Except for a wreath on the front door, the Lake Wales house was absent of typical holiday decorations.
But Jamie Bain's Christmas didn't need a tree or gift-wrapped presents or lights.
It had relatives he had never met, born during the 35 years Bain had been in prison for a rape he did not commit.
It had windows instead of bars, street clothes instead of prison garb.
Most of all, it had his mother, twin sister and others who believed, as he did, that one day he would be free.
That day came on Dec. 17, after genetic evidence showed he was innocent of the 1974 rape of a 9-year-old boy.
Today, he spent his first Christmas in 35 years as a free man at a relative's house.
"This is something for me to remember for the rest of my life, this moment, this time," said the 54-year-old who was convicted at the age of 19. "This is something I've always dreamed of because I always feel I'll probably never get to this point. Never."
His prospects changed earlier this month, when the Innocence Project of Florida moved to have him freed based on new tests that showed Bain's DNA did not match any samples of the victim's underwear.
"I know God never let me down, even after all that time," he said.
And he knows that the greatest Christmas present is the fact that he and his family can be together.
It doesn't need a bow. But its message is summed up by a simple proclamation, 35 years in coming: "I'm here."
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