Amy flicked the television on, and was just sitting down when the phone rang. With a sigh, she pulled herself up again – only to find that Jack had beaten her to it.
‘Hello?’
Amy loitered in the doorway, waiting to hear who it was on the other end. Probably her mother, she decided, calling from the ship phone on the Christmas cruise she was taking with Aunty Mary.
Then she caught Jack’s eye, and saw a hundred emotions go through them all at once. Not Granny, then.
‘Hey, Dad,’ Jack said, and Amy understood.
Her breath felt tight in her chest as she waited to see what would happen next. Would Jack blow up at Jim again? Hang up like he had every other time Jim had called since he left? Or would her Christmas miracles keep coming?
‘Yeah. Merry Christmas,’ Jack said. ‘Hey, did you hear the news about Henry?’
And just like that, Amy knew they were going to be all right.
Resting her head against the door frame, Amy took a sip of her wine and listened as Jack regaled his father with the story of Henry’s adventure.
‘No, I swear! The Palace sent this whole giant hamper of presents when they brought him back last night, along with a note saying sorry for “borrowing” our dog!’
There was another pause, but even that was a good sign – it meant that Jack was actually listening to Jim. Another first.
‘New Year?’ Jack said, looking up at Amy.
‘Your choice,’ she whispered. Because Jack was right; he was almost an adult now, he got to decide for himself the people he let into his life.
She just hoped he chose the right ones. She hoped she would, too.
There were a lot more changes and challenges coming in their future, Amy knew, but at last she honestly felt she could meet them. She could handle Jim, and Bonnie, and Jack becoming an adult, and Claire growing up every day, and work, and Henry and Sookie, and the house, and everything else that came her way. And she’d do it by keeping her family together, happy and loving, and remembering how lucky she was to have them all.
The future was wide open, and the only thing Amy felt when she thought about it now was excitement.
‘Yeah. I think I can make it.’ He smiled. ‘Great. I guess I’ll see you then. Bye, Dad. You want to talk to Claire? Okay.’
He dashed up the stairs, phone in hand, calling for his sister, and Amy took the chance to finally settle onto the sofa and check the TV guide for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe there’d be another good film on again later that they could all watch together.
As she sat down, Henry hopped up beside her, snuggling in against her hip. Amy petted him behind the ears, enjoying the feeling of having him home where he belonged. He was part of her family too, after all.
‘We missed you, Henry,’ she whispered. ‘It wouldn’t have been a family Christmas without you.’
HENRY
Claire and Jack came back downstairs together, both smiling, which seemed to make Amy relax even more, too. I sat up, my ears perked, ready to hear the word I was waiting for.
‘Walkies, Henry?’ Claire said, and I jumped down, barking my agreement.
Outside, the snow had settled over everything, making the world look magical and white. Wrapped up in their coats and scarves, Jack and Claire laughed and joked as they made their way to the park, taking it in turns to try and shove snow down each other’s back.
Me, I trotted along contentedly at Amy’s side, taking in all the familiar sights, sounds and smells of my home town. Amy didn’t let me off my lead when we reached the park, which I suppose was understandable, but she seemed happy to follow me around as I reacquainted myself with various corners and hidden places between the trees and the benches.
Everything seemed more or less as I’d left it – apart from the snow. I wondered if Candy and the others had snow at Sandringham.
Wondered if they were thinking about me at all, this Christmas Day.
But then Jack came to take my lead, and we raced across the park together, Claire following, while Amy brushed the snow off a bench and sat to watch us. There were plenty of other dogs and their owners in the park, and I barked a Merry Christmas to each and every one of them.
By the time Amy declared that it was time to head home for the Queen’s Christmas message, my paws were cold and sore, I was panting from my exertions, and I had quite simply, never been happier.
Back home again, Claire and Jack hurried into the lounge after hanging up their coats, and piled onto the sofa next to me and Amy, just as the BBC credits rolled. The TV screen cleared to show a familiar figure sitting behind a familiar desk, a twinkling Christmas tree in the background.
‘There she is,’ Claire said. ‘Isn’t it weird to think that Henry has actually met her.’
‘Shh,’ Amy said. ‘I want to hear what she has to say.’
So did I. This was the woman my friends loved more than anyone, and that was more important to me than what she was Queen of. This was the person who had sent me home to my family. The woman who had made our Christmas complete.
The least we could do was listen to her message.
I tucked my paws up under me to warm up, and paid attention.
‘Christmas, for many of us, is a time for family, and for togetherness. But we must never forget those who do not have a family around them, especially in their hour of need.’ Her Majesty looked so serene, so authoritative. I wished she had the other dogs with her, so I could see them again.
‘Family is not always a matter of birth. Our communities, our schools, our churches, our businesses, our whole country – they are all a family of sorts. Each of us belongs to more families than we can count, communities we can rely on to support us, and which we must try to support in return.
‘This year has been a trying one for the country, in many ways. But I have been heartened to see, in amongst the darkest times, great hope. Hope for the future, and for our country, in the actions of individuals, and communities – in the actions of the many different families that make up this land. Kindness and compassion have brought us together, when some would try to drive us apart.’
At her words, Amy reached out and wrapped an arm around Claire’s shoulder, pulling her closer. Jack did the same on the other side, until we were all huddled together. Family.
Just then, Sookie hopped up onto the sofa and, with a brief glance my way, settled down to sit at the far end of the sofa, beside Jack. Even she felt it, I realised – the need for us all to be together today.
‘This Christmas, perhaps more than any that has come before, we need that togetherness,’ the Queen went on. ‘And I know that as a family, as a country, we will both give and receive help, hope and heart. We will stick together, even when times are hard. And in doing so we will continue to create each day anew, a country – and a family – we will be proud to leave for our children and our grandchildren.’
Amy pressed a kiss to Claire’s head, and I nuzzled her thigh.
We were together, all of us, once more. And I knew in my heart that, now I was home, we could manage anything.
Together.
About the Author
Georgie Crawley lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and their six dogs. She spends as much time as possible walking in the English countryside, and reading about her pet passion: the royal family.
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