Before I can pull Nel in again, Harry leads her off to the lounge to make the announcement to my parents and extended family who have all accepted Nel and Jake as their own since we spent Christmas together last year.
“Come on,” I tell Jake. “Best get your fiancé a drink, she’s going to need it.”
Jake hums in agreement and follows me into the kitchen. “Wow, it looks great in here,” he says, admiring my winter wonderland Christmas decorations. I went a little overboard this year but with the extra people we’re hosting and it being Mary’s first Christmas, I wanted it to be magical.
“Yeah,” I agree with him. “I’m pretty amazing.” I shimmy my shoulders and pout my lips.
He laughs as we walk through to the garage where our cocktail bar is set up. “You sure are. How’ve you been, Lis?” He gets to work making a cocktail.
“Good,” I chirp. “Busy, but good.”
I think my voice might be a little too high and my words too fast because he stops halfway through making a cosmopolitan and narrows his eyes at me. “You sure?”
I stop fussing around with the bottles and glasses and turn to give him a reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m good.” Seemingly satisfied by that, he nods and goes back to his concoction. “You looking forward to your parents and sister getting here tomorrow?” I ask, changing the subject.
His smile grows as he shaves a fancy slither of orange peel to garnish Nel’s drink. “Yeah, it’ll be good to see Mandy and the kids. I haven’t seen her in over a year.”
He doesn’t mention Mandy’s husband, John. You don’t have to know Jake long to know that he thinks John is a complete cuntwaffle—his word, not mine.
“Mum and Dad are flapping about what they should bring and worried about imposing.” He winces as if he might be worried too.
“It’s no problem,” I tell him, squeezing his arm in reassurance. “I love entertaining. I love all of this so don’t worry, please.”
“I don’t know how you do it, Lis,” he muses, shaking his head and garnishing the cocktail.
“Hyper organisation,” I say, opening the cupboard above our heads and showing him the four sheets of paper taped on the inside of the door.
“Oh my god.” Jake looks stunned, impressed, and possibly scared.
The papers show a very detailed itinerary of the next four days, scheduled down to the minute. It’s my play by play of everything I need to do. Each task beautifully highlighted in a different color. “I have everything planned and Mum, Rhi, and Auntie Hen all have copies and said they’ll jump in and help.”
“I’ll do whatever I can too,” he jumps in. “Although keep me out the kitchen, Nel has already banned me from my own.”
I snort. “That’s because cheese puffs and celery sticks don’t count as a balanced meal, Partridge.”
“Okay, one time you come round and that was all I had in the house; I was capable of keeping myself alive before Nel came along you know?” He throws his hands up in mock exasperation.
“Sure you were,” I say placatingly. And he pinches my nose, making me laugh. “Anyway, please don’t let your parents worry about being here, I’m looking forward to it and the food is going to be amazing.” I wink at him.
We walk back to the living room where everyone is sat on the sofas, the floor, and the footstall. Jake goes straight to Nel’s side, handing her a cocktail and starts talking to my boys, Lucas and Oscar. I find Harry on the armchair, holding Mary above his head and pulling faces up at her. I head over to sit on the arm and tickle her neck, making her squeal and dribble slightly. Luckily Harry darts his head to the side avoiding her drool landing on his cheek. I take the sleeve of my holly and ivy cotton dress and wipe the collar of his shirt to soak up the wet patch.
“Thanks, babe,” he chuckles, bringing Mary down to sit on his lap.
She’s gorgeous, our baby girl. She bears a striking resemblance to Nel though with dark hair and brown eyes whereas both Harry and I are blonde with green and blue eyes respectively.
Harry tucks Mary into his side and rests his free hand on my thigh. “You ready for the madness?” he asks me, looking out at the rabble currently swarming our living room.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Bring it on.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Maybe you should talk to her telepathically.”
HARRY
Ilike people, I always have. I like entertaining and socialising, the complete opposite from my sister. However, my beautiful wife’s family doesn’t always bring out the best in me and after a little blow up with my sister and Jake last year when I found out they’d hooked up—gross—it came to light that I don’t always think before I speak. I also have a tendency to laugh at the expense of those closest to me to take the focus off myself around Lisa’s parents. It’s not that they’re overbearing or unkind, they’re just…really impressive.
Cami, Lisa’s mum, was an actual member of parliament up until her retirement five years ago and Charles owns a telecommunications company. It was a miracle in itself that I managed to capture Lisa’s attention, the stunning blonde with a smile that can bring me to my knees, a karate green belt—as she was when I met her, she now has a black belt—and a yoga enthusiast studying to become a human rights solicitor. I mean, come on, who wouldn’t be intimidated by the three of them?
