The holidays are always everyone's favorite time of year, especially the Big 4. You have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all closely together. Children such as Clara Posen loved it, mainly because of the candy, food and presents. But more specifically, no school. Her mother on the other hand, Aubrey, dreaded this time more and more each year. If it weren't for her daughter Clara, she would go on normally without the holiday's. But she was a Posen, and Posen's upheld tradition.

The young mother was coming off Thanksgiving at her new home in Baltimore. She had previously been kicked out of her parent's home back in Mclean, Virginia. Being from a dictating household, having a child out of wedlock was the ultimate sin in her family. And apparently her family held true to their promise of kicking Aubrey and her unborn child out on the streets. Aubrey drifted around relative's homes for a while and finally settled with her old college roommate Chloe.

Chloe and her husband Tom took Aubrey and Clara in without a second thought. Aubrey held up her end of the deal and got a job working at a retreat helping groups build team trust. The work came natural for her because of her military up-bringing and soon she would be running the joint, meaning more money and a new home just outside of Baltimore for her and Clara.

With Thanksgiving behind them, it was now time to prepare for Christmas. It was a relief knowing that this year, Aubrey could finally manage to decorate her own home and give Clara the proper Christmas she deserved without having to worry about money. The duo would spend most afternoons shopping for decorations and gifts. Clara loved it, but Aubrey's stress levels always went sky high this time of year.

They finished another afternoon of shopping and decided to go home. It was a school night after all and Clara had homework.

"Mommy look! An elf!" Clara yelled and pointed at the Salvation Army volunteer ringing the bell.

Aubrey couldn't help but noticed the small girl. It was nearly freezing and all she had on was a well-worn flannel and ratty jeans with combat boots. Topping it all off with her fake elf ear covers. The small brunette noticed the duo and the little girl pointing and tried not to look embarrassed.

Aubrey bent down and shoved Clara's hand down and looked her in eyes,

"What did mommy tell you about pointing at people?"

Clara's bottom lip twitched, and she wanted to cry, "To not to."

"Precisely. So do not do it again." Aubrey snapped before tugging her daughter over to the kettle.

The small brunette pulled herself together after watching the encounter and got back to her task at hand,

"Good afternoon, would you like to donate to the Salvation Army?" The brunette asked with a smile.

Aubrey retuned the smile and handed Clara a five,

"Here sweetie, put it in the kettle."

Clara did as asked and jumped in excitement as the five disappeared. The brunette raised her hand for Clara to slap and thanked her for the donation.

The duo left and headed for home not giving the volunteer much thought. That was until a few days later, they ran into the woman again. And again the temperatures were in the teens and she was wearing the same clothes from the other day.

The brunette noticed the mother and daughter and simply waved not expecting a donation. But she was surprised to see the little blonde running full speed at her with another five and gladly deposited it into the kettle receiving another high five for her efforts. She turned and ran toward her awaiting mother.

This time Aubrey couldn't get the thought of the girl out of her head. She felt awful for her. It was freezing outside, and she had nothing more than rags on. She made a mental note to put one of her old coats in the car just incase she ran into the woman again. She practically looked for the brunette the next few outings without much luck. She ran into Chloe one evening at the grocery store and luckily, she had some valuable information.

"Hey Bree! Fancy running into you here. Hi, my sweet little daisy." Chloe said pinching Clara's nose.

"Yeah. We decided to take a break from gift shopping and decided it was time for some food." Aubrey stated.

"Yeah. Mommy messed up my cereal this morning aunt Chloe."

Aubrey shot her daughter a pleading look not to tell Chloe. But Chloe and Clara were like partner's in crime. Once Clara started, Chloe was going to get the answers.

"Oh. And how did she mess up your cereal?" She asked interested.

Aubrey really was pleading for Clara not to spill the beans, but her daughter was caving, she couldn't hold it any longer, "she put my orange juice in it instead of milk." Clara said in disgust.

"Ewww, Aubrey, did you?" Chloe asked shocked.

Aubrey sighed and shook her head yes. "It was an accident, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Hey mommy look! It's the elf that begs for money!" Clara said, almost raising her hand to point but remembered what Aubrey told her.

The two older women turned to look and sure enough, walking out the door was the brunette from the Salvation Army.

"Oh no. I had something to give her! I'll never catch her now." Aubrey declared in defeat.

"Do what?" Chloe asked.

"I was going to give her one of my coats. Every time I see her, she's wearing those same ratty clothes and it's legit freezing outside."

"AWWW Aubrey." Chloe purred. "If she's the one I'm thinking about, she's always standing outside of the mall tomorrow all-day long. Friday's are her days to work there." She added helpfully.

"Serioulsy!? Thank you, Chloe! Thank you!" Aubrey kissed Chloe's cheek and rushed off to finish shopping.

The next day Aubrey went to the mall on her lunch break and sure enough, there was the brunette girl standing outside in the rain with her same old clothes on. It broke Aubrey's heart seeing the girl like this, so she ran over to her and pulled her under her umbrella.

"Would…Would you like to donate…" The brunette's teeth were chattering, today was the coldest day of the year and it was wearing on the girl. Aubrey silenced her and slung her extra coat over the smaller woman.

"Here. I can't stand seeing you out here freezing and me having a spare coat at home."

Sure the coat was a little big on the girl, but she was so engulfed by the warmth it provided to care.

"And here, please take these as well." Aubrey stated handing over a pair of gloves, an umbrella and a thermos of hot coffee.

The look of pure joy on the woman's face was priceless. Aubrey could look at that for the rest of her life she thought.

"I'll get these back to you when I'm done." The brunette slurred out.

"Oh no. I gave these to you so please enjoy."

The girl bear hugged Aubrey until she could no longer breathe. "Thank you?" The girl asked wanting to know the blonde's name.

"Oh! It's Aubrey. And you're welcome."

"Aubrey…I like that name. I'm Beca by the way."

Aubrey and Beca finished their embrace and Aubrey retuned to her car to finish lunch. She mainly just wanted to watch Beca. Something was intriguing about the girl. But she would have to leave it for later. She was looking forward to her night off. Chloe and Tom were looking after Clara while she relaxed. However that wasn't an option because after work she retuned to the mall and simply watched Beca work.

A van had pulled up sometime around 6 and swapped kettles and a new worker replaced Beca. Beca gathered her things and began walking. She walked in the cold rain with her new goodies for nearly an hour until arriving at an abandoned building in downtown Baltimore. Aubrey kept a safe distance away, not wanting to give herself away, so she could see where Beca was heading.

She never imagined she would end up in the rough part of downtown watching the smaller woman enter and abandoned building. It all came into perspective. Beca was homeless.

Aubrey reluctantly returned home and began pacing in guilt. She knew what she should have done, and it was too late to now. There was no way in hell she was going back there at this time of night. It would have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully she could find Beca, it was Saturday so surely, she would be working.

She checked most of her usual spots to no avail. And when she decided to give up, she found her standing outside of a toy store.

"Hey Beca!" Aubrey cheerfully greeted.

Beca turned and a look of shock and awe crossed her face. "Wow. We seem to be running into each other a lot." She teased playfully.

Aubrey halfway chuckled, "Well really I was looking for you honestly."

Beca stopped ringing her bell and looked at Aubrey in disbelief, "You were looking for me?"

"Yeah." She didn't want to be so bold. But she had to. "Beca, are you homeless?"

Beca looked to the ground and her face flushed red, "No…I'm just exploring options. It's no biggie."

"Yes Beca it is. You're gonna get sick out here in this weather."

Beca pushed it aside, "Never have before."

"How long have you been homeless?" Aubrey asked.

Beca thought for a moment, "About 3 years. I ran away from foster care and then I was kicked out of the homeless shelter."

"How do you get kicked out of a homeless shelter?"

"Trust me, it can be done. Some jerk stole my iPod and so I hit him in the throat. You'd be surprised on the no fighting policy. So after that, I've been roaming around from place to place."

Sure, Aubrey had thought she'd seen rock bottom, but she had no clue compared to Beca. She had absolutely nothing and that was just the start of an intriguing story. Aubrey wanted to know more but for now, the least she could do was offer up her spare bedroom.

"Hey Beca? Would you want to stay awhile at my house with me and Clara?"

Beca shook her head quickly and began ringing the bell again. Aubrey wasn't going to take no for an answer. She grabbed the bell and Beca faced her,

"You're staying at my house. It's the least I can do. Besides it's the holidays." Aubrey stated.

"I shouldn't. I don't want to be a burden."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, "Beca I invited you. It's not a problem. I just don't want you out in this big snow storm blowing in tonight.

"Snow?" Beca repeated worriedly.

"Yes. Up to 12 inches." Aubrey turned and started walking to her car.

"Aubrey wait!" Beca yelled out.

Aubrey smirked and returned to Beca, "Yes?"

"I'll accept your offer. Could you pick me up here at 6?"

Aubrey smiled and nodded. "I'll be here at 6."