“They’re here!” Rook calls out from the couch in front of the window. I think she’s more excited than anyone. She jumps up and stands in front of me. “Are you ready?”

I nod at her. “I was just making sure the minions are on their best behavior.”

Rook straightens my tie and then pats me on the shoulder like I need moral support.

I kinda do need moral support. This new addition to my family is a big deal.

My daughter, Kate, came to me through my wife, Ashleigh. My son, Five, is ours together. So Sasha is more mine than ours at the moment. I feel the need to do this right. To bring her into the fold properly.

The doorbell rings and everyone stops talking for a moment. I look back at them and see nothing but smiles. They are excited, but they go back to what they were doing and let me handle it. Spencer and Ronin are sitting at the kitchen table, drinking beer and laughing about something. Ash and Veronica are still busy with Five and Kate. And my mother is talking to Mr. Li with a little too much interest.

“You’re gonna be fine, Ford. Just answer the door,” Rook says.

I nod and walk over to the front door. I can see him through the small window.

James Fenici is coming to my house for Christmas Eve dinner. And he’s bringing me a kid. Not just any kid. Sasha Cherlin. The girl who started… well, I look around one more time before reaching for the door handle… everything. She started everything.

I open the door and Fenici smiles and extends his hand. “Aston.”

“James,” I say politely as I shake. And then I look down at his young wife and wish they were all staying. Rook would love to have a friend who is actually younger than her for once. “You must be Harper.” I shake her hand too and move aside to let them in.

But it’s the girl who’s missing who makes my heart skip a beat. “Where is Sasha?”

“In the truck,” James says. “She’s having a hard time. She said she’ll be in soon. But you know, she’s thirteen. So…” He shrugs.

I grab my coat and put it on. And then I gently place Sasha’s present in the box Ashleigh prepared. It’s a red box with a green bow. And the bow stays on, even if you open the box. Ashleigh says all the best presents have bows attached to the tops.

I take her word on that.

“Be right back,” I tell my houseguests. And then I walk outside and pull the door closed behind me. Sasha looks out the window of the black truck and I give her a small wave.

She does not wave back.

I take a seat on the top step of my porch stoop. It’s cold tonight, but not too bad. We can wait her out.

It takes her exactly two minutes and seven seconds to decide to come meet me on the porch. And as she walks up the path to my home, I take her in for the first time since I met her last year.

She doesn’t smile, but I know the braces are long gone. Removed before her grandparents died. But her hair is long and flowing down her front. And she’s tall too. Much taller than the little girl I met last Christmas Eve. She’s wearing a fancy black coat with fuzzy mittens and hat to match. Her dress is a dark red, as are her shoes. She even has a purse that she clutches in her hands as she walks towards me and then stops at the bottom step.

“Hi, Ford.” It comes out fine, but a moment later, she’s crying. She takes off her mitten and wipes her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” I tell her back. “It’s a hard thing to do to leave the people you love.”

She nods her head but the tears stream down her cheeks. “I don’t know what you want from me. James says I have to learn to be a normal teenager. But I’m just not sure I can be that person.” She sniffs and wipes her tears again. “I don’t want to disappoint you, Ford. Because if you left me, or dropped me off somewhere…” She shakes her head and more tears fall down her face.

“That’s not what James is doing, Sasha. He’s not dropping you off. He’s bringing you home. To me.”

She removes her other mitten and drops them both on the ground so she can wipe her eyes. I grab her present, then stand up and walk down the stairs, picking her mittens up for her, before sitting back down on a lower step. “You wanna know what’s new for me this year?” I grab her hand and tug a little. Just enough to get her to step forward and then sit down on the step next to me.

“Sure,” she says, hugging her coat close to keep warm.

“Last year when we met, I had no girlfriend, remember?”

That makes her smile and nod. “You were so clueless.”

“And you were so smart. I owe you big for the lessons I learned from you, Sasha. Because this year, I have a wife, two children, and another on the way.” She looks up at me, surprised. “No. You, Sasha. You’re the one on the way.”

“Oh.” She tucks her hands into her pockets and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what you want from me. I’m not a good candidate for a daughter. I don’t really follow directions. And I’m opinionated and not willing to bend.” She looks up at me. “I’m kinda stuck in my ways and my ways are keeping me stuck. Does that make sense?”

“Sure. It makes sense. I’m not expecting you to act a certain way. I just want you to find yourself, Sasha. Find the girl you want to be, instead of the girl you left behind, as Rook would say.”

“Rook, the girl-who-is-a-friend?”

“Yeah.” I laugh. “Rook. She’s inside waiting for you. So is everyone else. My mother. Ashleigh’s father. My friends and children. We’re all here for you, kid. I told you I don’t celebrate Christmas. But now I have kids. So I do. And I don’t have parties, either. But today you came, so I felt a celebration was in order.”