Marcy has always said everyone is welcome at her dinner table on Christmas Eve. That was before her youngest daughter brought a new friend home. A friend with horns and a pitchfork.

Now Marcy's mother won't shut up about how in her day, girls only brought respectable men home for the holidays. Her brother-in-law is making booze-fueled jokes about how they'll all have a devil of a time tonight. And her husband, off in the clouds as always, is no help.

No one at the table is perfect. Least of all Marcy herself. But has she finally found the one guest she can't open her heart and her home to?

This short story is 2700 words long. It is also available in Santa's Rejects, a collection of offbeat Christmas stories.