It’s like one’s amusement only strengthens the others’. At some point, I’d bet everything I have that they don’t even know what they’re laughing about anymore, which in itself makes them unable to stop. I can’t help but join in, seeing all of them folded in two and brushing off tears.

And then, the most surprising thing happens: a sound I haven’t heard in so long joins the mix.

Dad is laughing.

I turn to him, my face becoming serious all of a sudden, although no one notices.

My father has never been very expressive. He would rarely laugh, and only do it when he thought it was really worth it. But since his accident, I hadn’t heard him laugh. Not once. I’d noticed faint smiles here and there, but that was it.

And now here he is, laughing at my family and Wren having the time of their lives.

It both breaks my heart and mends it back together. He’s still there. He’ll never be like he used to, but my father is still in there, able to joke around with us. Maybe he just needed a push.

My gaze moves to Wren, whose laughter has slowly calmed down. As if feeling me, she looks up, her straight white teeth lighting something up inside me.

I’d call hearing my father laughing a holiday miracle, but somehow, I know it’s a Wren miracle. There’s something about her that I can’t explain, but which acts as a glue in my family. Holding us up, and eventually bringing all of us back to our true selves.

She’s pure magic.

* * *

I’ve rarely been this full.

We ate and ate and ate, for hours on end. Ma cooked pollo asado, pastelón de plátano maduro, ensalada rusa, pastelitos, and pasteles en hoja. It was a real feast, and not only was I happy to eat it, but I loved seeing Wren experience it all for the first time. Plus, Ma sprinkled Dominican traditions throughout the night, like putting her old broom out the door to throw it away tomorrow and hanging twelve grapes outside the house. In the Dominican Republic, she would’ve spent the night—the party going strong until dawn—with her big family, but in the States, she only has us. She doesn’t seem too sad about it, at least. Plus, she has three extra guests this year, which I can see makes her even happier.