in

an ornament. It slowly spun on the metal hook in front of him.

ver to him. "Tanner, honey, Mommy m

id, curling his lip. "Lik

air and laughed. There was something precious about the f

be in the shape of a bear made from clay. One of the eyes was missing and there were several chips on the surface, but Mom insisted we

he kitchen sq

f the d

" Mom ca

ee. Tanner had already put several ornaments on the tree,

tree every year. I had his Dad, Killian to thank for that. Killian had told Tanner that real trees were the only option fo

eyes. And I couldn't say much. He didn't see his father often, and I wanted to g

. "Want to help me put th

hen they landed on the ancient bear slash blob ornament. She put the container down in the kitchen then came back into the l

." She smiled d

before leaning in toward my mother and lowering his voic

you're setting up so soon," she said, her arms folded ac

d idea, but my mother was probably right. I wasn't going to last. I promised myself I was going to get a jo

. He'd already hung about ten ornaments in a small clump on the tr

out a little more."

t she saved most of the fragile ones for her fake tree that would go up later in December. She was always last minute,

m was too small for three people, a tr

ut on the ornaments near the top and I

Mom said, digging into

anner a history lesson on each piece, but he wasn't paying attention. He frequently had

I already knew the answer before she

famous looks. My mother could convey a how range of em

etting larger each week and with no paycheck, I'd have to borrow more money from my parents. I knew they didn't mind, but I hated doing it. I made a mental note to go d

he lasagna made my stomach growl. It was still warm. I grabbed a fork from the drawer and took a quick bite. So delicious! I quickly