surrounded by colored paper, her face glowing in the warm amber light of the Christmas tree.
I picked up the drawing she had made days earlier—the one where she had drawn herself standing far away from the family. I took a gold fountain pen from my pocket and sat down beside her.
"Renata, look," I said gently.
On the paper, I drew a heart around her figure, connecting her hand directly into mine. Above it, I wrote: The DeLuca Family: Mauricio and Renata.
May you like
She looked at the drawing, giggled, and picked up a bright yellow marker, drawing a giant smiling sun directly over our heads.
Outside the panoramic windows of the estate, fresh white snow began to fall quietly over the rolling hills of the estate, blanketing the dark earth in a pure, clean layer of peace. Inside, beside the roaring fire, our real family had finally begun.
