All I wanted for Christmas was my daddy.

Last year I was a good boy. Daddy said not to open any presents until he got there, and I didn’t. I spent all day looking at the tree, waiting patiently. Only Daddy never came. I feared the worst—scared that something horrible had happened to him.

How foolish I’d been. Daddy wasn’t in a car accident or one of the fifty million other scenarios I played out in my head. Nope. He was with his other boy, planning a New Year’s Eve wedding.

This year I’m doing Christmas on my own. I’m buying my own presents, decorating my own tree, and playing with my own toys…alone. At least that’s the plan until my new neighbor gets my package and discovers we have more in common than a shared driveway.