Page 143 of A Christmas Celebration
‘I’ll just tell Mum and Dad what I’m doing and then I’ll go and sort it,’ I told her.
The morning was pushing on and Hugo, Oscar, and Angus of course, were eager to see their presents under the tree, even though they wouldn’t be opening them until later.
‘I’ll be back in a sec,’ I said to Archie, as I went to slip out but he lightly caught my hand.
‘Can you just hang on?’ he asked, sounding so unlike his usual mischievous self that I stopped in my tracks.
‘What’s wrong?’ I frowned, instantly on alert.
‘Nothing,’ he said quickly, as Jamie came to stand next to him. ‘Nothing’s wrong.’
‘Before we all head off to get dressed and peek at the presents under the tree,’ Jamie said, loud enough to draw everyone’s attention as I moved to sit down again. ‘Can we just have a minute of your time?’
‘It’ll have to be a brief one,’ said Dorothy, brandishing a wooden spoon.
‘Oh well, in that case,’ said Archie, looking at his brother and sounding more like his old self. ‘We’d better go together.’
Jamie nodded and laughed as Anna and Molly went to stand next to their Connelly men.
‘One, two, three,’ they called out and then there was the briefest pause before they shouted, all four in perfect synchronicity, ‘we’re pregnant!’
Each and every mouth fell open and then the whooping, cheering and clapping began.
‘Both of you?’ called Angus above the noise as he pointed first at Anna and then at Molly.
The two women nodded and laughed.
‘Yes,’ said Anna, looking at her friend, ‘both of us. I’m due first in early summer.’
‘And I’ll be a couple of weeks later,’ Molly ecstatically added.
‘I don’t believe it!’ Angus cried, pulling at his hair until it stood on end. ‘This is the best Christmas morning I’ve ever had!’
Catherine was then on her feet and hugging the two women she loved as if they were her very own daughters and Jamie and Archie were clapping each other on the back and looking immensely proud of their manly prowess.
‘Isn’t this wonderful?’ Dorothy gasped, abandoning her spoon. ‘Two babies!’
I took a moment to absorb the news. Molly had told me that more changes were coming but I’d had no idea she had foreseen something as dramatic and thrilling as this, but then I wondered, had she realized that herself?
‘Two babies,’ Hayley sighed, coming to link her arm through mine. ‘What the hell are we going to do now?’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked her.
‘Well,’ she said, with a sly wink, ‘Anna won’t be able to keep lugging those deliveries about, will she? You know yourself how weighty those fruit and veg boxes are and the library books aren’t exactly light either, are they?’
There was no chance to answer as Angus was popping champagne corks and making toasts and for a few minutes the whole scene fell into wonderful chaos, punctuated with kind kisses and warm congratulations.
The day continued in much the same vein and my face wore a permanent smile which only grew wider when Brodie and Albert arrived in the tinsel-toting Volvo.
‘All dressed for the occasion, I see!’ I laughed as I rushed out to meet them.
Not only was the Volvo festively adorned, but the two men were wearing matching Christmas jumpers too.
‘These were the most garish ones I could find,’ Albert told me with a chuckle.
‘Albert insisted,’ said Brodie, looking as if he’d rather be wearing anything but a gingerbread and snowman patterned sweater. ‘He thought Angus would appreciate them.’
‘Oh, I know he will,’ I laughed. ‘I only wish you’d got one for him.’
