Magic lived in Joel's living room. The furniture had been rearranged to make room for the towering seven-foot, white-tipped tree that now sat in the corner, besides the fireplace, and woven snakes of green and red danced around the limbs.

Nutcracker soldiers sat on top of the fireplace, a neat merry row formed and two stockings swung cosily beneath, Davy poking out of one as he used it as a hammock. Tinsel scaled the furniture, lighting the room up, twinkling like glitter as the soft, flickering lights of the tree caught in it.

The soul-warming scent of freshly baked cookies lingered in the air, and the temptation of brightly wrapped...