Page 40 of Merrily Ever After
“Okay? Congratulations?”
“Thanks.” He sounds amused. “Are you meeting me or what?”
The teddy bear. I groan. “We just got back. Are you not supposed to be at your awards thing?”
“We’re getting a drink first.”
“Tiernan needs a bath,” I begin, but Christian cuts me off.
“Bring him. There’s a Santa here.”
I frown. “Seriously?”
“Would I joke about Santa?”
He would never. I glance at Tiernan playing with the car.
“Fine,” I sigh. “But there better be Tuscan nougat.”
“What?”
I hang up and smile encouragingly at my son. “Want a vodka cranberry?”
*
We get our shoes back on and bring his new toy with us as we head down, hand in hand. The nap at the church seems to have done the trick, and Tiernan is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by the time we get to the pub. I’m feeling a bit better myself now that my home is in order. It’s amazing what clean counters and hoovered floors can do for you. Especially when—
“SURPRISE!”
Tiernan jumps beside me, clutching my hand tight as he gazes around. Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure I’ve just lost four to five years of my life.
The pub is packed. But not like it usually is. With tech bros and finance guys and lost tourists. Tonight, it’s with people I know. Friends and family and colleagues. I think I even spy my dentist in the corner, which is kind of weird, but before I can investigate, someone loops an arm around my shoulder, and I turn to see Sinead.
“What the hell?” I mutter behind a fake smile.
She just grins. “Happy Christmas,” she says. “And Happy Almost Birthday!” she says to Tiernan, who shows her his car.
“Where did you get that from?” she gasps with an exaggerated wink at me as she crouches down.
My mother takes the opportunity to come in for a hug. “The cheese was a ruse! It was all Christian’s idea.” She holds me tight, mindful of my arm. “He’s not just a pretty face, you know. Though he is very pretty.”
Dad meets my eye over her shoulder.
Two brandies,he mouths.
“You’ve got a lot of people who care a lot about you,” Mam continues in my ear. “You’re a lucky girl to be so loved. And we’re lucky to have you.”
The familiar eye sting is back again, and it takes a moment before I can let her go.
“There’s someone here to see you,” she adds to Tiernan, holding out her hand.
Tiernan’s already spotted the red-suited, white-bearded man in the corner, and he stares in awe as Santa Claus himself waves and patiently waits for him to approach.
“Go on,” I say, nudging him, and he slowly overcomes his shyness, going with his grandmother as I catch a smirking face by the bar.
“Christian Fitzpatrick, did you clean my house?” I ask as I approach.
“No,” he says. “I paid someone else to do it.”
