The 12 Christmases of You & Me by Jennifer Joyce

Author:Jennifer Joyce [Joyce, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2020-10-19T23:00:00+00:00

‘You make a cute couple.’ Four Weddings has been paused so Tiffany can nip to the loo, and Lily has shuffled along the sofa to rest her head on Jonas’s arm. ‘You definitely have long-term potential.’ She sits up suddenly, spilling lager down her front, which she wipes at absent-mindedly. ‘Talking of long-term, did you guys hear about Aaron Dean?’ She pauses dramatically, her lager-soaked hand held up in the air. ‘He’s going to be a daddy.’

‘He’s what?’ I try to sound shocked by the revelation, though I obviously know this already, having watched the little girl grow up into a young woman.

‘You heard me. He’s knocked up some girl and she’s keeping it.’ Lily gives me a reproachful look. ‘You missed your chance, babe.’

I tut and roll my eyes. ‘Does this mean you’re finally going to stop telling me I have a crush on him?’

Lily shrugs. ‘Looks like it. Which is a shame. It was fun.’

‘For you, maybe.’

Lily grins at me. ‘Isn’t that the most important thing?’ The living room door opens. I expect it to be Tiffany, back for another round of tickles. But it’s Alfred, bare-footed and wonky-pyjamaed.

‘Everything okay, Grandad?’ Lily’s tone has changed, softer now as she speaks to Alfred. His already wrinkled face becomes even more lined as he scowls.

‘I want to watch my programmes. Morecambe and Wise will be on any minute.’

‘It isn’t on until tomorrow afternoon, Grandad.’ Lily gets up and starts to guide Alfred back into the hallway. ‘Shall we get you back to bed? We need to sort your pyjamas out as well – you’ve buttoned them up wrong.’

Alfred scratches his balding head as he shuffles out of the room. ‘Have I?’

I can hear Lily’s soothing voice growing quieter in the hallway as she guides Alfred to the dining room next door, which had been converted into a ground-floor bedroom. By the time she returns, Tiffany is back and snogging the face off Jonas on the sofa.

‘I’m knackered.’ I stretch my hands high above my head and fake-yawn to demonstrate. ‘I’m going to get off, but I’ll see you all tomorrow, yeah?’

‘I’ll walk across with you.’

I’m about to protest, but Jonas is already slipping his arms through his leather jacket, and a few precious minutes alone with him would be nice. It’s freezing outside, even colder than the draughty corner of the Star, so I’m glad when Jonas holds out his arm for me to take and pulls me in close as we make our way along the path.

‘So, what do you think of Tiff? Do you like her?’

I should have been expecting the question, but I still feel unprepared. If you’d asked me yesterday what I thought of Tiffany, I’d have told you how lovely and sweet she was, and how surprised and gutted I’d been when the relationship ended, but right now my judgement feels off. Perhaps I’m just tired, or feeling off-kilter with the whole time-travel thing, or maybe I’m just out of practice with the tactile, touchy-feely aspects of a new relationship after being single for so long.

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