Plot: Maggie O'Donnell, a two-year divorced second grade teacher, largely volunteers her time in wanting to give back to society, which, when she is not looking after her preteen daughter Ellen, doesn't give her time to do what she wants for herself, such as paint. Her volunteer time this Christmas season, partly with Ellen before Ellen spends the week before Christmas with her father and his new wife, the first time Maggie and Ellen will be not together on Christmas morning, will be at the Christmas camp at For Pine Army Base, many of the camp attendees who will be without one or both parents this Christmas in they being stationed somewhere overseas. Unexpectedly, Maggie has a new volunteer project in Lucas Cavelli, who she mistakenly refers to as "Christmas Sweater Dad" in her first sight of him wearing a proverbially ugly Christmas sweater while he takes care of a young boy at the playground. While the Christmas sweater part may be true, the dad part isn't, the boy his nephew, with Lucas' Christmas plan a short stop in town to deal with family issues before he heads to Aspen for a ski vacation. He being Maggie's volunteer project is due to her being the unfortunate reason of "the mishap", why he has to postpone his trip to Aspen by at least a week, until after Christmas. She learns that he is a high powered New York City architect currently on sabbatical, a retreat from life in having lost his passion. Although he is initially reluctant, Maggie is able to convince him to volunteer alongside her at the Christmas camp. In wanting to make this Christmas special especially for the camp attendees who will be without their parents, both Maggie and Lucas may rediscover the passion missing in their respective lives, which includes the other. That passion may not be fulfilled if they are not bold enough to open up fully to the other
Alternative Plot: A single mom faces Christmas alone until a stranger crashes into her life and becomes an unexpected houseguest.
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