Page 2 of A Merry Little Christmas

She looked at him now, an earnest frown on his handsome face, one hand ruffling his russet-brown hair distractedly, and felt a wave of love so strong that, for a second, she forgot why they were both squashed into the tiny bathroom at Holly Cottage.

‘It is important.’ She wriggled out of her jeans and sat down on the loo. ‘But I’m dying for a wee, and everyone knows all you need to do is pee on the stick.’

He grinned at her. ‘Never change, Mrs Robinson. I’m sure you’re right.’

She gave him a prim look. ‘Excuse me, Mr Robinson, can’t a girl have a little privacy while she’s indisposed?’

‘You didn’t give me a chance!’ he blustered, turning away.

‘Too late, my work here is done,’ she said with a snort, holding up the stick. ‘Ta-dah.’

‘Now we wait.’ He tore off some tissue paper for her to lay the pregnancy test onto, covered it over so they couldn’t see the results window and set a timer on his watch for three minutes while she washed and dried her hands. ‘Come here.’

He held his arm out to her, and she snuggled into him, resting her head under his chin, listening to the steady beat of his heart and wishing she was as calm.

Despite her laughter and impatience, deep down, Merry was a bag of nerves. She had wanted a baby for as long as she could remember. At school when other girls had been dreaming of going to university and having careers and travelling the world, her biggest wish was to start a family, a baby to love, her own flesh and blood to make up for growing up without a family. Last Christmas, she’d discovered that not only was her father alive, but that she had a half-sister, Emily, so she wasn’t without family anymore. Even so, the chance to be a mother to her and Cole’s child would be a dream come true.

Her childhood had been unconventional, to say the least. Her mum had been living rough before having her at seventeen, and while she had happy memories of being in their little bedsit, those memories had been overshadowed by her mum’s suicide when Merry was only eleven. Her experience of a mother-child bond was sketchy at best. But Cole was a good dad to Freya and Harley. She could learn from him, couldn’t she?

The timer on Cole’s watch went off. He stopped the beeping and gave her a squeeze.

‘Ready to find out?’ he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. ‘Ready.’

He pushed aside the tissue paper and they both leaned forward to read the word which had appeared in the window.

‘Pregnant!’ they exclaimed together.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Merry gasped.

Instinctively, she pressed a hand to her stomach. It would be months before anything was noticeable, but her baby – their baby – was already living and growing and moving around inside her. And then suddenly she was in the air as Cole picked her up and swung her around.

‘You’d better believe it!’ Cole cried triumphantly. ‘Because we’re having a baby! You clever, clever girl.’

Merry laughed at his exuberance, clinging on tightly around his neck. ‘I think you might have had a part in it too.’

He set her down gently and kissed her. ‘I did. And you’ve just made me the happiest man on the planet. I love you, darling, and I promise to be the husband and the dad that you and our baby deserve.’

‘I know you will,’ she replied, ‘because you already are.’

A wave of emotion enveloped her and it was all she could do to stay on her feet. Excitement and gratitude, but something else too, a sense of peace that she’d been searching for her whole life.

She was married to the most wonderful man she could wish for, had two stepchildren she adored and now she was pregnant with a baby of her own. All she had ever wanted was within her grasp, and her future could not have looked rosier.

Chapter 1

Merry

Giant Christmas tree: check.

The market square festooned with fairy lights: check.

Wizzard singing that they wished it could be Christmas every day from speakers blasting out from the stage: check.

Standing in a crowd in the cold and dark with almost all of her loved ones, wearing a Christmas jumper: check.

Merry Robinson smiled to herself. It was official, it was the first of December and the countdown to the annual Christmas lights switch-on in her home town was about to begin.