Hope you don't mind that all of my other stories are on hold as I write the annual CaReese Christmas story. The idea came to me a couple of years ago when people on the POI Shark board were trying to think of a project for Jim and Taraji to do together. I'm not very good at screenplays, but after last year's "Hope Is Born Again" I thought this idea was too good to sit on a shelf. This story is about loss, loneliness, redemption, and finding out that love is the greatest gift anyone can receive. I hope you like it.

I don't own Person of Interest.

Song prompt: "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" by Celine Dion


Don't Save It All For Christmas Day

Lawerence Park Township, Pennsylania

Two days before Christmas

The twinkling lights decorated the outside of the two story house, but the mood inside the interior was somber and sad. Soft music played in the background as people filed by the short woman dressed in black. Some shook her hand, others leaned down to give her a hug and whisper words of condolence in her ear.

But Sara Carter didn't hear any of it. Her heart was too broken to care about much of anything, but she tried to put on a brave face. Friends and neighbours were turning out to pay their respects, so the least she could do was pretend to care.

"Oh, Sara," a white haired woman cried as she approached. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Joan." Sara tried to keep her emotions under control, but with each passing minute it was getting more difficult.

"This is such a sad day." Joan took Sara's hands in hers and squeezed. "How are you holding up?"

"I don't know," Sara admitted honestly.

"So young. They had their lives in front of them. Oh, it's just not fair." Joan dabbed at the corner of her eyes. "Or that it had to happen right before Christmas."

"I want to believe it was God's plan."

"God's plan or not, it was definitely Divine Providence that kept that little girl from being in the car that night," Joan declared and broke into fresh sobs. She couldn't imagine Fate being so cruel as taking every member of the Carter Family. Someone with a kind hand had had compassion for Sara.

Wordlessly, Sara put her arm around her friend and guided her outside to the porch. The crisp, cold air had a bite, and the grey sky that matched the mood of the women seemed to have a hint of snow, although the ground was clear.

"God knew I was going to need her," Sara confessed. "I don't know what I would have done if all of them had..." Her voice trailed off. She wouldn't think about worse case scenario. Not ever. She had her precious granddaughter, and she was going to treasure and hold her close.

"Only He knows the plan laid out for us."

"That is true. I just have to keep telling myself that, so I can believe it." Sara looked out at the horizon. "Maybe it's too soon to accept it." But when would enough time pass so she could accept it, she wondered sadly.

"It takes time," Joan gently comforted the best she could. Now was not the time to preach and pontificate about love and destiny and the Kingdom in the sky. It was time for grieving and helping her friend forward as she took those difficult baby steps.

"I know."

"What about...money? Is...is everything going to be okay?"

Sara nodded. "Chris and Mila had life insurance policies. And there is the trust fund set up when Joss was born," she revealed that not everything was grim and dire. Although it was difficult to believe that there could be a tomorrow. "We will have enough. And I found out that when Joss is eighteen, she can use her father's unused GI Bill to go to college."

"That is going to take a lot of the burden off of your shoulders. We should be thankful that Chris and Mila thought into the future."

"I am." Her only child had always been so prepared and thoughtful where his family's welfare was concerned. It was almost as though he had had a premonition that he wasn't going to be around for very long.

"How is Joss?"

"I don't know. She hasn't spoken since we got the news," Sara confessed. The little girl had clammed up and hung her head when the police had arrived with the devastating news that her parents had been killed in a head on collision with a semi-truck that had over corrected after hitting black ice.

"She is probably still in shock. She'll come around."

"I don't know. She hasn't even cried." Was that normal for a five year old? No book had been able to answer that question. But then again, losing a parent—or both—was much different than losing a pet.

"Children grieve differently than adults. She lost her parents and home all in one week. Once she settles in, she'll go back to being a normal little girl. It just takes time."

"I have been thinking about moving to D.C.," Sara said softly. "Christopher bought that house, and she should live there. But I don't know. Maybe I should keep her around the things she finds familiar. Maybe letting her finish school with her friends."

"You would have to rip her out at the end of the school year. All it will do is cause more scars and pain. Familiar is good, but she needs stability, too. Trust me, this will stay with her and help her recover."

Sara's nails dug into the wood railing of the porch. The tears she had been holding back, fell from her eyes. Her voice was hoarse as she asked, "But will I?"
*******

Unknown to the two women, up in a tree, on a branch near the middle of the giant oak, sat a little girl. Still as a statue, she sat and looked out at the horizon. But her eyes didn't see. All she knew was her heart was broken because her mommy and daddy went away to Heaven, and she was never going to see them again.

"Can I sit with you?" a voice asked softly.

Joss flicked her gaze down to see a dark haired boy shimmying up the tree. She didn't answer. Instead, she turned her head and looked away.

Not taking response as a no or a yes, the boy continued his ascension until he was sitting on the tree branch beside the little girl.

"I'm John," he introduced himself and extended his hand. The invite was ignored. "You must be Joss. I'm sorry about what happened to your parents."

"Go away."

"I can't."

"Why?" Joss asked.

"I'm afraid of heights," John confessed.

Joss made a face. "Then why are you in a tree?"

"Because you looked lonely."

"You are afraid of heights, but you climbed a tree?" she asked in disbelief. She scooched over to make a wider space between her and the strange boy. She knew he had to be crazy.

"Why not? Sometimes you have to do things that might scare you so you can help someone in need," he reasoned logically. "My dad always said that you have to take the bull by the horns if you want to succeed."

The image of taking a bull by its horns made Joss frown. "What does that mean?"

John shrugged. "I don't know, but my dad says it can make anything happen."

"I'm not touching a mean old bull."

"Me neither."

Joss looked up into the sad blue eyes looking at her. There was something almost comforting about them.

"My name is Joss Carter," she introduced herself.

"John Reese. Your grandma is looking for you."

"I don't want to go; I want to stay here." She would glue herself to the branch before she went down to be hugged and kissed by strangers who were crying and grabbing her so they could tell her stories about her parents. They scared her.

"But what about Christmas?"

"I don't like it no more." Joss angrily kicked at the air. "I don't like anything no more." Why didn't God want her to be with her parents? Did he not like her? Well, if He didn't like her, she didn't like him.

"But what about the presents? Don't you want to see what Santa brought you?"

"No."

"Why not?" John tried to make sense of it in his nine year old mind, but it didn't make sense. Presents made everyone happy—no matter what pain they were in.

"Because my mommy and daddy won't be there," Joss whispered on a choked sob.

John reached out and took her hand in his. He felt an inexplicable need to protect and comfort Joss. As he looked deep in her big brown eyes, he felt his heart do a weird kind of flip.

"What if I opened them with you?" he offered carefully.

"You would do that?"

"Yes."

A little smile tugged at Joss's lips—the first since that tragic night. "Okay. John?"

"Yes?"

"Can we stay up here for a minute?"

"Sure." He didn't want to go anywhere, either.

Impressed, Joss scooched over so she could be side by side with John. She took his hand in hers and held tight. "I don't want to be alone." Alone meant scary dark places with monsters who had big yellow teeth and fiery green eyes with long fingernails that wanted to hurt her. But the boy sitting beside her would fight those monsters, she was sure of it.

"You're not alone, Joss," he promised and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Joss lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Thank you."

Tomorrow was too far away to think about, but it didn't matter to the pair who decided to live for the moment.