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Noah knew he needed some help. He had just finished counting the money he had been storing away since last Christmas, and he finally had enough to buy what he wanted. Honestly, it was burning a hole in his pocket just waiting to be spent on something magnificent. The thing was, unlike most ten, now eleven-year-olds, the magnificent thing he wanted to buy wasn’t for him. It was for his mom, who in his mind was extraordinarily magnificent just like the gift he wanted to get her this Christmas.
It was the first Christmas where he actually had enough money to buy her something really good and special. The thing was, who could he ask to help him pick out such a gift? Martha would help, he knew. She was nice like that. Martha was good, grandmotherly almost, but she wasn’t as fun and whimsical as Lucy had been. He missed Lucy sometimes.
He tapped his pencil on his leg, remembering he would have to send her a Christmas card this year. He could ask her, but she was too far away now in California and would have her own little boy to look after very soon. Maybe he would have a little money left over to send her baby—what was his name again? — a little Christmas gift. Ah, Sawyer Malachi. He would need to get a gift for Martha too as a thank you for hauling him around all the time and picking him up from school and dance.
Maybe he could ask Mom for a little help with those because he wanted to make sure they knew he appreciated them, but he wanted all this money to go into buying Mom’s gift, but who could he ask to take him? He drummed his pencil on his leg, Elliot. Elliot would be the perfect person to help him with his surprise gift for Mom. Elliot would know exactly what Mom would like and would definitely keep his secret.
Wait, would Elliot need a gift too? Was that something he should do? Elliot was around a lot more now, and they even spent time over at his apartment. Hmm, is this what adults deal with, buying Christmas presents for everyone they know? Surely, he wouldn’t be expected to get a gift for all of the Stablers! That was a lot of people, and he couldn’t ask Mom for that much money. Maybe they did one of those drawing-out-of-a-hat things to make it easier and cheaper. Maybe he could get something special for Grandma B too.
“Focus Noah,” he chided. It was Mom’s gift he wanted to focus on right now because it was something extra special that would probably take a little longer to get. He had an idea in mind, but after his research, he was pretty sure it was something that would have to be specially made, and being only eleven, he wasn’t really sure where to go to get such a gift. He definitely needed some help, and Elliot would probably know where to go.
Noah had been with him plenty of times now to the jewelry store, even though he really wasn’t sure why, but he had an idea. He was starting to realize that maybe this Christmas would be special in more ways than one because he was sure the last time they were at the jewelry store, the guy behind the counter had whispered something about the ring . Noah shook his head and cleared his thoughts remembering what he actually needed to do while Elliot was at the apartment. He picked his phone up, and texted him quickly before he could forget again.
Noah: Can you help me with something please?
Elliot: Absolutely! You in your room?
Noah: Yeah, it’s a surprise though.
Elliot: Okay, give me a few minutes. Your Mom and I are folding laundry.
Noah: Socks too?
Elliot: Unfortunately, be there in a bit.
Noah chuckled at the exchange knowing he and Elliot shared a strong dislike of matching socks; they both had agreed it was a tedious task they avoided as much as possible. It was one of the weird things they had bonded over in the last year.
It was a few minutes later when he heard a sharp knock on his bedroom door with Elliot’s muffled voice on the other side. “Laundry service!”
Noah laughed as he moved to the door to open it. “Come in! Mom?”
“In her room folding the towels,” Elliot stepped in, and Noah quickly shut the door behind him and took the laundry basket that was offered to him. Noah saw Elliot glance behind him at the stack of money on his bed. “Woah, kid. You rob a bank?”
“Haha, no,” Noah dropped the basket off in front of his closet, “that’s what I need your help with.”
“Robbing a bank?” Noah turned to see Elliot’s bemused expression as he sat down on the edge of the bed. “When I said I would do anything for you…” Elliot smirked, “you look like your mom when you give me that look.”
“Get that often, do you?” Noah snarked back knowing Elliot found their back-and-forth banter amusing.
Elliot’s eyebrow shot up. “Oh, it’s a good thing I love you, kid.”
Noah grinned. “Oh, I know.” He really did like Elliot. He made Mom extremely happy, and he always made sure he made time for Noah. Sometimes all he had time for was a quick Good Morning and Goodnight when the cases were tough, but he always did it without fail. And when he had more time, he would also help him with his homework and take him for ice cream and just spend genuine time with him. Sometimes he would take him, Kieran, and Seamus out to the park to ride bikes or to Knicks games when he could get tickets. Noah’s favorite though was when Elliot was just there; he never had to ask because Elliot would just show up. Sort of like he did as soon as he texted him, and that was awesome.
“So, what’s the surprise you need help with?”
Noah picked his iPad up off his bed and found the sketch he had stored away there, he handed the iPad to Elliot. “This. I want to get Mom this for Christmas.” Noah looked at Elliot’s face, trying to gauge his reaction, but Elliot was quiet. Almost too quiet, and then Noah remembered that he wasn’t the best artist, and Elliot was probably confused with what he was looking at. “Sorry, I’m not the best at drawing. It’s supposed to be an infinity sign and those are the jewels.” He points out each piece of his digital sketch. “Aunt Amanda told me about this necklace Mom used to wear and how much it meant to her.”
Elliot nodded and spoke so quietly Noah almost didn’t hear him. “Fearlessness.”
“I noticed she doesn’t wear necklaces as much anymore, and I thought that maybe,” he took a small breath, “maybe it’s because she doesn’t have one that means as much to her anymore, so I wanted to fix that. I wanted to get her one that told our story.”
“Noah,” Elliot looked at the drawing intently, and Noah figured he was trying to imagine the drawing as an actual necklace and not his childlike sketch, “this will be beautiful and absolutely perfect.”
Noah let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding as Elliot approved of his idea. “Thanks.”
Elliot traced the infinity symbol and then pointed out the color of the stones he recognized “Amethyst on the left for her birthday and turquoise on the right for yours.” Noah nodded as Elliot pointed out the two colors, and then Elliot pointed to the one jewel where the infinity symbol intersected. “Snd emerald—”
Elliot took a breath, and Noah filled in for him. “Emerald for the month she adopted me. She found me in May and adopted me in May; it’s kind of our lucky month.” He pointed out the last feature of the necklace. “And the word love at the bottom to complete the loop.”
“You’re a great kid, Noah.” Elliot turned to look at him, and Noah saw the tears pooling in his eyes. “She’ll love this.”
“I just want to get her something meaningful and pretty because she’s special.” He wiped a tear from his eyes. “She’s the best Mom I could have ever asked for, and she deserves a special gift.”
“Well, this is definitely it Noah.” Elliot wrapped his arms around Noah’s shoulders and gave him a tight squeeze.
“Can you help me with finding where to buy it?” Noah relaxed into the arm Elliot still had around his shoulder. “I have my money. I’ve been saving since last Christmas; I know it will be expensive, but I think I have enough.” He checked the corner of his notebook where he had written down the total. “I hope I have enough.”
Elliot smiled at him. “Can you send that sketch to me?”
No nodded and tapped a few things on his iPad and waited until he heard the ding on Elliot’s phone. “Promise to keep it a secret?”
“I promise.” Elliot smiled and both of them jumped as they heard a quick knock on the bedroom door. They both scrambled to hide the design on the screen and cover the stack of money.
“Come in!”
“I was beginning to think you got lost.” Olivia smiled and stopped to stare at them. Noah tried to keep the look on his face neutral, not wanting to let his mom know what they had been talking about. He shifted his weight under her gaze. “What are you two up to?”
Noah quickly glanced at Elliot, and Elliot glanced at him before they both turned back to look at her. “Nothing.”
Noah watched as Mom raised her eyebrow, clearly not believing them, and he was trying to think of a quick cover before Elliot took over. “We were just discussing what we were going to do for Noah and Elliot day on Saturday since you have that late meeting. We thought we might go ice skating and do some Christmas shopping.”
“Yeah,” Noah looked up at his mom, “can we mom? Please!”
“Of course.” Noah could tell she was still suspicious, but she had decided to drop it for now. She turned to look at Elliot. “Will you help him pick out something for Martha, and help him pick out something for his Secret Santa at Dance?”
“Sure.” Elliot turned and winked at Noah.
“Can I get something for Lucy’s baby too?” His plan was working out better than he thought. “And something for Grandma B?”
Mom laughed. “Of course. I’m glad you thought of Lucy and little Sawyer. We need to ship it out soon, so it will be on time for her baby shower.”
“You have a thoughtful kid, Liv.”
Mom beamed. “Oh, I know I do.” She walked over and kissed the top of Noah’s head. “I’m the luckiest.” She turned and walked back toward the door. “Finish up whatever you two are up to and we’ll order pizza and watch a movie.”
“Okay,” Elliot and Noah chorused together, finally letting out a sigh of relief as Olivia closed the door behind her.
Elliot got up from the bed. “I’ll make a call to the jeweler friend I have, and we’ll go look on Saturday, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Put your money away, and I’ll go order our pizza and pick a good Christmas movie.” Elliot opened the door.
“Hey Elliot,” Noah waited for him to turn around, “thank you.”
Elliot smiled. “Anytime kid.” He took one step out the door and then turned back around. “You know, I’m pretty lucky too.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because,” he grinned as his eyes lit up, looking over at Noah with what he understood to be pure love, “I get to love both of the Bensons.”
Noah stopped and looked up to reply, but Elliot had already left his bedroom and closed the door behind him. Noah knew this Christmas would definitely be more special than the last because his family was growing and no matter how many Christmas gifts he had to buy, he was okay with it because that meant more people to love and Christmas was all about love. He flipped his iPad over and looked at the design of the necklace, thinking about how excited he was to see his design come to life. A design that told the story of an infinite love that he could only explain as his mother’s. This Christmas would be absolutely magnificent.