Page 2 of His Christmas Promise

“Damn, I’m sorry, Zoe.”

She shrugs. “Don’t be sorry. I’m used to it by now.”

“You shouldn’t be used to this. No one should have to be used to it.”

“Alexander, I promise it’s okay. The hardest times are the holidays. Like right now. Everyone walks around looking so happy. I want to be that happy, but it’s hard when I don’t have the one thing I want, that I’ve always wanted.”

“What do you want?” I ask, wondering if I can get it for her somehow.

She smiles wistfully, a small dimple indenting her cheek. “A family. One I don’t have to borrow and pretend is my own.”

“Shelly and Ralph seem like good enough people.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, they are amazing. I’ve been in and out of here three times, but it’s not the same, you know?”

I nod, and for the first time, I realize I’m not alone in feeling alone. I’m not the only person who’s lost someone. Zoe walks around here every day with a sweet smile on her face, doing whatever she can to help the people around her. She doesn’t let her past dictate her future. She doesn’t let it drag her down. She’s a warmth in a world that recently has felt so cold.

“One day, you’ll have a family. One of your very own to spend every holiday with.” I tell her.

“You don’t know that.”

“I promise you, Zoe girl. One day it’ll happen. In the blink of an eye, you’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted and more.”

Her brown eyes twinkle like Christmas lights, and I swear to myself that one day I’ll do something so that I’m the one making her eyes light up.

“I’m going to hold you to that, Alexander Drakos.”

“I expect nothing less, Zoe Fisher.”

I’d like to say the chip on my shoulder went away after mine and Zoe’s conversation, but it didn’t. I was still angry at the world that my parents weren’t coming home. The one bright spot in my dark world was Zoe. We formed a bond I’d never had with anyone else. Maybe it was because I knew she understood how I felt or because she was too sweet and too good to shut out. I didn’t want my darkness touching her, yet she never stayed away.

By the time I turned eighteen, I had taken and passed my GED test. I joined the Marines the next day, getting as far away as I could. Before I left, Zoe and I exchanged email addresses, although it would be several months before I responded to any of her messages. One thing I knew, I’d be keeping my promise to Zoe, no matter how long it took.

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