Thursday December 26th

 

When Kian woke up in the early hours of Boxing Day, he was in a foul mood. He didn’t like sleeping without his wife.

He rolled over on to his side and his attention was drawn to the far wall, where Mateo had a map of the world with tiny pins in each of the places he’d visited. There were a few spare pins at the side. He looked at the pins and then down at the horrible air mattress he’d been trying to sleep on and it was like a lightbulb being switched on above his head.

It was the perfect excuse.

Mateo was still asleep, sprawled across his bed like a starfish. Kian adjusted the covers so that his son wouldn’t get too cold and then tiptoed across to the map of the world and removed one of the tiny pins.

He knelt down at the side of the air mattress and lifted up the flimsy sheet. He didn’t feel even the slightest guilt as he stabbed the pin into the mattress again and again until he felt the delicious sound of air beginning to leak out of the hateful, horrible thing.

When he lay his full weight down on top of it, it coughed and spluttered like Cate’s first car had until he’d finally persuaded her to let him buy her a new one.

He stayed there until it was almost completely deflated. There was no way that Cate would make him sleep on what was just a plastic sheet now. She might have been pissed off with him but she would have no choice but to let him cuddle up to her.

Feeling very pleased with himself, he replaced the pin on Mateo’s map and stepped out into the hallway.

When he walked past Sierra’s bedroom, he could hear giggling coming from inside. He pushed open the door. Cate was still asleep on the air mattress but Lola and Sierra were both awake and kneeling at the side of her head.

“What are you two up to?” Kian asked.

“We’re playing the cereal game,” Sierra explained “but with doll’s shoes.”

Lola carefully balanced a tiny, blue plastic shoe on the tip of Cate’s nose. She already had a pair of pink and yellow shoes on both her eyelids.

“Dad, it’s your turn,” Lola handed him one of the male doll’s black, plastic sandals.

“Where should I put it?” Kian asked.

“You could put it on her mouth?” Sierra suggested.

Kian shook his head, “I think it might be better if we don’t put anything on Mommy’s mouth, it could be a choking hazard, sweetheart.”

He placed the sandal on the bridge of her nose. Cate stirred a little, her hand reaching up to itch her nose.

“Ow,” Cate blinked open her eyes. “Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

As she sat up, the doll’s shoes tumbled down onto the blanket. “Ew,” Cate winced, shaking her head to one side, “you’ve even put them in my ears.”

She looked at the clock on Sierra’s bedside table, “seriously? It’s two am, why are any of you even awake at this time?”

While Lola went back to her own room, Kian helped Sierra put away all the doll’s shoes and get back into bed.

“Goodnight Mommy, goodnight Daddy, I love you,” Sierra snuggled up under her duvet. “Thank you for letting Father Christmas deliver my presents.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Kian kissed the top of her head.

Cate had almost drifted off to sleep again when she felt the covers being tugged back. The air mattress dipped and she felt Kian’s hot, hard body press up against her. “What are you doing?”

“The mattress in Mateo’s room has deflated; there must be a hole somewhere.”

Cate thought his explanation was a little too convenient but she was too tired to argue with him so instead she just snuggled back into the warmth and comfort of his embrace.

 

The next morning, when Cate woke up, she could feel Kian’s morning erection nudging against her bottom. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

She quickly checked that Sierra was still asleep before she rolled over to face Kian. “We’re in our daughter’s bedroom, that’s just so wrong.”

“Believe me,” Kian hissed, “I’m extremely well aware of that.”

“You need to fix it,” Cate whispered, “think about something unsexy.”

“I’m trying.”

“Mommy, I’m hungry,” Sierra threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. “Can we make pancakes again?”

Cate intercepted her before she could climb into bed with them. “Come on then,” she pulled back the covers and nudged the pillow towards Kian. She reached for Sierra’s hand and led her out of the bedroom.

The wafting scent of pancakes drew everybody from their beds.

“Have you got any plans for today?” Cate asked Irene, Jean and Bernard as they sat at the dining table.

“I’ve got a date,” Irene blushed a little.

“You’ve got a what?” Cate balked.

Irene giggled, “close your mouth, sweetheart. It’s not that ridiculous. I’m having lunch with Eduardo.”

“When did you meet him? You’ve only been here like five minutes.”

Irene rolled her eyes. “I met him in the queue at Starbucks on Christmas Eve. It was quite sweet actually. He noticed the Manchester Rovers keyring which Lola gave me a couple of Christmases ago. His daughter actually went to university in Manchester before she moved to Seattle. Because both his daughter and grandson are big Rovers fans, he’s adopted them as his second team behind Boca Juniors. He lives in Buenos Aires but he’s here for the holidays visiting his daughter and her family. After we’d got our drinks, there was only one spare table so Eduardo insisted that we sit together.”

Cate was surprised to see her mum look a little dreamy-eyed. “We’ve got so much in common. He’s only recently retired; he wants to travel and see more of his grandchildren.”

“Good for you,” Jean said, putting her hand over Irene’s.

“It is good to be with a man from another country,” Bernard winked, “it gives you a new perspective on life.”

Kian leaned over her shoulder and stole a bite of the pancake on her fork. Her heart plummeted right down to the floor when she saw that he’d showered and was dressed in a suit again.

Does Kian count? Cate wondered, because sometimes I don’t just think he’s from another country, I think he’s from another freaking planet.

“I’m just going in to work for a couple of hours.”

Ugh, he was such a sneaky little devil. He knew she wouldn’t start an argument with him in front of the children, their mums and Bernard.

“Mommy!” Sierra interrupted.

Cate watched over the top of Sierra’s head as Kian slipped out of the front door.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“Why’s Uncle Nate kissing Mr Eric?”

Cate shook her head, “what?”

Sierra led her across to the lounge window where they had a perfect view of Nate, who was supposed to still be in Sacramento with his family and Luke’s dad, Eric passionately kissing each other.

“Darn it,” Cate quickly covered Sierra’s eyes and guided her away from the window.

“They’re boyfriend and um… boyfriend?” Lola said, flopping down on the sofa. “Luke said his dad told him about it just before Christmas.”

“Oh,” Cate frowned. A little heads-up from Nate would have been nice.

“Can I watch the football?”

“Don’t you want to spend time with your grandparents?”

“They’re both going out,” Lola shrugged. “Granny Reen has got a hot date with Eduardo.” The look of revulsion on Lola’s face almost matched Cate’s. “Granny Jean said that she wants to show Bernard some of her favourite places in Seattle.”

“Oh, OK.” It was just going to be Cate and the children again.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Jean put a hand on Cate’s arm.

“Of course not,” Cate swallowed her disappointment. She couldn’t expect her mum or Jean to cancel their plans just because she was feeling lonely.

“Mum, can I watch the football?” Lola asked again.

“Have you done your chores?”

“Yep. My bed’s made; I vacuumed the pine needles around the tree and took out the trash.”

Cate smiled, “then yes, absolutely you can watch the football.”

“Can I play with my dolls?” Sierra tugged at Cate’s sleeve.

“Have you done your chores for the day?”

Sierra wrinkled up her cute little nose, “I’ve done most of them.”

“OK, let’s see.” Sierra followed her into the kitchen and they looked at the chart on the fridge. “I’ve made my bed.”

“It says here that you’re on washing-up duty this morning.”

“Oh man,” Sierra slapped her forehead, making Cate giggle. “I hate washing up, it’s the absolute worst.”

“Come on,” Cate got the small step out of the cupboard so that Sierra could reach the sink. “You wash and I’ll dry.”

They’d almost finished when Mateo came into the kitchen looking panicked.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Cate asked, quickly drying her hands on a tea-towel.

“Lola…” He was trying really hard not to cry.

Cate flinched, “what did she do?”

Mateo shook his head. He’d got so worked up that he couldn’t breathe properly.

Sierra climbed down from the step, “Mommy, why is Mats’ face so red?”

“Lola!” Cate yelled.

She sat Mats on the small step Sierra had been using to reach the sink. “What is it, buddy? What’s wrong?”

Cate handed him a brown paper bag to breathe into and gently rubbed his back.

“Lola!”

“Geez, I’m coming, I’m coming. What’s the big deal? I was just waiting until half-time.”

“Would you like to tell me why your brother is so freaked out?”

“Ugh,” Lola rolled her eyes. “It’s that stupid movie. Dad said that he’d take him to see it next weekend and you know what Mats is like, he asked me to check the times for him online. It isn’t on next weekend. That big disaster movie starts tomorrow so all the screens will be taken up with that. Today is the last day. It’s not exactly a shocker; I mean it’s been out for almost a month.”

Cate sat down on the kitchen floor. For almost a month, her son had waited patiently for his dad to take him to see his favourite superhero movie.

“If today is the last day it’s going to be on, we’ll go and see it today.”

Mateo’s eyes lit up but Lola and Sierra quickly protested.

“I want to watch the football.”

“You said I could play with my dolls after I’d done the washing up.”

Cate wanted to wring Kian’s bloody neck. She turned to Lola, “we can record the football and you can watch it when we get back.”

“It’s not the same,” Lola pouted.

Cate got up from the floor and reached for her phone so that she could book tickets. The very last thing she needed was to drag them all to the cinema only to find that it was fully booked.

“I’m not going,” Sierra folded her arms across her chest. “I want to play with my dolls, you said I could.”

Cate gestured to Lola and Mateo, “why don’t you go upstairs and start getting ready?”

After they’d gone, Cate knelt down in front of Sierra. “You know that lovely, new doll’s house that Father Christmas brought you yesterday?”

“Yes,” Sierra pouted. Geez, her daughters had definitely perfected the art of the pout.

“Who was it who put it all together for you last night?”

“Daddy.”

“And who else?”

“Mats,” Sierra reluctantly admitted.

“He didn’t have to do that. He could have just played with his own toys. But he did it because he’s your brother and he loves you. I’m asking you to return the favour, to come and see the movie that Mateo really wants to see because you’re his sister and you love him too. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I guess so.”

 

It had already started to get dark when they came out of the movie theatre. “Did you enjoy it, Mats?” Cate asked.

“It was awesome,” Mateo giggled. The joy radiated off him like tiny sunbeams.

Even though the girls hadn’t wanted to go, Cate had snuck a couple of glances at them during the movie and they’d both seemed to be really enjoying it. It had actually turned out to be a fun afternoon.

When Cate checked her phone, both Irene and Jean had texted her that they wouldn’t be home for dinner that night. She hadn’t heard from Kian but she doubted very much that he would be able to prise himself away from the office.

“I’m hungry,” Cate rubbed her tummy, “how do you fancy burgers and milkshakes for tea?”

“Yay,” Sierra did a little jig.

 

“Crap,” Ben wandered into Kian’s office.

“What’s up?” Kian looked up from his computer screen. “Please don’t tell me there’s another problem with Fresno.”

“Nah,” Ben shook his head, “nothing like that. Oliver loved that superhero movie so much I was thinking about taking him to see it again but today’s the last day. Oh well, never mind.”

Kian felt as though a lead weight had settled in his gut. He’d been promising Mateo that they could see the movie for weeks now.

He checked his watch. It was a push but if he left now, they could possibly still make one of the last showings.

“You heading out?” Ben asked as Kian logged off his computer.

“Yeah.”

“I think I’ll join you,” Ben ducked into his own office to grab his jacket and keys. “Erin’s not exactly happy that I came into work on Boxing Day.”

When Kian got home, Cate’s car wasn’t in the garage. He was just about to text her when he heard the front door being unlocked.

“Honey, I’m home,” Nate called.

“I’m not exactly sure who you’re calling honey,” Kian smirked. “I thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow.”

“Seriously Kian,” Nate rolled his eyes, “you’re like an excited little puppy, jumping up and pawing at me. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Kian rolled his eyes, “yeah, that’s exactly what I’m like. But seriously man, it’s good to have you back.”

“Where is everybody?” Nate looked around at the big, empty house. “And what are you doing home so early?”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

The front door opened again and Lola, Mateo and Sierra ran towards them. “Uncle Nate,” Sierra giggled, “you’re back. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby girl,” Nate grinned, scooping her up.

“I got a new doll’s house from Father Christmas.”

“You did? Well, aren’t you a very lucky girl.”

As they walked into the lounge so Sierra could show Nate her doll’s house, she suddenly looked very serious. “Uncle Nate, are you still going to be our nanny now that you’re Mr Eric’s boyfriend?”

Nate looked back at Cate, who’d followed the children inside the house. “Good luck with that,” she laughed.

“Dad, guess what?” Mateo said to Kian, “I went to see the superhero movie and it was just as good as Oliver said it was.”

Kian frowned at Cate, “you took him to see the superhero movie?”

Cate shrugged, “it was the last day today.”

“I’m going to watch the football,” Lola disappeared into the lounge.

With Nate and the children distracted in the lounge, Kian followed Cate into the kitchen. “I was going to take him to see that movie.”

“Yes, next weekend when it wouldn’t still be on,” Cate finished putting the rest of the dishes away. She reached for the brown paper bag, which was still on the small step. “He waited patiently for weeks for you to take him to see that movie, Kian. When you said that you’d take him next weekend, he asked Lola to look up the times online and when he found out that today was the last day it was going to be shown, he got so worked up that he had to breathe into a paper bag. Are you seriously telling me that I did the wrong thing by taking our son to see the movie that he’d been so excited about on the last day it was going to be shown?”

“No,” Kian slumped. “I guess not.” He was just… disappointed that he’d missed out on spending quality time with his son.

“I know you’re having problems with that start-up in Fresno,” Cate said softly, squeezing his arm, “but you’ve also got three children who need their dad.”

“I’ll try…” Kian choked, “I’ll try to be better.”