Page 37 of Christmas Chaos
8
DECEMBER 18th
36 weeks + 3
Zoe looked at her reflection in the mirror and tried not to cry. Again. It was the day Santa was visiting Kinloch Castle and she was in a room just off the entrance hall, trying to fit her heavily pregnant body into an elf costume. This had seemed a brilliant idea eight months ago, but even an extra-large costume wasn’t going to cut it. The striped tights only made it as far as her mid-thigh and the top was stuck above her bump. She looked like an overstuffed sausage and felt like a beached whale. This was her favourite time of the year, and she was finally going to be a mum. She should have been full of happiness. However, right now, she hated being pregnant and hated Christmas. Her stomach seemed unnaturally big, her ankles were swollen, she couldn’t sleep, she needed to pee all the time and her breasts had started leaking.
She felt guilty and ungrateful and desperately missed her best friend, Sam, and her parents. Her mum and dad had planned to stay home for Christmas, then travel up after Zoe gave birth in January and stay a month. But even if they changed their plans, there was nowhere for them to stay. Brad’s friends were due in a couple of days and had hired the entire castle. This Christmas was meant to be quiet, just her and Rory together in the cabin, but was now looking like more relentless work when she could barely stay on her feet.
She took off the elf costume and put her maternity trousers back on. They were down an elf but at least Rory was still playing Father Christmas. There was a knock at the door, and he entered, a big smile on his face.
‘I bring glad tidings.’
She looked at him askance. ‘Have you been on the sherry?’
‘Of great joy,’ he continued.
Her jaw dropped. He looked relieved as well as happy. This was extremely strange. ‘Who are you and what have you done with my husband?’ she demanded.
He cradled her face and brushed his lips across hers. ‘I have done a good thing.’
‘And that thing is?’
‘Brad’s friends aren’t coming.’
She pulled back. ‘What? They cancelled? But we need the money! We’ve spent—’
‘Shhhh, it’s okay. We’re not refunding them anything.’
‘What? How?’
‘I rang Brad. I told him about the stress we’re under, the mistletoe shortage and how we didn’t want his friends to be disappointed.’
‘You rang Brad?’
He nodded.
‘He Who Shall Not Be Named?’
He grinned. ‘Yup. And he persuaded them to swap coming here for a free stay at his place in Aspen followed by Saint Barts.’
‘And we don’t have to give them their money back?’
‘Nope.’
She sank into a chair, holding his hand. ‘Holy shit. So we can have a quiet Christmas, just the two of us?’
‘Yes, or if you want, we can invite your parents?’
She welled up. ‘Thank you, Rory. This is such a relief. I can’t believe it.’
‘Now all we need to do is get today over with, then you can put your feet up. You, me, Bandit, Basil and your beautiful bump. I promise I’ll make Christmas perfect for you.’
She swallowed her emotion down. ‘Okay, let’s get you dressed as Santa and put some talc in your beard to make it white.’
Zoe had deliberately ordered an XXL Santa suit. He took off his work trousers and pulled on the red velour bottoms.
Oh god.
