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themselves when they became of age.
    She walked up the steps and opened the door to the house that made her believe in miracles. Carmen had decorated the house to be warm and inviting. It wasn’t a place just for children to sleep and escape the cold, she made it into a home. “I like it,” Loki whispered in her ear, and even though he was invisible she could still feel the heat of his breath tickle her ear and it made her shiver.
    “Vivienne, you’re finally here.” Carmen came down the stairs with a warm smile. She was a Puerto Rican beauty with long brown hair streaked with highlights of red. Even though she was older, her skin was smooth, and her eyes sharp with happiness. Vivi remembered her kind eyes being what helped her as a teenager to feel sane in all the chaos her life had been thrown into when her parents died. Carmen could be strict when you started going down the wrong path, but her eyes never lost any of the love in their brown depth.
    “Carmen, will you ever just call me Vivi?” she teased.
    “Why ruin such a beautiful name by shortening it to Vivi?” she scoffed.
    “I say the same thing,” Loki said. Only she could hear him and she almost reached up to pinch his ear but stopped herself.
    “Are the kids excited?” Vivi asked.
    “They are a bundle of excitement, all except Sandy,” Carmen explained and sighed. “That child is ten years old going on thirty. Last year’s Santa has her convinced there is no more magic in the world. That and her mother came to the school again trying to get her to leave the premises with her. When Sandy said no, she ripped that child up one way and down another.”
    “Carmen, why didn’t you call me?” Vivi gasped and then said angrily, “Oh, I want to punch that woman’s lights out. Why can’t she see that if she gets off that stuff she’s smoking we’d be willing to work with her? We can help her and Sandy be a family again.”
    Carmen smiled gently. “You can’t force help on someone who has been hooked on crack from before their child was born. They need to want to change first before you can help them change. All we can do is make sure children like Sandy have the best care possible and are not lost in the system. We don’t get to save them all, but we’re making a dent.”
    Vivi hugged Carmen. “Well, today we’re going to bring her some magic again.”
    Carmen chuckled as they walked down the hall to the main dining room. “Unless the Santa you hired can appear in the room, that child is dead set against Christmas.”
    As always, the large fresh pine tree was set up in the corner of the room, glittering merrily with presents stacked beneath it. Food was set up along a table on one side of the room. Vivi saw green and red Christmas Rice Krispies treats and punch with slices of fruit floating it its red depths. The kids squealed and ran to hug her when she walked into the room. Even the older girls took time from texting on their phones to come over and greet her warmly.
    Only Sandy sat back, her face sullen, lower lip trembling as if she was about to cry. She seemed to have struck a chord with Loki because he whispered in her ear. “She’s going to be the first one I call on. I’ll have her smiling in no time.” Vivi gave a nod to let him know she heard him.
    “So, kids, Santa is on his way,” Vivi said loudly. “I hope you’re all ready.”
    “Is he going to walk into the room and his clothes won’t fit him and his fake beard will fall off?” Sandy said loudly.
    “Sandy, stop messing with Santa,” a five-year-old boy said. “You won’t get any presents.”
    “Gavin, the presents you get come from—”
    An older girl named Fiona cut her off with a glare. “Do not be trying to ruin the holidays for everyone just because you’re in a pissy mood, Sandy Daley.”
    Vivi looked over at Carmen who shook her head and shrugged. She took control before the kids could argue back and forth. “Vivienne has planned a special day for you