by Danielle Fox
“This is for you,” I said, handing Emily a small, neatly wrapped box.
“Thank you so much, Julian. I can’t believe you did all this.” She stroked her hand through my hair, looking at me with such intensity behind her adoring eyes it made my chest ache.
“I couldn’t have done it without Henry. I just wanted you to have the perfect Christmas with everyone you love.”
She kissed my lips delicately before slowly sliding the paper from the box. She gasped as the box popped open to reveal the single two carat diamond, set in white gold to perfectly match her engagement ring, hanging from an elegant white chain. Hanging next to the diamond was a tiny flat tag. I flipped it over to reveal the name ‘Julian’ that had been intricately carved into the gold. “Now you can keep a part of me close to your heart,” I said as she stared, astonished, at the sparkling necklace.
“Thank you,” she choked as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“You’re very welcome.” I took the chain from the box and carefully fastened it around her neck. “Beautiful,” I whispered against her neck before pressing a soft kiss to her skin.
I served the roast dinner - cooked by own fair hands - equally onto each plate and laid them out on the table, taking care to straighten each cracker as I passed. As soon as I called, all eight bodies hurried into the dining room. Each and every one of them bickered about who was sitting where and which plate had more turkey and which had fewer potatoes. It really was ridiculous, but I found myself smiling as I watched them. I couldn’t remember the last time I had socialised with so many people at once. I had always been happier on my own. It didn’t matter how many invites I got, year after year, from Aunt Eva, or from Natalie, I would never go to either of them for Christmas dinner. I had never allowed myself to make a big deal out of Christmas; it was just another day, as far as I was concerned. It had brought me nothing but bad memories of false hope and crushing disappointment for the best part of my childhood so I had never wanted to be a part of the celebrations. I wouldn’t open myself to more disappointment.
This year was different. I was different. I had done this today for Emily, and for Maia, and never before had I done anything so selfless. I had never cared about anyone’s needs more than I cared about my own. Until now. To watch Emily and Maia so happy filled me with nothing but warmth. Settled comfortably within all the chaos and mayhem that came with having so many people in one room, I was actually quite enjoying myself.
I could barely hear myself think over the bustling noise around the table. Maia was playing food aeroplanes with Natalie. Ryan was talking cars with Michael. Diane was calling to the opposite end of the table to get Emily’s attention while Emily leaned across to pour more wine into her glass. Yet I was still smiling. Henry made a point of clearing his throat, much louder than necessary, and the noise calmed a little. Well, Diane had stopped shouting anyway. I think she had had a little too much red wine judging by the way she hadn’t stopped talking for the past ten minutes, and she was usually very quiet.
“So, when’s the big day then, kids?” Henry called over the noise and everyone stopped talking, turning their attention to either Emily or myself.
“I told you, Dad, we’re not getting married yet,” Emily lied. I could tell she was lying by the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks. That, and the fact that she had already picked the venue and asked me to set a date. Why she was so nervous about telling her dad was beyond me. He was thrilled for the two of us.
“That’s not the impression I got from Julian?” He turned his attention to me and I grinned, winking an eye at him. He knew we were getting married soon; I had already spoken to him. But, I had asked him not to mention our little conversation in front of Emily; I wasn’t sure how she’d react.
Emily must have noticed the wink. “You spoke to my dad?”
“Of course he did, Ems. He’s certainly traditional, I’ll give him that. Wanted to ask me for my blessing.” He smirked at me, knowing full well he’d just dropped me right in it. “Dunno why he felt the need though, he already asked me once before he proposed.”
“Oh my God! You didn’t?” Emily seemed more than amused, although I couldn’t imagine why. I thought she’d be pissed at me for scheming behind her back.
“I did, yes,” I replied before gulping down a large mouthful of beer. I suppose Henry thought it was decent of me to ask for his blessing before I proposed and he wanted to share this piece of information with everyone at the table. But now I felt like an idiot. Emily clearly found it very funny.
“Good on ya, man,” Ryan chirped up. “So you should as well. If this little one in here happens to be a girl,” he said, placing his hand across Natalie’s stomach, “then no man will get near her until I’ve given him permission. And if he doesn’t even bother his arse to ask, you can forget it.”
Thank you, Ryan.
All four women insisted on making themselves busy, washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, while us men were ordered to put our feet up with a beer. I glanced across to Henry, he was perched on the edge of the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees, seemingly deep in thought as he stared vacantly at nothing in particular.
“You okay, Henry?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, lifting his eyes to meet mine. He suddenly looked content, satisfied in some way and I wondered what private debate he must have been having with himself. “Come with me, son. I want to show you something.” He stood and nodded towards the stairs. I followed, my stomach clenching with light flutters as my mind raced through the possibilities of what he was about to show me. He went into what had been his room for the night and paused, pinching at the bridge of his nose. He looked like he was having some sort of battle with himself again. Or maybe he was unwell?
“You feeling okay?” I pressed as I pushed the door closed.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said. He raised his head and stopped pacing back and forth for a moment. Then he looked directly at me. His eyes overflowed with emotion as they glassed over slightly. “Firstly, I want to thank you,” he began.
“You don’t need to thank me, Henry. This was as much your doing as it was mine,” I interrupted.
“I’m not just talking about today. I’ve never seen Emily so...so happy. And after everything she went through as a kid, I honestly never thought I would. You’re doing real good by her, Julian. And I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me.” He paused for a moment and his eyes appeared to sadden as he looked to the floor. “I wanted to give you something. I know you haven’t set the date yet, but you just keep hold of it until then.” He pulled a small box from his jeans pocket and held it towards me. I felt my brows furrow as I watched him.
“What’s that?”
“Here, take it,” he ordered, although he looked as if he really didn’t want to let go of it.
I took the box and opened it slowly. Inside was a small white band with a slim line of individual glistening diamonds running through the middle. I swallowed hard against the lump that was forming in my throat, not needing an explanation as to why he was giving me the ring. I already knew what it was
“It was Sarah’s wedding ring. It hasn’t left my side since the day she died, but it’s time to let go. Of course, if you already have your own rings planned then I won’t be offended, but I’d really like Emily to have it.”
I looked up and caught Henry wiping a tear from his cheek and it was all I could do not to break down. I was stunned. This was his way of showing me that he welcomed me into his family. No one had ever welcomed me into anything. Even as a child I’d been a total outcast, the kid from the scary family that no one wanted to play with. I had never been accepted. But, here he was, the father of the woman I loved, handing me his most treasured possession. I felt as if I was choking. My throat had tightened and my chest physically ached. I could never tell him how much this gesture meant to me, I simply couldn’t find the words.
“Are you sure?” I asked in a strangled voice.
“I’m positive, son. I had always planned to give this to Emily one day. One of the last things her mum asked me to do was to keep that ring until Emily found the right one.” He paused and chuckled quietly. “She made me promise that I wouldn’t give it up until I was certain that her man was worthy of her baby. And you most definitely are. You have my blessing, Julian. Now,” he paused to wipe at his moistened cheek again, “you go set that date.”
I tried to turn to leave the room, but I couldn’t. After everything Henry had just said to me, I couldn’t just walk out and not say anything. But I couldn’t seem to force my overwhelmed brain into forming any coherent words. I span around and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, slapping his back to make the hug seem a little manlier. “Thank you, Henry. You will never know how much this means to me.”
“Oh, I have an idea.” He grinned as he pulled away, out of my embrace, to look me directly in the eye. “Just you look after it until the big day.”
“I’ll guard with my life,” I promised before taking a deep breath and exiting the room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We touched back down on British soil the following afternoon and headed straight to my apartment. I still couldn’t get my head around the ring that seemed to be burning a hole in my left pocket. It didn’t feel right. Emily’s mother’s ring belonged on Emily’s finger, not in my pocket, but I would stick to my word and guard it with my life until the big day. Though, that day may have to be sooner than either of us had planned. What would it do to Emily when I handed her her mothers ring? Would she break down in front of a hall full of people, or would she simply take it proudly. God, the suspense was killing me already; I wasn’t sure how long I could last.
“So, when you asked if it was too soon to set a wedding date, did you mean it?” I asked Emily. She startled slightly at the sound of my voice. I had been so occupied with my own thoughts that I hadn’t spoken since we got in the car. Emily had been watching me from the corner of her eye, as she always did when I drove, but she didn’t know I knew that judging by the way her head snapped back to face the window as soon as I spoke.
“Of course I meant it,” she said, her tone casual. “Why? Are you having second thoughts?”
“Second thoughts about a long engagement, yes. I think we should book the castle.” I risked a quick glance at Emily. She was looking at my face now, seemingly studying my expression as a huge grin spread across her face. “What? I’m serious.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s set the date.”
“When were you thinking? A spring wedding? Summer?” I tried to sound as casual as possible, hoping I wouldn’t scare her off with any sign of my desperation.
“I was thinking more along the lines of winter. It’d be like a magical winter wonderland if there was snow outside. It’d look really pretty.”
I felt my stomach drop. I wasn’t sure I could keep this ring to myself for another year or so. But I didn’t want her to think I was pressuring her. “Okay, winter it is. We may have to wait a little bit to book, though. Most places only take bookings a maximum of a year in advance.” I knew this from the many corporal events I had had to organise in the past. ‘We don’t take bookings more than a year in advance’ I had been told on many of occasions.
“I wasn’t thinking about next year. More like next month. Or would February be better? I don’t know, when does it normally snow?” She stopped rambling as soon as she realised I was pulling over to the side of the road. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing you,” I said before crashing my lips into hers. “I love you....I...love...you,” I mumbled against her lips between kisses.
Wow, next month. We had some serious planning to do. And there I was, feeling every bit the excited little boy again as my mind raced with imaginary scenes of the day I get my own Mrs Scott.
I opened the door to my apartment and was instantly greeted by the smell of new paint. “Please bear in mind, you love me that much that you’ve just agreed to marry me next month,” I said as I pulled Emily through the door and covered her eyes with my hand.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked, trying to push my hand away. I held it firmly in place
“Just bear it in mind,” I repeated. “Just one more surprise, then I promise I’ll stop. Well, I promise I’ll try.”
“Julian! What else can you possibly surprise me with this week?”
I walked behind Emily, covering her eyes with one hand and Maia’s with the other as she clung onto Emily’s shoulders. I pushed the Maia’s bedroom door open with my foot and coaxed them inside the room as Emily carried on ranting. “If you’ve been spending more money on me, I’m going to k...” She stopped abruptly as I dropped my hands to my sides and we both gasped in unison as Maia let out a high pitched squeal.
I had never seen anything so perfect. The walls were a soft pink against a plush white carpet. Large pink fluffy rugs were scattered around the floor and huge pictures of princesses and castles hung from every wall. Along the far wall was the bed. My God, I had never seen anything like it. The white edging ran across the floor, just like I’d asked, and made its way up the walls until it met the ceiling. It was almost like a four poster bed, but more extravagant, somehow. Soft pink opaque veils draped from a fixture in the middle and ran along the posts until they wafted down around the entire bed, with just a small triangular gap for her to crawl between. It was like her own little den. Her own safe haven.
Maia was out of Emily’s arms and in the bed before I even had the chance to scan the rest of the room. There were two tall white wardrobes with what appeared to be pink feathers and curled ribbons hanging down the edges. She had her own mini dressing table with a mirror, and a huge wooden castle in the corner that looked big enough for her to fit inside.
“When did you do this?” Emily asked, looking every bit as awed as I felt.
“I had someone in yesterday to do it while we were away. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” she gasped. “I don’t even know what to say. No one had ever done anything like this for us before. God, thank you so much, Julian.” A stray tear rolled down her cheek and I wiped it away with the pad of my thumb.
“That’s because no one has ever loved you both as much as I do, Emily. And no one ever will.” I pressed a kiss against her temple. “Oh, and one last thing,” I said, taking her hand and leading her to our bedroom. “I hope you don’t mind, I was just trying to help.” I led her straight to the wardrobe. Where there were once evenly spaced hanging suits, were now two clearly differing sections. One section held my suits; the other held Emily’s newly moved clothes. The shelves on the left hand side now housed various pairs of shoes and boots, all belonging to Emily. I pulled her towards the chest of drawers, opening them slowly to reveal her collection of pyjamas and underwear. The French style dresser was filled with her cosmetics; the bedside cabinet was filled with her photos of Maia that had been beside her bed in her old room.
“Welcome home, baby.” I smiled, mimicking the hand gesture I had used in France.
“When...how?” she stammered, running her fingertip across the black and white photo of her and Maia that now hung on the wall.
“I had someone move it in while we were away. I thought it’d save us the bother.”
Emily opened her mouth to speak but I quickly covered it with my own, halting her words. She had thanked me far too much over the past couple of days for my liking. I didn’t do things for her to receive praise; I did them because I wanted to.
I left Emily and Maia to explore her new den and went into my office, closing the door firmly behind me. I flicked through the pages of one of the wedding magazines, stopping abruptly when I spotted the castle with the many fairy lights. Emily’s chosen venue. My eyes scanned rapidly over the page for the contact details, and soon as I saw them, I dialled the number. The voice on the other end of the line sounded as if it belonged to an elderly woman. There was a natural tremble in her words. She s
eemed friendly enough, and only too happy to help.
“Did you have a date in mind?” she asked, her voice full of optimism.
“No specific date, but we were looking for next month. Any date you have.”
“Next month?” she almost gasped
“I’ll pay whatever it takes, but yes, any date next month.”
“That’s going to cost, dear. I’ll have to find staff, and decor, and furnishings. And all at such short notice.”
Wow, it seemed this castle really was derelict. I had kind of expected it to be a popular tourist attraction or some sort of running business. I hadn’t thought for a second that it would actually be completely abandoned.
“I’ll handle the decor and furnishings. You take care of the staff, money isn’t an issue.”
After a long discussion of requirements and the delegation of tasks, the charming lady finally agreed to set the date. I took the squared box from my pocket, opening it one last time to admire the ring inside, and then put it in the top drawer of my desk, locking it securely.
As soon as Emily and I had tucked Maia into bed, I raced to the office and tore the printed sheet from the desk.
“Just one more surprise, I promise.” I grinned as I slumped down on the sofa beside Emily. Emily eyed me suspiciously, taking the sheet from my hand.