The following morning, Jed knocked on the door before Maria arrived and handed me a plastic tub containing a few slices of birthday cake. ‘Couldn’t have you missing out,’ he said. ‘Mum and Dad send their love and wanted to make sure you’re okay.’
‘That’s very kind of them. Tell them I’m fine.’
‘Can I see you tonight?’
I gave him a gentle smile. ‘I think you should spend tonight with your family. Aaron was an important part of everyone’s lives for so long and then he was taken from them. You’ve got so much to discuss about where you go from here.’
He nodded and drew me into a hug. ‘Thanks for understanding.’
With the evening free, I went to Pilates then soaked in the bath before having an early night and a much-needed sleep.
On Wednesday, my parents stopped by for lunch in the café then relaxed in the flat with Hercules until I finished work. Jed joined us for a takeaway then stayed back for a couple of hours after they’d gone. He talked about Aaron and all the memories from his childhood that had resurfaced since seeing him again. Ingrid had taken a lot of the photos of Aaron with her but hadn’t wanted any with Jed in them so he had quite a collection and had been looking through them, feeling melancholy.
When he kissed me goodbye late that evening, I felt closer to him than I’d ever felt. Aaron’s appearance, despite the shockwave at the time, had definitely had positive repercussions. Jed had been holding back and so had I, but that was all gone.
On the Thursday afternoon, Peter and Joyce dropped by for their usual afternoon tea.
‘We have company today,’ Joyce said, smiling widely. She stepped aside to reveal Janice and Richie.
‘You came!’ I said, wiping my hands down my apron.
They both hugged me and I reassured then that I was okay and everything was fine between Jed and me.
‘Do you have plans for Christmas Eve?’ Janice asked. ‘After work, I mean?’
‘I’ve been so busy that I haven’t thought about it yet. Why?’
‘Would you like to come to our house for dinner. Nothing fancy. Just some pasta and salad but all the family will be there and you’re family now so it wouldn’t be right if you didn’t join us.’
With a lump in my throat, I thanked her for her kind invite and said I’d be delighted to accept. Christmas Eve with Jed’s parents and Christmas Day with mine? I’d never have predicted that at the start of the year, or even a month ago. So much had changed.
As soon as Jed opened his parents’ front door on Christmas Eve, Doris the Dalmatian bounded down the hall to greet us, dressed as a Christmas elf.
‘Strewth! What have they done to you?’ Jed cried, scratching her behind the ears. ‘Was it Lucy? I bet it was.’
Jed introduced me to Doris and she sat down and offered me her right paw followed by her left then rested her head against my leg. ‘That means she loves you,’ Jed said. ‘And who can blame her?’
He gave me such a tender look that my heart melted. We still hadn’t said the ‘L’ word yet but, with his green eyes fixed on mine, I definitely felt it emanating from him.
I stroked Doris’s soft ears. ‘Lucy showed me some photos of you and I’ve been dying to meet you, Doris.’
‘A word of warning,’ Jed said solemnly. ‘Never volunteer to look through Lucy’s Doris albums. Believe me, if you do that, you will not escape for hours.’
He took my coat and I sniffed. I could smell garlic but undertones of gingerbread also hung in the air, transporting me back to childhood Christmas Eves.
Richie appeared in the hallway wearing a Santa hat. ‘I hope you’re both hungry because Janice has made enough pasta to feed a small army.’ He gave me a hug. ‘Come on through. Let’s get you a drink.’
Dinner was wonderfully chaotic. Lucy distributed Christmas-themed hats for everyone to wear, insisting we had to keep them on for the entire meal. With a big smile, she handed me a sparkly angel’s halo then giggled as she placed an elf’s hat with enormous ears on Jed’s head.
A gold and red runner ran the length of the large kitchen table, resting on which were several clear vases containing pinecones, red and gold Christmas baubles, and clusters of battery-operated fairy lights. A silver platter sat in the middle of the table with pine-fragranced candles nestling among a bed of conifer cuttings, shiny green holly, juicy red berries, and more pinecones. I breathed in the fragrance of Christmas and smiled contentedly. I’d missed this so much.
With the pressure of keeping a secret lifted off them, Erin and Lucy were so much more relaxed. They had the same playful banter I’d seen between Carly and Bethany and among some of my foster siblings before living with the Sandersons. My relationship with Leanne had never been like that. I’d thought we were close but it was blindingly obvious now that she’d been playing a game from day one and there never had been any genuine affection.
It warmed my heart to see Erin and Zack together. The eye contact, shy smiles and tender touches suggested a couple very much in love. Then I became aware that Jed and I were doing exactly the same. Would he put it into words soon?
Over coffee, the conversation turned to Christmas Eves from childhood. Zack’s parents had owned a holiday home in Portugal for years where his family always spent Christmas. Unable to bear being apart for the one-month break from university, he’d decided to spend Christmas with Erin’s family and then he and Erin were going to fly out to spend New Year with his family. Lucy and Erin talked about being ex-pats in Australia and how they had a very British traditional Christmas dinner on the day itself but enjoyed a more traditional Aussie beach barbeque on Christmas Eve, preceded by surfing dressed in Santa suits.
‘What about you, Tara?’ Erin asked. ‘Any Christmas Eve traditions?’
‘Not when I lived with my foster parents because we massively varied what we did. Sometimes we were home, sometimes abroad, and sometimes we were working. But when I was younger, my dad and I were all about the traditions. We’d make gingerbread houses and spend the day doing all sorts of Christmas crafts.’ I smiled at the memory. ‘I was telling Jed the other day that Dad and I used to wander round the streets when it got dark, judging how pretty the trees were in the windows. The one we liked the most would win a bar of chocolate and a handmade card from Santa’s elves. We never let on that it was us and there was always this buzz of excitement in the neighbourhood surrounding who’d win each year and who the mystery elves were.’
‘That is so lovely,’ Lucy said.
‘And when Dad told us about it, we wanted to play too.’ Erin placed a box on the table containing three clipboards with what looked to be score sheets attached to them, some homemade certificates and three large bars of chocolate.
I gasped. ‘Oh my God! Really?’ Tears pricked my eyes. ‘I would love to do that again. Thank you.’
‘We’re in three teams,’ Jed said. ‘Lucy’s joining Mum and Dad, then it’ll be Zack and Erin, and you and me.’
‘And,’ Lucy added. ‘Each team has to take a photo of the winner on their street and then the overall winner, chosen by us all from the three finalists, will also get this…’
Zack placed a wicker basket on the table containing all sorts of edible Christmas goodies. ‘We thought we could go round some of the streets where money’s a bit tighter and this could really make a difference to someone’s Christmas.’
‘I love that idea.’ I smiled at Jed’s family. ‘Thank you all of you.’
‘It was Dad’s suggestion,’ Lucy said. ‘Because he loves you and would do anything to make you happy.’ She wrapped her arms round herself and made slurpy kissing noises.
‘Lucy!’ Erin cried. ‘You can’t say or do that.’
I glanced at Jed, expecting him to look as embarrassed as me but he was smiling.
‘Why can’t she?’ he said, reaching for my hand under the table. ‘After all, it’s the truth.’
‘Awww,’ Lucy gushed. ‘You guys are too cute. Can I be a bridesmaid when you get married?’
‘Lucy!’ Erin clapped her hand over her sister’s mouth. ‘They’ve only just started dating.’
Lucy wriggled free. ‘And so have you two but I’ve overheard you talking about getting married as soon as you finish university.’
‘Lucy! Shut up!’
‘It’s true. You—’
Erin covered her sister’s mouth again.
Richie stood up. ‘Okay, Erin, release your sister and not another peep from you, young Lucy.’ He spoke with humour but strength and the girls immediately did as they were told. ‘Good. Now let’s get wrapped up warm and do our elf bit.’
I smiled at Jed’s daughters. The affection they had for each other and for Jed was obvious and I felt so proud that he’d obviously been an amazing dad, bringing up such well-adjusted girls despite what their mum had put them through. I very much looked forward to getting to know them better.
Pulling on coats, hats and scarves in the hall, listening to Lucy squealing as Erin tickled her, I had a sudden sense of belonging. I had my family back and I was now part of Jed’s. That cloak of loneliness had floated away.