The Christmas Village Festival was a big event in our little corner of the world and I had wonderful memories from my childhood of the parade and getting to stay up late, not to mention all the goodies being sold on the little stalls that set up in the tiny market square. Each little hut was topped with a white waterproof felt covering, giving the impression of a snow-covered roof. Tonight, however, nature was giving a helping hand. Gentle snowflakes fluttered down, catching on everything, including the long dark eyelashes of the man currently stood next to me.
Cal and Dad were stood chatting away beside me, stepping back as some shoppers took advantage of the little slices of free ‘Christmas Delight Toffee’ I was holding as a promo for the shop. All the shops closed tonight, allowing their owners to enjoy the parade, but that didn’t mean we were going to miss out on squeezing in a bit of advertising. Thankfully Mum had let me off wearing the elf costume tonight, something I was grateful for.
One of the passing women, now chewing on the toffee, surreptitiously eyed Cal before raising her eyes at a friend and giggling. Probably the most popular stand at the fair was ‘Edna’s Excellent Eggnog’. I knew from experience, it truly was excellent and I had a feeling that this particular group of ladies might have come via that same stall. Caught up in conversation, Cal didn’t notice the admiring glances being thrown his way. One arm rested around my waist as he stood chatting, his free hand snaking down occasionally to pinch a square of toffee. The third time he did it, I tapped him on the knuckles and he burst out laughing.
‘Think yourself lucky,’ Dad said, taking two pieces from the tray and handing one to Cal, ‘normally you get rapped on your first attempt.’
I felt a blush shadow my cheeks. ‘He’s new to the village. I’m being nice and making allowances.’
‘Oh!’ Dad nodded thoughtfully. ‘That’s what it is.’
Cal grinned widely and squeezed me close, his lips pressing gently on the top of my head.
‘Dad!’ George’s voice carried over moments before he and my nephew appeared through the milling crowd, people parting before them like the Red Sea. Matt mosied after them, his wife’s hand in one of his and an extra large eggnog in the other. The children arrived laughing and out of breath and George stopped by bumping into his dad’s leg and wrapping his arms around him.
‘Having fun?’ Cal asked.
‘Yes!’ George’s face was beaming, his nose pink from the cold. ‘Hi, Lexi! George transferred his cuddles, sharing me with my nephew who already had his arms wrapped around my thighs. I cuddled them close, bending and dropping a kiss on both their heads, laughing at the bad cracker joke they shared and feeling happier than I’d ever thought would be possible just a few short days ago.
‘Now that’s a lovely picture!’ Mum called, holding up her phone in front of her. ‘Now everybody say Christmas Pudding!’ she called. Laughing, we all did as instructed and I snuck a glance at Cal as she beamed at us, having taken the shot. His eyes were already on me, shining with laughter.
‘Mum always thinks saying cheese around this time of the year isn’t very festive. We had a whole debate about it one year, putting forward our argument that it was still appropriate because it’s traditional to have a cheese board, and so on but she wouldn’t have it. Mum cooks the dinner so it’s often a good idea to let her win these arguments if we want to eat.’
‘I’d have thought you’d all be mucking in together,’ Cal said, peering at something sticky on the end of George’s mitten. ‘What actually is this?’ he asked, bending closer. George studied it for a moment before shrugging.
‘I think it’s probably candyfloss,’ Matt’s wife offered. ‘They only had a tiny bit each. I hope that was OK. George got a bit excited and forgot to take off his mitten first when he put his hand in.
Cal nodded, enlightened, then gave a shrug of his eyebrows and smiled. ‘No problem. Thanks for treating him.’
‘Our pleasure. Those two are joined at the hip these days. It’s lovely.’
Cal’s smile widened. ‘They are. It’s been so good for him coming here. He’s really come out of his shell. He was so shy before and found it a bit difficult to make friends but he has some great ones now. It’s definitely made me worry less about him.’
‘He’s part of the family.’ Matt smiled, his grin widening as he looked between us.
We all turned to where the boys were now playing hide-and-seek with each other, using Matt as a hiding place. Like all of my brothers, Matt took after Dad’s side of the family: tall, broad, solid, and good for playing hide-and-seek around.
As we stood in a group talking and laughing, I mentioned to Mum that I felt Cal thought we were bad children as we left her alone to do the dinner on Christmas Day. Mum’s momentary horrified look made me smile.
‘Oh no! The kitchen is definitely my domain on Christmas Day, Cal,’ she explained. ‘The last thing I want is a whole bunch of my offspring coming in and telling me I’m doing it wrong.’ She winked at us before hugging his arm. ‘I’m afraid I’m a bit of a diva when it comes to Christmas dinner. My children have learned not to get in the way and just come when they’re called for certain jobs, like carrying things to the table. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoy it all. I know that’s probably not very PC or whatever these days but I’m afraid I don’t take a lot of notice of all that. I do what I enjoy and taking care of my family is something that brings me a lot of joy, just as they do.’
Cal brought his other arm round and hugged her. ‘They’re very lucky to have such a fantastic mum.’
Mum pushed herself up on her tiptoes, and with the help of Cal bending somewhat, planted a kiss on his cheek.
George was now looking a little worn out from all the excitement. Hopefully he’d manage to stay awake long enough not to miss the parade. He leant against me and I put my arm around him, stroking his hair. I felt his weight increase a little and glanced down. He looked up and gave me a tired smile. Reaching down, I hauled him up on to my hip and he cuddled into me as I wrapped my arms around him, revelling in his snuggles.
‘You OK?’ Cal leant towards me. ‘He’s getting quite heavy.’
I smiled up at Cal, cuddling his son a little tighter as I did so. ‘I’m fine. Don’t forget I’m used to lugging racing car wheels about.’ I jiggled George a little and kissed his temple as he giggled sleepily. ‘This one is light as a feather compared to some of those.’
A flash went off making us look up. ‘So cute!’ Mum grinned, tapping at her phone. ‘You don’t mind if I pop this on Facebook, do you, Cal? George’s face was tucked into Lexi’s shoulder so he can’t be seen, in case you’re worried.’
‘Fine by me.’ He smiled at her.
‘Ahem?’ I raised an eyebrow.
‘Oh, I know you don’t mind, darling,’ Mum replied, planting a big kiss on my cheek before beginning to tap away on her phone.
‘I think we might have created a monster introducing Mum to social media.’
Standing close to me, I could feel Cal’s laughter. ‘You’re not helping.’
‘You love it.’
I looked up, meeting his eyes, and I couldn’t deny it. I did love it. All of it. But especially him.
***
As the sound of the parade drifted down, the children began jumping excitedly. Almost as one, Matt and Cal both lifted a small boy onto their shoulders, enabling them to see over the crowds as carefully decorated Christmas floats drove slowly into view, their costumed occupants dancing along to the music and waving to the crowds that lined the village high street.
Bringing up the rear was Santa’s sleigh with a well-padded Father Christmas at the helm, and a very glamorous Mrs Christmas next to him. The ornate sleigh body, crafted by Matt, hid something that sounded suspiciously like an old Mercedes.
‘Sounds like she’s running all right now thanks to you two.’ Dan appeared next to us, directing his comment at Cal, a niece perched happily on his broad shoulders, her little hands firmly grabbing two handfuls of hair. Claire was his other side, bundled up against the cold in a warm, puffy coat and looking healthy and happy. ‘Make quite the team, don’t you?’
Cal looked down at me. One arm rested on George’s leg, as he balanced on his shoulders, but the other was wrapped around my waist, holding me close. I met those stormy ocean-grey eyes, tonight filled with laughter and joy that perfectly reflected my own.
He let that almost illegally sexy smile slide onto his face. ‘I think we make the perfect team.’