"And then there's us," Therese says with a bittersweet, crooked smile. As much as she might like the idea of it in theory, her own family was never that to her, and she doesn't regret that, either. With the situation being what it was, she wouldn't have wanted to spend any more time with them, and it isn't as if she could go back and be born to someone else. She's been fine on her own. At least it means she has no one else to miss too much around the holidays, besides Carol, of course.

"One of the last times I saw my mother was Christmas. It wasn't my favorite Christmas."