Page 27 of Christmas Wishes at Pudding Hall
He wasn’t sure why he wanted her to stay but the boys were now pulling the bags from her shoulders and handing them to him so he could put them in the car.
‘Gosh, you Ferrier males are very persuasive.’ She laughed. ‘What about Adam and Paul?’
‘They have gone sightseeing, much to Adam’s horror,’ said Marc as he locked the car. They started to walk down the street, while the boys ran ahead.
He cleared his throat. ‘I was thinking about what you said about your own dad and Christmas. You were right, I was putting my own stuff onto my kids. Thanks for showing me that I was being a bit of an idiot. People don’t often do that to me, well except Adam but that’s usually about work stuff, not life and kids’ stuff.’
Christa said nothing so he went on.
‘Christmas wasn’t a happy time for me as a kid and I guess I thought it didn’t matter to my kids, even though I want them to have a great English Christmas. I thought if I had Christmas in another country like the UK, which is beautiful, I would be able to get over my own Christmas issues.’
People passed them on the footpath, carrying shopping bags and flowers and pushing prams and holding hands. The spirit was infectious even to a Scrooge like him. ‘This…’ He gestured around them. ‘This is not like anything I know. I thought this was all just stuff you saw in the cheesy Christmas movies; I didn’t know it was a real thing. I send my assistants out to buy presents. I don’t wrap them. I don’t even choose them. I mean what does that say about me?’
He looked at her and she threw her gloved hands up at him.
‘I am only here to cook, not to give you therapy,’ she said and he saw a glint in her eye and a smile at the corner of her lips.
Then she laughed and it was a real throaty, hilarious laugh that made him join in with her.
‘I was also worried about it being tacky, like silver trees and pink flamingos.’
Christa was still laughing. ‘While my pudding PJ bottoms might say the opposite, I do have excellent taste in Christmas decorations but I understand this time of year can be hard for people. Not everyone loves Christmas!’
‘Doyoulike it?’ he asked as the twins stopped outside a games shop, pointing out new video games to each other.
‘We have that one, that one, and that one. And those there. And those at the back. Dad we have all of these,’ yelled one of the boys.
‘Christmas?’ she asked. ‘I love it, but it’s also around my birthday so I’m biased.’
‘And you’re working for us over your own birthday and Christmas? That’s crazy.’
He glanced at Christa who was looking at the boys but she had a tightness around her mouth.
‘Money makes choices for you, and limits them sometimes,’ she said and he heard the edge to her voice.
‘Dad, can we get the video games in the window that we don’t have?’ Seth was pulling at his jacket sleeve.
Usually he would have bought them for the boys because he thought it would keep them occupied for a while and he could work but he saw Christa frown and turn away from them, walking to another shop window and leaving him with the boys.
‘No, you don’t need any more games – you have enough already,’ he said firmly.
The boys stared at him as though he was making a joke and then they realised he was serious.
‘Dad,’ one of them started to complain.
But he put his hand up.
‘Enough. You have enough games. And there are other things to do back at the house, okay?’
He was surprised when the boys were silent.
And then Ethan nodded. ‘Okay, but we want to make a gingerbread house. Can we do that? Can you help us? We can do it together.’ The look on their faces pained him and he felt sick at what sort of a father he had been lately.
‘I can film it for my documentary I’m making,’ said Ethan and he nodded encouragingly at his son.
‘That would be cool,’ he said to him and saw the happiness in his face.
‘Christa,’ he called to her and she turned, her face expressionless. ‘The boys want to make a gingerbread house for Christmas. If you can help us, we would love to do it as a project. Ethan wants to film the process for his doco.’
