INDIANAPOLIS — This year, what DeMarcueis and Asiret Harvey want most for Christmas has nothing to do with presents under a tree.
That's because what these parents wish for, more than anything, can't be found in a store.
"I think we have the same heart. We just want Caleb to be better," DeMarcueis said.
That's a tall order, considering the Harvey's 3-year-old son, Caleb, is in a literal fight for his life.
"We have stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer that has metastasized," DeMarcueis explained of Caleb's diagnosis from doctors this past August.
It was a day where, just for a moment, the Harveys world stopped spinning.
"It's hard to take in, hard to fully grasp when they say, ‘Your son has stage 4 cancer,'" Asiret explained.
"We were probably at the worst we have ever been mentally," added DeMarcueis of that moment.
Since then, Caleb has spent weeks at a time in Riley Hospital for Children for surgeries and chemotherapy, undergoing his latest round last week during Thanksgiving.
"There's nothing I can really do but try to comfort him," Asiret said of Caleb's pain that comes with the treatment.
For DeMarcueis, a Marine Corps veteran who is now a police officer, and who is used to solving problems, this one — cancer — leaves him feeling powerless.
"Our job as fathers is always to protect, to take that pain away, and when you can't do that, what do you do? Where do you turn?" he asked.
On the hard days, DeMarcueis channels his inner superhero for Caleb, donning a cape and mask and visiting his son's hospital room.
"I can make him laugh. I can make him believe I'm a superhero," DeMarcueis said, all the time wishing he really did have superpowers to take away his son's cancer.
"How easy life would be if I could do that?" DeMarcueis said.
And Caleb's fight isn't over.
He's got another surgery to go, followed by a stem cell transplant and then radiation. Which means, this Christmas, Caleb will likely be in the hospital.
DeMarcueis will be at home with the couple's older sons, Christian and Carter.
"We've really been depending on our faith during this entire time," Asiret said, praying for a miracle and not just a Christmas one.
"Our faith is really in Jesus, and we are just really looking towards Him for help," Asiret said.
The family has started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to cover some of Caleb's medical bills.