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‘Cuppa tea?’ Mum asks, interrupting our stand-off.
I glance over Rocco’s shoulder at Jess.
‘Can I borrow you, sis?’ I ask.
‘Erm, yeah,’ she replies.
Declan, more like his old self now that we’ve figured things out, snaps into friendly mode.
‘Come with me, pal,’ he tells Rocco. ‘Let’s get you a drink.’
I hurry up the stairs, into my bedroom, and close the door behind us.
‘So, that’s our brother,’ Jess says. ‘Christmas just keeps getting bigger and bigger.’
‘You know this morning, when you asked me about who I was messaging, and you thought it was a boy?’ I say, cutting to the chase.
‘Yeah,’ she replies. ‘Ooh, am I finally getting all the details?’
‘It’s Rocco,’ I say, giving her the only detail she needs.
‘Our brother?’ she squeaks loudly.
‘Stop calling him that,’ I quickly insist. ‘He isn’t actually our brother, is he? Not really.’
‘It’s still a bit awkward, isn’t it?’ she replies. ‘He’s hot, though. If you’ve got a hot stepbrother, what are you going to do?’
Jess is trying to lighten the mood but she’s missing an obvious detail.
‘So why didn’t you tell everyone?’ she asks. ‘I know it’s a bit weird, but only for a few seconds, he’s not actually related to us, and it’s not even like you grew up as siblings, is it? I’m teasing you – because Iamyour sibling – but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.’
‘Except…’ I start, pausing to see if she realises. She doesn’t. ‘The only detail we’ve ever know about Gail’s sons is that they live away from home and…’
‘…and they’re both married,’ Jess says, somehow managing to finish my sentence with her jaw dropped. ‘Don’t they have kids too? Gail has mentioned her grandkids, I’m sure of it.’
‘I don’t know,’ I reply. ‘I remember some grandkids being mentioned, but I absolutely, without a doubt, remember that both her sons are married.’
‘Ugh, what a pig,’ Jess says. ‘It’s always the ones closest to you who hurt you.’
I shoot her a look.
‘Jokes aside, he might be hot, but he’s definitely a creep,’ she says. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I feel like I’ve been working my arse off to make sure that this Christmas was a happy, normal one,’ I reply. ‘So I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him ruin it.’
‘Brave faces and no one mentioning the elephant in the room then?’ she says.
‘It will be just like the good old days,’ I reply. ‘I’ll be damned if he’s going to ruin my breakfast for me either. Come on.’
Back downstairs, everyone has finally gathered around the breakfast table. As Jess and I join them, it becomes apparent that there are two seats available to us: one next to Rocco, and one opposite him. Jess hangs back, giving me my first choice of where I want to sit, which I appreciate, although both sound awful. In the end, I choose to sit opposite him, next to Gail.
‘Our family just keeps getting bigger and bigger,’ Mum points out. ‘I’m going to have to start buying extra pyjamas, just in case.’
‘Did you get Kenny some?’ Jess asks.
Oh, God, I’d forgotten about Kenny for a moment. I need to make a point of telling Jess not to say anything to him about Rocco because he will terrorise me if he has dirt on me like that. I really would have to move.
‘I didn’t,’ Mum replies. ‘But I thought with him only being here for dinner, he wouldn’t need any.’
