“I sure as hell hope you know what you’re doing.” Kaden shook his head as he headed for the kitchen, stopped, and turned toward his room. “I’m taking a shower before I cook. I’m covered in dog slime.”

I watched him go and shrugged. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was doing it anyway.

~~Caroline~~

The kids opened their stockings first, stuffed with chocolates and socks, a charm bracelet for Hailey, and an e-reader for Heath. They were all smiles this morning, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn’t seen any sadness yet, though I fully expected their loss to sink in after the thrill of Christmas morning wore off.

I insisted they eat breakfast before unwrapping the big presents. I’d spent hours fretting over what to get them and was very proud of my purchases. Both gifts had been chosen with care and consideration. I’d made lists, narrowed the options, and chosen the one perfect thing for each. They were extravagant expenditures, and I looked forward to the kids’ reactions.

After breakfast, the kids ran to the tree, giddy with anticipation, while Junie sipped spiked eggnog from her perch on the couch.

Hailey bounced on the balls of her feet, while Heath clasped his hands behind his back. He, too, was excited as evidenced by his tapping foot.

“Hailey, you go first,” I said, knowing Hailey would drive me crazy if she had to wait much longer.

Hailey lunged for the oddly shaped package as tall as she was and ripped off the colorful wrapping paper to reveal a lifelike, large rocking horse with a real horsehair mane and tail and a leather saddle. She screeched in delight and ran to me, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, blinking the tears from my eyes.

“Mommy, it’s exactly what I wanted. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. He’s perfect. I’m going to call him Midnight.”

Heath watched all the drama with wide eyes.

“You’re next, honey.”

He nodded solemnly and knelt down before his present. He carefully unwrapped it, taking care not to tear the paper. I blinked back the tears in my eyes. Sometimes Heath was his mother’s son. I attacked presents in the same methodical manner. Once the paper was off, he stared at the cardboard box for a very long time without saying a thing. The contents were clearly displayed in images on the outside.

“Do you like it?” I held my breath, fearing I’d made a huge mistake.

“Yes. Thank you.” He was reserved as usual, but he tore into the box with more gusto than his words showed. His gift was a puppy that walked and barked and responded to commands. The thing even did tricks. I helped him with the batteries, then watched the two of them play with their new toys. Their boisterous laughter did my heart good. So far, they were surviving their first Christmas without Mark quite well.

Rusty crawled onto my lap. With a yawn, he curled up and purred himself to sleep. Our little family was going to be okay.