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He’d been kind

He’d volunteered to bring cheer into ht joy into my life as well

I kidded myself that I’d let him do it for Linc’s sake It was for me I’d let Chet in because I liked the way he er, braver, and a lot less worried about repeating my dad’s mistakes

I gazed down the street at the old house on the corner Lights hung neatly froh I couldn’t see it from here, I knew the wreath on his front door reen affair tied with a thick red bow I knew the tree in his living room was six feet tall and was decorated with precisely sixty orna mistletoe in the foyer just as he did here And because I knew him, I was sure he’d done most of the work himself

It wasn’t a control thing for Chet It was just his nature to do nice things for others To give without thought of what he’d receive in turn

That was such a foreign concept tofor nothing

Except Chet…who only wanted to stop tionna find a way to make that happen For him and me

For us

Easier said than done, this stopping time business I had a few ideas, one of which involved a trip to the dreaded mall The other involved Chet, as busier than usual at work and with his friends He’d warned me that he had a lot on his plate, but I missed him Linc did too

“Just a sec, Papa!” Linc waved to Jase, waiting at the open hatch of his Range Rover parked at the curb in front of my house He pulled his mini suitcase onto the porch and froze when he kicked a red-and-green wrapped box tied with a giant satin bow “What’s this?”

I bent to read the attached card, sing around the lump in my throat “To Lincoln, From Dorito, Merry Christmas!”

He dropped his suitcase and hugged the gift to his chest, racing down the steps to look at the house on the corner “Where is he? Is he hoive him his present too”

“It’s Thursday , buddy He’s at work Soently, tousling his hair when I joined him with the suitcase he’d abandoned on the pathway