"You were thinking it."
"Absolutely."
Caleb stepped into the hall.
"You cannot keep doing this."
Ronan leaned the large tree against the wall.
"We can return it."
"Good."
Nora gasped.
All three adults looked at her.
She pointed toward the far corner of the living room.
"We can have two."
Caleb said, "We do not need two Christmas trees."
Nora looked at Maya.
Maya considered.
"Technically, no."
"Thank you."
Maya added, "Emotionally, I think the child has a case."
Caleb stared at her.
Luis laughed.
Twenty minutes later, Caleb had two Christmas trees.
The small crooked spruce became Nora's tree.
The large fir became the "grown-up tree," although Nora decorated most of that one too.
Ronan installed lights.
Badly.
Maya removed them.
Reinstalled them.
Correctly.
Luis hung a paper airplane near the top.
Nora opened the wrapped gift after successfully convincing four adults that December twenty-second qualified as an emergency.
Inside was a large beginner's science kit and a set of children's books about flight.
She screamed.
Caleb looked at Ronan.
"You people are impossible."
Ronan handed him coffee.
"You'll survive."
When Nora finally went to bed, the adults sat around the small kitchen table.
The apartment smelled like pine and cocoa.
Caleb looked at the envelope of money again.
"I can't take this."
Maya said, "You already did."
"I mean it."
"So do we."
"I can pay it back."
Ronan sighed.
"There he goes."
"What?"
Luis leaned forward.
"Caleb, do you know why people are bad at helping you?"
He frowned.
"No."
"Because you make helping you exhausting."
Maya nodded.
"Accurate."
Caleb looked offended.
Luis continued.
"You'll drive across town at midnight because somebody's battery died."
"That's different."
"You say that about everything."
Ronan pointed at him.
"You stayed with me at the hospital when I had that chest scare."
"You were alone."
"So are you."
Caleb looked down.
Ronan's voice softened.
"Stop making us audition for the right to care about you."
The sentence hit harder than Caleb expected.
He rubbed his hands together.
"What happened after I left?"
Maya explained.
Graham suspended.
Independent review.
Board involvement.
Quality report.
No retaliation against employees.
Caleb listened without interrupting.
Then Maya said, "Malcolm wants to speak with you."
"No."
"Caleb."
"No."
Ronan frowned.
"You haven't even heard what he wants."
"I know what he wants."
"What?"
"For this to stop being a problem."
Maya nodded slightly.
"Probably."
"I was a problem this morning."
"That's why you talk to him."
Caleb stared toward the Christmas trees.
"What would I even say?"
Ronan answered.
"The truth."
At seven the following morning, Caleb woke before his alarm.
For several seconds he forgot.
Then memory returned all at once.
No job.
No badge.