“Of course I know.” Jake turned and smiled at Rita Mae, who sat in the pew behind them and who hadn’t said anything since setting foot into the church. Now she was smiling and nodding at him encouragingly.

“Jesus was born a loooooong time ago. And just like the three Magi brought the little baby Jesus some presents because they were so happy he was born, Santa Claus does the same to us every year. To remind us of Jesus and, um, to reward us if we were good all year like Jesus was good all his life.”

Madison gave Jake a kiss on his forehead. “I couldn’t have said it better.”

Over Jake’s head, Madison’s and Sherry’s gazes met.

Madison never made Jake feel as if he was saying something wrong. Instead she praised him and showed him how much he was loved.

She leaned over to Madison and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which made Madison blush and smile.

Over the course of the service, they looked at each other repeatedly. Sometimes they smiled; sometimes their expressions became serious. It was nothing but looks, but Sherry could feel them everywhere.

“I thought he would never fall asleep,” Madison whispered after she had closed the door to his room. Even though he hadn’t wanted to fall asleep, it had felt wonderful to take turns with Sherry, reading to him and caressing his head from time to time until he’d finally fallen asleep.

“Jake had an exciting day,” Sherry said. “Especially the church service with your grandmother was an adventure for him.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t fall asleep. I almost did a couple of times.”

Sherry giggled. “For Rita Mae, it definitely did the trick. I’ve never seen her go to bed so fast.”

“If she’d run to the bathroom, I would have sworn she had a bad stomach.”

“Madison!”

Madison winked at her and strolled to the living room. “But maybe she just wanted to avoid helping us place the presents under the Christmas tree.”

Sherry followed her. “Who knows?” Madison changed direction to the bedroom, but Sherry held her back. “Let’s sit down for a moment before we start.”

Surprised, Madison paused and let herself be pulled onto the couch. “Okay.”

“This pastor was really in a sour mood. All this talk about sin…”

“You listened to him?”

“You didn’t?” When Madison shrugged, Sherry slapped her lightly on the arm. “Shame on you, Madison Fielding. Well, I’m just glad Jake still believes in Santa Claus. Even though it doesn’t really have anything to do with Christianity, it still brings a little magic to Christmas, don’t you think?”

Madison had never really thought about it, but maybe Sherry was right. She hoped that for Jake Christmas was something magical.

“How were you as a kid on Christmas?”