by V, Krissy
I can feel the tears in my eyes, I know what he said is true, but it still hurts to think that Mam and Dad won’t be here again this Christmas.
“Now, I have two special presents for you this year. One is from me and it is something that I think you should treasure and use it to move on and make your own Christmas memories.” He hands me a small box which is beautifully wrapped. I look at him. “Yes, you can open it.”
I slowly unwrap the box and sit looking at the lid for a minute before lifting it. Inside is a Christmas bauble and as I lift it out I see it has a picture of Mam, Dad, Bree and me on Christmas day many years ago. When you shake the bauble snow begins to fall. I let out a sob and I can feel Tully put his arms around me and hold me tightly. “Where? Where? Where did you get this picture?”
Santa looks at me and smiles. “Christmas is a time of magic, remember!”
I put the bauble down and look up to Santa and smile. “Thank you that is an amazing present.” I have tears in my eyes as I remember this photo being taken.
“Now I said there are two presents for you in here. Let me see if I can find the other one.” He reaches in the sack and says “no that’s not yours, nor that one. I know it’s in here somewhere. Ah, here we go!”
I can feel the excitement growing inside me, I have kept this part of me hidden for so long. I look at Tully and smile.
“Here you are Nollaig, a second present for you.” He holds out his hand with another package, but this one is not covered in Christmas wrapping paper it is wrapped in birthday paper. I smile. “Happy Birthday” he says.
I take the parcel and start to unwrap it slowly. I open the parcel and when I see what is inside I gasp. I slowly pull-out a piece of fabric and hold it up for Tully to see. It is a birthday hat which is made of velvet and it looks like a three tier birthday cake. On the top are five candles, four around the outside on the top and one in the centre of the cake. I put it on and then Santa and Tully start singing happy birthday to me.
I laugh. "Thank you so much I'll treasure it."
Santa says "before I go to sleep on Christmas morning I want to be able to hear you singing this song ok?"
I nod and say "yes you will."
I stand, go to shake Santa’s hand, he stands and pulls me into a hug then he says "remember Christmas is as magical as you make it yourself."
We turn and walk outside "did you enjoy that?" Tully asks me.
"It was so much fun, I forgot how fun it is to see Santa. I wish I could have sat on his knee though". He laughs and pulls me close.
Mrs Claus appears out of nowhere and tells us that the train will be leaving in half an hour and not to venture too far into the forest. We agree and start walking into the forest.
"I know you organised all of that with Santa, it's too much Tully."
We stop at a tree and he moves me back so I'm leaning against it. "I didn't do anything Nollaig, it was all Santa" he says kissing me on the nose.
I giggle. "Of course it was you, but I love them both. I don't know where that picture came from, but thank you."
He leans in and kisses me and I forget all about Santa and his gifts. We stay like that for quite a while and then we hold hands and walk back through the forest.
We climb on board the train, put the blanket around us and when it sets off I don't believe what I see - it's starting to snow.
"Tully look it's starting to snow. Can you make this anymore perfect?" I ask him.
"I wish I had organised this but it's just happening. It's beautiful though isn't it?"
I start to cry. "What's the matter Mo Mhuirnín?"
"It's just so perfect my Mam and Dad would love it."
"They're watching you. They’re looking down and seeing everything you are doing to recapture Christmas and they are helping you to have these memories. Capture them and treasure them Nollaig.”
When we get back to the beginning of the trail, we climb out of the train and we walk slowly over to the photographer to collect our pictures.
When we see them they are beautiful and I know I will treasure them. We pay and then put them on our key rings. We go into the gift shop and I buy a couple of things for Tyler and Elena and Tully buys something for his niece and nephew too.
After that we climb back on his bike and he takes me home, the journey is a bit slower because of the snow that is falling, but I cling tight to him and love it. When we get home he gets off the bike then helps me off too. "I don’t think we will be able to keep using the bike if it snows anymore, we might have to just use the car" he says kissing me on the nose.
"That's ok, I don't mind as long as I'm with you" I say before realising what I said. Crap that sounded really clingy but when I look up into his eyes, I can see that he feels the same.
He hugs me tight and says “I’m glad you feel like that because I feel the same too.”
“Will you come in and I can cook us some dinner to say thank you for today?”
“I’d love that a lot” he says taking my hand and walking with me to the front door. I open the door and we both walk in. I take the photo of both of us and put it pride of place on the mantelpiece above the fire. Then I take the elf out of my bag and place that at the end of the mantelpiece. I stand back and look at it, I’m happy with that.
“They look lovely there Nollaig, I like it.” He says coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. I like when he does that and we stand there for a few minutes.
He follows me into the kitchen “What do you want for dinner?” I ask him as I am looking in the cupboards and the fridge.
“We can get a takeaway if you like” he says. “Or if you want to cook then I can help you make something.”
I’m looking in the fridge and then I see some steak “We can have steak and homemade chips with pepper sauce if you like.”
“That sounds delicious” he says taking the steak from me. We work well together in the kitchen, he bashes the steak while I start to peel the potatoes to make the chips.
I put the chips in the oven and then get the ingredients for the pepper sauce. “Will you lay the table and bring out some wine from the fridge, the crockery is in that cupboard there and the wine glasses are in that one over there.” I don’t look around as I start making the sauce and put the steaks under the grill.
Once everything is ready, I plate up the food and bring them to the dining table. The table looks gorgeous all laid up and I realise I haven’t done this for so long. When he was over for dinner the other day we ate in the kitchen.
We sit down for dinner and we talk about the day. “Did you enjoy your Santa experience today?” he asks and I don’t know why he had to ask because you could see it written all over my face.
“Of course I did, I don’t think anyone could do what we did today and not enjoy themselves. It was truly magical.”
“I really enjoyed it but the best moment for me was in Santa’s cabin. Where did you put his gifts?”
I look around myself until I see my bag sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I get up and walk over to pick them up and bring them back to the table. I put my hat on and immediately he starts to sing happy birthday.
I laugh. “It’s not my birthday yet” I say.
“I know but it sets the mood for singing that song.” He smiles.
We continue eating dinner and then I pull out the Christmas present that Santa gave me. I’ve finished eating now and I move my plate aside. I take a long time to look at the photo in the big bauble, it’s so beautiful. I don’t realise that Tully has moved around the table to sit next to me. “Tell me about that picture, when was it taken? What were you all doing?”
“I’m trying to think back, I think it was taken one Christmas about fifteen years ago, we had decided we wanted a family photo so we went out for the day to Dublin City and had a professional photographer take some photos. We had such a good day out, Mam and Dad took us for lunch and we were all so full when they started taking our photo. After they were taken the
y took us to Butler’s Chocolate Café and it was my first encounter with all these amazing chocolates that I now help to produce.” I sit there smiling for a while and he doesn’t say anything to break the magic of this moment. Then he reaches across and takes my hand.
I take that moment to ask him “Where did you get this photo Tully?”
He smiles at me and kisses my hand “I didn’t get it, it was all Santa Mo Mhuirnín.”
I laugh “I know it was you.”
“It’s the magic of Christmas” he says smiling. I know I’m not going to find out how he did it, I’m just glad he did.
“Well however you or Santa did it – I love it!”
We sit there looking at the bauble for another five minutes and then we clear the table and I load the dishes in the dishwasher while Tully disappears for a few minutes.
I fill up the wine glasses again and take them into the lounge. I’m shocked when I walk in because the fire is lit in the fireplace. Tully is sat on the couch with a smile on his face. “I hope you don’t mind, but I thought after the day we just had that it would be wonderful to finish off with a blaring fire.”
We put the stereo on and just sit watching the fire flickering for a while. “I have to go to my sister’s for dinner tomorrow night, do you want to come with me? I’d love for you to meet her.” I ask nervously, I know Bree won’t mind me bringing him, but it might be too soon to introduce him to my sister.
“I’d love that, are you sure it will be ok?”
“I’ll ring her now and ask her, then you know that it’s not a problem.” He nods his head while I go and get the phone. I press speed dial number two and it starts ringing.
I take a sip of my wine and Bree answers “Hello.”
“Bree it’s me, how are you?”
“I’m good what have you been up to this week Nolly, I haven’t been able to get hold of you at all.”
“I’ve been out recapturing the magic of Christmas with Tully. Do you remember I told you about him last weekend?”
“Ooh I do remember, do tell me more.” She laughs.
“He’s here with me now, but I just wanted to ask you if you minded him coming to dinner tomorrow night with me.”
“Of course I don’t mind, you never bring anyone to dinner. Will I have to get the posh crockery out?”
I laugh “no not at all. So if we come to you about seven o’clock? Is that ok?”
“That’s perfect, but is he ok with watching X Factor after dinner?”
“He’s a singer, so, no he doesn’t mind” I say laughing.
“Are you both going to stay over?”
“No, no way, we’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.”
“She said it’s fine for dinner, I’m excited now!”
We finish our wine and then we go to bed. I dream of Santa and his gifts and I see Mam and Dad looking down from the sky and they are both smiling.
Day 8
Saturday 20th December
When I wake up this morning, I can feel an arm draped across me and I smile to myself thinking how quickly I’ve got used to Tully being in my bed and waking up with me in the mornings.
I roll onto my back and I see he is laid on his side with his head in his hands. He is watching me. “Good morning” he says.
“Good morning” I blush.
“I slept really well last night, it must have been all that fresh air.”
“Me too” I murmur, leaning into his side. All of a sudden I jump out of bed and run to the window “I wonder whether we got more snow.”
I open the curtains, he moans because of the light, I laugh and then I’m slightly disappointed. “It’s all gone. I’d love a white Christmas this year.” I say absent mindedly.
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me and says “I was hoping it would stay too. It would be so magical.” He kisses me on the crook of my neck. I lean into him.
We pull apart and then I grab my robe and we walk downstairs for a cup of coffee, French Vanilla of course.
While we’re having breakfast Tully says “so what do you want to do today? I had thought about a trip on the tourist bus around Dublin, but I’m very conscious that I’ve been manipulating your time and that you need to buy Christmas presents for your sister and your niece and nephew. Do you want to go into town today? We can have a few drinks and then head out to your sisters this evening.”
I think about it for a few minutes, I know he is right I do need to buy some presents. “I think that would be lovely, are you sure you can spare the time, I’ve been manipulating your time as well this week.”
“I can’t think of anything else I’d like to do today more than spend it with you shopping for presents. I love shopping.” He says and I can tell he means it. “I need to go home and change my clothes and drop the bike home. Will I meet you in town and then neither or us has to drive later?”
“I like that idea, I have a couple of things that I need to do this morning anyway, so will I meet you about two o’clock?”
“Perfect, I’ll meet you outside Trinity College.” He stands and puts his dishes on the side. “I’ll just go and get dressed, can I take a shower?”
“Of course you can and that’s fine.”
He walks out of the room and I take the time to think back over the last week. I can’t believe it’s only a week since I met him, it feels like so much longer. We have done so much this week and I can feel my barriers breaking down.
When he comes back in, he looks good enough to eat, I am so lucky to have stumbled across him.
“Right then, I’m going” he says crossing the room to kiss me.
We walk to the front door and I open it for him to walk out, he stops and turns and pulls me close to him and kisses me again. “I’ll see you at two” he says silkily into my ear.
I wave him off as he climbs on his bike and roars away.
I lean against the door jamb for a few minutes before turning around and walking back into the house.
I go straight upstairs and run a bath and then I jump in and soak for an hour, listening to music playing. I love having a bath, it relaxes me so much.
I take my time getting dressed, I want to look good for Tully, but I want to be comfortable shopping.
I have to do some food shopping so I drive down to Tesco and get the few things that I’ll need for this week, it is really busy because everyone is buying their Christmas food. I feel a little bit guilty but I don’t think I’ve broken those walls down enough to buy food for Christmas.
After I’ve put all the food away, I leave the house and catch the bus into town. The bus stops just near Trinity College, but I am early so I walk up Grafton Street and start looking for something for Tully for Christmas. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but I need to buy him something nice to say thank you for everything he has done for me.
I find a little shop that sells memorabilia and I hesitantly go inside. There are signed pictures on the walls and I have fun looking around. The assistant comes out and asks “can I help you with anything? Are you looking for something in particular?”
“I am looking for something but I don’t know what? Does that make sense?” I ask laughing. “The present is for a singer in a band, he loves rock music and also ballads.”
The assistant looks around the shop and then he says “I think I have the perfect thing. Michael Bublé was here last year and he signed a few things, but if you want something really special then he signed a gold disc.”
I gulp, I’m not sure I can afford something like that ,but I follow the assistant while he shows me the disc. When I see it, I know I have to have it. It is a gold disc, signed by Michael Bublé and the disc is “Haven’t met you yet.” That’s the song he was singing when I fell over and interrupted him.
“I don’t mind how much it is I want to buy it.” I say before I can change my mind. “I can’t take it with me now though as I am going to meet him and then we will be on the bus. Can I have it delivered on Monday?�
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“Of course you can madam” he says smiling at me.
I’m so happy and delighted with the purchase, I go and pay, give him my address and then I walk out of the shop and down to Trinity College to meet Tully. He’s there waiting for me when I arrive.
We spend the next few hours looking in and out of all the shops looking for presents for Tyler, Elena, Bree and Rory as well as for his brothers and their children. We are laden down with bags, but that doesn’t stop us going for a few drinks in Sinnots bar by Stephens Green.
It’s about six fifteen when we get on the bus and it takes us out of the city to Castleknock, where Bree lives. When we walk up to her front door we are both giggling and when she opens the door she smiles at us and all the bags we are carrying.
“Hello, can I look inside those bags?” She asks.
“No way, some of these are your presents and I want you to have surprises on Christmas day” I say smiling at her, walking past her to take my coat off and put my bags down out of everyone’s way. “Bree this is Tully, Tully this is my sister, Bree.”
“Nice to meet you Tully. I like what you are doing for my sister this year. Someone needed to do it and I’m happy it’s you.” She takes him into a hug, he looks embarrassed.
“Come on Tully, help me bring the bags up to my bedroom then no one will look in them.” He smiles at me and follows me up the stairs.
When we have put the bags down he pulls me into a hug. “I had a great day today, it was so much fun.” He kisses me gently and we both go back downstairs.
Dinner is really fun, Bree always cooks great food and I am stuffed with food and all the wine we had. We help to clear away, then we go and sit in the lounge to watch X Factor.