It was a Christmas gift worth waiting for.

This month, a mother and her son from Maryland were surprised to find a winning lottery ticket that had been misplaced during the holiday season.

The son, who remains unnamed, was helping his mother move furniture when he stumbled upon several Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets. These tickets were originally bought by the mother as small gifts for her adult children.

“I said, ‘Hey mom, I’ve got some scratch-offs here. Can I scratch them,’” he told the Maryland Lottery.

Of course, she agreed, but there was one condition: if any ticket turned out to be a winner, they would split the prize.

The son took the tickets home and later scratched them off with his wife.

Out of the five tickets, most were duds, but three had small wins — $6, $15, and a $5 Holiday Luck Doubler. 

But once the family inspected the rules of the game closer, they learned they’d won a lot more.

The Holiday Luck Doubler costs $5 with 15 chances to win, per the lottery. In the end, the ticket was worth a whopping $50,000.

“Did that really just happen?” the wife remembered thinking in disbelief.

At first, they thought it might be a prank, so the son quickly called his mom to ask if it was a joke.

But it was no joke. The prize was confirmed when they visited Lottery headquarters to collect the winnings.

Wanting to stay anonymous, they decided to name their team, “We’ll Split It” in honor of the mom’s insistence that they divide any winnings evenly.

With half of the $50,000 in hand, the son has big plans: he’s putting the money toward saving for a house and paying off some debts… to his mom.

“So, she’ll actually end up getting more,” he laughed. 

However, mom does plan to share her winnings with her other children, spreading belated Christmas cheer all around.

The winning ticket, sold at Walther Liquors in Nottingham, entitled the lucky pair to a prize. Additionally, the retailer in Baltimore County will receive a $500 bonus for selling a winning ticket.

The family’s story is a friendly reminder to everyone who purchased a Holiday Luck Doubler ticket last year: the game’s last claim date is Nov. 3.