Em snuggled into David’s side, his body warm despite the coolness generated by the super-efficient air conditioner. She’d left the window-blinds open because she wanted to wake up to that view. And what a view. Deep-blue sky with the occasional wispy cloud, pristine white sand, and perfect waves gently breaking against the shore. A very different aspect from the one they had back home where the trees were bare, the skies grey and overcast, and the ground damp and slippery because of the freezing temperatures.

Despite her reservations about going on holiday at her busiest time of year, now that she was there, Em felt calmer, centred and more able to cope with her inability to have a child. Putting her situation in context with real world problems gave her perspective. She and David were happy and healthy, they lived in a nice home and had good jobs. They had the best friends anyone could wish for, they were still madly in love, which was more than could be said for a lot of other couples who’d been married for as long as them. She had a lot to be grateful for.

She still ached, though, deep inside, but in time that feeling would diminish. At least that’s what she hoped.

“Merry Christmas, gorgeous,” David said, as he snuggled up behind her and kissed the top of her head. “Penny for your thoughts.”

She tilted back her head and pecked his lips. “I was thinking of all the things we have to be grateful for. I’ve decided that today is a new start. No more bemoaning what I can’t have and, instead, I’m going to focus on what I do have.”

He tried to hide it, but relief flashed across his face. She knew he’d been worried about her, concerned she’d fall into a deep depression over something that was beyond her control.

“I love you,” David said.

He leaned over, his upper body pressing against hers. His lips hovered an inch away from hers, and those hazel eyes, flecked with gold and green, saw directly through to her soul.

Em raised herself up, resting on her elbows, and kissed him. “What time is it?” she murmured, her mouth still against his.

David glanced at his watch. “Eight.”

“I bet the kids are up already.”

“Want to go downstairs and see them unwrap their presents?”

She raked a fingernail over David’s chest, watching as his muscles rippled under her touch. “I’d rather unwrap my own present first,” she said, trailing her finger lower. His breath caught, and he exhaled heavily when she slipped her hand inside his boxers. He was already hard.

“Best gift ever,” she murmured, easing him onto his back and then sliding down his body.

David gripped onto the wrought iron bedstead above his head. Pulling down his boxers, Em freed his erection. She swept her tongue over the head, and he arched his back and groaned.

“I think that’s my line,” she said.

Having fully removed his underwear, then her own, Em straddled him. He raked his gaze over her, and dampened his lips.

“Fuck, you’re so goddamn sexy,” he said, his large hand cupping her right breast. One brush of his thumb over her nipple was enough to spread heat throughout her core.

He tried to sit up, but she pressed him back onto the mattress. “Relax, lover. Plenty of time for you to repay the favour.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She kissed his neck, his chest, his abs. When she purposely bypassed his cock and, instead, licked the inside of his thigh, he growled.

“Patience, darling,” she said, grinning up at him. “You know how I like to make you suffer.”

“You’re lucky I adore you,” he grumbled.

She teased him a little more and, as her own arousal grew, she pulled him slowly into her mouth, her eyes fixed on his.

“Christ, that feels good.”

She worked him with her hand, moving at the same leisurely pace as her mouth. His groans increased in volume, his cock thickening and lengthening with her attention.

Suddenly, she found herself beneath him.

“Wrap your legs around me, baby.”

He pushed inside in one deep thrust. She gripped his tight, firm backside, using it as leverage to lift her hips and drive against him. They knew each other so well, understood what gave them maximum pleasure, and Em used that knowledge to her advantage.

“You’re killing me,” he muttered, his mouth at her neck. He nibbled the spot where it met her shoulder, the one place he knew would drive her wild.

“Likewise,” she panted.

A familiar feeling built within her. Slow, steady, sure. One she would never tire of. Coming with David, her soul mate, her husband, the man she would love until her dying breath, was absolutely sublime. She wasn’t remotely religious, but it didn’t stop her groaning, “Oh God,” as an orgasm exploded from deep within her.

Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her body. Her calf muscles tightened, and she squeezed her eyes closed and let the moment take her to a place where there was no sadness, no hurt, no crushing disappointment– there was only blissful feeling and intense love.

She held him to her as he reached his own climax, her nails raking up and down his back—he loved it when she scored him—Finishing at his backside, she squeezed it, hard.

“I fucking love your arse,” she said.

He laughed, his shoulders shaking, his cock still inside her. “I fucking love you.”

He rolled to the side and lay still, one arm behind his head while he caught his breath. “Can we stay here all day?”

She grinned. “We can do anything we want.”

The door to their bedroom burst open and Em scrambled to cover up herself and David. Cian jumped onto the bed, wearing a full Manchester United football kit. He was holding a ball under his arm, and grinning.

“Merry Christmas Auntie Em and Uncle David! Do you like my new kit? Dad got it for me, although he told me I couldn’t have a new one when I ripped my old one. I knew he was lying though. He’s a terrible liar. Uncle David, will you play football with me?”

“Cian Rupert Gallagher!”

Tally’s voice sounded before she appeared at the doorway. She flashed Em an apologetic look.

“You are in so much trouble, mister. I told you to let Auntie Em and Uncle David sleep in.”

“It’s fine,” Em said.

“Wouldn’t have been fine thirty seconds earlier,” David muttered under his breath, his lips twitching with laughter.

“Get out of this room. Right now,” Tally ordered, realising what her son had almost barged in on.

“Tell you what, mate. Give me ten minutes to get dressed and I’m all yours,” David said.

“Yeah, he’s all yours, Cian.” Em’s eyes darted to Tally. “I’ve finished playing with him, for now.”

Tally’s cheeks flushed pink. She grabbed Cian’s arm and tugged him out of the room. The second the door closed, Em and David burst out laughing.

“Well, that was a wake-up call and a half,” Em said when she found Tally hiding in the kitchen.

“I’m mortified,” Tally said, her cheeks still tinged pink. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with that child.”

Em laughed. “One minute earlier, and Cian’s birds and bees conversation would have been pulled forward by a couple of years.”

Tally’s palms went to her cheeks. “That boy needs taking in hand.”

“Relax,” Em said. “We should have locked the door. I guess not having kids, it didn’t occur to us.” She internally high-fived herself when she didn’t even wince.

Tally handed Em a coffee. “Yeah, locks are crucial. Cash and I learned that the hard way as soon as Darcey started walking.”

“I guess I’ve missed the kids opening their presents?” she asked, disappointed.

“Not at all. We let them open a couple just to keep the little buggers quiet. They can open the rest before lunch.”

“Oh good. I can’t wait to see Darcey’s face when she opens the gift David and I got her.”

Tally narrowed her eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t get her a mobile phone?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t go against your wishes like that.” She dropped her voice in case the kids were listening in, because she didn’t want to spoil the surprise. “I bought her a gorgeous ballerina slipper night-light and a ballet dancing bed-set.”

“Oh, Em. She’ll love those.”

“I hope so.” She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre of the large kitchen table. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Rupe wants to head down to Queen’s Park. It’s a big tradition in Barbados on Christmas morning, apparently. They have a band playing, and there’s lots of rum punch.”

“Rum punch? I’m in,” Em glanced around. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Outside finishing breakfast. You want something more substantial than that apple?”

“Nah, this’ll do me for now. I’ll eat my body weight in turkey later.”

“At last, she rises,” Rupe said, appearing from outside. Em flipped him the bird and he laughed. “Coming to Queen’s Park, Fallon?”

Em adored the fact Rupe still called her by her maiden name. It was part of their special bond. When Tally had first met Cash and she’d been introduced to Rupe, Tally had half-hoped they’d hook up, but neither found the other remotely sexually attractive. That didn’t stop Rupe from being one of Em’s closest friends, though, and she loved him dearly.

“Tal tells me there’s alcohol.”

Rupe wandered over and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Copious amounts, darling.”

“Then let’s go.”

They spent a couple of hours wandering around Queen’s Park, mingling with the locals all dressed up in their finery, and drinking more rum punch than was sensible for so early in the day. Even the kids enjoyed themselves and Darcey joined in with the parade.

Half drunk, they headed back to the house. Cash had arranged for some of the locals to cook their Christmas lunch and Em felt sorry for them until Tally discreetly told her how much Cash was paying them. One look at the happy, smiling faces of the men and women bustling about suggested they weren’t exactly mourning their bad luck.

“Can we open the rest of our presents now, Mum, please?” Darcey begged, jumping up and down on the spot.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Tally said.

Darcey squealed and she and Cian ran into the living room. By the time Em and Tally got there, with the rest of the gang following on, the kids had already dragged out all the presents from underneath the tree. They sorted through them and as soon as they were satisfied they hadn’t missed any addressed to them, they tore into the wrapping paper.

Rachael handed around everyone else’s gifts, but it was so much more fun to watch the kids’ faces as they opened present after present.

“Spoiled again,” Tally said, grinning.

“Best part about being a kid,” Em said. “Remember what our Christmas’s were like?”

“I do,” Tally said. “You always finished opening your presents first.”

“That’s because you took too long,” Em said, playfully bumping Tally’s shoulder.

“Oh, Auntie Em,” Darcey said when she opened the ballet-shoes lamp. “I love it.” She leaped to her feet and flung herself into Em’s arms. Her heart clenched. She might not be able to have her own kids, but she had the next best thing.

“Love you, Darcey.”

Darcey squeezed her tightly. “I love you, Auntie Em, and not just because you buy the best presents.”

Em laughed. “Good to know.”

“Hey,” Rupe joked. “What about me?”

“Love you too, Uncle Rupe,” both kids chimed in, laughing at his full-on pout.

After lunch, Rachael and Meredith took the kids down to the beach. Silence and a feeling of peace immediately descended. Em might love her godson and goddaughter to the moon and back, but hell, those kids were noisy.

She changed into swimwear and flopped onto a sun lounger by the pool. “This is the life,” she murmured to Jayne who was already out there.

“My thoughts exactly,” Jayne said, donning a huge sunhat. “If I didn’t love my job so much, I’d take Rupe up on his offer to spend our lives sailing around these islands. Of course, he thinks he’d be happy not working, but he’d soon get bored and start sneaking off to design new software apps.”

Em wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

“Listen to couples arguing as their marriages splinter into a million pieces.” Jayne was a divorce lawyer for a top firm in London, although she’d turned her hand to criminal law once to help Rupe – it was how the two of them had met. “Isn’t it depressing?”

Jayne considered Em’s question. “Sometimes. Mostly, though, I see my role as helping them split as amicably as possible, especially when there are children involved. Unravelling two lives that are intricately interwoven, sometimes over decades, isn’t easy.”

“I can imagine,” Em said. She waved to David and Rupe who were making their way over with beers. “One of those had better be for me,” she shouted to David.

He came to sit beside her but, instead of handing the bottle to her, he placed the freezing thing right on her stomach. Em squealed, bucked, and spilled beer everywhere.

“You’re dead,” she teased, leaping to her feet.

David set off running, laughing. He let her catch him but, as she went to push him in the pool, he sidestepped. She lost her balance and ended up tumbling in. She surfaced, spluttering.

“No holiday sex for you,” she yelled, pushing wet hair off her face.

“Yeah, yeah,” David said. “Say it like you mean it.”

She climbed out of the pool and tried, once again, to knock David in, but he was too quick for her. Giving up, she flopped back down on her sun lounger.

“Low blow, Em,” Rupe said. “Telling a man there’s no sex. Grounds for divorce, I’d say.”

Em stuck out her tongue. “Good job I know an excellent divorce lawyer then, isn’t it?”

Rupe laughed. “Better make the most of her while you can.”

Jayne glared at Rupe, clearly unhappy about his comment while Rupe flashed her a Fox-Whittingham special – a broad, unapologetic grin.

“Not the sort of thing you can keep a secret for long, Janey,” he said, gently placing his hand on her stomach.

Em frowned, and then she caught up. “You’re… you’re…”

“Pregnant,” Rupe helpfully finished. “Not me, obviously.”

“We weren’t going to say anything until we got back to the UK,” Jayne confirmed. “I’m into my second trimester, so past the worst time but…”

Jayne continued talking, but Em didn’t hear a word of it. Pregnant? God fucking damn. Every woman in the world could fall pregnant, except for her.

Why me?

The self-pitying thought crashed into her. She hated self pity. It served no fucking purpose other than to send her headlong into a depression she couldn’t allow to fester.

She stumbled to her feet and muttered, “I’m so happy for you guys,” then ran inside, almost knocking over Tally and Cash in her haste to get away. With a mumbled apology, she tore up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and disappeared into her room.