Page 27 of Christmas Sunrise
I don't hear her finish because I'm walking back into the kitchen and looking around for something I can use to erase the last ten seconds of my life. Were my parents really up there and...
"Fucking hell, Aiden," Dad says as he walks in tucking his T-shirt in his trousers which does little to stop my brain summoning unwanted mental images. "What are you doing here at the arse crack of dawn?"
My jaw tense, I look at my watch. "It's five to eight."
"Precisely," Dad nods at the thick blackness outside the window, "the sun isn't even up yet."
"Well, I'm sorry for... interrupting," I say but don't seek his eye contact. "I came to collect Maeve's things. You know what she's like. Needs to go through her usual morning beauty rigmarole."
"So she does." Dad moves to the coffee machine. "Will you have a coffee with us?"
I think about Jenna. I should get back and see her, talk to her. But I still don't know exactly what to say.
"Sure, thanks," I accept.
"Well, go on up and get what you need. I'll make the coffee."
I clear my throat. "Is it... safe?"
Dad closes the fridge door and stands still, studying me. Something like mischief twinkles in his eyes while his face holds an otherwise neutral expression. "What do you mean, son?"
I sigh heavily. "You and Ma. I know what you were up to..."
"I imagine you do. Not like you lack experience in that department," Dad says and why, oh why is this the proudest I think I've ever heard him sound.
"Dad, I don't really..."
"Aiden! What a lovely surprise!" Mum rushes in and I can't help but notice the colour in her cheeks.For fuck's sake."Merry Christmas, my boy."
"Merry Christmas, Ma," I say dully as she comes up to grip my face in her hands and pull me down for a peck on each cheek.
"We were just getting ready to come over to you." She tells me.
I laugh at that, only a little louder than my father. "No, you weren't."
"Yes, we were. We were... we were..." Mum struggles for words as she busies herself filling the kettle.
"He knows what we were doing," Da says before pushing the button on the coffee machine and thankfully filling all our ears with noise.
Mum straightens up a little. "Well, we're consenting adults with needs and an empty house on Christmas morning... Plus, I read this scene in a book of mine last night and—"
"Jesus fucking Christ, Ma, please don't," I mutter, cutting her off and closing my eyes.
"What's got into you? Normally you're the first to joke about these things." Mum steps closer to me again after clicking the kettle on.
"Jenna and I had a fight," I say. I have no clue why I tell them that until I see my mother's face crinkle with sympathy. Suddenly I need nothing more than to share the weight of this predicament.
"Oh, Aiden. What happened?" Ma leads me to sit at the kitchen table. When her hand covers mine, it gives me a warmth I didn't know I needed.
"She got me a fucken present!" I blurt out.
Ma looks at my father. "We know."
"You know? Did you also know we agreed to not do gifts?"
"She mentioned it but she so wanted to get you those knives and—"
"Knives? She got me knives?" My mouth falls open.
