The sisters' hands were a kaleidoscope of sparklers, as they danced through the night air with their incandescent wands. "Lighting up the night for ya," they chimed together. Leo rolled his eyes. "How utterly pointless."

The Cedillo family's living room buzzed with the chatter of a sitcom, the interior as cozy as a warm hearth.

Outside, the biting wind whistled, but the clear glow of the porch light shone brightly, casting long shadows of everyone in the yard, intertwining then parting.

Andre, eager to show his wife the snowman he'd built, had thrown himself into the task with gusto.

Despite the winter chill, he'd shed his coat and was bustling about in the yard, devoid of his usual CEO demeanor.

At that moment, he was simply Andre-Hansen's son, Mia's husband, Henry's dad. No matter how imposing he might appear, he couldn't escape the simple human joys-the smoke from a chimney, the laughter of his family. Oh, and little Henry was snuggled up in the arms of their trusted nanny.

Because his mom was about to set off fireworks!

One arm cradling a child does make it a bit harder to celebrate.

When the sparkling display was done, the sisters whipped out the secret stash of skyrocketing rockets, fizzling and popping all around the yard. Mia ran to ask her husband for a lighter, "Honey, I wanna set these off, gimme your lighter, will ya?" Before marriage, Mia would have asked her father for a lighter; now, it was her husband's turn.

Andre patted his pockets, found none, and handed her the car keys instead. "Check the car."

Finding the lighter, Mia and Molly set to work, igniting each firework.

Little Henry watched, wide-eyed and pajama-clad in his mom's fluffy coat and the extra blanket his aunt insisted he wear, his tiny tiger hat and a scarf wrapped around his face, leaving only his sparkling eyes visible, full of curiosity. Chad had tried calling Molly several times to no avail.

Eventually, he let it go and continued his night shift.

Last year, she'd brought him dumplings; this year, she seemed to have forgotten him.

Chad chuckled to himself. "Oh well."

was quiet, with not

missed their granddaughter, "Molly doesn't

this year. Once Molly and Chad get hitched, you'll be wishing

immediately began to

Andre abandoned the snowman to

given baby Henry quite

his father's arms. Why set off fireworks if it just scared the

her fill of fireworks, she finally remembered

over to scoop up

eleven, the snowman was finished, and the fireworks were

the snowman's lips, while Mia prepared to tackle its

going on?" Molly puzzled

replied, "The lipstick's

ink in her husband's study. "Molly, wait

rebuke, Mia scampered off and soon reappeared,

he watched

using

didn't say a

lips. "It's just using my hubby's ink. Why would

Mia's hand, "You're clueless. That ink took Uncle six years to acquire. It's ageless, even emperors used it. Think about it, what could

That ink's more expensive

hand felt a

at her red-stained hand, "Leo, does this mean I can never wash this hand again?" Mia blinked in disbelief, then turned to her husband with puppy-dog eyes, "Honey, I messed up." Andre didn't scold her on the holiday. He just smiled, "It's okay, have fun. That's what matters." Mia was near tears, "Honey, can you please not let

hugged his wife, "As long as you're happy,

returned the

seemingly more

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