Page 116 of Make Me Want it Too

“She’s trained as a diabetes alert dog. Her name is Piper, but we can change that if you want.”

Piper’s head is in Macy’s lap, tongue out as Macy is now rubbing her belly, tail thwacking hard on the floor.

“No, I love the name Piper,” Macy says, cooing at her.

“She can smell when your blood sugar is too low or too high, or if it starts changing too rapidly. She’ll alert us in the middle of the night. And I’ll be able to be home with her all the time, when you’re at work, so she won’t be lonely. And I’ll take her out for early morning walks and?—”

“Wood.” Macy stops me, the Christmas lights reflecting in her eyes, beaming with a heart-stopping smile. “This is the best present I’ve ever gotten. Thank you.”

She squeezes my hand and looks at me with shimmering eyes.

Everyone else is up and bustling around us. I can hear my mom in the kitchen putting something in the oven. Someone else opens the fridge. My dad comments it looks like it might snow—he’s probably looking out the window with a refilled glass.

All I can see is Macy. And I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing as long as it’s with her.

“This is already the best Christmas. The best—everything,” Macy continues. “Our friends, your family welcoming me in, these last four months with you—I’ve never been happier. I didn’t even know it was possible to be this happy.”

I smile and I can already see our future in her eyes. Our life together, only getting better. Doing everything I can to make sure she’s happy, because her happiness is my happiness.

I don’t care about the presents under the tree (shout out, Mariah Carey!) because none of them compare to the gift that is Macy.

I touch her cheek. “You deserve all of this and more.” I’ll never stop giving her more. She is the center of my world.

Macy leans over to give me a kiss but Piper butts her head between us and licks Macy’s ear instead. “I love her so much,” Macy says, laughing. “And I love you.”