"Dee," Megan shouted from the kitchen. "Are these cookies done yet?"

Deanna scooped herself up off the floor and wove her way through the mess of wrapping paper, wrapped presents, unwrapped presents, ribbons, bows, tape, and stickers carpeting her living room. She winked down at Rachel, where she sat in the corner of the couch, and tapped her lightly on the cheek. "I'll send your momma back as soon as we've checked on these cookies, 'kay?"

"'Kay." The three year old smiled then turned her attention back to the Christmas cartoon on television. Dee loved hearing the girl talk again, and smiling was a bonus neither she nor her sister had counted on for Christmas this year. Her older brother, Ben, sprawled on the floor, bobbing merrily to a song he was making up as he pulled ribbon after ribbon from a plastic bag. Ben, fortunately for Megan, never seemed effected by anything but his stomach.

Dee grinned and turned toward the kitchen before her sister could yell again. A gut deep sense of pleasure followed her as she looked around the house. Multicolored lights twinkled throughout the large living room and entryway. A string of holly vines and small white lights crawled up the staircase banister. Wreaths, mistletoe, and a myriad of tinsel turned the normally tranquil house into an ode to Christmas cheer.

She walked down the hall running beside the staircase and paused at the portrait of her parents hanging beneath a string of gold tinsel. Her mom was dressed as Mrs. Claus, her dad as Santa and both were holding a huge Styrofoam candy cane. Their grins mirrored her own, visible in the reflection on the glass covering the picture. She touched two fingers to her lips then brought them up to the picture. "Merry Christmas, mom and dad. Bet you're having fun wherever you are right now."

A little ache started in her chest as she looked up at her parents. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling any more, just a touch melancholy. For all the times they'd had together in this house. She looked along the hall again, at the decorations, the familiar carpets and walls, and bit back a moment of panic. She couldn't lose the house now. Not now. It meant too much to her, to Meg and the kids. If she had to, she'd beg, borrow, and steal to keep it. Well, maybe not steal. But begging and borrowing weren't out of the realm of possibility. She looked back up at her mom and dad's smiling faces and forced her fears back down. She'd worry on Monday. Today was Christmas Eve and she was going to enjoy every minute of it. The way her parents would have wanted her to. Wanted them all to.

"Dee?"

The impatient sound of Meg's voice sent Dee scurrying to the kitchen. She danced into the room, twirling around toward Megan, singing a botched rendition of "Jingle Bell Rock." Megan just shook her head, her attempted scowl looking suspiciously like a grin. She held out a hot tray full of colored sugar cookies shaped as presents, ornaments, and trees. "Are these things done? With that food dye, I can't tell."

Dee took off her Santa Claus hat, pulled her hair back in her free hand and bent over the cookie sheet. She breathed in the sugary warm scent and sighed. "Yup, those are all done, Meg. One more batch and the three days of baking will be done." Dee grinned at her sister as she put the Santa hat back on and shoved a black curl behind her ear. "Then we'll be rocking around the Christmas tree..."

"Stop!" Megan put up a hand to stop the repeated serenade. She shook her head. "Dee, I will never understand this Christmas thing you have." She set the cookie sheet down on top of the stove to cool and dropped the reindeer oven mitt onto the counter.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this." Megan threw her hands out in a gesture that encompassed the organized chaos of the kitchen. Plates and air-sealed containers of baked goods, bowls of dough and batters, and a smattering of baking ingredients filled every available inch of counter space. Dishes were piled in the sink while the dishwasher quietly hummed, working on its latest load. The entire room smelled of nutmeg, butter, and baking cookies.

Dee looked around her kitchen, grinning at the lovely mess. "What?"

Megan sighed. "A week of baking. Saving all year so you can spend money you can't really afford on Christmas presents for everyone you know and any number of people you don't know. Inviting the entire women's shelter over for a Christmas Eve party along with all of your employees and their families. I mean, what's wrong with a quiet Christmas Eve with just your family?"

"Meg, everyone should have a happy Christmas. We always had great Christmases growing up. Remember?" Her sister nodded, though the admission looked resigned more than accepting. "Oh admit it! You used to love Christmas too. You used to get just as silly every year as I do."

"You've got me. When I was a kid, I got almost as weird as you do over Christmas."

Dee raised a brow.

"Okay, so maybe when I was a teenager I was still a little silly about Christmas too. But, Dee, we've grown up now. Don't you think it's time to relax some of this manic cheer?"

"No." She laughed when her sister groaned. "Listen, Meg, how many times during the year do we so-called grown ups get to act this silly or have quite this much fun? How often do we get to believe in miracles and hope? How often can you just bundle up your own problems and forget about them for a few days?"

Megan leaned a hip against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest, looking remarkably like their mother when she was giving a lecture. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her slim brows raised, her mouth turned down in disapproval. "Some people can't bundle up their problems, you know, even at Christmas."

"I know that, Meg. That's why I do what I do, with the women's shelter and all. I can't solve their problems. But maybe for just one night, I can help them forget about the problems. Even for just a few hours. Sometimes it's exactly what you need. Besides, if I didn't spread this feeling around it would probably build up inside me until I exploded." She smiled and leaned her stomach against the island in the middle of the kitchen, settling forward onto her hands.

"People take advantage of your generosity, Dee."

"I want them to take advantage of what I offer. Otherwise, I wouldn't go to all this trouble." She cast her sister a wry glance when she said, "As for a quiet Christmas Eve, with your kids in the house? I don't think so."

Megan smiled, her arms dropping back to her sides. Her relief that Rachel was talking again was almost palpable in the warm, pastry-scented kitchen air. "You win. But I still don't understand it." She leaned on her elbows against the opposite side of the island.

"That's okay. You don't have to understand it. Just enjoy it."

Megan picked at one of the small chunks of milk chocolate fudge arranged on their mother's old crystal platter, skillfully avoiding Dee's swatting hand. "Is Stephany coming tonight?"

"She said she'd be here. She's bringing Jeramia with her." Stephany was Dee's accountant and a very close friend. A month earlier, Stephany's husband, a firefighter, had accidentally walked into a convenience store while it was being robbed. The fifteen-year-old thief mistook Joe's uniform for that of a police officer and, in his panic, shot him in the chest.

"How's Joe doing?" Meg turned her attention to scrapping at a spot of sticky flour on the maroon counter top, her blue eyes full of compassion when she looked up at her sister. A length of straight chestnut hair slid over her shoulder as she dropped her head again to more closely inspect the flour patch.

"He's still alive, but he's still in intensive care. And the hospital bills keep going up."

"Their insurance?"

"Only covers so much." Deanna dropped her gaze to the plate of cookies near her hand and took a deep breath. She'd been doing what she could for Stephany. But her own meager finances could only cover so much. She hated that Stephany had to go through this. She was such a nice person, so devoted to her family, and she loved Joe more than her own life. Dee knew it was tearing her up to see him laid out in the hospital. At the least, Steph had the support of friends and family around her. It helped. And who knew? It was the season of miracles after all. They'd had one miracle already, with Rachel talking again. Anything could happen.

Dee straightened her shoulders and exhaled. When she looked back at Meg, she had infused her expression with both determination and seasonal cheer. "For tonight, I'm going to make sure both Steph and Jeramia forget about their worries and enjoy a few hours of Christmas cheer. That's what tonight is about. For all of us. We'll just forget our own problems exist and we'll concentrate on spreading a little good will. And maybe we'll end the night doing the Jingle Bell Rock." She waggled her eyebrows up and down, the threat of bursting into song again evident.

Meg frowned, but after a moment, she nodded. Slowly, she grinned. Dee knew it was hard for Meg to stay serious when she was acting so bouncy. It was part of the reason she did it. Her own eyes narrowed, though, when her sister's grin took on a wicked glint. "Will you be wearing your new dress tonight?" Meg asked.

"Yes. That's why I bought it. Why?"

"No reason. You just look fabulous in red velvet. I imagine you'll break a few hearts in that dress."

"Megan. Whose heart am I going to break? We've got the women from the shelter coming with their children and all of my employees. I know everyone and there's not a heart among them that's going to break because of my red velvet dress."

"You never know. I've heard they have a new councilor at the shelter this year. Just started the day before yesterday, but Betty says he's awfully good looking."

Dee rolled her eyes. "Since when do I have time for men? I've got a business to run and a house to take care of. That bookstore supports us. It needs more of my time than this new councilor does." She grinned to soften the rebuke. Megan had been trying to fix her up for years. She'd gone to lengths that frequently astounded Dee. Even getting married hadn't stopped her little sister's matchmaking. And for reasons she couldn't fathom, getting divorced had made Meg's matchmaking efforts worse! Sometimes the process just left Dee tired.

She trotted to the opposite side of the island and scooted her sister toward the kitchen door. "Go sing some Christmas carols," she ordered. "I'll bet Ben could use some help wrapping those presents."

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Megan walked to the kitchen door then stopped with her hand on the frame. "Dee, listen, thanks for taking us in this year. After Ron left, I thought ... Well, I didn't know what to do. If you hadn't given me and Ben and Rachel a place to live..."

"Meg, don't worry about it. You're my little sister. And this will always be your home."

Megan nodded and left to find her son.

"As long as I don't lose it," Dee murmured to the empty kitchen. She pushed aside the quick moment of worry and panic with a determination any bulldog would envy and set about laboriously rolling out Christmas shapes from the last of the sugar cookie dough. Without thinking about it, she started to hum "Jingle Bell Rock" again.

The thought of her sister's pained expression at Dee's version of the song made her chuckle. She knew Meg didn't understand her love of Christmas. She didn't know how to explain it. There was just something about this time of year. It brought out the child in her, and the dreamer. She never stopped hoping that this Christmas would bring a miracle to those she loved. And every year, in some small way, she always saw those miracles. Even if it was just a smile on the face of one of the children from the women's shelter. That's why she did this every year. She loved watching the miracles.

Megan hadn't believed in miracles for a while now. Ron had seen to that. Rachel talking again had helped loosen Meg up. But she still wasn't catching the seasonal joy they'd both experienced as children. Dee set a bell-shaped cookie onto a clean cookie sheet then turned back to rolling out more dough. She was determined to show her sister the joys of the season again. If she had to decorate the entire neighborhood to do it!