Silent Night (3 page)

Cole sat Bentley in the highchair next to me
and then took his seat the other side, taking my hand. “Has he been
okay?”

“He’s been great,” he replied, leaning over
and giving me a kiss.

I looked at my family around the extended
dining table that was piled high with a traditional Christmas
turkey with all the trimmings and felt so much love it forced out
the shadows of the awful things I’d been through. With them
at my side I knew that even one
of my worst days wouldn’t be too bad.

“Pull this with me!” Everleigh said, holding
her cracker out to Leona. They were next to each other at the end
of the table, looking very smug that they were head of the table. I
put a few soft carrot sticks on Bentley’s plate and grabbed my
cracker. Hats first was always the rule.

Me and Cole helped each other, pulling both
crackers at the same time. Bentley didn’t bat an eyelid at the
noise. He held a carrot stick in his chubby little hand and chewed
on it.

“
Here,” Cole said, handing over his yellow
hat and taking my red one. It was a small gesture
, but those were the things I loved so
much. He always thought of the little things.

We
dug in, and before I knew it, my plate was piled high. Mum
had cooked so many dishes, but they all looked and smelt
incredible. I gave Bentley a little mashed potato and watched him
bash his hand into it more than eat it.

I was so full. Mum had done an amazing job
with dinner
, and I
wouldn’t need to eat for at least another week. Everyone looked the
same as I felt – so stuffed it hurt but so satisfied it didn’t
matter.

“
I’ll be back in a minute,” I said, getting
up from the table. There was one last thing I needed to do for
Cole
, so I snuck outside
when everyone went back to chatting.

The air was bitterly
cold
, and I knew I had
to work fast. Breaking off a branch from one of the many trees Mum
had in the garden, I split it into smaller lengths and went around
the side to where Everleigh had built her snowman
family.

My hands shivered and seized up as I poked
them into place in the snow. But it would be worth it. When I’d
finished and looked back
, I was overcome with warmth.

Dashing back before anyone questioned why
I
’d been too long for
the toilet, I joined everyone back at the table. Mum had Bentley
falling asleep in her arms, and Holly had Sophia bouncing on her
legs, babbling ‘da da da’ which put a huge smile on Jasper’s
face.

“She’s not saying ‘dad’, Jasper,” Holly
said.

“Of course she is,” he replied.

Most
babies started with that sound; it was easy to make but
Jasper was absolutely claiming it as ‘dad’.

She rolled her lightly lined eyes. “She could
say mum and you’d still argue it was dad.”

“
Don’t hate just because I’m the
favourite,” he said, grinning as he le
ant over to kiss her. “I’m sure the next one will
say…well, dad first, too, actually.”

“Keep talking like that and you won’t get
another one.”

I loved their banter. It was so good to
see him blissfully happy. He never had that with
his ex-wife, Abby, but he knew that Holly
would never hurt him. She loved him as much as he loved
her.

They were amazing together, especially given
the short space of time that they’d actually been a couple.

“You’ll give me more. You want a whole
football team, too.”

“
You can keep wishing for that one. I
said
maybe
we’ll
have
one
more.”

He shrugged. “Th
ey’ll have my genes so that two-man footie team
would smash the World Cup.”

She shook her head, discouraged, but still
smiling. “You’re an idiot, Jasper.”

“You’ve only just realised that?” Cole said,
soon finding himself on the receiving end of a napkin ball hit.

“
Shall we discuss how you’re
th
e most whipped man on
earth?” Jasper quipped, smirking at Cole.

“Oh, please, Holly only has to flutter her
eyelashes and you jump.”

While they were arguing, Mum, Miles, Jenna,
David and Mia took the kids into the living room.

“No, I don’t.”

“Oh, good comeback,” Cole said, laughing as
he dodged another napkin ball.

“You two do realise that Everleigh, Leona and
the babies sat nicer than you at the table, don’t you?” I said.

“Yeah, and Sophia spent most of the time
smearing her food across her face and throwing mashed potato,”
Holly added.

Jasper frowned. “Cole called me an
idiot.”

Holly shook her head. “No,
I
called you that, he just
agreed.”

“Shouldn’t I get a break from the all the
shit since it’s Christmas?”

“Now that wouldn’t be fun,” Cole said.

Jasper sat back in the seat and crossed his
arms. “I hate you all.” He looked to Holly. “You should be on my
side.”

“Now that wouldn’t be fun,” she sang,
borrowing Cole’s words.

He grunted. “And to think I was going to
propose to you tomorrow.”

“Jasper!” I hissed. What a complete
idiot.

I knew, of course. He’d summoned me to help
pick out the perfect ring and told me his romantic plan of
proposing on Boxing Day when they went to Holly’s parents. They
lived near a natural park, which was decorated beautifully over the
holiday season. He was going to take her for a walk and propose
there. It was a much better idea than blurting it out over
dinner.

Holly’s eyes widened, and Jasper winced. “You
what?”

“Smooth,” Cole muttered.

“There is no way you weren’t dropped on your
head as a child,” I said.

Cole took my hand and stood up. “Let’s go in
the living room.”

“What? Why?”

He raised his eyebrow, tilting his head to
say ‘you know why’. I did, of course, but I really wanted to
witness this. Cole pulled me up and removed me from the room.

“Why did you do that?”

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around my waist
and kissed my shoulder. I turned us around so I could still see
into the kitchen and hugged him back.

“You’re a bad sister,” he whispered in my
ear.

“
Shh,” I replied
, making him laugh.

“What do you mean you were going to propose
tomorrow?” Holly asked.

Jasper cleared his throat. “Tomorrow I
planned to propose we move house.”

I closed my eyes.
Why does he even bother opening his
mouth at all?

“Oh, Jesus,” Cole whispered in my ear.

“Jasper,” Holly said.

“Propose we have another child.”

“Jasper.”

“
Propose we do
that
thing?” His voice got a little too high at the end
of his sentence. I turned my nose up and hoped I would never find
out what ‘that thing’ was.

“
Jasper!” She sounded like she’d lost all
patience with him, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Fine. Damn it, I’m so stupid,” he
muttered.

That he was.

“
The ring is at home
, so this isn’t going to be at all
romantic.” He shook his head. “Screw it! Holly, will you marry
me?”

My smile was as big as hers. I squeezed
Cole’s arms around mine. They’d better hurry up and set a
date
soon. I loved
wedding preparations. Mum would, too. And Everleigh.

“I don’t care about big, romantic gestures,
and of course I’ll marry you.”

Cole chuckled and kissed my shoulder. “Good
luck, Holly.”

“She’s good for him. Helps that she has the
patience of a Saint.”

“Mum!” Jasper shouted. “Me and Holly just got
engaged!”

Cole just managed to pull us both to the side
before everyone came rushing through to congratulate them.

“
Where’s the ring?” I heard Mum ask. She’d
given Bentley over to Miles
, who had him sleeping in one arm and Sophia sitting in the
other. Miles may not be related to them by blood, but he was the
best grandad I could have hoped for, along with David.

“I haven’t got it. This wasn’t supposed to
happen until tomorrow but apparently I can’t keep my big mouth
shut,” Jasper explained. He then had to explain exactly what that
meant.

“This is the best Christmas yet,” Jenna said,
giving them both a hug.

That reminded me. “Hey, in a little while we
need to go and see Everleigh’s snowman family.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Shall we go see the
happy couple first?”

“Definitely.”

The second I stepped into the kitchen
Jasper pried Mum’s hands off him and made his way over. Though he
drove me crazy
, we were
incredibly close. When we left for Australia, he’d been my rock and
helped me to heal.

“Congratulations, you utter moron,” I said,
giving him a hug.

He squeezed. “At least I don’t have to spend
tomorrow night freezing my balls off in a park.”

I rolled my eyes. “You better still do that
for her.”

Pulling back, he frowned. “She said yes.”

“I know that, but you haven’t given her the
ring…”

He groaned. “I should do it again
tomorrow.”

“
Uh huh! She’s an incredible
woman
, and she’s taken
you on, she deserves a medal
and
a
romantic proposal.”

“You always make me feel so warm and fuzzy
inside,” he said sarcastically.

“I’m so happy for you both.”

“Me, too. Now we can get on with making more
babies, she wanted to wait until we were married before more. Cole
is always on about how much more of a man he is.”

“
Jasper…” My mouth fell open. I knew they
joked about it
, but I
bloody hoped it was just a joke.

Laughing, he replied, “As ever, you’re fun to
tease.” He slapped me on the back and went back to his fiancée,
grabbing Sophia as she put her arms out for him on the way.

Everleigh climbed on Jasper’s lap, sitting
beside Sophia on his knee. “Uncle Jasper, can I be a
bridesmaid?”

He looked to Holly
, and she tilted her head. “Do you need to
ask, really?” she said to him.

Shrugging, he looked back into Everleigh’s
hopeful eyes. “Of course you’re going to be a bridesmaid!”

We managed to get the kids to settle down
after the wedding excitement. Holly and Jasper stayed in the dining
room
, and I hung back
while Cole and Miles went in the living room with
Bentley.

Part of me wanted to wait to surprise Cole
now that Holly and Jasper had got engaged tonight
, but I knew they wouldn’t want that. In
fact, Jasper would be pissed off with me if he thought I’d waited
because of him.

I poured myself another glass of alcohol-free
wine and made myself drink it before I took him outside.

I was stuffed. Sarah had cooked
for about thirty people rather than twelve. On
reflection
,
having a who’s-got-the-bigger-balls eating contest with Jasper was
a bad idea. But he did look as uncomfortable as I felt.

Mia sat down beside me, watching Leona and
Everleigh make Loom Band bracelets on the floor. “How’re you
doing?” I asked. Two months ago she’d broke up with a guy she’d
been seeing for about four months prior.

“I’m doing really good. Thinking about taking
Leona to Disneyland Paris in March. We both really want to go.”

“She’ll love that.”

“She will, and I think we both deserve
it.”

“Heard anything from him?” I asked.

“
He tried calling but I
didn’t pick up. He’s a nice guy
, but I’m not wasting time on someone that
I don’t see a future with. I like that it’s just me and Leona at
the minute.”

Mia was happy to focus on
herself, Leona, and her career. She didn’t need
anyone
, and I
really admired her for that. If Oakley left me I’d probably stop
existing.

“You’re a good mum.”

She teared up and slapped my arm. “You utter
arsehole!”

W
hat the hell? “Alright, sorry. You’re a
terrible mother.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “No.
You’ll make me cry. I don’t really care about a lot of things in
life, like material things, having the high-power
career
, but
being a good mum…”

“At the risk of getting hit again, just don’t
change anything because you’re already there.”

She held her hands up. “Okay,
I’m changing the subject before I cry. I
need to pry my nephew off Mum. She’s
not put him down since Miles handed him over. I want my snuggle
time, too.”

“
Good luck.” Even I found
it hard to get Bentley back
, and I was his dad.

“
Sophia coming through,”
Jasper said, waking awkwardly across the room holding Soph’s hands.
With assistance
, she could walk, and she liked to walk a
lot.

Everleigh and Leona gently
tickled her belly as she strolled past them. She
was also quick on
her feet. You had to expertly power-walk whilst crouching down and
making sure there was nothing in her way.

She walked with help from her dad over to the
sofa where I was sitting with Mia and stopped at the edge. She
pulled her hands out of his and gripped Mia’s knees. My sister soon
picked her up, happy to have a baby to cuddle.