Logan and I laughed, agreeing with her.
The tree itself was far from perfect.
But perhaps that was precisely what gave it its special charm.
Chapter Twenty-Two
EVELYN
It was hard to believe, but our tree had turned out truly beautiful. When we turned on the lights, the girls were so happy and excited... Even Anna no longer seemed like the same grumpy little girl from the day before, the one who had refused to help with the decorations.
We finished everything around lunchtime, and Logan ordered delivery again. After that, he left, just as he said he would, but returned a few hours later, claiming he had already taken care of everything he needed.
We were all in the living room when he got up and left for a few minutes, returning with sheets of paper and a box of colored pencils in his hands.
"Since it's Christmas Eve," he announced, "I think there's still time to write letters to Santa, right?"
Rory tilted her head, confused. Anna, on the other hand, crossed her arms, her face settling back into its usual sullen expression.
“What nonsense!” she complained. “We already know Santa Claus doesn’t exist.”
“Still…” Logan insisted. “It’s a tradition.”
“Then why do only silly children do it?”
"Who said that?" Logan looked genuinely shocked. "Of course not! Everyone should write letters to Santa. Evelyn and I will, too.”
With that, he handed one of the sheets to me. Anna looked at me suspiciously.
“Are you really going to write a letter, Evy?”
"Of course I am!" I declared. "As your father said, it's a tradition."
Aurora smiled, seeming to warm to the idea.
"That's right," Logan confirmed. "Let's all draw what we'd like to get."
He handed a sheet to Aurora, and she took it eagerly. Then he offered one to Anna. She seemed to consider it for a few seconds before snatching the paper with a huff, making it perfectly clear she thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
We all sat on the floor, using the coffee table as a desk. After almost an hour of focused silence, Aurora was the first to finish. She folded her sheet, got up, and placed her letter by the tree. I saw her press her palms together and close her eyes, as if making a silent wish for her dream to come true.
I hoped Logan knew what he was doing. It would be heartbreaking if they didn't get anything the next day.
"Aren't you going to show us?" I asked as soon as she opened her eyes, signing as I spoke.
She shook her head in firm denial. Anna did the same with her drawing, shielding it from view.
Logan, however, made a point of showing his. I almost laughed when I saw the paper, realizing his complete lack of aptitude for illustration.
“What is that?” Anna asked.
He explained, pointing to the little figure in front of a building. “This is me, and this is New York Hospital. And here on my shirt is a director's badge.”
Aurora signaled that she didn't understand, and Anna reinforced: “What is a bad... badg...”
“Badge?” Logan offered. “It's like... a small, laminated card with an employee's name and position.”
I tried to translate that explanation into signs for Aurora. It didn't work. With either of them.
