Page 33 of Holiday Loss

Scrambling under the tree, the little boy came back out with two wrapped packages in his hand. “We made these at school with our art teacher,” he explained. “I always make something for my mom, but this year I made this for you, Donovan.”

His heart swelled in his chest, and he couldn’t wait to see what the boy had made for him, but Jessica went first. Always. “Mom, first,” he said.

Carefully unwrapping the paper to reveal a glass jar decorated with hearts made out of little fingerprints, with a candle inside, Jessica beamed at her son and grabbed hold of him, pulling him into her arms and showering his face with kisses making him giggle and squiggle. “Thank you, baby boy, it’s the most beautiful candle holder ever.”

“I did the hearts all in red because that’s your favorite color,” Freddie told her.

“You know me well, my boy.”

“Open your present now, Donovan,” Freddie ordered.

When he took the gift it was heavier than he’d been expecting, andalready from the shape of it he could figure out what it was, but he didn't say anything until he opened it. When he’d removed the paper, he saw that Freddie had painted pictures all around the handle of the hammer, and he beamed at the boy, loving the gift. “Thanks, Freddie boy, I love it.”

“My mom’s not so good at fixing stuff when it breaks,” Freddie informed him. “But now you can help us fix stuff.”

He absolutely would.

Not because Jessica needed him to fix her life for her, she’d been doing just fine on her own, working hard, and raising an amazing kid, but because he wanted to be there with her, sharing in the ups and downs of life.

“Christmas hug,” he said, reaching for Jessica and Freddie and pulling them both into his arms. As excited as he was to give Jessica his gift—a gold locket with a heart made of rubies on the front and a picture of Freddie and his snowman inside from the night of their first family adventure—right now he just wanted to hold onto these two tightly, be grateful not just that they’d survived his stalker’s attempts to kill them, but that they had both been so willing to give him a chance.

He was one lucky guy, and he wanted to make sure he never forgot it.