Plot Synopsis

Nell Blakemore is a newly-single mom who wants this Christmas to be extra-special for her two kids, especially because it's their first holiday without dad. It turns out to be special, indeed, but it's not what she had in mind. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. The mayhem starts when a local janitor, Cesar Cortez, attempts to leave an abandoned beagle on Nell's front porch. He trips and falls and Nell and her two young kids take him to the hospital, where, in no particular order, she meets a dreamy doctor, her 11-year-old son and the puppy fall down a hole in a construction zone, a new-on-the-job security guard has their car towed, and a nasty nurse harasses them all. Later, for good measure, they get car-jacked. Nell had wanted this Christmas Eve to be the best ever. It isn't. But it's certainly memorable. And valuable lessons are learned. As Nell says, "The greatest gifts are the people in our lives. The family we are born into, and the family we choose. The best gift of all is love."