by L Chapman
“Right,” I say as I place everything onto the table. “Jenny, can you roll out the pastry? Kate, when she has done that, can you use this to cut out circles?” I point to the circle cutter.
“Let’s do this, Kate,” Jenny says as she starts rolling it out. I walk over to get the rest of the equipment from the side and laugh. Last night as I made the pastry, Mark came to “help” or so he said. He threw flour at me, and I ended up in one big mess. He grabbed me by my waist and sat me on the kitchen counter to clean the flour from my face. I had been very naughty, wearing a float dress with no underwear, which he soon discovered as he trailed his hand up the inside of my dress. Let’s just say, the kitchen got christened big time. Even if I did bang the back of my head on the kitchen cupboard, it was worth it.
“Now, what do we do?” Kate yells.
“Right, we grease these tins with butter. Like this.” I take a bit of parchment paper and rub the butter onto the tin and then pass it to Kate for her to finish.
Jenny pulls me down to her level as she sits on the chair by Kate. She whispers, “What do you think the guys are up to?”
“I have no idea. Hopefully, they’re just cleaning, like they said.”
“I hope so. Mum hasn’t rung me back yet.”
“She will,” I say, rubbing her back.
“Done!” Kate yells.
“Okay, now you need to take one of these circles and push it into the pastry, like this,” I say as I show her how to cut out the circles.
“I can do that,” she replies, straightening her back and wiggling.
“Go on then.” I walk over to the side, grabbing another small spoon and the jar of mince.
“We’re ready for the next bit. Place a spoon of this onto each piece,” I tell her. She does it straight away, dropping a little bit in between, but that makes them more special. Jenny whisks up the egg before setting a little of it around the tops of the pies. Kate finishes them by placing on the tops.
“Perfect,” I state. “Let’s get them into the oven.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to show Daddy.”
“He has to wait until tomorrow before he can eat them,” I inform her.
“Can we leave one out tonight with some milk?” she asks.
“Of course.”
“What about a carrot?”
“I have some,” I say, pointing over at the vegetable rack.
Kate runs over to the rack and digs until she finds the biggest one. “They can share this one.”
I hope they eat all these mince pies tomorrow, because I really don’t like them. Even the smell of them makes me feel sick. I clean the table and put away the dirty items to be washed. I sprinkle a little flour onto the table and place the leftover pastry and some cutters on top. That will give Kate something to play with for a while. I can still remember the time Mark told me his cousin Suzanne likes to eat leftover pastry. I hope he means when it’s cooked; otherwise, she is weird. I still haven’t met her yet. I decide to get all the vegetables prepared for tomorrow. The more I get done today, the more time I can spend with my loved ones.
“Hun, can I go and have a lie down?” Jenny asks.
“Of course, you don’t have to ask. Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, my back’s hurting a little. I’ll just rest on the sofa, if that’s okay.”
“Go on.”
I stand there watching Kate play with the pastry. She is so lively, just having fun playing with something simple. I hope tomorrow will be the same for her. I want her to be happy. I hate seeing her sad. She cried herself to sleep last night in Connor’s arms. All she kept saying was Grandma Betty doesn’t want me anymore. No matter what he said, she wouldn’t listen. I hope she will not do the same tonight, because it really hurt Connor seeing her in that state.
“What else can we make, Megan?” Kate asks.
“There’s nothing else to make, unless you want to do cookies?”
“Yes…yes…yes,” Kate and Jenny say, jumping up and down.
“Okay, now who is the child out of you two?” I question.
“Kate,” Jenny says, laughing.
“Right, you wash down the table, Kate, while I get everything together.” I glance towards Jenny. “I thought you were having a lie down?”
“I came for some water. Indigestion.”
“Oh, I see. Can you just keep an eye on Kate while I run and check that Lucy is okay?”
“Anything for you, hun.”
I leave the two of them in the kitchen, chatting away about how much chocolate to add into the cookies. At this rate, there will be more chocolate than cookie. I walk into Lucy’s room and hear her giggling. She is such a sweetie.
“Are you going to come downstairs?” I ask as I lift her out of her cot. I quickly change her nappy before heading downstairs.
Chapter Eleven
I take out the last lot of cookies from the oven and place them onto the cooling rack. The vegetables have been prepared, and the treats have been made. That means everything is done. There is nothing else to do until later. I walk into the front room to find both Jenny and Kate curled up together on the sofa, asleep. Jenny’s arm is wrapped around Kate. I grab my phone and take a picture before covering them with the pink blanket from the back of the sofa. I don’t want them to get cold.
I sit on the floor next to Lucy in her baby bouncer. She loves it and will cry the house down if you don’t let her sit in it. I bought different attachments to go on it, so she has things to play with as she loves to be around her toys. With her jumping up and down in it, she’s strengthening her legs. She has made an attempt to crawl, but she didn’t take off. I hope she will soon, because she is nearly nine months old. I look at the clock. The fellas have been gone over two hours, and I don’t understand what could be taking them so long.
Before texting Mark, I forward Connor the picture of Kate and Jenny asleep.
What is taking you so long, Mark? X
Sorry, we got sidetracked. X
Doing what? X
A Christmas surprise. X
Tell me. X
No, baby girl, you will find out soon enough. X
That’s not fair. Did you get the grave sorted? X
Yes, we did. X
Thank you. X
Be home in 5. X
I turn on the television and scroll through the Christmas movies, deciding on a famous one to watch. I sit there calm and relaxed in my own world. I glance over to the tree and smile at the box that is full of all the little decorations Kate and I have made over the past few days. We are going to place them today.
As I hear the front door open, a gust of cold air hits me. I wrap my arms around myself and hope the door closes soon. Warren pops his head around the corner before slowly creeping into the room.
“What are you up to?” I ask.
“Nothing. Do you have anything that will cover this?” he asks, turning his head and showing me a large cut on his face.
“What the hell did you do?” I ask.
“Got into a fight. Come on. Do you have something?”
“Yes, I do,” I say as I get up from the floor. “Who was the fight with?”
“Come here and we will fill you in. I don’t want Jenny to know.”
“Jenny to know what?” Jenny enquires as she looks up at him.
“Nothing,” Warren says, moving quickly out of the room.
Connor walks into the lounge, and I head upstairs and find Warren standing behind the little wall.
“She needs to know,” I say as I point him into my room. I could have easily fixed him downstairs, but I need to know what happened and I don’t want to alarm Kate.
I reach for my handbag, pulling out a little first aid kit. It’s a must-have for scraped knees and cut fingers when you have children around, as you never know when you will need it. Luckily, I haven’t used it with Lucy, but with Kate around, I placed it inside my bag for emergencies. Yes, I’m an organised freak sometimes, and even though she isn’t
my child, I need to make sure she is safe while in my care. It took Mark a lot to get her here for the holidays. She doesn’t go back until the beginning of next year.
Sitting on my bed, I open the kit and then pat the bed, indicating for Warren to sit. He complies.
"Right, sit still. This is going to sting," I state as I pull out an antiseptic wipe. “
“Ouch, that stings."
"Well, if you were not such an idiot for getting into a fight, you wouldn’t be having this done."
"Yes, I know."
"Well, are you going to tell me what happened?"
"No," Warren says, pulling a mad face.
"You need a couple of stitches."
"No, I’ll be fine. A plaster or make up will do."
"What’s the point in hiding it, Warren? Jenny knows."
I see Jenny standing in the doorway, listening to our conversation. She does not say anything. She knows that I can get information out of people when needed.
“Cream and a plaster. Make up will make it worse," I state.
I rub on the cream and Warren jumps high. I shake my head. What a wimp.
"Pink plaster?" I question.
"I don’t think so. I’m a man."
"Blue?" I ask, giggling.
"You’re such a funny lady. Brown, please."
I place on the plaster. "Right, now tell me."
"No, I don’t want to."
"Warren, tell me. I need to protect Jenny, like you do."
"You aren’t going to drop it. Are you?" he asks, looking down at the floor.
"I need to know," I say as I put my hand on his knee.
Warren sighs before looking up at me, "This is going to hurt Jenny." He pauses.
"When we got to the grave, a man was there. We stood back and watched him, thinking he was paying his respects. It wasn’t until about five minutes later that I noticed he had spray cans and other stuff. I told the lads, and we went over."
"And..." I say, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, his name is Joshua. He is the one that caused the wreck that killed Kate’s mum. His wife is sleeping with Jenny's dad."
"WHAT?" Jenny screams from the door.
Warren suddenly turns around, facing Jenny. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough. Now, tell me,” she says as she walks towards the other side of the bed and sits on it.
“His wife, Sonja, is sleeping with your dad.”
“Oh no, I need to ring Mum,” she says.
Jenny runs out of the room with Warren not far behind. I sit there, shell-shocked. Why would Jenny’s dad do this? Why would anyone defy someone’s grave? How the hell did Joshua know about it? I have so many unanswered questions. I wish I could talk to both of them. Well, maybe I shouldn’t talk to Jenny’s dad because I would want to hurt him. I can’t believe he has done this to his family. I understand a little why Warren would want to protect Jenny and not tell her, but she needed to know. That’s the reason why I had him tell me everything while she was listening.
I hear a tap on the door as Mark walks in and sits on the bed beside me. He pulls me close, draping his arms around me and giving me a little kiss on the head.
“Will you tell me everything that happened, Mark?” I ask.
“I will never keep anything from you,” he says before taking a deep breath and explaining everything.
Joshua had written on Martin’s grave to get back at Jenny’s dad. He hadn’t just been sleeping with Joshua’s wife; he got her pregnant. She is four months along and has not slept with Joshua in over six months, so he knows Jenny’s dad is the father. Once Joshua had finished telling them everything, he said that he needed to destroy something that belonged to Jenny’s dad so he would hurt, too. That is when the fight started. They all have cuts and bruises. Joshua threw the first punch, so I can relax a little bit, knowing there shouldn’t be any repercussions.
Chapter Twelve
I find myself leaning on Mark on the sofa downstairs, not fully aware of how I ended up here. I sit, watching Kate and Connor sort out the leftover handmade decorations. He places them where she says. Connor has learnt what a woman says goes, even when it’s a young girl. Kate is so chatty. “Daddy, shall we place this over here? Then, people can see it outside.”
“No, it’s too small. They will not see it.” Ignoring him, she places it where she suggested. You can tell she is going to wear the trousers in her future relationships. I can’t help but smile.
“Where is Lucy?” I turn and face Mark.
“You’re awake. She is asleep, bathed and in bed.” He places a little kiss on my forehead.
“Thank you.”
“Would you like something to eat?”
“No, have you heard from Jenny?”
“No, Warren rang though. They will be back later tonight. All is sorted.”
“Megan,” Kate says, running towards me. “You’re awake. Can we place our stockings up yet?”
“Of course, we can. Get Mark to go and get them for us, and we can hang them up while Daddy finishes what he’s doing.” I sit up, letting Mark move.
Mark smiles and goes running upstairs to get them. When Kate first saw them, they were just plain red stockings, but I couldn’t leave them like that. I added everyone’s first initial in their favourite colour to the front of each one.
“There you go, Kate,” Mark says, giving her the bag with the stockings inside.
I sit there, watching her as she pulls them out and starts to scream and jump up and down. I slide to the end of the sofa before standing up and listening to Kate recite the order for them to be hung. I suddenly feel a draft and turn to see Warren and Jenny standing there. Both of them are wearing their big coats, covered with snow. Warren is holding onto Jenny’s hand. They are such a perfect sight to see.
Jenny smiles at me and then looks around. “Hey, everyone.”
“Jenny, you’re back. Look at the magic stockings. There is one for everyone, including Warren.” She runs over to him and gives him a hug. I don’t know why, but she really has clicked with him. They spend lots of time playing together, and he is always picking her up and throwing her above his head and having tickle fights with her. She seems to gel well with the men.
“How are you?” Jenny asks me.
“I’m fine. And you?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. All is true. Mum left him. She is off to stay with a friend. Dad has that cow in the house.”
“I’m sorry, hun.”
“It’s okay. Mum’s happy and free from Dad.”
I smile as I watch Warren place a present under the tree.
“What’s next?” Kate enquires.
“Supper.” I pause. “Go and get the apples.”
I follow her into the kitchen. Grabbing the chopping board and six small plates, I cut the apples into small, thin strips. Kate takes a bottle of pop into the front room with some plastic cups.
“You pour it,” Kate demands before running back in to me.
“Sugar,” I say.
Kate smiles as I place a small amount of sugar to the side of everyone’s apple slices before I give her two plates to carry through as I carry the rest.
“Yippee, I love Christmas Eve apples,” Jenny says.
Everyone else looks questioningly at us, and I explain that it is a naughty treat you can only have today. It is a tradition from my childhood. After everyone eats, Warren gets up and grabs hold of Kate, giving her a special reindeer decoration for the tree. It has Martin’s name written on it.
Jenny smiles. “Thank you, Warren.”
“Anything for you.”
“What now?” Kate says.
“Bed, young lady,” Warren says.
“Oh, but…”
“No buts, Kate,” Connor interrupts.
“Come with me, Kate. We have something to do first, but…Shh…because it’s a secret.” Warren takes hold of her hand and walks out of the room.
We remain in the room, just leavin
g the two troubles to it. Jenny and Mark fight over the television remote. I chuckle a little because I like my man and best friend getting on, but I’m on Jenny’s side. No way am I watching the crap quiz show Mark wants to watch.
“Megan, help me,” Jenny says.
I stand up and walk over to the sofa, grinning at Mark.
“Nah, you’re not getting it, baby,” he says, sliding the remote down the back of his shirt.
“Oh, you know I am.” I sit on him with one leg on either side of his. Grabbing his hands, I pull him towards me.
“Quick, get it, Jenny,” I mouth as Mark struggles to loosen my grip.
Jenny hastily grabs it as Mark frees his hands, placing them behind me and pulling me close. “You will pay for this, baby,” he says as he lowers his lips onto my neck. I can’t help but blush.
“Right, what are we going to do?” I say, struggling to free myself from his grasp.
“How about we play a game until someone is asleep?” Jenny hints.
“Kate?” I question.
“Yeah, then we can get everything else out.”
“Perfect,” I say.
“Well, once Warren has finished with her, I’m going to take her for a bath and story, then bed.”
“That’s fine,” Jenny replies.
Mark holds me tight and smiles. “I don’t know what you’re up to, Mr. Reed,” I say.
“How about we watch the end of this film and then finish those orange things?” Jenny proposes.
“Daddy, we have everything out for him. It’s in the kitchen. We have placed food outside for the reindeer, too,” Kate says, jumping up and down in front of the tree.
Chapter Thirteen
The oranges are done, and the film is finished. Kate is bathed and in bed, but she is still awake counting stars. Counting stars when she can’t sleep is something she learned from Grandma Betty. After checking on Lucy, I stand at the top of the landing to listen.