Chapter 71: Christmas morning on the farm

DEACON

Despite the fact that I'd grown up without either of my parents in my life, I'd always loved the holidays. That was entirely thanks to two grandparents who'd made sure that I had the best Christmases possible as a kid, with every bit of celebration and revelry imaginable. We did it all, and we did it up big: from the community party on the weekend before Christmas to the church service on Christmas Eve, from the huge fresh evergreen that took up residence in the corner of the living room in mid-December to the stockings hung on the fireplace, overflowing with gifts.

This year, I didn't expect much. After all, Gram and Pop hadn't expected me to be home to spend Christmas with them, so they couldn't be blamed if they'd made other plans or if there was nothing under the tree or in those stockings for me. But to my surprise, when Gram had called me downstairs on Christmas morning-I always spent the night with them on Christmas Eve so that we could enjoy breakfast and gifts togeth