Christmas came and went. Hugo joined Nattie, her mother and William at Nattie’s grandparents’. It was the usual tight squash, but Bridget cooked a magnificent Christmas dinner and they had a traditional family time.
Ahmed loved Lily’s handmade calendar and she loved the books and American clothes he’d sent. He had Christmas Day with his eccentric Californian neighbour, a cricket-obsessed Englishman who wrote songs and smoked cheroots. They barbecued steaks in the garden.
Hugo hung on to his job. Brady was impressed that he’d had the guts to come and apologise for a bad patch, and congratulated him on his handling of Bosphor Air. Tyler’s won the furniture account too, that Brian had put their way. They lost Palmers department store. Hugo got his Christmas bonus all the same, which tided him over. He wasn’t in good financial shape after his dealings with Shelby.
Amber was not a happy bunny, but she moved on and began a relationship with a cosmetics client who showered her with the product. Not ideal, fraternising with the client, but she had a new glow and mended fences with Hugo – ‘No hard feelings, lover-boy’ – and a rumour went round the office that wedding bells were on the cards with her new man.
Shelby didn’t get his comeuppance, he was far too canny for that, but his campaign fizzled out quickly with the William-orchestrated counter Tweets asserting that Ahmed was on the other side of the world and it was all a got-up scam. Nattie’s safety caused constant anxiety, but the risk had been minimised as far as possible.
Jasmine went on a diet, worrying about fitting into her wedding dress, though there was nearly a year to go.
Ian at the office was very snoopy about Nattie’s pregnancy. He asked, with a finger to the side of his nose, if it had anything to do with all those extra-long lunch hours she’d taken a few months back. She told him he had a fertile imagination.
Moppet pegged out unexpectedly. Ahmed sent an ‘In Memoriam’ poem and they had a tearful burial in the back garden at Queen’s Park. Nattie and Hugo bought Lily a silvery-grey replacement that they called Poppet.
Nattie had stayed on at the flat for a couple of months, surviving on memories, but she was round with Hugo quite a bit, feeding him up and keeping him on the straight. Jasmine appreciated the extra hours.
Lily told her teacher and all her schoolfriends that her mummy and her distant daddy were having a baby.
Tubsy was out of nappies and at nursery school in time for the birth.
Nattie’s baby was born on the first of June, a little prematurely, but Ahmed made it over in time and was with her at the birth. It was a boy, six pounds five ounces. They named him William Jake John Bashaar. Ahmed felt sure he would be Bill Bashaar when he was older; it had a good ring. Ahmed said his newborn son was the ugliest, most perfect little bugger he’d ever seen in the whole of his existence. He was a very proud dad.