Page 117 of Emma
“Well.” Vanessa grinned. “Aren’t I the lucky one?”
Freya flushed as she ducked her head, but Emma’s heart had just about burst out of her chest.
“She’s clever, this one.” Ben winked as he tipped his bottle towards Freya. “She knows how to keep everyone happy.”
The next half hour unfolded into sweet chaos. Vanessa had produced a trifle so enormous it could feed the entire street, Carmen had revealed she’d brought homemade mince pies, and Freya had managed to get custard on her jumper within seconds of taking a mouthful.
Emma nodded towards the splodge down her jumper, but Freya simply lifted a shoulder. “It’s Christmas, sis. You’re supposed to make a mess.”
“Fair enough.”
The radio in the background switched toLast Christmas. Ben tapped his foot under the table, Carmen hummed along as she helped herself to a second bowl of trifle, and as Emma glanced sideways, she found Vanessa watching Freya with a tenderness that nearly unravelled her.
That was when it struck Emma. This wasn’t a moment she’d dreamed up or borrowed. It was real. It was messy, it was loud, but God…it was perfect.
Wrappingpaper was already scattered across the rug, a bright, chaotic sea of reds and golds as the tree lights blinked in the corner. Everyone was full of trifle and mince pies, but Freya was sitting cross-legged on the carpet as if she’d been waiting all day for this moment.
“I can’t believe I have gifts here to open.” Freya’s face lit up as Emma quickly dragged a stack out from under the tree and set it down next to her sister. “Wow.”
Emma perched herself on the edge of the couch, her heart in her throat, but Vanessa’s supportive hand quickly came to rest against her thigh. She hadn’t felt nervous about giving presents before, but now, watching Freya pull at the ribbon of her first gift, Emma’s palms were clammy.
“These gifts are from both of us,” Vanessa said as she nodded to the gift half-unwrapped in Freya’s lap.
Freya glanced up with a smile. “Both of you? Really?”
“Of course. We picked them together.”
Freya peeled the paper slowly until a glossy box beneath was revealed. A brand new smartphone that Carmen had mentioned to Emma a couple of weeks ago. A nurse’s wage was just enough to get by on these days, so Emma had offered to cover the cost of it. Thankfully, Carmen and Ben hadn’t found that intimidating, but simply Emma making up for lost time.
Freya’s mouth fell open. “No way!”
“We thought it might help,” Emma explained. “With school and keeping in touch. It has the latest version of everything under the sun that people use these days. No social media, though.”
Freya looked up from the phone, clearly overwhelmed. “T-thanks. This is…a big present.”
“You deserve it.”
Freya blinked repeatedly as she set the box aside, before tugging the ribbon on the next gift. Inside was a slim, matte-black Kindle. “Oh, MY GOD!” she squealed louder than she had with the phone. But Emma loved that she preferred books over social media. “Seriously? A Kindle? This isamazing!”
Emma grinned, relief bubbling away in her chest at Freya’s excitement. “We thought you might like to carry books with you without needing to drag a rucksack the size of a house around.”
“You actually get me.” Freya laughed, clutching her Kindle to her chest. “This is the best day ever!”
Emma bit her lip when she felt her emotions beginning to surface. There wasn’t enough time in this world to make up for the missed years, but she would do everything she could to show Freya that she wanted her in her life every single day for the rest of her life.
Vanessa leaned down and passed her the final gift, a slightly larger package wrapped in paper dotted with tiny silver stars. “This one’s from Emma, really. She did the research. I was useless.”
Freya tore the paper, gasping when she saw the cover of the first book in the trilogy. “No way.No way!You found it?!”
“The whole set,” Emma grinned.
Freya’s hands shook as she traced the cover, her bottom lip trembling. “You remembered. I told you about this series…and you remembered.”
Emma swallowed. “I remember everything you say.”
Smiling, Freya opened the cover, and then her smile faded, turning to shock as she slowly looked up at Emma. “T-they’re signed editions…”
“All three of them.” Emma hoped this next piece of information wouldn’t stun Freya further, but she had a feeling it would. “And book four is out at the end of January, so we have tickets to the author reading and signing session.”
