Summary: On December 24, 2009, Adam was blessed with a very precious gift, that came with a very heavy price. Follow Adam, 18 years later, as he remembers and follows through with a tradition brought on by that day.

Author's Note: This was supposed to be published for Christmas/New Year. However, I was in NY and couldn't upload...family+holidays=Chaos. So...I hope you enjoy it. PLEASE NOTE: I ONLY OWN THE FOLLOWING: Angelina Noelle, Noelle, and Theresa. Everyone else belongs to themselves and WWE.

December 23, 2027

Normally, crowds and chaos excited Adam. They were his source of adrenaline, inspiration, and energy for a good fight in the ring. Tonight, however, save for a massive feeling of anticipation, all Adam felt was pure annoyance. As his green eyes scanned the airport, which seemed to him more like a giant marketplace in the middle of Arabia, his impatient anticipation grew. He glanced at his watch for what seemed like the 20th time in the past five minutes. Where in the hell is this plane? he wondered, silently wishing that scientists had made advances in teleportation.

Suddenly, he spotted his target. She was wearing dark wash skinny jeans, a pair of boots lined with faux fur, a white parka that made her look small, and dark sunglasses. Her long, curly hair flowed down her back, a shiny chestnut brown river. She was standing sideways, looking around the crowded airport, assumedly for him. Adam was just about to call her name when she turned just a bit more and spotted him. Her face broke out in a smile and she began jogging toward him, dragging her suitcase behind her.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, stopping just short of him. Dropping her suitcase, she launched herself toward Adam, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, slightly picking her up of the ground.

"Hey, Princess," he said, although it sounded muffled, as he had his face up against her parka. He broke the hug, holding her at arm's length. "Let me look at you," he said. After contemplating her for a minute, he smiled. "How was the flight?"

"It was good. Just too damn crowded," she said, rolling her eyes. Adam shot a look at his daughter. "What?" she asked, a puzzled look crossing her features.

"Don't give me that, Angelina Noelle. You know I didn't teach you to speak that way," he said.

"This coming from the man who had a shirt that read, 'I'm not your damn role model.' Please, daddy," she said, shooting him what looked like a mirrored version of his own smirk. He tried to look angry, but instead, he broke out in a smile.

"Only you could get in trouble with me in five seconds and still keep me smiling," Adam said, picking up Angelina's suitcase. As they began to walk out of the airport, Angelina put her arm around Adam's waist. They started making their way the parking garage, and as they did so, they quickly caught each other up on their lives; she on her busy life at NYU, her grades, the teachers she hated, and her friends; he on the work with WWE, new storylines, and the recent sale of his mother's home, which he'd inherited when she had passed. Shortly before they made it to the car, Angelina stopped, catching Adam by surprise.

"Daddy?" she said softly, turning to face her father, taking off her sunglasses.

"What is it, Princess?" he asked, his green eyes locking with her ice blue ones.

"I'm really happy to be home for Christmas…not to mention my birthday," she said, with a small giggle.

"Me too, Ang. Me too," he said, hugging her.

------

As soon as Angelina and Adam arrived home, Angelina had gone to bed, completely exhausted from the chaos of traveling, and pretty soon, Adam had followed suit. However, Adam was up bright and early the next day, Christmas Eve, although why that was the case he had no idea. Time off is meant for sleeping late, particularly on a holiday he mused, making his way out of bed. Quietly, he left his room and started down the hall, sneaking a peek into his daughter's room.

Angelina was curled up in her bed, which was right up against a frost covered window. She had apparently wriggled out of her covers, and was now just a shivering little brown haired ball, dressed in fuzzy PINK pants and a long sleeved night shirt. Her brow was furrowed, probably her body's subconscious response to the cold. Adam chuckled to himself, remembering the countless times she had done that as a child.

*Flashback*

Sleep. The concept of such a thing seemed foreign to him; these last few days adjusting to the baby's schedule had been absolutely exhausting, and it showed—in the ring, on his face, in his attitude. He looked skyward, thinking of Noelle. "You're probably laughing your ass off at me now, aren't you? Probably think it's one big, fat, cosmic joke," he said aloud. Sighing, he ran his hands through his hair. "But then again," he said, shaking his head, "I bet you probably know that I wouldn't have it any other way."

Quickly, he changed into some warm sleeping clothes and dove under the covers. Tonight would be his resting night; Angelina had been calmer, had fallen out rather quickly, and soon, he would too. Right before his eyes closed, he glanced at the clock. 12:45 am. Yes sir, tonight was his night.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The sound ripped through the house like a catastrophe alarm, and Adam bolted up in bed, having been awakened from a deep, dreamless sleep. He groaned, realizing that no, the sound was not a bomb alarm; rather, it was Angelina. He stole a glance at the clock, which tauntingly read 3:45 am, and forced himself out of bed, down the hall, passing the nursery and heading to the kitchen. 'She probably needs a feeding,' he thought, finally reaching the destination and warming a bottle.

As he walked back toward her room, Angelina's wails for attention grew louder and shorter, showing her immense irritation.

"Hey, hey, hey, kiddo," he said, in what he hoped was a soothing voice. In truth, his own irritation and lack of experience were making it come out like more of a growl. Adam leaned down and quickly placed the nipple of the bottle in her open mouth. This quieted his daughter for a moment, out of pure shock, but once she came to her senses, she spit out the bottle, and resumed her wailing. Adam looked at Angelina, a mix of frustration and desperation on his face, and he picked up the infant, who was surrounded by blankets, rocking her slightly. She seemed to settle a bit, but she was still fussing. "Is it your diaper, little girl?" he asked her, placing her onto the changing table. She was fussing as he removed it, but when he happened to clean her up with a wipe, all hell broke loose.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Waaah! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed out Angelina, now wiggling about, angrier than ever.

"Hey, now. Just relax, honey. It's just a wipe, see? Just a…" The clean wipe that he'd picked up and brushed against him was cold. Then he thought back to the blankets and how they'd been around Angelina and not on her. "THAT'S IT!" he shouted, nearly crazed with excitement, right before realizing this was notappropriate reaction; it only made the baby wail more. Adam quickly fastened the diaper, and scooped Angelina back up, rocking her once again. He crossed the room with her, grabbing a swaddling blanket, and then proceeded to get her wrapped up in it (not at all an easy task). Once accomplished, he settled down with her in the rocking chair that was in the nursery to lull her back to sleep.

*Flashback Ends*

Adam quickly found the quilt that Angelina had kicked off herself and gingerly placed it back on her, sitting on the edge of the bed. Angelina's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at her father. "Morning, Daddy," she said, stifling a yawn. "Merry Christmas Eve," she added, with a giggle.

"Same to you…And of course, happy birthday," he said, smiling at her. "Anything special you want to do today, baby?"

She looked pensive for a moment, and then she shrugged. "Not really, no. Most of my friends are with their families today and tomorrow, so we're getting together sometime next week, which leaves me free to spend it exactly how I wanted." Adam gave her a curious look. "With you! So…the planning is up to you. What did you have in mind?"

Adam chuckled; he had known that this was going to happen, had banked on it, in fact.

"Well," he said, "I know it might not be the ideal way to spend your birthday, but I know of a few aunts and uncles who would be upset if they didn't get to see their favorite niece."

Angelina's eyes began to sparkle. "Are you joking?!? Of course that's an ideal way to spend my birthday!" she squealed. After about a moment though, she became somber. "On one condition though, Daddy." Adam glanced at her, worried for a moment. "We have to go to Walmart at midnight."

Adam's expression softened. It was a tradition that they'd had since….well, since the day she was born. "I can't believe you still want to do that," he said softly.

"Of course I do…and I always will. Even when I get married, and have my own kids. What's the matter, Daddy?" she said, looking at Adam, who had suddenly blanched.

"Let's not look that far ahead into the future, okay, kid?" he said, trying to regain his composure. Angelina just rolled her eyes.

_______________

"Wow, Daddy…that was so much fun!" Angelina exclaimed as they entered the house several hours later, each carrying a giant load of gifts. "Thank you so much."

"Hey, if anything, you should be thanking Uncle Jay. I had the idea, but he was the one who pulled everyone together. Did you thank him?" replied Adam.

"I did…several times," she said, with a giggle. "I think he was getting sick of my 'thank you's." She set down her pile of gifts, and pulled out a compact mirror and small comb and gave her hair a once over.

Adam gave her a knowing look. "He was probably acting that way, but on the inside, he was loving every second of it. Gloating, even." And indeed, Jay had every reason to gloat. He and Adam had come up with the idea to throw a surprise party for Angelina about three weeks ago, but it was Jay who'd made all the arrangements, with some minor help from Natalya and himself. It had been a major success, and it was probably one of the better WWE parties of the year. Practically every Superstar and Diva from ECW and Smackdown was there, and even a few of his RAW peers had been in attendance. Now, it was close to 11:30, and the two of them were making a quick drop off of the gifts at their house before engaging in their yearly tradition of going to Walmart at precisely midnight. After setting down the enormous pile of gifts, which contained both birthday and Christmas gifts, Adam made a beeline for the tree.

"You ready, Daddy? It's almost go time!" she said, putting the hair care products back in her bag. She looked curiously at her father. "What are you doing?"

"Now, Ang, I know that usually the tradition is that we go to Walmart and buy your birthday gift, and exchange Christmas gifts after. But this gift kinda goes hand in hand with the tradition's other purpose, and I think you'd particularly enjoy having it now." He handed her a long, red velvet box that had one single white bow on it. "Happy Birthday, Angelina Noelle."

Gently, Angelina opened the box to reveal a beautiful gold locket in the shape of a heart. She pulled it out of the box and proceeded to open it. In one half of the locket was a small picture of Adam, decked out in his Rated R Superstar gear. In the other there was a picture of her very pregnant mother walking along the shore of a beach, in sweatpants and t-shirt.

"Wow…Dad…this is beautiful. Thank you." She handed him the locket, and signaled him to put it on her, picking up the river of chestnut hair that cascaded down her shoulders to increase his visibility. "Where did you get that picture of Mom?"

He sighed, recalling the occasion as he clasped the chain to her neck. "It was about two months before you were born. It was in Acapulco; if I'm not mistaken, that was the last place that your mom traveled with me to before she stopped traveling. Very reluctantly, I might add. God, she loved that beach. You know, the day I took that photo, she said to me, 'AJ, how much you want to bet that God made this beach from a piece of Heaven? I hope the rest of it's like this."

Angelina's breath hitched in her throat. Before it could get to her, Adam put his arm around her, and whispered, "Come on, Angel. Tradition awaits."

It was 11:50 when they arrived at Walmart. Both of them quickly made it to the aisle that had home accents and candles. Adam and Angelina must've looked at 20 different candles in a span of five minutes, each one having some sort of defect that made it inadequate. As they kept searching, Adam thought back to the very day and reason why the tradition had started.

December 24, 2009

The sudden, shrill ringing of the telephone startled Adam, who was struggling with a load of groceries. To make matters worse, he was not on the crutches anymore; to most, this would be a blessing. For him, however, it was hell. He'd had to re-learn how to walk with the new cast/boot that they had placed him in, and he constantly felt like he was going to trip and fall on his ass.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, as he managed not to topple. He put down the bag of groceries and hobbled as quickly as possible over to the phone, which seemed to grow shriller and shriller by the moment. He somehow managed to reach it before the machine picked up.

"Hello?" he said, breathlessly.

"Hello, I'm looking for Adam Copeland. Is he available?" asked a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, this is Adam. How may I help you?"

"Sir, my name is Theresa Dupont, and I'm a nurse at the Foothills Medical Centre's Birthing Unit. I'm calling on behalf of Ms. Noelle Redford."

"Noelle?" Suddenly, what the nurse had said before mentioning Noelle's name clicked in his head. "Birthing Unit? Noelle's in labor?!?"

"Yes, sir," she said, almost as if speaking to a child. "We just got through admitting her, and she asked me to call you. She said, and I quote, 'Call Adam! I need Adam; please tell him I need him."

"Yes, of course, I'll…I'll be there right away!" Adam quickly hung up the phone, and backed away, trying to keep his new rising sense of panic under control. Once again, Adam fought the propensity to trip and fall, and hobbled out to his car, grateful for once that he lived so close to the hospital.

_____________

Within 15 minutes, Adam had made it to the hospital, and he had just managed to burst through the doors of the Birthing Unit, racing (or in his case, shuffling very quickly) to the nurse's station. This was not the smartest move; it caused him to knock right into the station desk, giving the nurse quite a fright.

"Sorry I startled you," muttered Adam quickly. "I'm here for Noelle Redford; Nurse DuPont called me."

At hearing her name, a brunette nurse turned around. She looked to be in her late twenties, with steel grey eyes against a milky white complexion, and blonde hair that was braided into a long rope down her back. "Mr. Copeland?" she asked, almost shyly, arching her eyebrow to confirm it was truly him. He quickly nodded an affirmation, and she hastily grabbed a set of scrubs. For a second, she looked at him with a hint of doubt in her eyes, but then she sighed. Suddenly, she had rushed over to him and was helping him get the scrubs on. Adam fought the urge to scowl. The effort did not go unnoticed by Nurse DuPont.

"I'm sorry," she said, offering him a half smile. "Normally, I wouldn't be all over an expectant father…but time is of the essence. Seems like your baby wants to make it out into the world."

"You mean the baby's almost here?" asked Adam, balking at the idea.

"Well, she's already at 8 centimeters. So…unless her dilation slows, I'd say yes."

Adam did his best not to pass out, and once the scrubs were on, he and Nurse DuPont—who insisted on being called Theresa—made their way to Noelle's delivery room. As soon as Noelle laid eyes on Adam, she brightened. "Addy! You made it!" she said.

"Hey now," he said, making his way over to her bed. "I wouldn't miss this for the world…Although if it hadn't been for Theresa over here, I highly doubt I would be this early."

Noelle laughed and looked over at Theresa. "Thank you," she said. Right as she said that, though, Noelle felt a contraction and she hissed through her teeth. Adam instinctively gave her his hand, and rubbed her shoulders with his free hand. Theresa went to see how labor was progressing, and after a few moments, she looked up at them.

"Oh yes, this baby definitely doesn't want to wait," she said, beaming up at them. "I'd better go get the doctor; it won't be long now.

________

Indeed, it hadn't been long at all. Within 15 minutes, Noelle had fully dilated and now, she had Adam's hand in a death grip.

"Addy…I can't freakin' do this!" Noelle screamed out, as she was being instructed to push. "I can't, it hurts too much…" she said, before letting out a much louder scream.

He held her shoulders. "Yes you can, Noey. Come on, baby, you can do it. Just a few more pushes, sweetie. Just a few more and our little Superstar or Diva will be here. Come on, Noey, push!"

Noelle pushed while letting out a scream of pain, and she fell slightly against Adam, exhausted. As she did so, the doctor announced, "One more push, Ms. Redford!"and Noelle moaned, a mix of pain and frustration. Adam massaged her shoulders.

"Hear that, Noey? Just one more, sweetie. Just one more and you and I will be parents. It'll all be over soon, Noey," he soothed, and Noey had tears streaming down her face.

The doctor, a man by the name of Dr. Kesler, looked up at Noelle. "When I count to five, Ms. Redford, I want one big, final push! Ready? One…two…three…four…FIVE….PUSH!!" he said, as Noelle let out a huge screech of pain and bore down, finally getting the child out.

Theresa, who was assisting with the birth, called out, "It's a girl!" Quickly, after Adam had proudly cut the cord, she and the other nurses grabbed the wailing child and got her cleaned up, weighing her and wrapping her in hospital receiving blankets. Theresa handed the baby, still squalling, to Adam. "Congratulations, papa," she said. Adam nodded his thanks, and he made his way over to Noelle, who was smiling at her best friend and her daughter.

"Look, Noey," he said, sitting next to her on the bed, "Looks like we've got ourselves a little Diva," he said, placing the baby on her.

"Oh, Addy," she said. "She's beautiful." Her voice faltered. "Just like…an angel." Suddenly, she let out a sigh and her head turned to one side.

"Noey?" Adam said, unsure of what was going on. "Noey? Noey!! Wake up, Noey, you're scaring me!" He looked up at Theresa as he picked up the baby; Theresa hurried over, a concerned look on her face. She quickly turned to one of her coworkers.

"Get Dr. Kesler! We have an emergency!"

"What's going on?!" Adam demanded. Theresa looked at him, with a mix of sympathy and urgency.

"You need to get out of here. We need to make sure Noelle's okay."

"But what's happening? What's wrong with her?"

Now, Theresa was shoving Adam and the baby out of the delivery room. "As soon as I know, I'll let you know. I promise. Now, go!"

_______

Half an hour had passed; perhaps the most agonizing half hour of his life. In the meantime, desperately attempting to quell his own desperation, he'd called Jay, Chris Irvine, and Natalya, who'd shown up at the hospital with Tyson. Currently, she was holding the baby.

"My God, Adam…she looks so much like you. And FYI, I'm proclaiming myself her godmother," she said, as she gently rocked the infant.

"Never thought I'd see the day that Nattie Neidhart would get maternal instincts," Jay said, jokingly.

"You're lucky there's a child in my arms, Jason Reso, otherwise you'd get your…something handed to you." She looked over at Adam, who looked as though he was made of stone. Quietly, she handed the baby to Chris, probably the most experienced baby holder in the group and went to sit beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. The touch comforted him somewhat, and he wrapped an arm around her. Out of all of them in the room, Nattie was probably the only one who felt more worry than he did; after all, Noelle was Nattie's cousin.

"Did you call Ross yet?" he asked her. Nattie nodded.

"Yeah; Uncle Ross is beside himself. Mom's driving him down."

They looked at Chris, who was walking toward them with a very fussy baby in his arms.

"I think that this little one wants her daddy. Or a bottle," he said, handing her back to Adam.

"Thanks, Chris," Adam said to his friend. Then, he looked down at his child. "Hey now, angel. Why are you crying? Shh, shh, it's okay, Daddy's right here." Suddenly, he realized that she must've been famished; she'd hadn't had a chance to eat at all with everything that had happened. "I'm going to take her to the nursery," Adam told Nattie. "I think she needs to eat." Nattie nodded, and he stood up, taking off down the hall with his little bundle of joy.

________

As he walked back to his friends, Adam could sense tension. That's when he spotted Theresa standing in front of his friends. He began walking faster, determined to not fall over. "How's Noelle? Can I see her?" he asked.

"I was waiting for you, Mr. Copeland," she said. Her voice had a new softness to it, and what seemed to be…sadness. Nattie picked up on it too, and she clung to Adam. "Unfortunately, Ms. Redford suffered an aneurysm. These incidents are very rare and although the doctors did the best they could…Ms. Redford didn't make it. I'm very sorry for your loss.

________

After hearing those words, Adam had collapsed into a chair and settled into a catatonic state. Nattie found him in that very chair, in the very same position a half hour later. She had just finished calling the family, and approached Adam with trepidation.

"Addy?" she said.

He looked up at her vacantly. She plundered on. "Addy, you should probably go home and rest. You have to pick up the baby tomorrow."

"The baby," he muttered. "The baby. Nattie, I don't have anything for the baby…all of the stuff was at Noey's house." Nattie looked at him incredulously. "We were planning to set it up a second nursery at my house, but we never got to it, especially with my injury. And now…here we are."

"Addy…if you want, Ty and I can go to Noey's and pick up the stuff, and help you set it up."

When he spoke, his voice broke. "How can I do that? Nattie…shewas supposed to use that stuff. I was going to move in for a bit, help out, and then we were gonna split custody. I helped her set up that nursery so she could use it; we called it 'The Mommy Nursery.' I…I can't….I just can't!" Adam suddenly seemed to fall over himself inside, to break. Whatever small house of cards had been holding him together collapsed as he held his face in his hands and cried.

"Addy…you know Noey would want you to use the stuff. Maybe not right away," she added quickly, seeing him start crying a bit more. "But it would probably be one of the greatest gifts you could give her."

"Give her?" he said, his voice laced with sarcasm. "What can I give her? I don't even have a proper nursery. What kind of life will she have with me? Hell, I can't even give her a proper name."

Nattie sat down next to him and said, "Well…knowing you…you want something symbolic. Something to honor her."

Suddenly, it clicked for Adam. The last words she'd ever said to him.

"I got it."

Adam sighed. He had given her something--a name, purely honorific of her mother--but he still had no place to put the child when he took her home the next day. He thought back to Nattie's original offer to go back to Noelle's and get the stuff for the nursery. Should he? After all, it was always their intent that she should use the nursery.

But it was too soon. The injury was too raw; besides, it was disrespectful. Noelle had just died, and it wouldn't be right to just go into her house and steal the nursery. No, his mind was made up; he would buy some new furniture, at least for now.

"Nattie?" he said, breaking her from an intense conversation with her uncle, Noelle's father, Ross. "I'm going to go and buy some baby furniture for the baby. Then, tomorrow, when she gets released, I was thinking of maybe heading to your place and helping out with the funeral arrangements." He then turned his attention to Ross, getting him in a hug. "I'm…Ross, I'm so sorry."

Ross looked at him, with an unreadable expression. "We all are, Adam. But she left us a permanent reminder." Nattie nodded in agreement. "I expect to see you and my beautiful granddaughter tomorrow; I can't wait to meet her. Now, what's this about getting baby furniture? Noelle…" he said, pausing to contain his grief. "…Told me that you'd helped her set up one. What happened to that?" Adam ran a hand through his hair.

"It's still there. It's just that…we hadn't set one up at my house yet—"

"Well then, just go and get the nursery from Noelle's…she'd want it used, after all."

Nattie put her hand on Ross' shoulder. "I keep telling him that," she said. She faced Adam. "Really, Adam. She'd always meant for the stuff to be used…"

Adam sighed. "Not yet…it's—it's too soon, Nattie. I mean, to just go in there and take her stuff, and she's not even…I promise…I will eventually but…"

"Adam, really, she'd want…"

Ross placed a hand on his niece. "Nattie…it's Adam's choice. He'll know when it's time."

Adam shot Ross a grateful look. "Ok, well, I'm going to go," he said, stealing a glance at his watch. "I want to get out of here before it gets any later." Ross nodded, and Nattie stared on after him.

__________

He had been driving for hours. Since when did everything start to close so early? It was only 9:30 pm, for Christ's sake! Adam ran a hand through his hair; it hadn't even been a day, and he was going to fail his daughter. Either that, or he would be forced to use a nursery, that although had been meant for the baby's immediate use, was in the house of a recently deceased friend. Using that so quickly…

Adam didn't even finish the thought. You'll find something, AJ, he thought to himself, driving further and further. Then, he saw it. His salvation.

The Walmart was completely lit, and surprisingly, cars were actively coming and going from the parking lot. Luckily, he was able to find a parking spot and he quickly made his way out of the car and inside.

For the first time in his life, a Walmart scared Adam. He didn't even know where to start. One step a time, he thought, scanning the aisles quickly. His eyes finally rested on the 'baby section' of the store, and he took a deep breath, praying that it wouldn't be too hard to find everything that most couples spent months finding for their babies in just the span of one night.

_________

Perhaps Noelle was smiling down on him, seeing how desperate he was. But somehow, he managed to find a suitable bassinet and changing table (he had decided that for at least a week or two, just these would do and that he would focus on the rest later), along with some basic supplies such as diapers, bottles, blankets, a carrier, a carseat, and a few outfits (which had made his inner woman come out, much to his personal horror). He glanced at his watch, which had read 11:45, and decided it was high time to get home and put some of the stuff together. Moving rather quickly, he began to make his way to the check-out, when something suddenly caught his eye.

There, in the middle of the toy aisle, on his immediate left was a snow white teddy bear, with a Santa hat on. It was a simple toy, but something about it called to Adam. He glanced down at his shopping cart. He already had about 300 dollars worth of stuff in the cart, but as he looked over at the little bear again, he quickly decided that it didn't matter. Adam went and picked up the bear, deciding that it would be a Christmas/birthday gift for his little girl, and continued to make his way to the cashier. Then he stopped, again. He had just passed the accents, specifically, the candles.

As Adam spotted them, he struggled not to tear up. Those candles had brought a strong, immensely vivid image of Noelle as he remembered one of her most treasured traditions. He searched among the candles, trying to find the most perfect one. The one that could even hold a candle (no pun intended) to the perfection of Noelle.

_______

After busting his behind, and quite a few fingers, Adam had finally managed to put together the changing table and the bassinet, hell bent on getting what he considered the extremely weak excuse of a nursery together before his daughter arrived. Now, as he loped out to the living room, he remembered the candle. Sighing, he made his way over to one of the chairs that was around his kitchen table, which held his Walmart bag that contained the candle he had purchased for Noey.

He gingerly picked it up out of the bag, being extremely careful with it. Then, he walked over to the mantle and set the perfect, long, white, candle into a holder on his mantle, next to his favorite photo of them that had been taken a few years ago. The two of them were seated on the bed of her red Ford truck, each with one arm around the other, a beer in each of their free hands. Grabbing a lighter from his pocket, he flicked its starter several times until a bright orange flame began to glow at the end of the small cylinder. Slowly, he lowered the flame to the wick of the candle and watched as it lit up. As he put away the lighter in his pocket, all of the emotions of the day seemed to pummel Adam in one gigantic wave. Adam tried to resist, to try and keep his control, but he had finally reached his breaking point.

Tears that seemed to boil flowed freely down his face. Those tears held so much; anger, pain, fear, sadness. And yet, they weren't enough to provide him complete release; his body shook, gently at first and then it burst out into full blown tremors as he let out loud, wracking sobs that had a hold on every muscle, every nerve, every fiber of his being. He watched the light from the candle flicker in the gaps of the holder, each tiny light movement reminding him of Noelle's absence, causing more sobs to come from him. When he had finally gained some calm, Adam let out a breath and whispered a tiny prayer. Then, he fixed a stare on the photo again, going over Noelle's face, taking in every detail, from her beautiful brown hair and blue eyes to her sunny smile that seemed to stretch for miles. For a moment, it felt like he'd forgotten something, and then it clicked in his mind.

"I won't let her forget you, Noelle."

___________________

Present Day

"Found it!" exclaimed Angelina. "And right on time, too!" she said, glancing at her watch. It was 12 am now, the precise time that her father had found the original candle on the first day of their tradition. "Dad? Did you hear me?" she asked.

It was this that snapped Adam from his thoughts. "Huh?" Then he noticed the candle, causing him to take a huge breath. It was identical to the one he'd purchased all those years ago. He nodded, and the two of them headed to the checkout and exit.

After they had finished paying, the two of them made their way to the car, both ready to go home and light Noelle's candle. Suddenly, Adam stopped, causing Angelina some confusion.

"What is it, Dad?"

He glanced at his daughter, a smile forming on his face. Then he glanced upward toward the sky.

"Dad?" Angelina questioned again. Adam broke his trance with the sky and wrapped her in a hug. When he'd released her, she smiled. "What was that about?"

"I was just thanking your mom," he replied, which earned him Angelina's arched eyebrow, urging him to continue. "For the best Christmas gift she ever gave me." Angelina smiled and hugged father, just as a small breeze blew around them.

Adam could swear he'd heard a very faint "You're welcome."

END