Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lisa woke to the sound of her phone buzzing with messages. She rolled over, and her head thumped with the movement, but she smiled at the sight of Felicity and her children opening their presents. Stage-by-stage photographs of the wrapping being undone on the array of toys she had bought for Flick’s children – once she had managed to convince her that sheabsolutely was buying them presents no matter how many times she told her there was no need – some weird tool for Pete that apparently she would appreciate if she were into gardening, and a framed picture of herself and Felicity that she took on their road trip. Lisa had included a card saying how much she loved the one Felicity had hanging in her hallway and how happy she was that they were makingnew memories together – how grateful she was for that opportunity. Felicity sent her a text saying great minds think alike and that she hoped she liked her present.
As she went to put her phone back on the side and slide back under her covers, it rang. The noise made her jump and hold her head all at the same time. As she focused on the screen she saw that it was Dom, and felt a flashof disappointment that it wasn’t Nathan.
‘Hello, my lovely. Happy Christmas.’
‘Winnie!’ Lisa sat up at the surprise of hearing Winnie’s voice.
She thanked Lisa for her cushion, making her laugh when she said that Jack ‘the blighter’ was after it for himself. She told Lisa that she and her son were making progress, and welcomed the news that Lisa was enjoying the festivitieswith her family. They ended their chat with the promise of a cup of tea and a biscuit in the New Year. Dom wished Lisa a happy Christmas and confirmed that things were going well, despite the fact Jack had christened his dad’s Christmas tree. He also stated he hadn’t forgotten their chat and that Lisa would be the first to know if the opportunity arose to talk to Winnie.
Christmas hadbarely started and Lisa already felt blessed. The year had been tough; tougher than any other she had experienced and yet, now it was drawing to a close, she was with her family, and had friends who cared enough to send her messages and call her on Christmas Day. She thought about the previous year, when Ben had got up and gone for a jog, they had gone to his friends’ apartment for drinks and wanderedthrough Hyde Park, past Winter Wonderland, which looked soulless due to being closed for the day. She questioned why she had ever thought she would miss it before realising she had been concentrating on the ghost of Christmases long past, as opposed to the reality of what her life had become. Not that it mattered now. This year she was waking up in a real winter wonderland and felt more fullof Christmas spirit than she had for a very long time.
Excitement built as she thought about the presents they’d all placed under the tree the previous evening. She was pleased her mum had decided to forgo the French tradition of opening them after the Christmas Eve meal, with the words ‘oh sod it, we’re English’, when they decided they were all too full of wine and roast dinner to enjoyit.
There was a knock at her door. Lisa sat up as her dad carried in a mug of coffee for her.
‘Merry Christmas! We are all starting the day with one of these, your mother especially.’ He winked.
‘Sorry, I encouraged her.’ Lisa smiled.
Her dad put the coffee down and sat on the edge of her bed. ‘I’m not sure she needed much encouraging. She… I mean, we… love havingyou here.’ With that he gave her a hug.
‘Thanks, Dad. Merry Christmas.’
He stood up to leave, but as he got to the door he hesitated. ‘And, Lisa… I’m sorry to hear about… about everything really… but especially about the… about the baby. You know I never would have pushed so hard about starting your business if I’d known.’
Lisa swallowed back tears. She knew her mumwould tell her dad; that was the way they worked. Telling one of her parents anything always meant she was indirectly telling both, but she hadn’t expected that. ‘Thank you,’ was all she could manage. At some point she would thank her dad properly, as she knew there had been days when having her business and clients depending on her had been the only thing that had kept her going; her only reasonfor getting out of bed and going through the motions of the day.
Her dad wiped his eye and offered a small smile, before leaving the room.
Once they had finished the selection of pastries their mum had got in for breakfast, they gathered round the tree that Lisa and Luke had helped choose just days before. It was tastefully decorated and hadn’t dared to shed a needle, since beingput in place adjacent to the fireplace and log-burning stove. It wasn’t Bing, but Lisa had to admit it was pretty. As they opened their gifts, Lisa smiled at the framed photograph Felicity had given her, another image taken on their road trip, only hers came complete with a bag of Percy Pig and Pals and the message, ‘Let’s stick together’. It was perfect.
Lisa was pleased her parents likedtheir present – a photobook of highlights from her and Luke’s childhood, with holidays they had been on, birthdays, special moments and special people. Her mum and dad had both welled up flicking through it. Lisa’s mum said how lovely it was to have such precious memories with them in France – an added bonus Lisa hadn’t thought of. It all made the hours of sorting the box of photographs, scanningthem in, attempting to get the pictures and captions in the right places, losing it when almost finished and starting over, worth it. After Luke had given them tickets for the Aiguille du Midi cable car and a meal at the 3842 restaurant, named after its altitude, she was worried her present would look a bit homemade, but they loved it.
Luke’s faux leather passport case printed with a pictureof Bondi Beach, which she hastily pretended was to go with a helicopter ride over the Alps she wanted to get him, did look rubbish though, especially after he had clubbed together with her mum and dad to get Lisa a cookery weekend in Italy. It was extravagant and amazing. She was almost speechless; it was such a lovely gift.
‘Well, you used to love Italy and when Harold said you’d beeneating a lot of Chinese takeaway—’
‘What?’ Lisa nearly dropped her gift.
‘Well, haven’t you?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘So there you go.’
Lisa didn’t know whether to be horrified that Harold had been keeping an eye on her or grateful now that she had such a lovely present as a result. Either way, she would be more careful regarding her privacy once she was back in England.
As they cleared up the wrapping paper, there was a knock at the door. Nobody had called since Lisa had been at her parents’, but she knew they had friends among their neighbours.
‘I’ll go!’ she bellowed as she ran down the stairs preparing to say ‘joyeux noël’ in her best French accent.
She swung the door open. ‘Joy—’ Lisa’s eyes went wide as the words she had rehearsedwere taken away by the hit of cold air and the sight of the person standing in front of her.
‘Merry Christmas, Lisa.’ Nathan smiled, looking almost hesitant, as he awaited her response.
It took her a moment to find the words. ‘M- merry Christmas… Nathan, you are here!’ Her cheeks burned hot despite the cold air and her heart thudded against her chest.
