Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
SADIE
‘Can we open them?’ Arthur asks excitedly as he eyes up all the wrapping paper and what might be beneath it.
‘Yes, go ahead,’ Mum says with a smile while Dad gets his phone out to record the festivities.
As Arthur and Ruby tear into the presents from their grandparents, I sit and watch them, smiling at their happiness as well as accepting that Christmas really did have to come early.
Once I’d agreed to Reid and Luna’s request to take the children on holiday, I knew that the gift-giving would have to take place earlier this year.
There was no way the children would want to wait until they got home to receive their presents because that would have meant it was January, and much of the magic would have been lost by then.
Both Arthur and Ruby still believe in Father Christmas, or at least they say they do, so it’s good to keep the fantasy alive for as long as possible.
That’s why I told them that Santa had made an extra special delivery to this house after he had heard they were going to be on holiday on the big day itself, and as the wrapping paper flies through the air and four excitable little hands scramble to see what they have received, it looks like it is a job well done.
My parents were dismayed to hear that the children wouldn’t be around over the holidays.
My mum, in particular, enjoys all the traditions of this time of year, from decorating the tree to making mince pies, and she always says it’s better when little ones are around to help and add to the magic of the season.
I was also dismayed when Reid told me he wanted to take them away for the holidays.
But if that was the case, why did I agree to it so quickly?
Why didn’t I put up a fight and demand to see my children over Christmas instead of just rolling over and accepting it without a protest?
It’s because I know that there is no way the holiday will actually go ahead.
Sure, Reid and Luna might have booked it by now, but they’ll never step foot on that plane.
I fully intend to have exposed Luna by then and, once that has happened, she can forget all about going to somewhere sunny.
There is only one out of two places she will be spending this Christmas.
Prison.
Or the cemetery.
As Arthur and Ruby show each other the gifts they have received so far, from football shirts to magician sets, I think about how agreeing to the holiday was another perfect part of my plan to totally fool Luna.
If she’s excitedly packing and planning for a vacation, she is even less likely to see my threat coming, and that, alongside my continued ploy of having amnesia, means I am fully confident that she has no idea that I’m about to destroy her life in the next few days.
‘Wow, aren’t you two very lucky,’ Mum says to her grandchildren as Dad decides that he’s captured enough video footage of the unwrapping and puts his phone away.
But the fun isn’t over yet because while Arthur and Ruby have opened the gifts my parents bought for them, there are still those from me to be opened too.
The gifts I have purchased and painstakingly wrapped with precision are sitting in a gift bag by my feet, and I have purposely been holding back from handing them over because I want to do it when it is just the three of us.
I need my parents to leave because what I am about to give to Arthur and Ruby is very important, and it can’t be seen by anybody else except us.
That’s the best way of keeping a secret.
Tell as few people as possible.
‘Would you mind giving us a moment?’ I ask my parents as I reach for the bag.
I’d already pre-warned Mum and Dad that I wanted some time alone with my children, under the guise that I was upset they would be away this Christmas so I would like some private time with them.
Of course, my parents agreed and they show no signs of changing their minds on that because they get up and head for the door, Mum mumbling something about going to make us all hot chocolates and snacks while Dad says he will get rid of the opened wrapping paper in the recycling bin outside.
Once they are gone, I slide down off the sofa until I am sitting on the carpet in between my two happy children, my left foot brushing a branch of the tree as I get comfortable, before I take out the first of the presents in the bag.
These are the ones that don’t require any particular explanation and are just what Arthur and Ruby had on their wish-list to Santa this year, so I get them out of the way first.
‘New football boots!’ Arthur cries as he inspects the black and orange boots that cost me a small fortune and will soon be completely covered in mud after his next match.
‘A Cinderella dress!’ Ruby exclaims, holding up the purple and pink dress that she has spent the last few weeks showing me photos of.
‘Amazing,’ I say, soaking in the wonder of seeing their happy little faces.
This is something that I will miss as more years go by and they start to understand that Christmas is less about elves and reindeer doing the deliveries, and more about online shopping and standing in long queues at supermarket checkouts.
After a couple of presents are unwrapped, I see that there is only one more gift lying untouched at the bottom of my bag, so I take it out carefully before showing it to them both.
‘This is a shared present between the two of you,’ I say, reading what is written on the label as if it came straight from Santa’s grotto and not my bedroom upstairs.
‘This is a special gift that Mummy arranged with Father Christmas, and he wants me to explain it carefully to you. Do you understand?’
Arthur and Ruby nod their heads before I check the door to make sure my parents aren’t about to walk in and see what is inside. They aren’t, so I hand the present over and my children both work to quickly tear off the wrapping paper so they can see what they have received.
It takes them a few seconds to figure out what it is that they are looking at.
It’ll also take some explaining from me.
But I’m ready to do it. I know exactly what to say to make them understand.
It’s vital that they do.
After all, this is a huge piece of my plan to catch Luna.