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Rory nodded enthusiastically.
‘He’s obsessed,’ Lucy said.
‘Dinosaurs are cool,’ I agreed, giving him a smile of encouragement. I stood up beside Lucy.
‘Times are tough,’ she said quietly. ‘Decorating the house like Santa’s grotto and buying actual presents as well as paying the bills isn’t exactly happening this year.’
‘No, totally. I get it,’ I said. Except I didn’t. Not really. I’d never had to think about Christmas like that. I had always overindulged in everything. Food, gifts, decorations, I went all out.
Lucy hugged me suddenly. ‘It’s so good to see you.’
‘You too.’ I laughed. ‘I feel like I have so many questions I want to ask you!’
Lucy grinned. ‘Same! How’s Rupert? Do you still do videos online and stuff?’
This was the one time I was grateful for a shite follower.
I nodded. ‘He’s OK. And yeah, I still vlog. Who would have thought, eh?’ I laughed.
She looked impressed. ‘I love that! Good for you! I’m totally off the grid now, had a bad breakup and . . .’ Her eyes diverted to the two kids.
‘Harri, do you think my tree is too small?’ Skye asked.
I shook my head immediately. ‘Absolutely not. I think Santa will love it.’
Lucy smiled at her. ‘We’ll make more pictures for Santa, won’t we? We can spread them all over the house!’
I crouched again. ‘Hey, Skye. Want to see a cool trick to make really pretty decorations?’ Her eyes lit up instantly, then she looked at her mum for permission.
Lucy laughed. ‘Sure you can.’
‘If you follow me, I think there are craft supplies from the play group that use this hall at the weekends,’ I said.
Skye grabbed my hand, and we headed to the little play corner. I pulled out paper and scissors and squeezed myself into a tiny child-sized chair. ‘Right,’ I said. ‘Are you allowed to use scissors? They are safety ones.’
She stared at me like I’d asked if she knew how to breathe. ‘I’m six, Harri.’
Fair point.
‘OK, copy me.’ I folded the paper in half and waited until she did the same. ‘Then we cut little shapes out of the middle, like this . . .’
I watched the tip of Skye’s tongue hang out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on the task.
More kids wandered over, curious.
‘Now unfold the paper and see what you get,’ I said, nodding her on.
The other kids watched.
Skye’s hands carefully unravelled the page – and then she gasped.
‘It’s a SNOWFLAKE!’ she shrieked.
The kids cheered like we’d just invented Christmas.
‘Can I try one next?’ a small boy asked beside me.
‘Sure, let’s go!’ I said, handing out paper and scissors. ‘We can add a piece of ribbon too, and we can hang them all up.’
