Page 79 of Waiting for a Bright New Future

“Geography! Geography!” Shayne had started bouncing and chanting again.

Then Eunice’s eyes lit up. “Father Christmas!”

Shayne stared at his sister. “Not true! He’s coming from the North Pole. Not around the whole of the gigantic world.”

Stuart picked up the globe. “You are right, Shayne. He is coming from the North Pole, which is here. But Eunice is right too, because Father Christmas has to go to all the countries in the world to deliver presents to all the children.”

Now he had their attention. The next challenge was to keep it.

“He has a special route which starts here, in the Pacific Ocean.”

“What’s the Pacific?”

There were only seconds to answer Shayne’s question or risk the boy winding himself up with excitement again.

“It’s the biggest and deepest of all the oceans on the planet.” Keep the answers simple.

“Too deep to swim?” Eunice asked.

Stuart nodded. “Unless you stay right near the beach.”

“Where does Father Christmas go after that?”

Stuart stared at the globe and tried to dredge up fun knowledge about somewhere else.

Shayne started bouncing again. “Does he go to Australia to see the kangaroos?”

“He does exactly that.” Thank you, Shayne. “Do you know what other animals live in Australia?”

A conversation about koala bears and poisonous spiders followed. Stuart was enjoying himself now. It was too long since he’d been challenged on his knowledge and his ability to make learning interesting. Eunice and Shayne were like sponges compared to the stonewalling he’d received from some of his teenaged classes. Was he too old to become a primary school teacher? A wave of unexpected excitement for the future washed over him.

In no particular geographical order, they moved on to Father Christmas delivering presents to the lions of Africa and the tigers of India. He would have to sharpen up on his lesson planning.

Later, Florence joined them and geography was abandoned. The children could no longer sit still and they talked endlessly about which items from their list they thought Santa would bring. A few nights earlier, Stuart had helped Florence wrap a stack of stocking presents and hide them in the loft.

“Jacob and Jim both gave me money to help with the cost,” she said. “Otherwise it would’ve been a very meagre Christmas and it would’ve been difficult at school for them when everyone’s comparing presents. They’ve had a tough life and I don’t want them to suffer more than is absolutely necessary.”

There was pure love in Florence’s eyes and at that point, without thinking, Stuart had leaned over and given her a hug. The electricity was still there. She tensed and pulled back first.

“Be careful what you’re doing, Stuart,” she said lightly and gave him a gentle punch on the arm. “You’re engaged to be married. What will your fiancée think if you go around touching other women?”

“I wasn’t touching, I was only . . .”

“Let’s keep our relationship as it is. I can’t cope with complications at the moment.”

Florence’s reaction shouldn’t have mattered. But it did.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Christmas morning started at five thirty a.m., before Stuart’s alarm clock. Noise and squeals sounded from downstairs. Excitement raced through him and he grabbed his dressing gown and slippers.

The lounge was a sea of paper and Florence looked at him apologetically. He grinned and shook his head at her. This was like all the Christmases he’d never had. His older brothers had ensured the Santa Claus myth hadn’t lingered long for him and his mother’s premature death had meant there had been no one to wave a magic wand over the season. Now he wanted to dive into all the detritus and be a boy again.

“I want to see everything that Santa’s brought,” Stuart said. “But first I’m going to make special Christmas coffees for your gran and me.”

Maybe Florence read the longing in his expression. “No. I’ll make the coffee and you get stuck in.”

He smiled at her and mouthed the word, “Brandy.” He sat down on the floor and the children were all over him, fighting to be the first to show off their spoils. Afterwards, he sat on the sofa next to Florence, enjoying his caffeine with a kick and the chocolate coins that Eunice and Shayne were handing around from the net bags Santa had brought.

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