The Magic of Christmas

‘That’s because you didn’t eat your tea,’ Lara said mildly, closing the oven door securely and straightening up. ‘It’s still on the table if you want to finish it.’

Aggie eyed her plate. ‘I’m allergic to broccoli.’

‘What happens when you eat broccoli?’

‘My stomach sort of heaves.’

Lara hid a smile. ‘We’ll compromise. Eat half. And finish the nuggets.’

‘They tasted funny.’

‘They were home-made,’ Chloe said as she put down her knife and fork. ‘And they were delicious. Much better than the frozen muck the last two nannies have given us. Aggie, sit down and eat your broccoli. Don’t be difficult.’

Aggie pouted. ‘Mummy never cared if I ate broccoli.’

‘That’s because she was never here to see what you ate,’ Chloe said. ‘She was always working. Just eat, Aggie.’

Aggie opened her mouth to argue then closed it again and sat down at the table. ‘Just half, then.’She ate quickly, watching Lara all the while. ‘That thing in the oven smells nice. Is it for Daddy’s tea?’

‘If he wants it. I suppose he might eat at the hospital.’

‘I hope not because then he’ll be late and he promised to read me a story,’Aggie said, but Lara wasn’t listening to her. She was watching Chloe.

She’d seen the dark shadows flicker in the depths of her eyes at the mention of Christian eating at the hospital.

He was all they had.

It must be difficult for them when he worked late.

‘Was there something in particular you wanted to talk to him about?’ she asked gently, and Chloe gave a quick shake of her head.

‘No. Nothing. It doesn’t matter if he’s late. I know he’s busy.’

‘He has to read my story,’ Aggie announced again, and Chloe gave a bright smile as she poured herself some water.

‘Of course he’ll read your story if he can. You know he always does.’

Lara peeled a couple of satsumas and put them on a plate in the middle of the table. ‘Have you told him you’d like him to be home?’

Chloe dropped her eyes. ‘He doesn’t have any choice how late he stays at the hospital.’

‘The absolute worstest thing is when he works on Saturday,’ Aggie said glumly, ‘because then I miss my swimming.’

‘Oh, I have amazing plans for Saturday,’ Lara said cheerfully as she chopped up an apple. ‘We’re going to make our own Christmas decorations.’

Aggie stared. ‘We are?’

‘Definitely. But first we’re going to sort through the last of those boxes and finish unpacking. When we’ve done that, we’re going to go into the garden and cut some of that beautiful holly and decorate the house. And then we’re going to make our own decorations and then on Sunday perhaps we’ll buy the tree.’

Aggie carefully balanced her knife and fork over the remains of the broccoli. ‘Already? Last year Daddy forgot and we didn’t get one until Christmas Eve and there was only one in the shop and it had hardly any needles left.’

He forgot? Was that when his wife had walked out?

Seeing the drawn expression on Chloe’s face, Lara assumed that it must have been.

‘Well, this year your tree is going to have plenty of needles. If you’ve finished that, you can eat some fruit.’ Deciding to diplomatically ignore the broccoli, Lara cleared Aggie’s plate. ‘And then you can try on your new angel costume.’

‘You’ve made me an angel costume?’