The House Without a Christmas Tree

Addie Mills: ...Why won't you buy me a tree, Dad? I'll settle for a small one. Jamie Mills: I've already told you no, and no means no! Addie Mills: What's this all about, money? Because you spend more on cigarettes in a year than one tree costs. I added it up myself! Jamie Mills: ADDIE! Will you stop pestering me and go to bed! Addie Mills: Just tell me it looks like Christmas in here. Or feels like it! Jamie Mills: How would you like me to take a belt to you? Addie Mills: How would you like me to beg? Jamie Mills: ...Right, anything's better than that. If you can drink a glass full of water, I'll let you have a tree this year. But you only get one try, and if you blow it, you can't bring the issue up ever again. Deal? Addie Mills: Deal! Jamie Mills: You blew it, kid. Addie Mills: What are you talking about? It was full and I drank it... Jamie Mills: No, the deal was that you had to *drink* it full. You drank it *empty*. Grandma Mills: James, that was cruel. Jamie Mills: Oh, can't you take a joke? Where's that infamous sense of humor I grew up with? Grandma Mills: You wouldn't play a joke like that on one of your friends. What a thing to do to a child, over something she wants so badly! Jamie Mills: She has to learn. In this life, you can't have everything you want. Grandma Mills: James, let her have a tree this year. Why not? It's such a little thing to make her happy. If you give it a chance, you might enjoy it yourself. Jamie Mills: You're at least two hundred percent wrong about that. Grandma Mills: You've let your whole life turn sour. You've no right to sour Addie's life as well. Jamie Mills: I'm exercising my right as her father. Grandma Mills: Oh, you just don't want anything around to remind you. Well, Addie's around. If you can't look at her without being reminded... Jamie Mills: I don't have to listen to this! Grandma Mills: For two cents, I'd buy her a tree myself! Jamie Mills: Don't you dare, Mother! She's *my* daughter, and *I'll* decide what she can and can't have!