A Family Under the Christmas Tree Read Free Page A

never expected. Why had Daniel and Beth appointed him guardian of their son?
    David and Daniel had had such different lives the past few years. They hadn’t seen eye to eye on many things. David had been focused on building his company, Daniel on taking care of his family. Daniel had been clearly disappointed that David haddevoted himself to work instead of family and faith. He’d said as much to David on more than one occasion.
    Guilt ate at David for allowing a wedge to develop between him and Daniel. A wedge that had been shattered by Daniel’s death.
    And now, six months into fatherhood, David still felt like he was walking through a minefield. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement.
    There was no class to prepare someone to become a parent overnight. David was not only struggling with his own grief over his brother’s passing, but he was trying his best to help Troy cope as well. Some days were better than others.
    Yesterday had been good. Troy and Riggs had played hard for a couple of hours, and Troy had been exhausted by the time they’d returned home, which allowed David some focused time at his computer.
    David hoped today would be good too, but Troy hadn’t slept well. Ever since Daniel and Beth’s accident, Troy had been struggling with nightmares—night terrors, the doctor called them—that left him screaming and afraid. The next day, they would both be cranky. But they’d managed to make breakfast together, do their laundry, and make their beds without any meltdowns. He considered that a success.
    With school out for the holiday break, Troy was in the living room watching a cartoon. The volume crept up to a deafening level and grated on David’s already tightly strung nerves.
    He was working to develop a sensor for smartphones that would determine a person’s hydration level. The sensor would be able to read the saturation in their skin when a finger was pressed against the sensor, and it would be connected to an app that would track and monitor this.
    The idea came after a reporter for a national online newspaperhad issued a challenge to software designers to develop a number of seemingly outlandish apps. Every software developer in David’s sphere had been abuzz about the list of wished-for apps. Some were too ridiculous to contemplate, while others had merit.
    Like an app that detected when someone was dehydrated.
    As David had done research into the negative effects of dehydration, he saw how useful such an app could be. He’d begun working on it nearly a year ago, and was now at the final stages. This project could be the one that set his company up for life. So much was riding on getting it right. And rolling the app out before anyone else got wind of it was paramount.
    But to succeed, David needed time. Uninterrupted, focused time.
    He rose and strode to the archway of the living room. Troy sat on the floor with his legs crisscrossed as a set of animated superheroes saved the world.
    â€œHey, buddy, can we turn the volume down a couple of clicks?” David asked.
    Troy ignored him. David stepped over a dump truck to pick up the remote from the coffee table and decreased the sound. Troy seemed not to notice.
    Shaking his head, David returned to his project. His hands flew over the keyboard of his computer. He made notes on a yellow legal pad. He was so close. This app could save lives if he could get it to run correctly.
    Ten minutes later, Troy raced into the room and jumped on David’s back. The chair squeaked with the extra weight. David took a deep breath and tried to summon as much patience as he could. Then David lifted his hands from his keyboard and took a deep breath. “Troy. I’m working.”
    â€œYou promised we could go to the park!” Troy jumped down and twirled in a circle. “I want to go to the park.”
    â€œYou’re right. I did say we’d go to the park. Later. But I need to work