191 Gifts

Leon nodded. “Joyce’s father made a reservation at a restaurant and asked the driver to take us back to S City to eat there. I only came back after eating.”

The two of them and Fanny started decorating the Christmas tree and living room. A hint of anticipation gradually appeared on Leon’s face. When it ended at 11 o’clock, the entire house was filled with a Christmas atmosphere.

Vivian looked at the tired expression on Leon’s face and hurriedly urged him to take a shower and go to bed.

After waiting for Leon to go upstairs, Vivian placed the gifts she had prepared under the Christmas tree.

The next morning, Fanny went to the supermarket to buy ingredients for the evening. Leon got up early and went downstairs with two gift boxes. He saw about 20 gifts of different sizes under the tree.

Leon knelt on the ground and looked at the pile of gifts. He found almost all of them had his name on them. His eyes lit up instantly. There were two gifts with Vivian and Fanny’s names on them. He also placed his gifts by their names.

When Leon was young, he believed in Santa Claus like other children. Every year, he would look forward to him riding a reindeer to give him a Christmas present. Although he had never received a Christmas present since he could remember, he still looked forward to it.

There was a year when Christmas Eve was especially cold, and Simon didn’t return home for a few days. Leon took out the dead branches he had slowly accumulated on a daily basis. He had not been willing to use these firewoods before because he wanted to burn them on Christmas Eve.

Leon felt that if the house was warmer, it might be easier to attract Santa Claus into his house, and he would be more willing to fulfill his wishes.

Before going to bed, Leon used a basin to start a fire. Before going to bed, he made his wish with anticipation and sincerity, hoping that he would have a good father when he woke up and that his mother who had left would be willing to return home.

However, when he woke up the next day, all that awaited him was an extinguished fire and Simon, who had returned home to vent his anger after losing money from gambling.

From then on, Leon no longer believed in Santa Claus and no longer looked forward to Christmas.

But this year was different. Leon was filled with anticipation. This time, he was going to be Santa Claus.

When Vivian got up, Fanny had already bought the ingredients and was marinating the turkey.

When Vivian arrived in the living room, she saw a few gifts under the tree. She smiled and asked Fanny to open the gifts with her.

Vivian saw that Leon was sitting on the sofa and staring at the Christmas tree in a daze. She went up and patted his head. “Hurry up and open your present. See if you like it.”

Leon followed Vivian to the tree and found fifteen gifts with his name on them. fourteen of them were from Vivian, and the last one was from Fanny.

Leon looked at the fourteen gifts in front of him and made a guess.

Vivian looked at the dazed Leon and explained, “The remaining thirteen were made by Mom. It was a little late, but I promise that I’ll get Christmas presents on time every year.”

Leon looked up at Vivian. In a daze, he felt that half of his Christmas wish had come true. As for the other half, he didn’t want it to come true at all.

No matter how much damage Simon had caused to the mother and son, Leon didn’t want to and wasn’t willing to forgive him. He only hoped that Simon would continue to live in pain and receive punishment in Hai City.

Inside the small box was a scarf that Vivian had knitted herself. The rest of the gifts were mostly handmade by her or things Leon had been fascinated with recently, such as Go, books, and his favorite boxer’s autographed gloves.

In the evening, they had the classic roast turkey, fig pudding, boiled cabbage, roasted potatoes, bacon ham sausage, and chocolate cake as dessert. This was the first time in Leon’s life that he had celebrated such a formal Christmas.

After the Christmas dinner, there was one less thing that Leon was regretful and looking forward to. The wound caused by the knife called “childhood” in his chest was now slowly healing.