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"Does my knuckle-head want her birthday present now?" wondered Adam.

"I told you, I don't want to celebrate my birthday."

"You never told me any such thing," chuckled Adam. "If you didn't want a birthday gift, you should have spoken up sooner!" Adam reached behind his back for the item he had secretly carried with him to the rooftop. "I bought this for you over two months ago, intending it for your eighteenth birthday! So, happy birthday!" Beneath the sleeping bag, Adam thrust a wide, slim box into Charlie's hands.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

"Open it, and find out," he smiled.

Intrigued, Charlie extracted her arms from the cozy sleeping bag to get a better look. It was then that she realized the box was actually a velvet covered case. With trembling hands, she lifted its lid. "Oh, Adam!" she cried in surprise. Inside was a beautiful jeweled necklace that sparkled in the moonlight like a hundred brightly shining stars. Except these were diamonds.

"That's eighteen carats worth of precious stones," Adam informed her. "I had it specially made, so I can't take it back. I'm afraid you're stuck with it, Charlie-girl."

"Adam," Charlie at last found her voice, "have you completely lost your mind? How much did this cost?"

"That's a fine thank you!" he laughed. "Hasn't anyone ever told you it's not polite to ask how much someone spent on your present?"

"I'm trying to be serious!" she gasped in amazement.

"I know you are," he answered. "That's why I'm not."

"But..."

"Put on the necklace," he coaxed. "Let's see how it looks with your nightgown. I suppose diamonds will go with just about anything, but let's decide to humor me for a moment and find out."

"You really shouldn't have," Charlie finished her sentence.

"Of course I should," Adam smiled, reaching out and lovingly caressing her face with his fingertips. "If not for my wife, then for who else? I'm certainly not going to wear that thing!"

"Adam!" she laughed.

"Hurry up and put it on!" he urged, his voice finally betraying the excitement he had been holding back all along. "I want to see how it looks on you!"

Charlie's hands were still trembling as she carefully lifted the sparking necklace from the velvet case.

"Do you want me to do it?" offered Adam, after she had fumbled with the delicate clasp long enough. "I know there's not very much light out here to see by."

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