Page 111 of Emma
“Okay, okay. You can pick them up for us. Vanessa would probably prefer a medium, too.” Emma took her wallet from her pocket and pulled out eighty quid. “But I’m paying for them.”
Freya’s eyes widened as she looked down at the money. “They don’t costthatmuch.”
“Well, whatever’s left over, call it your pocket money.” Emma threw a thumb over her shoulder. “I should get going. I’ll see you all on Christmas Day, okay?”
As Emma made her way to the front door, her empty cup left on the coffee table beside Freya’s, her sister rushed up behind her and wrapped her arms around Emma’s waist. “Thanks so much.”
Emma half-turned, glancing up at Carmen and Ben in the hallway. They smiled back at her, offering nods of encouragement, and Emma took it as her chance to hug her sister right back. She crouched and wrapped Freya up, her eyes closed as she fought back tears. “You’re welcome. Always.”
Freya drew back and frowned. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I’m happy.” Emma couldn’t offer anything other than that. “Be good and I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Bye, sis.” Freya waved Emma off down the driveway, grinning even though she was shivering. “Text me when you get home.”
Emma laughed and slid into the driver’s seat, firing up the engine before giving herself a second to breathe. As time went on, Freya was opening up and showing her real personality, and as Emma looked out at the trees lining the street, she found that she loved it all more and more every day.
The living roomfloor was chaos, and Vanessa only had herself to blame. Wrapping paper rolls leaned against the couch, half-tied ribbons trailed like confetti, and a stack of presents still sat bare on the rug. She tugged the tape dispenser with her teeth, muttering under her breath when it stuck, before smoothing the last corner of paper over Daisy’s dollhouse.
The front door opened, and Vanessa looked up, relief already loosening her shoulders. She hadn’t realised how much she’d been waiting for Emma’s return until she heard the familiar shuffle of her boots being kicked off in the hallway.
“In here!” Vanessa called out as she gathered scraps of paper into a pile. Emma appeared in the doorway, her scarf hanging from her neck. She looked tired, but in a good way. Vanessacould only smile at the sight of her. “Hi, baby. How were the markets?”
Emma crossed the room, sidestepping the mess Vanessa had quickly created, and flopped down onto the couch. “Brilliant. Freya enjoyed herself.”
Vanessa set the dollhouse aside and slid across the floor, her knees bumping into Emma’s feet as she kneeled in front of her. “You were gone a while. I was worried until you texted me to say you were on your way home.”
“Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to worry you. Time just ran away with itself.” Emma tugged her scarf off and set it down beside her. “When I dropped her off, I was invited inside. Ben was handing me a hot chocolate before I knew what was really happening.”
“That’s positive.” Vanessa only recalled the positive things lately. There hadn’t been a single incident where Emma could feel as though she’d gone too far with all of this. If anything, Carmen and Ben were encouraging everything that was happening.
“Oh, and before I forget, they’re bringing red cabbage, and Ben’s already claimed the gravy.”
Vanessa reached up and brushed her thumb over Emma’s cheek. “It sounds to me like everything is finally coming together.”
“I know.” Emma’s voice broke as she leaned forward and rested her forehead against Vanessa’s shoulder. “Maybe this is the point when they realise I’m not here to complicate anything for them.”
Vanessa wrapped her arms around Emma and held her tight. “I think they’ve known that for a while now. I think Carmen and Ben are starting to see what I’ve known all along. That you’reimpossiblenot to love.”
As Emma drew back, Vanessa noted the look in her eyes. An acceptance. “Freya asked if we could wear matching pyjamas on Christmas night.”
Vanessa smiled through her own blur of emotion, tears threatening on her eyelashes. She cupped Emma’s face and kissed her slowly. “That’s it, isn’t it? That’s the moment when all of this becomes one hundred percent real.” Vanessa kissed Emma again before tugging her down to the floor with her. “Come on. Help me wrap these before Daisy finds out that Father Christmas uses Tesco tape.”
Emma laughed and sprawled beside her in the mess of paper and ribbon. As Vanessa passed her the scissors, she thought about how far they’d come…and how much fuller this Christmas was going to feel.
“You’ve been invited to wear the pyjamas too, by the way. But if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
Vanessa snorted as she side-glanced in Emma’s direction. “Try and stop me!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Oh,this is the life.
Emma sankdown onto the couch, exhaustion setting in now that things were prepared for the big day tomorrow. The table had already been set because Vanessa didn’t trust herself to focus fully on it tomorrow, and the scent of cloves and orange peel continued to waft around the place. Vanessa had insisted on making mulled syrup just in case anyone wanted it, and it had to be homemade. Not from a bottle. The potatoes were scattered in multiple pans, ready to be parboiled in the morning, the batter for the Yorkshire puddings was resting in the fridge beside the pigs in blankets, and Carmen had texted Emma an hour ago to say Ben had become insufferable trying to get the gravy ‘bang on.’
Everything was running smoothly…and everything was as it should be.
She tugged the blanket up to her chin and tipped her head back, closing her eyes for a moment and taking it all in. If she sat very still, she could hear the tiny squeak of the radiator coolingand the hiss of tyres on damp tarmac. It was officially Christmas Eve on their quiet street.
