“I’m not the enemy, you know,” I said.

She swiveled within my embrace to stare up at me. “I know. Listen, I’m so—”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out at the same time. We laughed awkwardly.

“It’s been weird between us since the wedding. Maybe I overreacted.”

“To what?” A lot had happened and a lot had been said.

She fidgeted. “To not having him for Christmas.” She laid her hands on my chest and wriggled her way out of my arms. She let out a heavy breath. “Maybe I’m being childish but I’d constructed all those scenarios in my head. Us singing carols, opening presents, your mom cooking all Lucas’s favorite food. Gran’s house full of his laughter. It was like in a freakin’ Hallmark TV movie.” She let out a bitter chuckle and shook her head.

“I’m sorry.” That was all I could say to convey my guilt.

“Don’t. Knowing your father is on his own right now, all miserable and lonely, kind of pleases me.”

Cassie lifted herself onto the edge of the kitchen bench. “But what eats at me most is knowing Lucas is spending Christmas with strangers in a completely new foster home. That sucks.”

The Sorensons hadn’t cancelled their plans to spend Christmas out of the state and, with us being discarded at the last minute, Lucas had been placed in a foster family for the holidays. Apparently complete strangers for Christmas were less threatening to his balance than us. Go figure!

I checked my watch. “We should get ready for the Skype call.”

I read a mix of excitement and resignation on Cassie’s face. Skype was definitely a let-down compared to what was supposed to be our first Christmas as a family. But that was all we had for now, so we made our way back to the living room.

My mom had been waiting for us because as soon as we appeared she said, “Is it Lucas’s time now?”

“Yes, I’m switching on my laptop,” I answered while sitting at the old round table in the center of Mrs. O’s living room. I’d promised my mom she’d get to hear her grandson’s voice for the first time.

Cassie took a seat next to me. “I’m sorry, Miranda, that you can’t be on the call.”

“Don’t worry, sweetie. Hearing his voice is the best Christmas present I could wish for, given the circumstances.”

Cassie and I had agreed we’d introduce him to our family—which now meant my mom and, by extension, Woodie and his wife—only once he was with us for good. He wasn’t yet, so the three of them sat opposite us on the table while we faced the screen of the laptop.

I typed and clicked my way through Skype. Next to me Cassie was rapidly clasping and unclasping her hands. The tension building up in her was contagious because I soon felt it in the pit of my stomach.

The beeping of Skype told us we were knocking at Lucas’s virtual door. Ten seconds in and his chubby face filled the screen. I heard Cassie’s short intake of breath.

“Hey Champ!” she greeted him. “Getting ready for Christmas?”

Lucas gave us a sad wave. “Hey Cassie! Hey Josh!”

Opposite me, my mom’s right hand flew to her chest and within a second I saw the glint of a tear in her eye. We had been allowed a ten minute call, so we’d better make the best of it. “Are you sure Mrs. Sorenson told Santa about your new address?” It was up to Sharon Sorenson to arrange for our presents to be dispatched to wherever Lucas was spending Christmas.

“Yes, He knows. Andrea put a sign on Sharon’s door to tell him to go next door.”

I exchanged a quick glance with Cassie. The news made its way to our brains at the same time. Her skin turned stark white when she understood.

“So you’re spending Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. Loretti?” Her question fell flat and she started biting her lower lip.

“Yes. They’ve made a special room for me. I’m not going to sleep though. I want to see Santa.”

We had nothing to say for a while. The audience on the other side of the table was staring at us, probably wondering what the hell was going on.

“So you think you’ll see him, huh?” I asked. By the time I finished my own story about almost-seeing-Santa when I was six, Cassie had recovered and was forging on.

When the ten minutes came to an end, Cassie laid the tips of her fingers on the screen and Lucas mirrored the gesture. Their fingers touched as though on either side of a pane of glass.

“Don’t forget we love you, Champ.” Her voice broke on the last word.

“I love you too.” He didn’t move his fingers away from his screen. “I miss you,” he mumbled.

I was about to say goodbye when the bulky figure of Vince Loretti filled the screen.

“The case worker allowed you ten minutes and we have to follow her instructions.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Loretti.” I tried to take the sarcasm away from the greeting, but failed. The guy didn’t acknowledge me anyway. He was signaling for Lucas to leave the room. Lucas did so reluctantly.

Once I saw him disappear behind the door in the background, I got straight to the point. “Can you explain how on earth Lucas is spending Christmas with you?”

He shrugged his shoulders like I’d seen him do after Mr. Guidi’s funeral. “We got approved for adoption last month. They told us we could foster in the meantime and Lucas needed a home for the holidays because you bailed on him.”

“That’s not true,” Cassie shouted and pointed at him. “You’d better not fill his head with lies like that or I swear I—”

I laid my hand on her thigh and applied a slight pressure. “You should be more careful with what you say to Lucas. For his sake… and yours.”

Same shrug of the shoulders. “What do you mean?”

Damn, the guy was slow on the uptake.

“You shouldn’t have told Lucas you intended to adopt him before you were even approved. Don’t forget your access so far has only been by virtue of you living next door to his foster family. It’s been unsupervised, but things can change.”

“What do you mean?” he asked again.

“I’ll simply report you to Social Services.”

“That’s not fair.” The guy sounded genuinely shocked.

That was the opening I’d been looking for. “Listen, Vince. We’ve spent some time with Andrea. She’s going to be a great mom one day, but fighting over Lucas like we are now? It’s going to hurt this boy even more. Lucas needs to find love and stability.”

“I don’t understand you guys. You gave up on him when he was born and now you’re coming back to mess up his life again. Andrea and I, we’re good people. We’ll be a real family for Lucas.”

“We’re his family.” I heard the anger in Cassie’s voice. Her jaw was now set tight and she was gearing up for a fight. Loretti was lucky to be on the other side of that screen.

I interweaved my fingers with hers and turned my attention back to Loretti. “Christmas was a little setback. We’ll be in touch with our lawyer as soon as we get back to D.C. But that’s not the point anyway.” I leaned forward so that my shoulders filled the width of the screen. “You should ask Lucas what he wants before deciding for him.”

That got a chuckle out of Loretti. “And you think he wants you?”

I couldn’t help shaking my head in frustration. “Ask him.”

I switched off the connection.

Cassie jumped to her feet. On the other side of the table Clarissa flinched. My mom stared at my wife with the frown of concern she had when I tumbled on the field back in high school.

“So that’s it? I’ll simply report you to Social Services,” she mimicked my words.

I stretched back into my chair and slid my hands over my face. I let out a big sigh and stared back at Cassie. Tiredness crept into my voice. “What else did you want me to say?”

She started marching back and forth in the tattered living room. “I don’t know. But maybe we should stop talking and start doing? Capitol Hill isn’t like real life, Josh. Words aren’t the only way to fight.”

Anger burst forth from secret corners of my heart and my fist landed on the table. My mom was the one who flinched this time. “And what do you suggest? Kidnapping Lucas and fleeing to Mexico?”