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left it in my stocking. I fell asleep before he left. He said to rub it on<br />
Christmas and he’ll always be here.”<br />
Tristan stared at the round, and she knew the story behind it.<br />
Her husband had told her all about it when it had happened, after she<br />
had put Hailey to sleep that night. He never shared any of his war stories<br />
with his daughter. She took the round in her fingertips, fondling it like<br />
she had seen her husband do in the webcam during so many Skype<br />
conversations.<br />
“Don’t lose it, Mommy!” Hailey said, taking it from her and<br />
placing it in the top drawer of her nightstand. “We’re gonna need that<br />
next Christmas.”<br />
The baby cried from down the hall, but Tristan didn’t seem to hear<br />
it. Her eyes were fixed on her daughter, and her whole body felt numb.<br />
“They baby’s crying, Mommy. You’d better go get him.” Hailey<br />
picked up a Snickers bar that had a picture of Santa on the wrapper and<br />
tore into it. “It’s okay if I have candy for breakfast. It’s Christmas. Daddy<br />
said we can break the rules on Christmas. It’s a magic time.”<br />
The baby cried again.<br />
Louder.<br />
Kevin E. Lake served as a machine gunner in Mosul, Iraq during 2008-2009.<br />
After returning from deployment (and spending six months in an Army hospital)<br />
he relocated to the Philippine Islands to pursue writing full time. He is the author<br />
of “From the Graves of Babes,” a ghost novel which recently spent six months as<br />
Amazon’s #1 rated ghost novel in customer satisfaction. His most recent novel,<br />
“Off Switch,” addresses the issues of P.T.S.D. and suicide among veterans, which is<br />
currently taking out veterans of the wars in the Middle East at an alarming rate<br />
of eighteen per day. These and all other Kevin E. Lake books can be purchased on<br />
Amazon.<br />
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