‘So please, raise your glasses and wish the best man I know all the success and happiness life can bring him. He truly is Saint Nick. Though this time the wardrobe will be a little more flattering.’ He winks at me and I laugh. ‘To Nick!’
Hearing the room toast me makes my eyes well up. Even Alfie is holding up his little juice box. It will be strange leaving all this behind, but for the first time in ages, I’m looking forward to whatever the future holds.
‘Speech. . . SPEEECHHH!’
I laugh and take a quick swig of my beer, agreeing to say a few words. Thank God I’m tipsy, it’ll make this less painful.
‘I’m rubbish at this kind of thing, but thank you for coming, everyone,’ I begin. ‘I honestly didn’t expect so many of you to show up, but I’m very grateful you did. Would have been a shit party otherwise. . . oops, sorry, Alfie.’
I see Sarah jokingly place her hands over Alfie’s ears, while everyone chuckles.
‘You all know that the past year has been challenging, to say the least, but I feel like things are finally moving in the right direction. . . Anyway, I’m only a couple of hours away, so there’s really no excuse not to come and visit me when the overwhelming urge to see my face becomes too much to bear.’
I turn to Matt and raise my glass, a lump in my throat already forming.
‘And Matt. . . what can I say, brother? You are the yin to my yang, the piña to my colada and, well, without me, you’d never have met the lovely Sarah, so I expect a seriously large and very expensive housewarming gift.’
Matt laughs and wraps his arm around Sarah, giving me a thumbs up. Sarah in turn puts her arm around Alfie, who looks exhausted. I’m going to miss their faces most of all.
‘So enough from me. Please drink the flat dry. Cheers, everyone!’
Half an hour later, Sarah announces that she’ll have to get Alfie home, and I follow her into my room to help her find their coats among the monstrous pile which has accumulated on my bed. As we dig through, Alfie gets a second wind and decides to bounce manically on my bed. It’s the most action it’s seen in months.
‘That’s a lot of boxes,’ Alfie remarks, pointing to the back of the room as he trampolines.
‘It really is,’ I reply. ‘I have a lot of stuff.’
‘Can Nick take me to the zoo tomorrow?’ he asks, dive-bombing someone’s expensive leather jacket. ‘They have gorillas and a penguin beach!’
‘Not tomorrow, bud,’ Sarah replies, finding Alfie’s coat. ‘Nick is moving away, remember? That’s why his things are boxed up. This is his goodbye party.’
Alfie stops bouncing and slinks off the bed. ‘But I don’t want him to go,’ he mumbles. ‘I want Nick to stay.’
I sit on the bed beside him and help him with his little coat.
‘Do you know what’s even better than a zoo?’ I ask. He shakes his head, glumly.
‘A farm. They let you feed the animals and ride on tractors and I hear you can even cuddle baby rabbits. When you come to visit me, we can all go together!’
His face suddenly lights up. ‘Do they have penguins?’
I laugh. ‘No, but you can race goats. Do you have good running shoes?’
He nods enthusiastically. ‘Mum! Can we go, pleeeasse?’
‘Absolutely,’ she replies. ‘Honey, go and say goodnight to Matt, we need to get home.’
As he scurries off to find Matt, Sarah smiles. ‘You’ve done your homework, I see.’
I grin. ‘Of course. I’m not just moving there for the shiny new job; their epic farm scene was the determining factor. Who doesn’t want to race a goat?’
Sarah finally finds her own jacket and slips it on.
‘Better get the little guy home,’ she says, moving in for a quick hug. ‘Take care, Nick.’
‘You too, Sarah.’
As she turns to follow Alfie, she hesitates at the bedroom door.
