Page 105 of The Best Little Christmas Shop
‘Yep. Fine, thanks,’ I replied, knowing I wasn’t fooling her for a moment. ‘How are you?’
She flapped a perfectly manicured hand before laying it on her stomach. ‘I’m great. Well, apart from wishing this baby would find somewhere more comfortable to sit thanon my bladder. Marco, isn’t it? We met at one of the races.’ Giselle held out her hand and Marco took it, lifting it to his lips instead of shaking it. I made a groaning noise. Marco and Giselle looked at me. Cal and Xander laughed.
‘That was out loud, wasn’t it?’ I pulled a face.
‘’Fraid so, Muppet.’
‘He’s being charming.’ Giselle laughed her tinkly laugh. There was no way she’d ever cheaton Xander but I guess she appreciated – and knew what to do with – charming manners when she came across them.
‘All my charm is, sadly, quite lost on Lexi.’
I rolled my eyes at him and then looked at Giselle. ‘Believe me, he isn’t always that charming. He can actually be a proper diva at times.’
‘Ah! I disagree.’ Marco’s eyes twinkled with amusement. ‘I have been known to be upset … but I havenever slid down the slope to divaship. When you have engineers who tell you to stop being such … what is the phrase you favour again?’ He glanced at me, tapping his chin in mock thought, ‘oh yes, “an arse”, it is a little difficult to believe that you are particularly special.’
‘To be fair, I never said it that much.’
‘To be fair, I think I probably deserved it when she did.’ He spoke to thesmall group we had now formed.
‘Right, everyone! Into the dining room please. Cal, Dan, Xander, can you take these please?’ Mum directed the boys to the last of the items to be taken through and we headed into dining room, mouths watering with the aromas drifting from the dishes in the middle of the table.
***
‘Thanks for sorting this all, Mum. I know it was all a bit of a last-moment thing,’Dan began once we’d all eaten far too much and were sat lounging in our chairs, vaguely wondering how we’d ever move again. ‘And thanks to you all for coming. Claire and I have something to share, and we wanted to tell everyone we love all at the same time.’
Various murmurs went around the table as glances were exchanged. Marco, next to me leaned in. ‘I feel as though I am intruding.’ I laidmy hand on his arm briefly and shook my head. He didn’t say anything more but it was the first time I’d ever seen him not feeling totally at ease.
‘And, Marco –’ Dan smiled at him ‘– you’re just as welcome. Everyone knows you might be about to whisk our Lexi away with a much-deserved promotion.’ He glanced at me as he made this point. ‘But if it makes her happy, then we forgive you.’
Marco smiledand gave an accepting, grateful nod.
‘For the most part,’ Dan finished, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes at him and returned the smile, trying to scrunch down the feelings churning inside of me. I’d made my decision. It was the right one. I knew it was. The sensible one. So why did I have an overwhelming urge to throw myself on the floor and wail like a toddler that I didn’t want to go?
‘YouOK?’ Cal, on the other side of me, whispered close to my ear as, momentarily, the others talked around us.
I nodded without turning my head, doing my best to ignore the little rockets of wanting his warm breath on my skin kicked off.
‘So,’ Dan started again, ‘I expect some of you might have already guessed why we’re here. But if you could still act surprised, that’d be great,’ he said, takinghis wife’s hand and laughing. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her hair. ‘Claire and I have some news.’ We waited as he reached an arm under the table and produced a small, blue teddy bear, which he then sat in front of him. A moment of silence surrounded us as we took in the meaning, smiles forming, tears spilling, and laughter bubbling as we all shared in a joy thathad been so wanted and so deserved, and so long in coming.
Beneath the table, Cal’s hand slid to mine. He leant closer. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked, the noise around us concealing his question from the others.
I turned, grateful for his thoughtfulness, and for a moment forgetting that we were supposed to be keeping our distance, being sensible.
‘Yes! Yes, I am,’ I replied, tears streaming down mycheeks, taking the remnants of the day’s mascara with it. ‘It’s wonderful. Perfect. Oh, Cal, they’ve waited for this for such a long time!’
Cal nodded, smiling. I knew what he was thinking. That I might find the news hard. And I could understand that. But I also knew the struggle that Dan and Claire had had, the pain, the stress, the disappointments, the heartbreak. It had formed a bond betweenus that strengthened the joys and deepened the heartaches each of us experienced.
‘Do you need this?’ he asked, offering me his napkin.
I giggled through the happy tears. ‘No, I’m OK for now. But thank you.’ He smiled, gave another gentle squeeze of my hand, and then withdrew his own.
‘And everything is … OK?’ Mum asked the question lurking in all our minds.
‘Fingers crossed, yes,’ Dan answered.‘Claire’s over four months already. We just didn’t want to get our, or anyone else’s hopes up too early, which is why we’ve been a bit sneaky about it – for which I apologise. Had it been summer, Claire hiding underneath big jumpers might not have been such a viable option.’ Dan grinned and gave his wife another kiss, the love and happiness beaming out of them like sunshine on a cold winter’sday.
‘We went for a check-up today and they’re extremely happy with the progress and everything’s looking great. We’re sorry we hid it from you all up to now, but we know you understand. Once we got the news today though, we wanted to tell every special person in our lives as soon as possible,’ Claire said, picking up the thread as Dan’s eyes shone with emotion. He wasn’t the only one. Napkinshad turned into handkerchiefs almost without fail around the entire table. Mum had now appropriated Dad’s as well, leaving him to use his sleeve to wipe the tears brimming in his eyes.
‘Congratulations!’ Marco raised his glass, jerking us all into action, and the sentiment echoed loudly in the large dining room as we all toasted the parents to be and the new life that would be with us beforewe knew it.
‘There’s just one more thing,’ Dan added, placing another bear on the table beside the first, this one soft pink in colour.
‘Twins?’ Mum’s voice was barely a whisper. It was as though the whole room had stopped breathing.
Dan nodded, the brightest, most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen lighting his face. Cal, his own eyes glittering with emotion, turned as I lost it completely and,without a word, held out his napkin to me.
