Meg stood on her tiptoes and kissed his nose. “I love you, too, Dad. Thank you.”
She flashed a smile at Sarah and Ben. “Thanks, guys.”
“Happy birthday, Meg. Your coat is awesome,” Sarah said as she shoved her last slice of bacon into her mouth.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Happy birthday, Micro.”
Meg frowned slightly but tried to keep her tone light. “Ben, could you . . . would you mind not calling me that anymore? I prefer Meg.”
Ben had called her Micro ever since he learned that the word meant very small. Meg used to like it because it made her feel special. But as she got older, she realized that she secretly hated it for exactly the same reason. Nobody else had a silly nickname, but she had tons of them. Her dad called her Megs, and her mom called her Meggie. Colton called her Meg the Leg. But at least those were based on her name. Ben called her Micro just because she was younger and smaller than everybody else.
It was time they took her seriously.
“Sure thing,” Ben said with a shrug.
Meg took the coat off carefully and sat down to finish breakfast, her mind purposefully trying to push away a feeling that nagged quietly at her under her excitement. It was guilt. Her parents must have scraped and saved to buy her that coat. She loved the coat beyond words—more than a million thank-yous could ever express. But there was also a pit in her stomach that she couldn’t ignore. Her parents needed the money more than she needed the coat. She knew she should tell her mom to return it.
Her mom smiled softly as she held the tags at the end of the coat sleeve. “Well, if you’re sure you like it, let’s go ahead and cut these off.” She pulled open the junk drawer. Meg drew a shuddering breath, knowing it was her last chance to do the right thing.
A sharp snip rang through the air as Meg’s mom clipped the plastic tie. Then she threw the tags in the garbage, put the scissors away, and brushed her hands together briskly. “Well, that’s that. It’s all yours now.” Meg smiled, awash with quiet, ashamed relief.
Her dad glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Oh, man. We’ve got to get to the lot. Gates open in twenty.”
Suddenly, everyone burst into action, crisscrossing the kitchen and putting plates in the sink, finishing coffee, filling thermoses.
Her mom glanced at Meg, who was still in her bathrobe. “I’m sorry, sweetie. We have to get going, but we’ll have a register waiting for you.” She patted her on the arm. She knew how excited Meg was for her first day of real work.
Everyone in the Briggs family loved Christmas, and Meg was no different. She had always thought that if people could see a Fraser fir decorated with nothing but ice and sunlight, Christmas would change forever. The stores would stop selling ornaments and strings of lights and start trying to recreate the magic of nature.
With sudden awe, Meg realized that her family’s farm shared that magic with everyone who picked out a tree there. As a smile spread across her face, Meg felt the possibilities begin to grow around her. The spirit of Christmas lived here. Who knew what could happen?
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★ About the Author ★
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Bianca Alexis Photo
JENNIFER LI SHOTZ is the author of Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine and the Hero and Scout series, about brave dogs and their humans. Jen was a cat person until she and her family adopted a sweet, stubborn, adorable rescue pup, who occasionally lets Jen sit on the couch. Jen lives with her family in Brooklyn, loves chocolate chip cookies with very few chips, and still secretly loves cats. Please don’t tell the dog.
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