[Verse 1]
Had my plans set
Silent phone
One plate
One chair
Told myself it’s fine
Guess I got used to “not there”
Wrapped my fear up
In jokes about being tough
Under all that tinsel
I was begging for enough
[Pre-Chorus]
Then you texted
“Hey
Where are you?”
Like it mattered if I came through
Didn’t know a simple “come by”
Could crack this guarded sky
[Chorus]
Thought I was meant to be alone for Christmas
Watching other people’s joy from the outside
Looking in
Then you pulled up one more chair at your table
Said
“You’re ours
That’s it” and I finally believed it
I’m not your blood but I’m your home
You turned this season into my own
Thought I was meant to be alone for Christmas
Till you loved me like I’d always belonged
[Verse 2]
Kids all screaming
Burnt pie
Card games
Someone sings off key
Ugly sweaters
But every color looks good on me
You learned my stories
Passed me gravy
Laughed at all my lines
Took my cracked parts
Hung ‘em up and made them shine
[Pre-Chorus]
All the ghosts that used to sit
In the empty seat I’d keep
Faded out beneath your lights
As you saved a place for me
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register]
They might share my name
But they never learned my heart
You stitched one out of paper crowns
Peppermint
And second starts
[crescendo]
You said
“Stay late
Stay longer
Stay whenever life gets hard”
Every “stay” rewrote December
On my tired
Torn-up heart
[Chorus]