Chapter 55: Cora - The Foster Child

— CHRISTMAS DAY —

I wake up to find Elliot’s side of the bed empty. I glance at the clock, three thirty. He must have gone to the bathroom or downstairs for a drink. I turn over and go back to sleep. When I wake up again later, his side of the bed is still empty.

Has something happened? I sit up in panic and reach for my phone to check the doorbell app. I play back the video and see Elliot in his dressing gown outside in the garden. It looks like he’s checking everywhere. Did he hear a noise and go down to investigate? I look at the time on the screen, four a.m., it’s eight now. Why hasn’t he been back to bed? I throw back the duvet to get up when the door opens and Elliot comes back in, still in his dressing gown.

‘Merry Christmas, gorgeous.’ He puts the tray down on his bedside table and drops a kiss on my forehead then sits down on the edge of the bed next to me.

‘Merry Christmas.’ I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in for a long kiss and we hug into each other. God, I love this man.

‘Has something happened?’ I ask when we finally draw apart. ‘I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren’t there. I saw on the doorcam that you went out to check the garden.’

‘I heard a dog barking and it sounded as if it was in the garden so I went out to investigate. It was over the back though. I did myself a drink but fell asleep on the sofa before I even touched it. So I’ve made us both one now.’

‘I was worried that something else had happened.’

‘Everything is fine,’ he assures me. ‘We’re going to have a fantastic Christmas.’

‘Yes, we are!’ I’m so happy, my first Christmas with Elliot in the beautiful cottage, Lori is here too, and everything has finally settled down. ‘Are you coming back into bed to have your drink or shall I come downstairs with you?’

‘I’ll come back into bed. Squidge up.’

I swing my legs into bed and shuffle over to my side, then Elliot gets in. We sit there, sipping our tea and chatting for a while. Then we both shower and slip on some casual clothes before going downstairs. We bought an oven-ready turkey, which will only take a few hours to cook, and prepared the vegetables last night before we went to bed so I turn the oven on to heat up while Elliot makes us a drink. ‘Shall I make Lori one or shall we leave her to sleep for a bit?’ he asks.

I glance at the clock on the kitchen wall, almost ten. I’m tempted to leave Lori for a while, she needs the rest, although I’ve been pleased to see her looking more relaxed as the days pass.

‘I’ll take her a drink up and see how she is,’ I say.

Then the kitchen door opens and Lori walks in, still dressed in her pyjamas and carrying a bag of presents in her hand.

‘Merry Christmas!’ she says, beaming.

‘Merry Christmas!’ we both say together.

Lori puts the bag down on a chair and hugs first me then Elliot. ‘I’m so grateful for you letting me spend Christmas with you. I know it’s a biggie, your first Christmas together,’ she says. ‘And I’m glad I split up with Jacob. He would have ruined things. He was horrible to you.’

The remark is obviously directed at Elliot and he smiles at her. ‘I’ve dealt with worse than Jacob. And you’re very welcome to stay, you’re not in the way at all. Me and your mum will have lots more Christmases together.’ He holds up a mug. ‘Cuppa?’

‘Oh yes, tea, please.’

I put the turkey on a low heat in the oven, and we take our drinks into the living room. The log fire is still burning slightly and the radiators are on so it’s nice and cosy. We sit on the sofa exchanging presents. Then Elliot makes us all a salmon and cream cheese bagel and pours us a glass of buck’s fizz. Lori and I had mentioned that used to always be our Christmas breakfast, and he’s obviously remembered. I love how he doesn’t expect me to do everything. He’s really looked after us these past few days.

A little later, when Lori goes up to get showered and dressed, the doorbell rings. I glance at the app on my phone.

‘It’s Violet,’ I say, in surprise. I’m uneasy that she’s turned up now. Why would she visit us on Christmas morning? Then I feel guilty as Violet is probably on her own, but I really wanted today to be just me, Elliot and Lori.

I look over at Elliot. ‘I can’t just leave her standing there. She obviously knows we’re in.’

‘I’ll go and see what she wants.’ He gets up and goes out.

I watch on the doorcam as he opens the door and Violet says, ‘Merry Christmas,’ then steps inside without waiting to be invited. Elliot looks almost panicky. Strange.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Violet says cheerily, standing in the doorway of the living room.

‘Merry Christmas, Violet.’ I fix a welcoming smile on my face.

‘I’ve brought a Christmas present for Lori.’ She beams.

‘That’s very kind of you.’ I can’t just leave her standing in the doorway. I have to ask her in. ‘Come and sit down, she’ll be delighted.’ I want to warn Lori that Violet is here but it’s too late, she’s already on her way downstairs.

‘Right, now, can I help with dinner?’ She halts when she sees Violet in the hall. ‘Oh hello, Violet.’ Her eyes dart to mine and I can see the slight alarm in them.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t keep you but I really wanted to give you a present. I felt bad leaving you out.’ Violet takes a wrapped present out of the bag she’s holding and places it on the table. ‘You don’t have to open it now.’

‘Thanks. That’s really kind of you. Merry Christmas.’ Lori gives her a kiss on the cheek.

Luckily I’d bought a couple of nice boxes of chocolates in case there was someone we’d forgotten to get presents for. And I’d wrapped them too and put them in the sideboard.

‘Lori’s got a present for you, haven’t you, Lori? Let me get it for you.’

I go over to the sideboard, open the cupboard door and take out one of the wrapped boxes of chocolates. Lori is right behind me.

‘Thanks, Mum.’ Lori passes the gift to Violet. ‘Merry Christmas.’

Violet looks overwhelmed. ‘Thank you, Lori.’ She kisses her on the cheek.

‘Would you like a drink, Violet?’ I offer politely. ‘We’re having a buck’s fizz.’

‘We mustn’t keep Violet, she’s probably got a Christmas dinner to go to,’ Elliot says.

Violet flushes. ‘Er… I haven’t actually. I’m having a cheese sandwich at home. I woke up this morning to find that my electricity has gone off, so I can’t cook anything and I haven’t been able to get in touch with my landlord.’

No electricity! That means she can’t even watch TV. ‘Do you have heating?’ I ask.

‘Yes, gas radiators and I have a gas hob so I can boil a kettle on it and warm myself up some soup. It’s fine.’

Even though I’m pretty sure that’s why she’s dropped by out of the blue like this, I can’t stand by and let her spend Christmas on her own with no electricity and only soup and a cheese sandwich. It’s Christmas after all, no one should spend Christmas alone – unless it’s their personal choice and Violet wouldn’t be here if that’s what she wanted.

‘We can’t have you spending Christmas like that. You must stay and have dinner with us,’ I tell her.

Violet’s eyes light up but she looks a little unsure. ‘I can’t possibly impose,’ she protests.

‘You’re not imposing, we would love you to join us, wouldn’t we?’ I turn to Elliot and Lori.

‘Of course, there’s plenty to go around,’ Elliot says but he sounds a bit awkward. Too late I realise that he doesn’t want her to stay.

Lori nods in agreement but I can see the panic in her eyes.

‘Thank you so much. You’re all very kind.’ Violet gives me a big smile. ‘I have to admit that I was dreading Christmas alone.’

‘I’ll go and get you that glass of buck’s fizz.’ Elliot glances over at me and Lori. ‘Anyone else want a top-up?’

‘Me, please.’ Lori holds out her glass.

Violet sits down beside her.

‘Shall we find a box set to watch?’ Lori asks. She’s making a real effort to be friendly with Violet, which is nice. I can’t help wondering if Violet’s electricity really has gone off or if she’s made it up as an excuse to join us for Christmas dinner. I guess she’s just lonely, and she seems to look on us as family.

I go into the kitchen to check on Elliot, it was obvious he doesn’t want Violet here and am surprised to see him staring out of the kitchen window, his hands gripping the sink so tight that his knuckles are white.

‘Elliot? Has something happened?’

I see him take a deep breath and then he turns around. ‘I’ve got a bit of a headache. I’ve just taken a couple of paracetamol. I’ll be fine in a few minutes when they kick in.’

He doesn’t look fine. His face is almost ashen and there are bags under his eyes. I remember that he was up in the night too. Something is bothering him. I’m sure it is. Something that he isn’t telling me about. And now I come to think of it he’s looked more stressed as we’ve got nearer to Christmas. He said that he never celebrated Christmas as a child but hasn’t elaborated why, and he never talks about his childhood. Is there some bad memory there that resurfaces every Christmas? Is that why he goes away for Christmas, to get away from it? And I’ve forced him into a family Christmas, with Lori and now Violet, and it’s all become too much.