Page 74 of We Three Kings

TWENTY-SIX

‘She’s actually young, Leo,’ I hear the murmur of a female voice in heavy northern tones.

‘Well, I don’t know what you were expecting?’ That was Leo. I keep my eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep.

‘You said she were your boss so I thought she’d be old. I expected some old lass with a severe face. She’s got a nice face and she’s your age,’ the voice continues.

‘How’s the thumb?’ an older male voice interrupts. ‘Do we need to amputate it?’

‘Yeah, if so we’d need to do it tonight before we peel all the veg.’

I open my eyes at this point in case they think I’m out for the count and try to perform surgery on me in this front seat but nothing quite prepares me for what I see. It’s not just two extra people with Leo peering at me in this passenger seat but a whole crowd. Are they here for us? There are children here, an old lady with a walker, an uncle wearing a turkey hat. Behind them is a quaint grey stone house bedecked in Christmas lights, surrounded by crooked wooden fences with fields in the background, glowing from the snowfall, the slopesand valleys meeting the sky. If I thought Jasper’s homestead was in the country, this feels even more remote, the skies look infinitely clearer as the stars start to twinkle into view in the twilight. Through the windows, I can see a massive Christmas tree glittering.

I can’t quite breathe to take it all in – the beauty of it, but also how I’m being thrown into meeting all of Leo’s family immediately. I really hope I haven’t been drooling. I pull at my scarf, gently open the door and feel the gaze of family members swing to me. The icy air hits me directly in the face so their first impression of me is quite unattractive gurning.

‘Everyone, this is Maggie,’ Leo says, walking over to me, mouthing sorry to me at the same time.

I put a hand to the air to wave. ‘Hello, everyone.’

Granny with the walker laughs and I immediately like her but they all wave at me in turn, some of them almost too shocked to speak. Is it because I have bed hair? Maybe the infection on my thumb has travelled through my body and I’ve got some speckled beetroot complexion.

A woman to the front of the pack, a purple outdoor jacket wrapped around her shoulders moves towards me, her arms open. ‘Oh my days, MAGGIE! You are so welcome!’ I fall into her embrace. ‘I’m Leo’s mum, Sandra, but you can call me Sandy. How are you? Leo told me you’re not well. Are you well, my lovely?’ she spurts the words out incredibly quickly, her breath misting the air. Leo has her eyes, that’s for sure.

‘I’m OK. It’s lovely to meet you,’ I tell her from over her shoulder.

‘And I’m Claire, the sister. Leo said you were bitten by a fox?’ she asks me.

‘These are the dangers of the city, the foxes are far more vicious,’ Sandy says, shaking her head.

A man puts his hand to Sandy’s shoulder. ‘They’re ghettofoxes, it’s the gang culture. I’m Ray, the dad. A pleasure, Maggie. It’s lovely to have you here.’

‘How big was the fox? Was it bigger than you?’ asks a random child in pigtails.

‘I knew someone who had a pet fox once,’ another voice pipes up.

Leo’s eyes widen. You can tell they weren’t supposed to swarm outside here when his car rolled in but here they are. He’s lucky I find this welcoming committee quite endearing, the excitement in all their faces to have their Leo back, the intrigue over the girl he’s brought home. I like the earthiness of their accents, the fact Leo’s dad isn’t even wearing a coat but holding a tea towel, the way I can tell his sisters are joshing him a little when they think I’m not looking.

‘Well, get in and let me have a look at it,’ Claire instructs me, ‘And please, let’s interrogate the poor lass inside where it’s warmer and get Nana in before her hip goes.’

Some of the crowd disperse back into the warmth of the house while another sister hangs tight. ‘Gabby, the middle sister,’ she tells me, a look to let me know she’s checking me out.

‘Leave her be, Gabs,’ Leo warns her as he gets the bags out of the car, placing them onto the gravel.

‘I was being nice,’ she tells him. ‘I was not telling her stories of the time we dressed you in a bikini and took pictures.’

‘There are pictures?’ I ask her.

‘Albums of the things. You are going to find out so much,’ she says, narrowing her eyes at her brother while picking up a bag of gifts and skipping off to the house.

‘I am so incredibly sorry, Maggie,’ Leo says, resting his elbows against the top of the car. ‘I didn’t expect them to be so…’

‘Happy for you to be home?’

‘There is that.’

‘And this is where you grew up?’ I say, looking out into the fields, staring up at the snow resting on the gablesof his house. It’s postcard pretty, perfectly serene, the sort of country cottage retreat one goes to so they escape from real life.

He nods. ‘I know it’s not like Jasper’s big mansion but it’s home.’ We look through the window to see everyone has their faces peeking through the curtains. ‘It’s assorted nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles.’

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