One Perfect Christmas and Other Stories

by Paige Toon

  Afterwards, we go back inside and I show them the whole set, one after the other. I’ve relaxed now that I’m behind a camera. ‘I’ll delete this one,’ I say of an unflattering angle, acting on it immediately. ‘And this one,’ I add of another where Joe has his eyes closed. ‘Are you happy with these?’ I double check, flicking through them again.

  ‘They’re fantastic,’ Alice says. ‘Are you a professional photographer?’

  ‘I’m trying to be,’ I tell her modestly.

  ‘Yes, she is,’ Ben firmly corrects me. ‘She’s brilliant,’ he adds with pride. ‘She’s been taking photos for this place’s website, but she’s had her pictures featured in magazines and newspapers, too.’

  ‘Have you really?’ Joe asks, cocking his head to one side.

  ‘I used to freelance at Tetlan, a magazine publishing house,’ I tell him with a shrug. ‘So I have a few contacts.’

  ‘It’s nothing to do with your contacts,’ Ben says seriously. ‘She took all of those,’ he adds, pointing to the publicity posters on the walls.

  Alice goes to take a closer look. ‘They’re excellent,’ she says.

  ‘Really good,’ Joe adds.

  ‘Thanks,’ I reply, my face warming at their praise.

  ‘Well you must let us pay you for these,’ Alice says resolutely.

  ‘Absolutely not,’ I cut her off.

  ‘No, we will pay for them, won’t we Joe?’ she says.

  ‘I won’t hear of it!’ I interrupt indignantly. ‘There’s no way I’ll take any money from you, so don’t say another word.’

  Joe chuckles and Alice raises her eyebrows at him.

  ‘If you could do an autograph for my sisters, though, I’d be delighted,’ I say with a smile.

  ‘I can certainly do that,’ Joe replies while Alice delves into her handbag and pulls out a stack of publicity shots.

  ‘How many sisters do you have?’ she asks me.

  ‘Three,’ I reply.

  Joe takes three pictures and a silver pen from Alice and bends over the counter, writing while I tell him the names of my half-siblings: Kay, Olivia and Isabel.

  ‘They are going to flip out when these come through the post,’ I comment. ‘They live in the UK.’

  ‘Can I do one for you guys, too?’ Joe asks, glancing at Ben.

  ‘You may as well just make it out to her, buddy,’ Ben replies wearily. I giggle and slip my arm around his waist, smiling up at him.

  ‘You should get a photo with Joe,’ Alice suggests.

  ‘Okay!’ I don’t need to be asked twice. I hand my camera to Ben, then stand next to Joe, willing myself not to blush as he puts his arm around my shoulders and bends down to press his cheek to mine.

  A slightly manic giggle escapes my lips, but everyone pretends not to notice.

  ‘I saw the trailer for Two Things, recently,’ I say, slipping firmly into fan mode. ‘It looks amazing!’ It’s out in Australia at the end of August.

  ‘I can get you tickets for the premiere in Sydney in August if you’d like them?’

  ‘Oh my God!’ I squeak, unable to contain myself. ‘That would be incredible!’

  ‘You might be a bit busy in August, Lils,’ Ben points out reasonably.

  I stare at him with confusion and he looks meaningfully at my belly.

  ‘Oh.’ Dammit!

  Joe chuckles. ‘Maybe next time.’

  Alice smiles at me, ruefully. ‘I know exactly how you feel,’ she commiserates. ‘I’d planned on going on the publicity tour with him this time, but I won’t be able to fly either.’

  ‘Aw,’ Joe says gently, rubbing her shoulder.

  What a sweet couple.

  While I’m putting my camera away, I hear Alice say something to Joe in a low tone. Out of the corner of my eye I see him listening and then nodding.

  ‘Sure,’ he replies.

  ‘Um…’ Alice starts, turning to me. ‘This might seem a bit weird…’

  I’m instantly curious.

  ‘… But would you like to sell these?’ she asks. ‘No one knows I’m pregnant yet, so you could sell them as an exclusive. I don’t know, it might help a little.’ She looks awkward as she’s relaying this, clearly not comfortable with the idea of being famous, which makes what she’s suggesting even more astonishing.

  ‘I… I… Really?’ I ask with amazement, my head spinning as Ben smiles encouragingly.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Alice reiterates. ‘Maybe they’ll help you get your foot in the door or something. Not that you should stop being a wildlife photographer,’ she adds hastily.

  ‘Not likely,’ Ben replies on my behalf, reaching across to squeeze my arm. He looks really pleased for me.

  ‘We could do a mini interview, too,’ Joe chips in.

  ‘Really?’ I seem to have lost the rest of my vocabulary.

  ‘Of course. Jeez, it’s nice to be asked, isn’t it, babe?’ He glances at Alice.

  ‘Rather than told,’ she explains to us with a wry smile.

  ‘But I have one condition,’ Joe adds with a raised eyebrow. ‘Would you call the joey Alice?’

  Alice laughs and Ben and I do, too. ‘Alice it is,’ Ben says.

  With all of the excitement, Ben forgets to ask Owen to take Alice the joey, so we have no choice but to bring her home for another night.

  I get to work after dinner, editing the photographs and typing up Joe’s words. I send the shots over to Alice, as well as the interview for her approval, even though she didn’t ask for it.

  To my surprise, she replies after only a short while to say the piece is great and that she loves the pictures. I can’t believe she gave me her personal email address.

  ‘Who are you going to contact about this?’ Ben asks, bringing me a cup of tea. I turn to face him and he pulls up a chair to sit opposite me.

  ‘I was wondering about calling Bronte at Hebe in London.’

  Hebe is a celebrity weekly magazine and Bronte is a friend of mine from when I used to live and work in Sydney. We met at Marbles magazine when I covered for her as editorial assistant. I was asked to apply for her job when she got promoted to the picture desk, but I moved back to Adelaide with Ben instead to pursue my first love. Well, first loves: Photography and Ben.

  He nods and lifts my foot up onto his lap, proceeding to massage it.

  ‘Hebe would be perfect.’

  I’d love to give the exclusive to my friend, especially as she’s bought some of my pictures from me in the past. It would be nice to return the favour.

  ‘That feels amazing,’ I murmur, closing my eyes as Ben continues to work away at my foot.

  ‘Will you ring her tonight?’ he asks.

  I shake my head, sleepily. ‘I don’t want to call her about work stuff on a Sunday.’ It’s only Sunday morning in England. ‘I’ll wait until she’s at work tomorrow,’ I add with a yawn. It will be tomorrow night here with the time difference, but I’d rather not leave a message on her voicemail in case someone else picks it up.

  He nods and takes my other foot. My eyelids are feeling heavier by the second.

  ‘Come on, beautiful, let’s have an early night,’ he says gently, after my third yawn in a row. He stands up and holds his hands down to me.

  ‘You were amazing today,’ I say seriously, as he pulls me to my feet.

  He looks confused. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You were so cool. So calm and collected around them. I was fighting the urge to bounce up and down like an idiot.’

  He laughs gently and tucks my chestnut-coloured hair behind my ears. ‘Well, I don’t fancy Joseph Strike, so it was a bit easier for me.’

  ‘I don’t fancy him, either.’

  ‘Don’t you, now,’ he says wryly, not even bothering to punctuate his sentence with a question mark.

  ‘Not as much as I do you,’ I correct myself with a grin, sliding my arms around his waist.

  He chuckles under his breath and holds me against his chest, rocking me slightly.

  ‘Can
we go to bed, now?’ My voice is muffled. I pull away and look up at him, hoping he can see exactly what I plan on doing to him once we get there.

  A smile plays about his lips as he bends down to kiss me.

  ‘Alice’ starts to squeak.

  Ben sighs heavily against my mouth and pulls away to rest his forehead against mine. ‘I’m sorry. She’s due a feed,’ he says wearily.

  ‘Okay.’ I tenderly touch my hand to his jaw and he raises his head to look at me disconsolately. ‘I’ll see you in a bit,’ I say with a poignant look.

  But I’m fast asleep by the time he joins me.

  We oversleep the next morning so it’s a rush to get out of the house. Both of us are at work today – me as a keeper, rather than a photographer. I’m still on a high after the previous day’s excitement and I can’t wait for the day to end so I can go home and call Bronte.

  In the afternoon, Trudy in the office gets a call from Joseph Strike’s PA to say that he and Alice want to make a huge donation to the conservation park. She goes straight to tell Ben, who is elated.

  ‘I’m so proud of you,’ I say.

  ‘It’s nothing to do with me,’ he replies modestly.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ I insist, nudging him delightedly.

  Bronte starts work at 9.30 a.m. UK time, so I have to wait until at least eight o’clock that night before I can call her. I decide to give her an extra half an hour to make herself a cup of tea before I ring, but by eight fifteen, I’m chomping at the bit.

  ‘Shall I email her first, do you think?’ I ask him.

  ‘It wouldn’t hurt,’ he replies.

  ‘Actually, I’m not sure she has the same email address.’

  ‘You could email and then call, too,’ he suggests.

  ‘Okay, I’ll just nip to the loo.’

  Just as I’m finishing up, the phone rings. Ben answers, and a moment later he calls out to me.

  ‘It’s Bronte!’

  ‘No shit?’ I exclaim, rushing back through to the living room. I bet she’s heard Joe was at the conservation park yesterday.

  ‘She was just about to email you,’ Ben says to Bronte, grinning up at me.

  I grab the phone from him and clamber onto the sofa beside him.

  ‘Joseph Strike,’ I say into the receiver. ‘Am I right?’

  ‘Yes, you freaking are,’ my friend replies in her familiarly bubbly Aussie accent. ‘Did you see him?’

  ‘I got pictures,’ I reply, bursting to hear how she’ll react to that little piece of information.

  ‘No!’ she gasps. ‘Does she have a baby bump?’

  How does she know Alice is pregnant?

  ‘Clear as day,’ I reply, trying not to seem fazed. ‘I got some brilliant ones of him with his hand on her tummy.’

  ‘Wow! Can we buy them from you?’

  Eek! This is so exciting! I beam at Ben, who’s clearly on the same wavelength.

  ‘Ooh, I don’t know… How much do you think they’re worth?’ I ask cheekily, making Ben throw back his head and silently guffaw.

  ‘Who would have thought you’d become a pap,’ Bronte says with a giggle.

  ‘I did ask their permission first,’ I tell her, playing it down. The truth is, they offered their permission.

  ‘Did you?’ Bronte asks with surprise.

  ‘Yeah. His chick and I compared baby bumps,’ I say nonchalantly, making Ben chortle under his breath again.

  ‘What?’ Bronte exclaims in my ear. ‘Are you telling me you’re pregnant?’

  Oops. I still haven’t got around to spilling the beans to everyone.

  ‘Yes,’ I laugh happily. ‘Four months.’

  ‘Oh, that is so lovely!’ she squeals. ‘I’m so excited for you! Is Ben pleased?’

  ‘Ridiculously.’

  He reaches over to stroke my waist. I am so having sex with him tonight. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

  Focus! ‘Anyway, Joseph didn’t mind having his picture taken at all. They’re such a lovely couple.’ And they really were. They’re the sort of people you could imagine being friends with, but I bet everyone who meets them thinks that. ‘So, do you want to see them?’ I ask.

  ‘Yes, please. Have you shown them to anyone else?’

  ‘Don’t be daft. You were the first person I thought of.’

  ‘Aw. I really, really appreciate this,’ she says with genuine warmth.

  ‘My pleasure. Give me your new email address and I’ll send ’em over.’

  We end the call and I grin at Ben, who claps his hands and rubs them together with glee. ‘She already knew Alice is pregnant,’ I say with downturned lips. ‘So it’s not an exclusive.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Ben reassures me. ‘It’s still a big coup.’

  I go to my desk to send over a few of my favourite pictures.

  The wait for Bronte to call me back is agonising, but it’s probably only about ten minutes.

  ‘Hello?’ I feel slightly breathless as I snatch up the phone.

  ‘Hey, it’s me,’ she says. ‘We all absolutely love the pictures.’

  ‘Do you?’ Yay!

  ‘Yes. I’m with my boss right now and he’d like to buy the exclusive worldwide rights.’

  I feel lightheaded when she tells me what they’re offering. It’s way more than I thought it would be. She sounds more reserved than usual in the presence of her editor, but at some point I’ll ring her back and scream down the phone.

  ‘I did a mini interview with them, too, so I’ll send that over,’ I tell her to her delight.

  I’m not going to reveal that they’re expecting a boy. Joe didn’t talk about it in our official chat, and it feels like too much of an invasion of privacy to mention it. I didn’t even feel comfortable asking Alice for permission via email.

  When we hang up, I turn to Ben and relay Bronte’s offer.

  ‘That’s fantastic!’ He pulls me onto his lap and hugs me so tightly I can feel my bump pressing against his stomach.

  ‘Shall we upgrade the heating system now?’ I say with a smile.

  ‘Is that what you want to spend it on?’ he asks with surprise.

  ‘Yes, and lots of baby stuff.’

  He laughs. ‘Fine by me.’

  ‘Oh, and babysitters for the future,’ I add, playfully pushing him away.

  We’ve had far too many interruptions over the last few days, and it’s not like we’ll have much family help once the baby comes. My mum lives in Sydney and Ben’s mum is in Perth, but that’s a bit beside the point because they’re both pretty useless. I’m sure our friends, Josh and Tina, will help out, but I don’t want to impose too much.

  Ben takes my hand. ‘I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with the joey over these last few days,’ he says solemnly.

  ‘You never have to apologise for that,’ I chide. ‘But with that said, I’m bloody glad Owen has her tonight.’ I jokily jerk my head in the direction of our bedroom. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

  He laughs and manoeuvres me off his lap.

  ‘It would be good to still have a bit of time for the two of us,’ he agrees, leading me to the bedroom. ‘Although, I bet you won’t want to leave her side once she’s here.’

  ‘Are we having a girl, are we?’ I ask with amusement as he switches on the light.

  ‘Do you really want to find out?’ he replies, his eyes glinting under his grandmother’s small but exquisite antique chandelier.

  ‘I think I agree with Joseph Strike. Plenty more surprises once he or she gets here.’

  ‘Okay,’ he says. He pauses, as though wondering whether to mention something.

  ‘What is it?’ I prompt.

  ‘Don’t feel pressured,’ he starts. ‘But if it is a girl, do you think we could consider calling her Elizabeth?’

  ‘After your nan?’

  He nods uncertainly.

  ‘Ben, I would love that.’

  His smile lights up his whole face and fills my stomach with butterflies.

  ‘Now wil
l you make love to me?’ I hastily shrug off my cardie.

  He chuckles. ‘You’d say anything to get me into bed.’

  I crack up at that, but then he bends down to catch the hem of my dress, silencing me.

  ‘Will you still love me when I’m enormous?’ I ask as he eases the garment over my bump.

  I can just make out him rolling his eyes before my vision is obscured by yellow fabric. ‘Always,’ he says firmly to my face as it reappears.

  I shiver from the cold and step forward to help him with his shirt, but my hands get distracted feeling the contours of his chest so he has to take it off unaided.

  Soon we’re entwined underneath the bedcovers, skin on skin, with our body heat warming each other up. He moves to cover me, supporting his weight with his elbows.

  ‘I love you,’ I tell him breathlessly between hot, hungry kisses.

  He breaks away to cup my face and stares at me steadily. Sometimes I think I could drown in these eyes of his.

  ‘I love you, too, Lily. I always will.’

  The sincerity in his voice makes me feel unexpectedly emotional. My eyes prick with tears and then, on sudden impulse, I reach down and pull him into me. We both gasp at the raw sensation of our bodies connecting.

  Enough of the sentimental shit. Let’s get jiggy with it.

  Rose’s Big Night Out

  I always cry when I finish writing a book, and The One We Fell in Love With was no exception. It felt absolutely right to leave it there on the beach with Rose and Eliza, but I was curious to know what happened on their night out with Toby, Lucy, Nathan, Sam and Molly, so I wrote it up for The Hidden Paige!

  I loved hopping back into the triplets’ world and also getting a chance to revisit the characters from my first book, Lucy in the Sky. Although The One We Fell in Love With was told in alternating chapters from the points of view of the three sisters, I felt Rose still had more to say, so it is she who is talking to us now in this extra chapter.