Page 90 of A Winter Kiss on Rochester Mews
‘Never!’
Mattie’s phone beeped.
‘That will be my mum again, demanding to know if I have a spare roll of tinfoil or if I can bring my second-best rolling pin with me.’ Mattie rolled her eyes.
‘I love that you have a second-best rolling pin,’ Tom said, as Mattie retrieved her phone from beneath a cushion.
But the text message was from Posy with a picture attachment of …
‘Oh! Oh my days! Oh my goodness, you’re never going to believe this,’ Mattie exclaimed, handing over her phone so Tom could read the message too.
You’ll be pleased to know that you and Tom and your shenanigans made me go into early labour. Lavinia Angharad Lady Agatha Morland-Thorndyke (Lala for short) was born at half past seven this morning, weighing in at a very respectable seven pounds. Mother and baby doing blissfully well. Love, Posy xxx
And there was a beaming Posy sitting on her kitchen floor, propped up against the stove (obviously there hadn’t been time to get to the hospital), cradling a tiny, swaddled baby in her arms.
‘I said that she was very pregnant,’ Tom said, although he’d said no such thing. But Mattie let him off because he was furiously scrubbing away the tear that had begun to trickle down his left cheek. She could feel the prickle of happy tears herself. ‘Still, it’s nice to know that Lavinia lives on.’
‘It is,’ Mattie said softly. Their eyes met and as their lips found each other again, he whispered, ‘Merry Christmas.’
Less than three miles away, Verity and Johnny were sitting down to a Christmas brunch of eggs benedict and champagne. As they held their glasses up in a toast, the diamonds on Verity’s engagement ring caught the lights twinkling on the Christmas tree, which were a perfect match for the sparkle in her eyes.
A few miles to the south-east, Nina and Noah were snuggled on their own sofa. Well, partially snuggled as Nina’s injuries didn’t allow for full snuggling. And also owing to Nina’s injuries (which hardly hurt at all now), they’d cried off going to their respective families. Now they could stay in their own cosy flat to drink all the cocktails and eat all the food, as they spent their first Christmas together.
At the same moment, in Bloomsbury, Sebastian Thorndyke wrestled a huge turkey into the oven as Posy Morland-Thorndyke supervised, while her three-hour-old daughter slept in her arms.
Outside in Bloomsbury Square, Sam and Sophie (who’d told their respective caregivers that they were just popping out for some fresh air, though their respective caregivers knew exactly why they were really popping out) sat huddled together on a bench and kissed, while around them the first few fat flakes of snow began to fall.
And so it was that all the staff of the Happy Ever After bookshop and tearooms really did live happily ever after.
