Last chance

Charlie was just so frustrated, but it had nothing to do with Barry.

In fact, life was great at Barry's house. And she'd made a home with him, but the fact remained..she wasn't sure who she worried more about. Draco or his mother.

"You, could have came over for Christmas." She scolded him. "We thought you were." They'd made a place for him on Christmas eve, but Draco never called. Just a no show. She should have expected it.

Of course, Draco said nothing in  his defense, he was washing dishes, even if the dishwasher worked perfectly.

"Lily, was so excited, and then..you didn't even call her." Charlie went on to say. She crossed her arms. Generally, she was the one who stopped over from time to time to clean the kitchen.

"I wasn't up to it. OK." His voice cracked.

"What did, you do, for Christmas?" She wanted to know.

He kept his back to her.

"Nothing." He finally said. It was quiet for a bit. "You know, I couldn't afford to buy Lily anything, anyway." He sighed heavily.

"It wouldn't have mattered to her. She wanted to see you." Charlie wished she could reason with him.

"Look, I'll..I'll try to make it up to her." He finally looked at her as he melted into tears.

"What's wrong now?" Charlie looked at him as if he better fess up.

Carson did his best to make Christmas a bright one for Brittany and Theo. Yet, he couldn't help to wonder about Essie and the baby.

He wanted to accept the fact, there was no going back. What was done was done. He couldn't possibly bother with her now. After all, she'd made a home with Scott. They were a family now. He'd given up his right to be a real father.

He kept it to himself. It had been a very quiet Christmas, even if they ended up at his Dad's.

There were presents of socks and fresh T-shirts, a few gift cards too. Still he felt so numb, even if he tried his best to smile and go on.

"What's wrong?" Brittany wanted to know.

"I dunno. Christmas never really is what you want it to be. I guess." He finally admitted. He said there were a lot of Christmases he'd had when there were no presents. "Guess, I hate the fact my Mom can be so happy now, when she didn't think once about me, back then." On some level, he knew he truly hated her.

Now what hurt worse, that someday, someone out there.... would hate him the same way.

She wanted to know what was bothering him. Finally, on New Year's Eve he told her the news that he might have a daughter, and he didn't know what to do about it.