“You promise?”
She kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I promise.”
Lydia was vibrating with excitement as Holly helped her out of her booster seat. At least Lydia had her favorite purple snow boots on so her feet would stay warm.
“I can’t wait! I can’t wait!”
Holly held her mittened hand, her heart awash with love as they walked through the soft snowfall along a path lit by hanging lanterns on candy canes.
Holly squeezed Lydia’s hand as they stepped through a glowing archway at the park entrance, its rainbow lights casting a kaleidoscope of colors on the snow-dusted ground. Lydia’s gasp of delight made Holly’s heart swell, grateful she had made theeffort. Her daughter’s eyes were wide with wonder, her rosy cheeks flushed with the excitement that only Christmas magic could bring.
“Mommy, look! Look!” Lydia cried, tugging on Holly’s hand as she pointed toward a row of trees wrapped in shimmering gold-and-silver lights. “It’s sparkly!”
“It is, sweetheart,” Holly replied, crouching down beside her. “And look over there!” She gestured toward an animated display of Santa and his reindeer. The lights twinkled in time with a cheerful holiday tune, and Lydia clapped her mittened hands together, hopping up and down in delight.
The two wandered farther, following a path lined with more glowing candy canes. Lydia stopped at every display, her fascination growing with each discovery.
“Look! Penguins!” she exclaimed, her breath visible in the chilly air as she pointed to an LED display of penguins skidding across a frozen pond. Holly loved seeing pure joy radiate from her daughter’s face.
Then Lydia spotted the giant Christmas tree in the center of the park.
“That’s big!” she whispered, her eyes shining.
She pulled Holly toward it, her boots crunching over the snow. The tree sparkled with multicolored lights that seemed to dance as they stood beneath it, the massive golden star at the top glowing like a beacon.
Holly blinked back tears, her heart full as she held her little girl close. For all the challenges they faced, moments like this reminded her of the beauty in seeing the world through Lydia’s eyes—a world where wonder was everywhere and magic always felt within reach.
“I love this tree.”
“It is beautiful,” she agreed. “Let’s take your picture.”
They weren’t alone in the park and other families weretaking selfies around the tree. She and Lydia managed to find an empty area by the tree and she crouched down to her daughter’s level, holding her phone out and smiling.
They had taken several when she heard a deep voice from nearby. “Want me to take a picture of both of you?”
She looked around and suddenly spotted a tall, dark-haired man standing a few yards away. Feeling vulnerable from her crouched position, she rose. “Ryan! What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Ry!” Lydia exclaimed, clearly thrilled to see him.
“Hi, Lydia,” he said with a wide smile for her daughter that did ridiculous things to Holly’s insides.
He turned back to her. “Audrey made cookies this afternoon after we finished decorating and wanted us to take some to Diane.”
“Oh, how sweet.”
He made a face that told her he didn’t necessarily agree and hadn’t wanted to deliver cookies to his stepmother. Or, more precisely, probably hadn’t wanted to deliver them to his father’s house. He had, though. That touched her almost as much as his clear affection for her child.
“We were heading home when we saw this place,” he said. “Audrey wanted to stop and see the light display. Apparently she comes here every year with her mom. Then she found some friends and abandoned me.”
He stepped closer and she was suddenly back at Kim’s house with him, her heart pounding with awareness and her breath caught as she waited for a kiss that hadn’t happened.
“Give me your phone and I’ll take one of both you and Lydia.”
She handed it to him, then returned to her daughter’s side. She again bent to Lydia’s level, their faces side by side. She smiled into her phone camera, oddly aware of the man on the other side of the camera.
“Beautiful,” he said, handing her phone back to her.
“Thanks. We stopped on impulse, too. We’re not really dressed for a big outdoor excursion but at least it’s not too cold.”
