Chapter 19 - The First Snowfall
The first heavy snowfall of December arrived on a Saturday night, blanketing the Elm Street neighborhood in a pristine, glittering white quilt.
Maisie and I spent three hours outside building an enormous, lopsided snowman in the front yard, complete with a carrot nose, a woolen scarf, and an old top hat my father had dug out of his attic trunk.
As we trudged back inside, stamping the snow off our boots in the entryway, the house smelled of cinnamon, hot cocoa, and roasting marshmallows.
Arthur was sitting by the fireplace reading a paperback novel, while Nicole and Dana were putting the finishing touches on a batch of gingerbread cookies in the kitchen.
Maisie walked over to the Christmas tree—a magnificent, glowing Fraser fir standing proudly in the corner of the living room—and carefully hung her wooden house ornament right on the lowest branch, where she could admire it every single day.
HOME IS EVERYBODY.
She turned around, her cheeks flushed pink from the cold, her eyes sparkling with the magic of the season.
“Daddy, can we leave milk and cookies out for Santa tonight?” she asked eagerly.
May you like
I smiled, walking over and wrapping my arms around her shoulders, pulling her close against my warm jacket.
“We can leave out the biggest plate of cookies this town has ever seen, sweetheart,” I whispered, looking out the frost-covered window toward the quiet, peaceful street outside. “And I promise you… there will always, always be enough for everybody.”
