A Christmas Carol Reader Novels & Stories

Please! ― Son I love you! Daddy will always be by your side. I will never abandon you, I promise! Take care of your mom, my Manuela Banguela! I will always love you both. You are my blessing, my love, my Christmas miracle. Manuela Banguela? My God! As if I had woken up from a nightmare, I felt my body shaking uncontrollably. Images began to pop into my mind. My father―in―law and I talking about our Christmas miracle, Ric's arrival at the airport, our childhood games and the way I was crazy about him, his touch, his mouth kissing every part of my body, our night of love, the text from his ex―girlfriend, my brother picking on me, my books, it was all coming back. Phrases in my unconscious when

"On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 12 Drummers Drumming, Eleven Pipers Piping, Ten Lords a Leaping, Nine Ladies Dancing, Eight Maids a Milking, Seven Swans a Swimming, Six Geese a Laying, Five Golden Rings, Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens, Two Turtle Doves, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree." " Woooh!" We cheered for ourselves. We definitely crushed that. "That was fire fam." Theresa, the choir prefect commended before we proceeded to do the Acapella remix. * * * * * The Carol event was a day before the Christmas party and as usual, it was fulfilling and fun. I'd attended the Christmas party but didn't even stay at the party for up to an hour.

“You want to show me that you’re not the real estate developer-Grinch I think you are by taking me to the tree lighting ceremony?” “I mean, I was going anyway. If you were going, we could stand near each other so you could witness just how much gusto I put into my Christmas caroling.” Memory giggled and hated herself for it. “I don’t know.... I’m not much of a singer.” “Anyone can sing Christmas carols.” “That’s not true!” She found herself pointing at him and put her finger away. “Christmas carols are hard. Some of them anyway.” “Fine. Don’t sing. Just listen.”

"Mama, would it be okay if Riley reads a book to me tonight?" I don’t mind one bit, if anything I love the fact that she wants Riley to do it, but whether he wants to or not, I’m not sure. Of course, all thoughts of him not wanting to do it is abandoned the moment I look at his face and see his beaming smile. "I would love to, darling." He looks so excited to do it that it makes me laugh. Nina takes off running into her bedroom slamming the door after her and I take this moment to face Riley. "Thank you, Riley. I have so many things to thank you for right now but this, the decorations and making Nina's Christmas wish come true is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough

It read, in big block print, “Santa’s Workshop.” “Right,” Serendipity nodded, realizing that if she could read, she would have known that. Her face lost a bit of the glimmer from before, but she still stared in awe. “How amazing!” she whispered, looking up at several stories of glass windows and the brightly dressed elves scurrying about with various toys, different patterns of wrapping paper, and other items essential to making and finishing off Christmas presents.

But tonight, exhaustion mixed with a restless heat low in her belly, making her shift uncomfortably. "Dory, still at it? The reindeer need their rest, and so do you." Santa's voice boomed from the doorway, warm and gravelly, like a hearth fire. At 50-something in appearance but timeless in spirit, Nicholas Claus filled the frame, broad-shouldered, belly rounded from centuries of cookies, his white beard trimmed neat, eyes twinkling with that knowing glint. He wasn't the jolly myth; he was real, weary from the endless rush, shoulders carrying the weight of a world's wishes.

I learned to be thankful and quiet. That acceptance made me hate Christmas. Love songs made my skin crawl. The lights under our tree looked like glass eyes. The ribbons on the presents were traps. Every year, the house tuned itself to cheer and I pretended to enjoy it. The twenty-fifth became the night when a new kind of cold touched my bones. It was the day the truth had crawled out at me like an animal. It was the day I had learned how much of my life had been decided by other hands.

When Noah Levine came back, Christmas had already passed. I'd thrown that reindeer lingerie into a street trash bin. "Babe, I left in such a rush last night that I forgot to give you your Christmas present." He pulled out a sapphire necklace and swept my hair aside to fasten it around my neck. Because he leaned in so close, I could clearly see the red marks on his neck and smell the sickly sweet perfume that obviously wasn't his. Knowing the scent belonged to my own sister made my stomach turn.

Holly “There,” Holly whispered, carefully placing the last piece of tape. She smiled at her work. The wrapping paper was neatly folded around the corners and she’d even made the tape look nice. She wrote Nathan’s name in neat print on the corner. It was possibly the best wrapping she’d ever done on a present. It was just a copy of A Christmas Carol, but it seemed like the perfect Christmas Eve present for Nathan. She’d agonized over which book to get him for the Christmas Eve tradition, but had finally settled on this one.

🎄✨Merry Christmas, my amazing readers! ✨🎄 From the bottom of my heart, thank you for choosing to read Claimed by the Don. Your love, comments, reads, and support mean more to me than I can ever put into words. You’ve turned this story into something truly special, and I’m so grateful to have you on this journey with me. As we celebrate this season of love, warmth, and togetherness, I want you to know how much I appreciate every single one of you for sticking with this book. And trust me—if you think things are intense now… you haven’t seen anything yet. 🔥