Charlie cranks some Christmas tunes as she moves about the kitchen beaming. She’s mixing up homemade hot chocolate for the two of you.

The kitchen smells of cocoa powder, nutmeg, vanilla, and overall warmth. This recipe had been her mother’s family recipe.

“You’re gonna get addicted to this stuff.” She says as she stirs the pot of cocoa mix. She turns around and you see a little smudge of cocoa powder on her cheek that makes you smile.

“Marshmallows?” She asks as she has now set down the pot and migrated to the pantry, shifting through ingredients.