Page 54 of A Merry Little Christmas

The baby chose that moment to wake up and do its exercises. Merry had to lean back and stretch out. Sometimes she felt like a pinball machine, with the baby like a little ball, pinging from one side of her to another.

‘My baby will be born soon, Dad,’ she told him. ‘I hope you’ll get to meet your grandchild, I hope I make you the proudest granddad in the world, but …’ She couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘if you don’t’. Instead, she stood up and pressed his hand to the fabric of her dress, guiding his palm as the baby continued to push and shove against her. ‘Can you feel those little knees and elbows? Oh gosh,’ she sniffed. ‘I so wish the baby was already here, so I could put him or her in your arms for a cuddle.’

Her phone started to ring, making her jump, and she quickly laid Ray’s hand down on the covers to answer it.

The sight of Emily’s name on the screen made her breath hitch. She was dreading this moment. Delivering news like this had to be the worst job in the world.

‘Sorry, sorry!’ Her sister sounded full of energy and bounce. ‘I was down at the beach hut, and I didn’t have my phone with me. What’s up?’

‘Um …’ Merry swallowed and tried to talk, but the ball of sadness in her throat was too big, and the words wouldn’t come out.

‘Oh my God,’ whispered Emily. ‘Is it Dad?’

‘Yes,’ Merry managed to say with a croak in her voice. ‘He’s very weak, Gail has told me he might not have long. I’m here with him now.’

‘Oh please, no.’ Emily let out a moan. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have left you, I’m so cross with myself. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this on your own, with all that you’ve got going on too. Listen, hold tight and I’ll come straight over. I’ll rush, I won’t even bother to pack. I’ll call you when I know what flight I’m—’

‘Em, listen,’ Merry jumped in. ‘I don’t think there’s time.’

There was silence on the other end of the line.

‘What? But …’ Emily swallowed a sob. ‘You mean …’

‘From what Gail has said, we’re quite near the end.’ Merry turned away from her dad, not wanting him to hear, just in case he understood.

‘So I might never see him again?’ Her sister’s voice sounded strangled with sadness. ‘Poor Dad, poor you. What can I do?’

Merry shook her head, wishing she had the answers and not wanting to reply that there was nothing she could do.

‘Can you switch this to video call, so I can see him?’ Emily suggested.

‘Good idea.’ Merry let out a sigh of relief. ‘Gail has said he might recognise our voices, so let’s talk.’

She swapped the call to FaceTime and turned her body so that the camera could get both of them in. ‘Dad, Emily is here now too,’ she said while Emily settled herself on the sofa.

‘Hi, Dad, sorry I can’t be there,’ said Emily, in a trembly voice. ‘But I’m sending you my love from Jersey.’

‘We’re both going to keep you company for a while.’ Merry took his hand in hers; his fingers had turned as cold as ice. ‘Let’s make you comfortable,’ she said, tucking his other arm under the covers.

‘What should we talk about?’ Emily whispered.

‘Special memories of him? Happy times?’ she suggested. ‘I haven’t got many, apart from this year, but I’m so glad I got to hear some of your stories about your family, Dad, and how you always had pork chops—’

‘On Mondays!’ Emily finished for her, and they both laughed.

‘I do remember you coming round to read stories to me,’ Merry told him, ‘and I remember you and my mum dancing around our tiny bedsit to Fleetwood Mac. I was only young, and my memories are vague, but I know we were all happy.’

‘The day I brought you to Springwood House to meet Dad for the first time, we danced to Fleetwood Mac too, remember?’

Merry nodded. ‘That was one of the happiest days of my life.’

‘And mine,’ Emily replied after a pause.

‘I know this is a sad occasion,’ Merry continued, ‘but I’m so grateful to you for finding me, finding us really, our family.’

‘Hey, Dad, remember when Peter found that you’d thrown all the sofa cushions from the lounge into the skip outside,’ said Emily with a giggle.

‘Or what about the time you took Lavinia some flowers to her room?’ Merry laughed. ‘Wearing only your pyjama jacket.’