Aunt Mila was the one collecting the eggs every morning but the chore is now mine. We have an extra daily egg since she has flown off and Grandma uses them to bake a cake every other day. Grandpa and ... [+]
It was real cold that night, not just Miami cold, and it was late. I'd had to wait until the girls were asleep to go out into the pre-Christmas lunacy of the mall because my wife and I were keeping up the Santa story as long as possible, trying to maintain some sort of parental leverage in our chaotic household. I was almost home, going a little too fast through the thick, tree-covered dark, and I looked down for a second to adjust the unfamiliar controls of the car's heater. That's when I felt the sickening thump. I hit the brakes and pulled over, disgusted because I knew to be more careful