Blaze:
The house was still. One of those rare, perfect silences that only seemed to happen just before dawn on Christmas morning. The kind of quiet that settles deep into your bones and tells you everything is exactly where it should be. The only sound was the faint crackle of the fireplace and the soft hum of the Christmas lights glowing across the tree. Reds and greens blinking low and slow, reflecting off the ornaments Kat insisted on collecting every year since Ryder was born.
I wrapped my hand around my mug, the heat of the coffee warming my palm. Kat sat next to me on the couch, legs tucked beneath her, curls a little wild, eyes soft and still waking. She had one of her sticky cinnamon buns on a plate, and a dab of frosting had found its way to the corner of her mouth.
“I should b
