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Maeve could hardly sleep that night, forcing herself to stay in bed until her usual 5:30 a.m. alarm the next morning. When it finally went off, she slipped downstairs to turn on the tree, start the coffee, and light the fireplace. The great room was decked out in gold and silver, and the twenty-foot tree with all white lights was almost dwarfed by the number of gifts around it. How the kids were able to sneak all those gifts in without waking everyone was a miracle.
Tom rustled up a piece of leftover pizza and joined Maeve in the great room.
“Well, dear, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?” Tom asked, sitting down next to her, and gazing at the tree.
“Tom, I have a few more trips around the sun, Lord willing,” Maeve offered up, “but I have to admit, there will never be another Christmas like this.”
They sat in silence on the love seat, watching the flames and holding each other.
“Hey, did you look outside yet?” grinned Tom.
“And just like that, the icing on the cookie,” Maeve answered, “we have snow.”