I nod, understanding. It didn't occur to me before she mentioned it, that a kid might like to see lights on the house, but she's right. We never did that kind of thing back home, and I don't know what I'd have thought if I ever came home to the sight of the house all lit up, but it's nice. Her little boy ought to have that, a house that glows in the darkness and a mother who'd do that for him.

"I bet he'll love it," I tell her, sincere. "Heck, they like anything shiny at that age, don't they? Like little magpies."