Page 41 of Merrily Ever After
“And then supervised,” Megan pipes up. She appears next to him with a tray of drinks.
“What about your awards dinner?” I ask, and Christian shrugs.
“I don’t need praise.”
“Bullshit. You love praise.”
“I love you and Tiernan more though.”
“Don’t be earnest,” I tell him. “It freaks me out.” But I give his arm a squeeze, knowing he knows how much this means to me. “There’s no raffle, is there?” I ask Megan.
“Had to get you out of the house somehow.”
“And the giant ass teddy bear?”
“I just thought it would be funny,” Christian says.
“I hate you.”
“You’ll forgive me.”
And I let it go because I will. I already have.
“Are you surprised?” he asks.
“Very.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“Yeah,” I say with a smile. “I know.”
He passes me my drink as I settle next to them against the bar.
“How much exactly does Santa charge this close to the big day?” I ask, watching Father Christmas bend his head to listen to Tiernan no doubt asking for something extremely expensive.
“It’s called a work credit card, Zoe. I’ve never claimed to be a saint.”
Which reminds me. I narrow my eyes as he sips his water. “Please tell me you didn’t hire that drunk guy in the church.”
“What?”
Oh. “I’ll tell you another time.”
He shakes his head, amused. “You know we’re all here for you, right? Any time. Anywhere. You’re allowed to ask for help.”
“I know,” I say, even though it still goes against every fibre of my being. “And I promise you can clean my house whenever you want.”
“Not what I meant.”
“And yet that’s the lesson I have chosen to learn.”
“Baby steps,” Megan reminds him, and holds up her glass. “Happy Christmas, you guys.”
The three of us clink as I watch my tipsy mother drag my father out for a dance. Someone turns the music up as Sinead drapes a string of tinsel around my neck, and I realize my mam was right. Most people on this earth would be fortunate to have one person to love, and I have a whole room of them. You can’t get much luckier than that.
