Page 58 of Someone For Everyone

She feigned innocence. ‘No, why?’

‘Let’s just say, she feels the same way.’ He removed the tape from the other two boxes and lifted the lids.

‘You’re very good at it, but I guess that doesn’t count for much if you don’t enjoy it. Nothing’s worse than a job you hate.’

Calvin removed a handful of shiny tinsel. ‘You have a choice: continue holding the baby or putting up the decorations?’

‘You start and I’ll take over,’ she said, heading for the sofa. ‘I’m not done cuddling, even if he does weigh a ton.’ She gazed down at Jacob as she slid onto the sofa. ‘He makes a surprisingly good radiator.’

‘You should try holding two of them,’ he said, emptying the contents of the box onto the floor. ‘My nieces climb on top of me at the same time and it’s like holding a couple of baked potatoes.’

Kate laughed, mostly at how northern he sounded saying ‘baked potatoes’. ‘How old are they?’

‘They’ll be two in January.’ He sorted through the decorations, pausing when he came across a piece of brown plastic.

‘Are you hoping to see them over Christmas?’

‘I doubt that will happen. I can’t see me getting home before things are sorted here. But hopefully I’ll see them for their birthdays.’ He sounded distracted as he searched through the upturned pile of decorations, gathering together bits of plastic.

‘What have you found?’

He sat back on his haunches. ‘My Pop-Up Pirate game. It’s broken.’

She could tell from his expression that he was upset. ‘Was it a favourite toy?’

‘Yeah, it was.’ He inspected the broken plastic. ‘It was the last present my dad gave me before he left. I didn’t know at the time it was going to be the last present, but I loved it. I played with it for hours, drove my brother and sister mad by insisting we keep playing another round.’ He rubbed a temple, as if confused. ‘I don’t know how it ended up here.’

Jacob made a noise, attracting her attention. His brief wriggle was followed by a yawn and him drifting back to sleep. ‘Can it be fixed?’

‘Doesn’t look like it.’ He got up and threw the pieces in the bin. ‘Silly, really. It’s not like it was an expensive gift or anything special. It’s daft to feel upset about it.’

‘It’s not daft, at all. It’s not the toy itself, but the memory it conjures up. It reminds you of your dad, and that’s bound to be painful.’ As she knew only too well – even though she had no actual memories of her dad, only recounted stories from other family members. She had no treasured gifts or belongings, not even his guitar anymore, thanks to her arsehole of an ex-husband.

Having binned the broken toy, Calvin set about untangling the tree lights.

She felt bad, watching him do everything, so she lifted Jacob onto the sofa and surrounded him with cushions so he wouldn’t roll off. ‘Do you think he’ll be okay like that?’

Calvin glanced over. ‘He’ll be fine. It’s not like we can’t keep an eye on him.’ Despite this, he took the cushions from the other sofa and placed them on the floor next to the sleeping baby. ‘Just in case.’

Happy that Jacob was safe, Kate joined Calvin on the floor and helped him unravel the lights. ‘Was the plan to have kids with your girlfriend one day? You know, before you broke up,’ she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

‘That was the plan.’ He stretched out the wires and unhooked a few more.

‘What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.’

‘I’m still not entirely sure,’ he said, untangling the cord. ‘How are you getting on at your end?’

‘Almost done.’ She released the last of the knots and handed him the lights.

He got up and carried them over to the wall socket. ‘Hey, they work,’ he said, when he plugged them in.

She dragged a chair over to the tree and stood on it. ‘Pass them up, then.’

His expression turned wary. ‘You don’t have a great track record with stepladders.’

‘Which is why I’m on a chair,’ she said, her exaggerated eye-roll making him laugh.

He came over and handed her the lights. ‘I’m not sure the health and safety officer would agree it’s any safer.’

---