The oranges are done, and the film is finished. Kate is bathed and in bed, but she is still awake counting stars. Counting stars when she can’t sleep is something she learned from Grandma Betty. After checking on Lucy, I stand at the top of the landing to listen.

“Twenty-twelve stars, twenty-fifteen stars, twenty-one stars.” I smile sweetly. One of her gifts will help her with numbers. I walk into the front room to inform everyone that she’s still awake.

“Well, you can watch that, but there’s no way in hell that I am watching it,” Jenny says as she lies down on the sofa, placing her head on Warren’s knee.

“That’s fine then,” Mark replies, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Megan, whose side are you on?” Jenny says as she grabs the blanket from the back of the sofa.

“Over what?” I question.

“The Queeen’s speech. Mark wants to watch it.”

“He can, and we’ll just eat all the chocolate. No way am I watching that; I’ll fall asleep,” I state.

“That’s my girl,” Jenny says, giving me a high five as I walk past.

“Sorry, Mark, it’s repeated so much that I will find out what was said.” I sit next to Mark.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s been forced on me all my life. Then, having to sit and talk about it.” Placing my head onto his shoulder, I lift my feet onto the sofa beside me. Now, I’m comfortable.

“Poor you.” I reach my hand up to him, giggling. Mark shakes his head and kisses the palm of my hand.

“Just like me, mate. We always watched it too, but we used to go and sit in the doorway and play with our toys and just listen for the silly questions like ‘what do you think of the colour she is wearing?’ It’s not my cup of tea.”

“Let’s do something fun,” Jenny says.

“Like what?” Connor questions.

“Truth or Dare,” Jenny suggests.

“Count me in,” Warren says, and we all concur.

Oh, why did I just agree to this? Suddenly, I have reservations about this idea. No way am I doing a dare; I’m not that silly.

“Truth or Dare, Connor?” Jenny asks.

“Truth.”

“When was the last time you had sex with another person?” As she asks, I can’t help but cover my face.

“Nearly five years.” He pauses. “Truth or Dare, Warren?”

“Dare,” Warren answers confidently.

“I dare you to go outside and draw a cock on someone’s car.” Warren smiles mischievously, gets up once Jenny sits up and runs outside with Connor. I just sit there, thinking why it doesn’t surprise me. Not even a minute later, Warren comes back in through the door, showing us the picture on his phone as proof. Yes, he drew it, including all the little details.

“Truth or Dare, Megan?” Warren asks.

“Truth.” I’m not sure I want to play anymore.

“Is Mark the best lover you’ve ever had?” I laugh and cover my face.

“Yes.” I pause. “Jenny, Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.” Jenny winks at me. “Ohhh, now this needs to be hard.” I sit there, pretending to be thinking. I know the question has to play with our long- standing joke.

“Have you ever had a crush on a woman?” I ask, knowing the answer, but it’s the only thing that comes to my mind.

“Oh hell, yes! You know what my answer is. Oh, babe, you know I have always wanted to nibble on rugs.” Jenny bursts out laughing, then gets serious. “HELL NO. EWWW. It’s just so not my thing.”

I sit there, laughing at Warren’s face. I think he thought his luck had finally changed. Aw, bless him.

“Mark, Truth or Dare?” Jenny asks as she tries to stop laughing.

“Dare. It might be safer.” He smiles at me while sounding very unsure.

“Take Megan out of the room and do a strip tease for her. You only have five minutes.”

“Easy,” Mark says.

“WHAT? No!” I protest.

Mark stands up, lifts me from the sofa and places me over his shoulder. “NO! Don’t do that, please!” I scream. He repeatedly taps my bum and carries me out of the room.

“I like this dare.”

“I don’t,” I say, covering my face as he carries me up the stairs. Oh my, I feel sick. This is not a good look.

“I’m timing you!” Jenny yells up the stairs. Mark lays me down on the side of the bed, and I cover my face with my hands again in embarrassment.

“Please, baby, don’t do this.”

“A dare is a dare,” he says. "Relax, baby. No one will see."

Mark stands there undoing a few buttons before pulling his T-shirt fully over his head from the back in one swift move.

"That's not the point.” I really don’t want him to go through with this, and if he does, I definitely don’t want to upset him if I laugh. I know I will probably just want to throw him down onto the bed and have my way with him. I sit there with my eyes glued to his chest. I love his torso; he does not have an overworked six pack, just a shapely, grooved V down to his cock. He stands there thrusting back and forth trying to be sexy, and all I can do is laugh. He kicks off his shoes, and they hit the bottom of the metal bed frame as they fly. He bends down, rubbing his legs as he does and grabs the tip of his sock, pulling it off and dropping it onto the ground. He takes off his other sock the same way. Turning around, he places his hands flat onto the wardrobe and shakes his bum slowly from side to side. I can’t stop watching him because he looks so sexy.

"You can leave them on," I say, pointing towards his trousers.

"Never, baby," he replies as he slides down his trousers and boxers at the same time. I can’t help but cover my face with my hand, only to sneak a little peek through my fingers.

"See. I did the dare." He pauses. "Come on. Let’s go back down, or you never know what will happen." He slides his clothes back on. I stand up and rub my hand across his abs as I walk past him. He grabs my wrist and pulls me back, tipping me backwards, and placing one hand on my back and the other on my bum. As he slides his tongue into my mouth, my arms wrap around him, making the space between us almost invisible.

Mark slowly lets me stand up straight. "I'm sure our five minutes are over," I whisper.

"I know. I have something to finish before bed," he says, opening the door and letting me go out first. I walk over the landing towards Lucy’s room. Opening the door, I see her snug and asleep in her cot. Mark stands behind me with his arms firmly wrapped around me, pulling me back, and my head leaning on his shoulder. I feel so safe.

"We should check on Kate, and then we can finish getting everything ready," I say. Mark takes hold of my hand, turns me around, and pulls me into his grasp.

"I'm so happy to be with you for Christmas. This will be the best Christmas ever." He places a kiss on my forehead. I lift my head and look into his sparkling eyes; I love how his eyes talk. I grab his hand and walk over to the room where Kate is sleeping. I slowly push open the door and hear her snoring soundly. Smiling, I close the door and turn around.

"Shall we get the bags down?" I suggest.

"Yes, come on." He walks ahead of me, up the stairs and into the loft. "Stay there, baby. They are heavy, so I’ll bring them down."

I stand there beaming. I love that man, and I especially love the view of his tight ass walking up the stairs. I can’t believe how lucky I am. I can’t wait for tomorrow. Mark starts walking down the stairs, holding several bags in both arms and smiling at me. I didn’t realize how many bags were up there. We didn’t place anything under the tree, because we thought it might be safer with Lucy around and we didn’t want her pulling presents from under the tree and opening them.

“Are you going to give me some to carry?” I ask. He shakes his head and continues down the stairs. I follow behind him and walk into the front room.

“Finally, I thought you must have been shagging him,” Jenny blurts out.

“NO! We checked on the kids and got the presents. Kate’s asleep now,” I state, winking at her.

Mark places the bags down onto the floor near the tree. “I will let you empty them. I need to pop out. I’ll be back in about thirty minutes. Quicker if I can,” he says.

“Okay.” Both Warren and Connor stand up and walk out with him. I hear the car doors close and the engine rev as they disappear down the street.

“That’s weird. Where are they going?” Jenny asks.

“No idea.”