Ten years after losing his wife on Christmas Day, Caleb has built a quiet life around the son they shared. But when a stranger appears with a claim that threatens everything, Caleb must face the one truth he’s never questioned, and the cost of the love he’s fought to protect.My wife died on Christmas Day, leaving me alone with a newborn and a promise I never broke: I would raise our son with everything I had.For ten years, it was just the two of us, and the same absence of the woman I’d loved… the woman that our son had met for mere moments.The week before Christmas always moved slower than the rest of the year. It wasn’t in a peaceful way, but it was as if the air itself had thickened and time was pushing through it with effort.

The week before Christmas always moved slower than the rest of the year. It wasn’t in a peaceful way, but it was as if the air itself had thickened and time was pushing through it with effort.The days blurred together, wrapped in our routines.That morning, my son, Liam, sat at the kitchen table in the same chair Katie used to lean against when she made cinnamon tea. Her photo sat on the mantel in a blue frame, her smile caught mid-laugh, like someone had just said something ridiculously amusing.I didn’t need to look at the photo to remember it. I saw Katie in Liam every day, in the way he tilted his head when he was thinking.AdvertisementLiam, almost ten now, is long-legged, thoughtful, still young enough to believe in Santa, and old enough to ask questions that made me pause before answering.”Dad,” he asked, not looking up from the LEGO blocks he had arranged beside his cereal bowl, “do you think Santa gets tired of peanut butter cookies?”