Page 101 of A Merry Little Christmas

‘All right.’ Merry bit her lip. She may have not been entirely truthful with him. That last one felt more intense; it could be that she was now in labour. She tried to remember what she’d learned in the antenatal class, but all she could think about was that she’d unpacked her hospital bag before the spa day and was worried that she wouldn’t have time to repack it. But no need to panic, it would be fine. Cole could check the door, get back in the truck and they’d be on their way again in minutes. The main thing was to stay calm.

‘It’ll be worth the detour, I promise.’

Her heart lifted as soon as Meadow View came into sight. ‘Oh, I do love this road, and our house is so pretty.’

Cole grinned. ‘I have to say it, darling. I’m glad you made me take so long to settle on the right property. You were right to be so fussy.’

‘I prefer to think of myself as having high standards … Oh—’ She stared at their new home, something was different about it. ‘Cole? What’s going on?’

There were Christmas lights at every window. And in the front room – a Christmas tree? And cars on the drive, cars she recognised.

He stopped the engine, jumped out and came around to her side to open her door. ‘Shall we go in and see?’

‘Me? But—’ she stuttered, highly confused as the front door flew open and Freya burst out, running down the drive to greet them, Harley sauntering behind her.

‘Finally!’ Freya yelled, waving her arms above her head. ‘We’ve been waiting for ages.’

‘This is a nice surprise!’ Merry called, swivelling herself around in preparation for climbing out of the van. ‘What are you doing here?’

The little girl looked as if she was about to burst with news. ‘We—

Harley sneaked up behind his sister and put a hand quickly over her mouth. ‘It’s a surprise.’

‘I see,’ said Merry, who didn’t at all.

While Cole helped her out of the truck, a crowd of familiar people appeared in the front-room window beside the Christmas tree. Will and Emily, Astrid and Fred, even Hester and Paul, who she’d thought were still in Australia, all with faces wreathed in smiles and waving enthusiastically.

‘Everyone’s here!’ she gasped. ‘I thought we were checking the house had been locked up?’

‘I might have told a small untruth there. Welcome home, darling,’ he murmured in her ear.

She looked at him bemused. Home? Did that mean … Had he …? She was awash with questions, but all that came out was, ‘Oh.’

‘It’s not often you’re stuck for words.’ He kissed her, laughing as he led her up the path to the front door.

The driveway had been cleared of snow, but Merry was very wary of slipping on an icy patch and clung on to him with both arms.

‘It’s completely bamboozled,’ she marvelled. ‘And when you say home …?’

Freya’s eyes were bright with excitement. ‘Please hurry up, I can’t bear it!’

‘This snow is so cool.’ Harley kicked his foot at a shrub weighed down under a covering of snow, sending a shower of icy flakes into the air. ‘So, technically speaking, we got our Christmas wish a day early.’

‘Except I asked for other stuff too,’ said Freya. ‘But this is still quite good.’

Cole helped Merry out of the snowy garden, up the front step and into the house. ‘I’d carry you over the threshold, but I’m not sure that would be good for either of us.’

‘Rude,’ she replied and then sighed as a cosy waft of warmth enveloped her.

Merry thought her heart might explode with joy as she gazed down to the end of the hallway as far as the kitchen. The last time she’d been here it had still felt like a building site.

Now, under her feet was the rug she’d had rolled up in the spare room for ages. Familiar pictures hung on the walls where previously there’d been exposed wires. This was home. It looked like home, and it felt like home, and somewhere there must be some of her own Merry and Bright Winter Wonderland candles burning, because it even smelled like home too.

‘Surprise!’ Emily yelled, appearing from the front room. ‘Come on through, everyone’s waiting for you.’

‘So you organised not only a spa day, but this too?’ Merry looked from her sister to Cole, overwhelmed with love and gratitude.

‘We wanted to get you moved in without you knowing,’ said Emily, rushing forward to hug her.