Chapter 79

And maybe, Vic thought, just maybe, that was all Santa really was—not any one person but each person, every time a gift was given without needing something in return. Maybe he’d been playing Santa for years, much longer than he’d ever realized it, first for his sister, then for Matty, now for that silly dog of theirs. He didn’t need a red jacket or fur-hemmed pants or a red hat and white beard. It was him regardless, a feeling within him, all year long. The desire to give to those he loved the things they needed and wanted, things they didn’t pay him back for, things they didn’t askfor.

Things he wantedto give them, everything he could, anythingto make them happy. To make them feel loved. Thatwas what the holidays were about. Love.

* * * *