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Dad comes out at that moment to get himself some ice from the freezer in the kitchen for his whisky. As he passes the door on the way back, Harri nudges me and says loudly, “And we should definitely have Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
He stops and gives us a wry smile as we all giggle. “I should have guessed that was coming.”
“Will you join in with us if it’s the last song?” Paisley teases.
He sighs. “I guess I can be convinced. Purely for the children.” He smiles and heads back into his study.
“Aw.” Cate watches him go, her brows drawing together as she looks at me. “I really feel for him. He’s so going to miss your mum this year.”
“Yeah, we all are. But that’s what’s nice about living here. People are always calling in. He’ll never be alone.” I sip my wine. “Okay, so what should we start with?”
“Maybe a fun one?” Paisley suggests. “Something like Deck the Halls? Let’s just have some fun this week, going through all the songs and getting used to singing together. Then, next week, we’ll get into who stands where, and I’ll give you some tips for singing in the open air—how to project your voice, that kind of thing.”
Ooh, this is becoming real!
We all turn to Deck the Halls, and Harri strums the opening chords.
We start singing, all of us a tad self-conscious at first, giggling and nervous about being too loud, and occasionally forgetting the words or the tune. It’s been a long time since I sang in the church choir, and it’s nice to sing again, especially the carols I used to sing in St. Brendan’s Church as a girl.
Gradually, we get into the rhythm and start to enjoy ourselves.
We work our way through the whole booklet, stopping after every song to discuss it, and to sip our wine. After a while, I get some chips and dip from the kitchen, and we discover that Lettie has brought another bottle of wine with her, so we top up our glasses and crunch the chips while we talk about any favourite songs that Paisley hasn’t included.
I know there’s no point in putting Millie to bed as she’ll never sleep with all of us singing and having fun down here. When eventually she gets too tired to do her colouring, she climbs onto the sofa with Emma and cuddles up to her, dozing lightly, and I just smile and leave her there.
Cate loves Wham’s Last Christmas, and Darcey would like to add Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You. Paisley discovers she’s left out Away in a Manger by mistake, and Harri asks if we could include The Holly and the Ivy, because it’s one of her favourites.
There are so many beautiful carols, and it’s hard to choose between them. As the wine filters through us and we gradually relax, the words come easier, and I can see everyone’s enjoying themselves. We work our way through the whole book, then the few new ones we’re going to add in.
“Right,” Paisley says as it gets close to nine thirty, “I want to say something. Vix, I think you should sing Gaudete.”
My eyes widen. “What? No!”
“I remember you singing it in church,” she says firmly. “You have a voice like an angel. I’d really like you to sing it.”
I look around at the others, taken aback. They’re all smiling and nodding, a few of them curiously, as they haven’t heard me sing solo.
“I’ll do the harmony on the first bit of the choruses with you, like in the Steeleye Span version,” Paisley says. “And everyone else can join in with the second bit. But you need to sing the verses.” She gets to her feet. “Come on, stand up.”
“Oh no. I haven’t sung for ages…”
“Come on.” She pulls me to my feet and turns me to face the others. “I’ve got the words for you if you need them.”
I shake my head. “I can remember them,” I say softly. I feel a prickle on the back of my neck. Gaudete Sunday is the third Sunday in Advent, which has just passed. I can remember my mum lighting the rose candle on the advent wreath, to symbolise joy. The thought fills me with emotion.
She raises her hands to conduct me and smiles. “Ready?”
The others have fallen quiet. I nod, and Paisley and I begin singing the Latin words of the chorus, with her doing the harmony.
Gaudete, gaudete!
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine,
gaudete!
In English, they mean:
