He looked at her. Clare turned away. Daniel sat on the edge of the stage, breathing heavily. Clare approached. "You okay?"
He nodded. ""My ribs disagree."" She almost smiled. "Almost." Then she noticed the clock. 11:57. Daniel stood.
"I need to go." Clare nodded. Of course. He started walking. Daniel.
He turned. Clare reached into her coat and pulled out the silver compass. She held it out. "For Evan." Daniel looked at it.
That's Lily's. Clare shook her head. "I bought it for her." Daniel hesitated. She needs it more than I do.
Clare looked at him. No. She closed his fingers around it. She needs to know her father didn't disappear. Daniel understood.
He slipped the compass into his pocket. Then Clare asked softly. ""Will you come back tomorrow?"" Daniel looked at her. "Tomorrow, the board meeting." He gave a tired laugh. "I'm a maintenance supervisor, Clare."
She shook her head. "You're the only person who noticed those companies were fake." Daniel stared at her. "You knew? I know now."
A siren sounded outside. Christmas Eve was almost over. Daniel opened the door. Then he heard footsteps behind him. Lily.
She ran into the theater wearing her red coat. Clare followed. Lily stopped in front of Daniel. She looked up at him. "Are you leaving?"
Daniel crouched. "Not yet." She hugged him tightly. Clare watched. For the first time in years, she didn't reach for her phone.
She simply stood there. At midnight, Daniel finally drove home. The streets were quiet. Christmas lights glowed from windows. Inside his house, the kitchen light was still on.
He opened the front door. Evan was asleep on the couch. A blanket covered him. His Christmas list lay on the coffee table. Daniel picked it up.
The first four words were still there. "Just be home tonight." He sat beside his son. Then he noticed something written underneath. A new sentence.
And don't forget tomorrow. Daniel smiled quietly. Not because everything was fixed. It wasn't. The company would have to be rebuilt.
Clare would have to face the board. Lily would have questions. Daniel would have to explain why Christmas Eve had turned into the strangest night of their lives. But for the first time, he wasn't thinking about tomorrow. He was home.
He placed the silver compass beside Evan's Christmas list. Its needle trembled once, then settled, and from the hallway, Lily's small voice came through the open front door. Daniel. He looked up. She stood beside Clare.
Lily held her stuffed fox against her chest. Mom says, "We're staying for Christmas breakfast." Daniel looked at Clare. Clare gave him a small, uncertain smile. Daniel glanced at the clock.
12:16 a.m. Then he looked at the two people standing in his doorway. "Okay," he said. Lily smiled. And this time when Daniel closed the door, nobody was left behind.