Cliff is eleven years old and the oldest of six children in his family who live in Ballingsford. As Christmas nears, Cliff's grandmother arrives for a visit. Cliff's baby brother is rushed to the hospital with a severe illness. While he is getting better in the hospital on Christmas Eve his family finally figure out that he has been asking Santa Claus for a little ladder like the one used to climb up to the top of a bunk bed. The whole family work together to build Josh a ladder and deliver it him on Christmas morning. Later, Cliff's first grade brother Brad, drives his bicycle into an ambulance and dies. The family spends the next Christmas at a resort trying to adjust to the loss of Brad but the trip does not seem to work. Their spirits rise during a New Year's party at Aunt Pat's house. When they arrive at the party Josh steps by mistake into Dad's special fig pudding. Dad removes the shoe, smooths down the pudding, and swears the children to secrecy. They all keep a straight face until Uncle Eddie says that the fig pudding is the best ever and asks Dad if he has added some new ingredient. They all laugh when the real story of the shoe is told. 