First and Always

Chapter 1For a guy born and raised in Milwaukee, now living and working in Washington, DC, Christmas in Miami would never feel completely normal. There should have been huge oaks, thick branches barren of leaves or crusted with ice from a recent storm, instead of palm trees with their abundant fronds drifting on a breeze. Or bundling up in a thick coat and gloves in order to go outside instead of hanging out indoors out of the sunshine with the air conditioning running. And he would have never, in a million years, expected sitting in front of the TV with his father in anticipation of watching a football game. Michael Pappas had finally escaped this kind of torture when his dad realized he had a bookworm for a son instead of an athlete. Yet this morning, just like he had done yesterday, Mi