The Eleventh Present

Thomas Clayborn, formerly Aldermen, sat on the old antique couch in the upstairs library of his grandmother's mansion, head cupped into his hands sobbing the biggest tears you'd ever seen. Today was his 9th birthday, which was a big deal to him being that nine was his favorite number, but it meant nothing without him there. You see Thomas was adopted at the age of 5 from a terribly abusive orphanage, and from the moment he knew them James and Amelia Clayborn were not only his saviors they were best parents a kid could ask for. Until last year when James had run off to Kentucky after divorcing Amelia, a month later, the day before little Thomas's birthday he wedded a horrible woman named Berlinda Reed.
It stung knowing the man he'd come to know and respect as his father, had abandoned him, just like the father he barely knew before.
"What is wrong with me, what have I done?" he choked on his tears with the bitter thought this man might never come back and he may never see him again. The pain panged in his heart, it burned, in a way he felt his heart was actually cracking in two. And the fact that he didn't call, and he wasn't here, made it all the worse.
Steps slowly tapped up the blue carpeted box stairway, it was his Grandmother, Alice Clayborn, possibly the kindest most generous soul ever to walk the planet. The one thing he truly loved about her above all else, was that when you're sad no matter what she said didn't matter, it was like being in the presence of an angel. No matter the level of sadness, an angel, especially the kind like her, could lift a saddened heart.
He looked up, with tearstained cheeks a reddened nose to Alice standing in the doorway, even through the blur of the tears he couldn't miss that massive perfectly woven basketball of hair on her head. She knelt down in front of him on the floor, that ridiculous green carpeted floor, and put a hand on his knee.
"Don't you want come down and open your presents Thomas?" she smiled as sympathetically as she could but Thomas just burrowed back into his hands and began weeping again. There would be no presents from Mr. Clayborn, not this year, not ever again, and being a lawyer, he knew the best sorts of presents to surprise him with.
"It's just not the same without Dad." he sniffed unsuccessfully. Alice took his hand and led him to stand up and gave him an embracing hug, she always gave the best hugs, but if he hadn't been stuffed up from the tears that perfume might have made him sneeze. He nodded and they walked down the stairs all the while he couldn't manage to think of anything but what his father might be doing right now, maybe riding a horse, or working on some exciting case involving the Kentucky Derby, he always said he wanted to go to one. As they walked into the dining room where the giant cake in the shape of a horse with chocolate icing and hopefully chocolate underneath sat on the table next to a stack of nine perfectly wrapped and stacked presents. Correction 10, there was a giant box on the floor next to the table he just so happened to miss, it looked like another table to him. Even a present that big didn't make him smile and of course the horse cake made him tear up a little, but for his grandmother he would do his best to enjoy what he could.
His mother, Amelia, stood in the kitchen, phone pressed tightly against her ear the other hand rested on the counter tapping. She only did that when she was upset, which really was not often. Thomas wondered what could be wrong, maybe she was missing his father as much as he was, it had to be a bad day for her too. You could tell when she had been crying because her eyes always shined emerald green, far brighter than they normally were. It upset him even more to see that his mother was hurting too, we all know that you never mess with a boys mother.
After a few moments everyone settled down and gathered around the table, Amelia stood over the cake lighting the candles, Alice stood in front taking pictures. Everyone else sat at the table looking jovial as ever, Grandfather Cecil at the head of the table, then uncle Heath and aunt Linda, his two cousins Jane, who was his age, and Meranda who was only a baby. Last but not least his favorite great aunt and uncle Paul and Paula, and of course the dreaded great grandmother Laura a.k.a Grandmommy.
Everything set up perfectly, but nothing felt right in the least. Finally the candles agreed to stay lit and it was time to sing the "happy birthday song" which always sounded terrible but made Thomas smile anyways. His mother stood behind him with her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and swaying him back and forth as everyone sang.
"Happy birthday too you, happy birthday too you, happy birthday dear Tommy" they held their lack of tone for a moment, "happy birthday to you!" Everyone looked at him urging to blow out the candles and make a wish, normally the wish part turned out to take a moment of thought, but he knew already what to wish for. In fact he'd known all day, and the day before that too.
The boy leaned over to the cake looking down at the horse in flames, and blew as hard as he could. He closed his tight for a moment and the tears slipped again and he cried out "I wish Dad would come home!" The room grew silent, what could anyone possibly say to make him feel better. His mother hugged him tightly.
"I'm so sorry honey, I miss him too." There was a quiver in her voice. She hand him the first present, and smiled sweetly, the purest look he had ever seen.
Just for her he made a show of opening the presents, tearing into the wrapping as if there was gold underneath and he was a pirate. The first present, a jacket, to most kids that's one of those annoying clothing gifts but when you come from a place where you were lucky to have a shirt, it's always good to see an extra jacket. He grabbed the next one and tore into it as well, a camera, he requested from his grandmother to capture all the moments. He wondered if he could find any now.
The process repeated over and over till he'd shredded through all the ten presents taking pictures and smiling as much as he could manage. In case anyone was curious, the giant present was a bike, a black and white Mongoose. Even in his sadness this excited him just a little bit.
Suddenly the door bell rang, echoing its eerie song through out the house, Joker the fat pug ran to the door barking so hard his feet lifted from the ground when he let one out standing still. Everyone paused to look at each other, except for Thomas who was playing with his new R.C Viper paying no attention to anything or anyone else.
Alice hurried to the door and flung it open before whoever it was ran off, probably the girl scouts. But to her surprise it, it was James, he stood tall and a pair of new jeans and a purple polo button up shirt, hair fluffed up but messy as always.
No one saw him come to the hall way or even put down the car, somehow he knew something needed his attention, and he was right. He stopped in the hallway staring at his father tears began to fall from his face once more, he shared a long stare with his father and ran. Jumping into his arms at such a speed you'd have thought he was a young superman! His wish was answered, and his day was complete. Berlinda stood behind him but no one cared, not even Thomas, his being there was enough.
However there was more present to be had, his father always did find the best presents. James led the boy outside to see not only a moving truck, but a strange sort of trailer he hadn't seen before. The family all gather around the trailer and the man led out a young white horse, his Eleventh present, and the most special. Everyone smiled and laughed.
"Oh cool, a horse! What's his name?" he asked excitedly. His father looked back at him and laughed, "His name is whatever you want it be birthday boy. I'm sorry I was late son."
"Moon beam, that's his name. And it's okay, but you're staying right." The question held Thomas's excitement at bay. The boy did not realize the "Uhaul" meant he would be moving back.
"Yes, we're staying, we'll only be an hour away from now and you can see me and Moonbeam whenever you want to okay?"
"Okay" He smiled not knowing what else to say.
The family stood around the horse and the moving trailer talking and laughing. Everyone was happy, albeit Amelia wasn't terribly thrilled to see James but none the less she was pleased to see her son reunited with his father and to see him smile for a change.
Thomas thought to himself later that night about all the moments he could capture now the he had a horse, he'd always secretly wanted one and knew he would love it. For the first time in a long time he went to bed with his wish granted and his life complete again. The family that took him in was whole again, it was broken, but the pieces were there. He couldn't ask for more.