Page 72 of Not My Little Drummer Boy
“Right then,” he says, grabbing his jacket and a large carrier bag from the floor. “Ready to party, ladies?”
As Ellie bounces excitedly beside us, I realise our date has taken a completely unexpected turn. And somehow, I’m not disappointed at all.
The venue for the date is even more unexpected. The car pulls up outside the Royal London Children’s Hospital. Ellie leaps out and runs in through the main entrance before Teddy and I have collected our things. By the time we’re inside the building, she’s stationed outside a lift, arms folded, impatiently tracking its progress with the ferocious focus of a seven-year-old who believes she can will it faster.
“I take it she knows where we’re going?”
“Yeah, she does. Basically lived here for a while. Us too.”
It’s surprising to see the kid’s enthusiasm for a place where she underwent months of treatment. It speaks to the kindness of the staff that she’d return here so eagerly.
The lift rumbles up to the eighth floor, and when the doors glide open, Ellie tumbles out ahead of us, still determined to be first.
We step into a hallway strung with fairy lights. Paper snowflake garlands above the nurses’ station flutter in the toasty breeze of the central heating.
Ellie races along the corridor toward the double doors marked ‘Playroom’. Christmas music and childish voices spill out as she pushes one open.
Inside, the room is overrun with children at craft stations—decorating biscuits, making cards, painting ornaments. In one corner, a few kids in wheelchairs and a couple with IV lines are watching a Christmas movie. An artificial tree laden with handmade decorations dominates the opposite corner. Beside it, a very young-looking Santa is settling his padded bulk into an armchair.
Teddy heads toward him. There’s hand-shaking and smiling conversation between them before Teddy empties the contents of his carrier bag—wrapped presents—into a large red Santa sack.
“Doctor Alex,” Teddy says, rejoining me. “I wonder if Ellie will recognise him behind the beard. God knows she saw him often enough. She should know him by his voice alone.”
But Ellie is too busy to notice Santa. She’s already sitting at the face-painting station. A woman, poised with brush in hand, adds final dabs to a very realistic-looking Rudolph, complete with shiny red nose. The other child, with a little bald head beneath the reindeer antler headband, is laughing with Ellie.
“Come with me,” Teddy says, leading me over to the station.
“Isn’t the face painting just for the kids?” I grin at him. “Or maybe you fancy being a Grinch?”
“I’m no Grinch,” he says. “I told you I like Christmas. No, I want you to meet someone.”
When the woman now transforming Ellie into a golden butterfly, turns her face to us, I know who it is. Her hair and face shape are a feminine version of Teddy’s, but the eyes are sharp green like Briar’s,though with a softer expression. I try not to stare at the striking likeness.
“Rachel, I’d like you to meet Ellie’s mum, my sister Rowan. And roped in as a parent helper tonight.” Her eyes widen slightly. “Rowan, this is my girlfriend, Rachel.” Now she’s staring, mouth dropped open.
“But you can also call her Trouble,” Ellie pipes up.
“I think I’ll call her Rachel.” When she speaks, she’s got the same faint trace of a West Country accent as her siblings. Rowan puts down her brush and extends a paint-smeared hand to me. “Well, this is a first. We usually read about Teddy’s girlfriends on Instagram.”
“Oh, you’ll be seeing her there too, believe me.” Teddy tosses me a wink. “In fact, how about we do that now? Number two on the list, if I recall?”
He pulls Ellie into a hug between us and snaps a photo. He shows me before posting it—him and me with heads brushing, the grinning little girl in the centre. It’s so sweet, it tugs at my heart. Is this what our future might look like? With Pierre, I’d never been sure about kids—he always seemed to dislike them anyway—but with someone like Teddy, my mind feels open to the idea, warming to it even.
When he turns the phone back to me, I see the caption:
Christmas magic with the two most important people in my world. Little Ellie picked the perfect place for our date.
#grateful #mygirls #girlfriend
He’s really done it. It’s what I asked for, but now I’m unsure. Even though he didn’t tag me, I suspect my world is about to go crazy. I don’t have time to consider the consequences as Ellie tugs at my hand.
“Please, Rachel, come help me and my friend Paige decorate some biscuits.”
“Great idea,” I say, casting a glance at Teddy. “Best we bring Uncle Dory. Did you know he’s really good at icing?”
He laughs at my little inside joke, and we follow Ellie, who’s already claimed a chair by her friend.
I try to focus on the children, but my gaze keeps drifting back to Teddy. The image of icing sugar dusting those cheekbones won’t leave me alone, mingling with the memory of his mouth on mine. I know exactly how those lips taste, and I want more.
