part0035

Steph returned to the table, the camera timer set. “Okay, to our finished holiday home. Thanks for all your hard work, it’s truly beautiful. Now raise your glasses, smile, hold it and wait for the flash.”

Steph looked around her. It had been an exceptionally busy two years since she’d made Mia her wife, something she celebrated every day since. When they’d announced at the wedding that they’d bought a place in Malaga, for friends and family as well as themselves, no one had known what to think. That changed when following their honeymoon and packing up their life in Gibraltar, they’d brought everyone together for a gathering. Their parents, Abby and Ailsa and Janie and Marie.

They showed a short video of the property, whilst it needed new windows, rewiring, a new kitchen and bathroom, floor tiling and redecoration throughout, this was to be finished in the next 6 months, assuming no delays. They then set everyone a challenge.

There were three bedrooms all similar sizes, a smaller bedroom/study, a living area and a terrace. They wanted the four couples to take responsibility for furnishing and decorating a room. Providing rugs, art, basically everything it needed. They would provide a budget of £1000 per room and would be allowed 12 months, then they would all gather for a week together for the grand reveal, and to agree a winner.

They’d all wholeheartedly agreed, except for the money. Abby spoke on behalf of them all. “Mia, Steph, you are providing us with a holiday home, it’s the least we can do to decorate the rooms we’ll be staying in. So, except for the budget, we accept the challenge.” Steph and Mia had agreed, but in the interests of fairness given the competition, they all had to limit themselves to that amount.

All had agreed that Steph and Mia should take on the master bedroom. Whilst it was of similar size to the other two, it had a small private roof terrace, with great views of the city and the sea in the distance. Abby and Ailsa, Janie and Marie had the other two bedrooms, and her parents the living room.

Emma and Rob were happy with this, as they were retired, they knew they would spend more time there. Mia and Steph had already promised them the master bedroom if they were all staying there. They planned to squeeze into the study with an inflatable bed.

Steph thought back to earlier that day, the culmination of all their hard work. Work on the fabric of the building had taken longer than planned, and then Janie and Marie had decided to marry within 12 months of their engagement, so they had prioritised this.

They had all arrived the night before, but because they were arriving at different times and wanted the reveal to be in daylight, they had stayed at a local hotel the night before, owned by a couple that were now friends of Emma and Rob. They all met for a late dinner and had nominated Emma to compare the competition. After breakfast they headed for the finished house.

First shown was the master bedroom. This was decorated in a Moroccan style. The walls were off white, and light-coloured limestone tiles floored the property throughout. What gave the room colour was the sumptuous materials. The bed was low and simple, hanging above it was a canopy of deep dark red, edged in gold. White sheets covered the bed, but deep red and gold cushions and throws covered it. Next to the bed Moroccan tan leather pouffes acted as bedside tables. A further pouffe sat in front of a simple wooden table, and a typical Moroccan silver mirror leant against the wall, serving as a casual dressing table.

Moroccan silver and coloured glass lights hung from the ceiling and acted as bedside lights. Candles filled the room and deep red rugs sat at either side of the bed. The wardrobe was a large opening, curtained off in deep red, with gold rope tie backs.

Progressing to the small terrace they found a similar theme, with long low comfortable seats, with throws and cushions in various colours. Small round hammered copper topped tables on wooden legs sat next to the seats. Strings of lights, their bulbs covered by small Moroccan lanterns hung across the space.

They all took in the space. Ailsa was first to speak. “I love the lights, Mia.”

Steph playfully slapped her arm. “Hey, this was a joint project.” Abby just looked at her, she knew who had the artistic flair in their relationship.”

Mia smiled. “Yes, it’s amazing what you can find in supermarket January sales. They’re really meant for inside but it’s dry enough here and they’re battery powered, so no danger of electric shocks. They aren’t really bright, but they add a nice glow.”

Janie followed. “What about the rest of the furnishings, are they from the UK?”

Steph smiled. “Well we looked at the UK, but why pay for them to be exported to the UK and then have to bring them here, when the real thing was on our doorstep...”

Mia interrupted. “Yes, any excuse for a trip to Morocco. We love it there too, don’t we babe.”

“Yip, plus Mia is an expert at haggling, she reduces the most experienced seller to jelly in minutes, by the end of it I think they’d be happy to just give her the item, just to get rid of her. She even scares me sometimes.”

All said the room was a triumph, with Abby having the last comment. “God Mia, Steph it’s like a harem, simple, yet decadent and seductive. I can’t wait to spend an evening on the roof terrace.”

Steph smiled at Mia, both recalling how they had celebrated finishing the room, it had certainly lived up to its harem vibe.

Emma brought them them back to their task. “Okay, next room, Janie and Marie’s I believe.” They all walked into the second bedroom, it was very different, but equally impressive. Their room was simple, it had a Scandinavian feel, with sky blue painted walls, a white distressed pine bed, bedside tables and wardrobe. Light blue bedding and lots of cushions covered the bed, blue and white rugs covered the floor. Wood and chrome lamps sat on the bedside tables, with simple white shades. The walls had white framed photos of the sea.

Mia hugged her. “This is beautiful Janie, it’s got a really cool Scandi vibe without being tacky.

Marie joined the hug. “Yes, hard as it was to resist, we managed to avoid it looking like a set from a particular Scandinavian furniture store.”

Steph walked towards the photos. “These are great, did you take them yourselves?”

Marie looked at Janie proudly. “Yes, Janie’s become quite the photographer since she’s visited here, she needed some convincing that her work would be good enough to grace your walls, but I think they look brilliant.”

They all unanimously agreed.

Emma cleared her throat. “Well another triumph ladies, the competition hots up. Abby, Ailsa you’re next.”

“Yes, you haven’t seen ours yet.”

The third bedroom was beautiful too. They’d gone for a French theme, with a French style distressed white wooden bed, mirrored wardrobe and dressing table. The room was painted a light rose colour. White linen curtains hung over white voile. A rose-coloured throw, cushions and matching seat cover for the dressing table stool added additional, but subtle, colour to the room.

Steph gushed. “Ah very Louis the fourteenth, I love it.”

Abby smiled. “Well given my queenly presence what did you expect?”

Steph nudged her, winking at Ailsa. “Yes, a drama queen.”

Abby pretended to be deeply offended. “Hey, I’ll have you know I could have been. If only William or Harry had met me first who knows what might have happened?”

They all sniggered. Ailsa pulled her towards her. “Of course darling, maybe if you were 10 years younger...and straight!”

They all laughed, Abby joining in the loudest.

Emma cleared her throat. “Ladies you have all done an amazing job, but now the competition really cranks up a gear, right Rob?”

“Anything you say darling.”

They all walked into the living room. Given they were decorating a shared room they had been tasked with ensuring that there was sufficient seating for the eight of them, comfortably. They all knew this was no mean feat. They had pulled it off and gone for a beach house theme. Comfortable cream couches, large cushions and beanbags covered the floor. Small low glass tables next to the seats left the floorspace clear. They hadn’t changed the walls, leaving them off white, colour was brought to the space from the occasional yellow and black cushions on the couches. Black framed photographs including them all, taken mainly at weddings, covered the walls. The two doors to the terrace had white wooden shutters. What drew most attention though was the brass coloured 1920’s drinks trolley, with a 20’s soda siphon, cocktail glasses and a range of coloured bottles of what they could see were good quality spirits. Above the trolley was a small neon sign in red, spelling bar.

Mia hugged them both. “It’s fabulous mum, pops, I love it.”

Emma smiled. “It’s Miami beach, well you can almost see the sea from the terrace.”

Rob was gaining in confidence given the appreciated looks. “We found the drinks trolley first, and that just set the scene for the room. Of course, I had to purchase a couple of bottles of named spirits to set it off, much to my wife’s chagrin. Don’t worry Mia, that included brandy.”

Steph joined Mia, pulling them all into a hug. “It’s really great dad, Emma, thanks.”

“You’ve no need to thank us, it’s the least we can do, after all we’ve nearly lived here for the last eighteen months.... rent free.”

Steph grinned, it was true, because her dad, whilst he had never claimed to be practical, had over the last while shown himself to be adept at project management. They’d more than paid for their keep. He and Emma had stayed at the house during all the works, moving from room to room to sleep to avoid the dust. It had been invaluable given the language barrier. Steph trusted him implicitly and he had been there and could send videos and explain when there were issues or decisions to be made regarding the work. This allowed them to make instant decisions about what was to happen preventing any delays, knowing he and Emma were there to make sure it went as planned. Steph had surprised him with a membership to a very good local golf club as a result.

Today he had completely surprised her when after showing them lounge, he and Emma led them to the terrace. It wasn’t huge and they had wanted space for a barbeque, relaxing chairs and somewhere to eat. With all this there wasn’t room for a large table to seat them all. Turns out he had surpassed her expectations. He had led her with eyes closed to a large table with easily enough room for eight, explaining he’d got the ideas from the carpenters working on the windows. They’d used makeshift workbenches created from trestle tables, with scaffolding planks between them. When the scaffolders were leaving, he bought four scaffold planks from them and asked the carpenters to make a table. They sanded trestles, glued and sanded the planks together and then stained and varnished it in teak.

The table was set but he showed them the hinges, which meant that the table could be halved in size for general use. Folding stackable chairs provided more than enough seating, but again allowed the space to be freed up.

“Dad, you’ve excelled yourself.... not practical huh?”

After seeing the terrace, they had seen all the house, Emma had brought them back to the task in hand. “So everyone, back to the competition. Actually, you know I don’t think I can do this. They are all great, and so different. What about we call it a draw?”

They all readily agreed.

Mia smiled. “Great, it’s champagne time then, come on pops, we need to christen the drinks trolley and that amazing garden table.”

Before long they were all sitting around the table having a lazy lunch of bread, cheese, cold meats, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The champagne corked, the timer set. “Cheers.......”

Steph watched Janie for the next few minutes, she had always loved champagne, but she didn’t appear to be drinking any. She raised a glass to her. “Cheers Janie.”

Janie looked nervous, lifting her glass of water.

“No, I’m not.”

“Is there something you want to tell us?” Steph suddenly realised there was silence, all attention was on Janie.

Janie looked exasperated. “Actually no, not today. Today is about us all coming together to celebrate this place.”

Steph sat back, looking at her. “Well that’s true in a way, but this isn’t really about the house. Don’t get me wrong it’s great, everything you’ve all done, I love it, but this was always about what really mattered... all of you. It’s about providing someplace for us all to be together, so if something is happening to any of us.... good or not so good, then that’s more important. When better to share it?”

Janie groaned, reaching out to take Marie’s hand. “Okay, I’m pregnant......12 weeks as of last Wednesday.”

Abby was first to speak. “How the hell did I not know that one of my best friends was trying for a baby?” She looked at Steph who also looked bewildered.

“Don’t look at me, I’m as in the dark as you.”

Marie gripped Janie’s hand tightly. “Look, we’re sorry. I’d told her to say she had a stomach ache, I knew you’d notice. You don’t miss anything you lot. The truth is that we didn’t say because we didn’t know if it would work out for us, whether we would be able to have children. That’s why we started so early too.” She hesitated.

Steph noticed and interrupted. “Look sorry, you don’t need to explain, it’s your business and none of ours unless you want it to be.”

Marie smiled. “Honestly it’s okay, we were going to tell you tomorrow anyway. I know it seems fast too, we’ve been married the shortest time of all of us. I have some genetic issues, I can’t carry a child, and tests suggested Janie might have problems carrying a child too. They said if we made it to 12 weeks....”

Abby couldn’t wait, she gushed. “Oh my god I’m going to be an auntie.”

Steph got up, walked around the table and hugged them. “Congratulations both of you, that’s great news.” She looked over at Mia. “Hey babe, looks like they’ve done all our research for us.” As soon as she spoke, she realised what she’d just said.

It was Emma’s turn to lose it. “Mia, Steph are you going to have kids?”

“Christ, sorry Mia...looks like the cat’s out the bag.”

Mia laughed. “Don’t fret babe, after this announcement do you really think we’d have been able to avoid pressure?” She looked at Emma.

“Hey, is it wrong to want to be a granny when I’m still young enough to enjoy it, and babysit for active children? That goes for all your kids by the way.”

Steph turned her attention to Janie and Marie. “This isn’t about us though; this moment is about Janie and Marie.”

Janie was quick to speak. “Oh no, you don’t get off that easily, we’re quite happy to share believe me. What’s your plans? We’re happy to share everything we know, we’ll introduce you to our gynaecologist, she’s great, gay, married with four kids through IVF so she knows what she’s talking about. Oh, and we want you to get on with it, we want our kids to be of similar ages, to be friends.”

Mia smiled. “Well we plan to go forward as soon as we can, you need to tell us everything.”

Ailsa looked at Abby. “Don’t be looking at us. I’ve just made partner and Abby is working on a new salon.”

Abby smiled. “Agreed, neither of us know what a biological clock is. That could change, but unless something starts ticking, we’re happy to be the doting aunties who spoil their nieces and nephews. If that’s okay?”

They all smiled. “More than okay... the more babysitters the better.”

Steph looked around her. “Well, so much for a finished house, who wants the task of changing the study into a nursery then?”

Emma didn’t speak, but looked to Rob, grinning. He was quick to take this on. “This one’s on us ladies, or Emma would never forgive me. I for one don’t mind spending more time here. My golf is coming on leaps and bounds now I don’t have to work around the Scottish weather.”

“Yes, and I can’t wait for a round tomorrow pops, that course looks fantastic.”

Rob smiled at Mia. “It is. Well I hope you are ready to put your money where your mouth is dear step daughter-in-law.”

Steph grinned, she loved that Mia and her dad were so close. That they shared things they liked. Golf was relatively new to Mia, her taste for expensive brandy less so. There had been a few lost afternoons shared by Mia and her dad when they were together in Spain, not to mention the mornings after. “Well darling when in Spain....”

“Dad please tell me you’re encouraging my wife to gamble. Mia if you come back and you’ve lost this house, you’re in serious trouble, just remember it’s in both our names.”

Rob laughed. “Don’t worry Steph, I hadn’t thought of that...there’s an idea. No, I was thinking more of a special bottle of brandy I’ve seen, it’s about as old as me.”

They all laughed. Steph stood up. “This deserves another toast. To family, actually scrub that, better make that extended family.” She looked around, it wasn’t a traditional family, and it looked like it was growing fast, but it was hers and she’d never been happier.