“I hate to do this,” Kevin said. “But I’m going to need to ask for you to give me back your iPads. I’m really sorry.”

Zack opened his mouth slightly, aghast. “Are you serious?” The rest of the gang laughed as Zack held on to the iPad for dear life.

Kevin shook his head. “No. I’m sorry—that probably wasn’t very funny.” He grinned.

It was good to see that they could still laugh. Sometimes, that was all one could do.

This was probably what he’d miss most. Not all the money they made or all the projects they created, but ultimately the relationships around this table. They mattered.

It was nice to be reminded of that.

“How’d it go today?”

They walked slowly on the sidewalk alongside the outdoor mall. It was Jenny’s choice to come here even though Kevin had said they didn’t need to go shopping. She wanted the exercise, reminding him that she wasn’t bedridden and still had a lot of Christmas gifts to get including his. Kevin didn’t want to tell her how unsuccessful he’d been at finding a gift for her the day after Thanksgiving, but he figured he might be able to make a little progress this evening.

He shrugged at his wife’s question. “Pretty good. Only a couple burst into tears. Another couple quit immediately.”

Unlike Zack, Jenny knew when he was teasing. She gave him a mild smile in response, meaning she wanted a serious answer.

“They took it fine,” he said. “Better than I thought.”

“What’d you say?”

“I told them everything I know. Nothing is final just yet.”

“It will be pretty soon.”

He nodded, waited as a few teens strolled between them, then looked back at her. “Maybe something miraculous will happen this month.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I was hoping you’d pull a It’s a Wonderful Life for me and go around to all our friends and relatives to collect cash.”

Jenny chuckled at this. “You planning on going to jail?”

“Do you need me to?”

“Well, if you’re going to, try and make it after the twins come.”

“February, then?”

She shook her head and raised her eyebrows. “That might be a little too ambitious.”

“Why?”

“I’m thinking I won’t make it to February.”

“We’re taking it a day at a time. That’s what I told everybody at work too. That’s all we can do.”

They walked up to the sporting-goods store. Jenny wanted to look for some gifts for her side of the family and maybe even for him. “Do they have motivation bottled in a can to get me to work out?” he joked with her before heading inside. He knew that she was anxious to start working out as soon as she could after the twins were born, a nice idea in theory. Still it didn’t mean Kevin couldn’t give her motivation by getting her new workout clothes or perhaps some new shoes.

When they walked into the store, the first thing he saw was a Christmas tree front and center in the store.