Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
‘Everything okay?’ I ask Kian as he places a bag full of parcels down on the floor. An old guy moves then and Audrey pronounces him out of the game much to his disappointment.
‘Sure, yes, I just ran into someone I know,’ he tells me. Am I imagining it, or does he look a little stressed?
‘Right. Well, the good news is the kids have all been fine but I think they are ready to go outside again and run around,’ I tell him, thankful that there have been no incidents in his absence.
‘Sure thing.’
‘Maybe when they come back inside, they can have a game of pass the parcel. Something nice and calming,’ I suggest.
‘Sounds like a plan.’ He grins. ‘Then we can light the candles on Bella’s cake.’
A couple of the people on the floor move then and are asked to sit down, protesting that Kian made them turn around when he walked through the door. Finally, we have joint winners in Gerald and the birthday girl, Bella. Gerald receives a tape measure, and Bella a bath bomb, which was left over from the pensioners’ gift bags.
‘It seems like everyone is having a good time, so maybe you were right all along,’ I tell Kian when I finish refreshing drinks. Elsie is actually beginning to loosen up a bit after her second sherry and is kind of chair dancing, moving her body from side to side and smiling.
‘No sense in worrying over things you can’t control.’ He gives what I think is a bit of a forced smile, and I wonder whether everything with him really is okay?
‘I guess not.’
‘Dad, what about the pi?ata,’ says Bella, looking up towards the pink straw donkey above her head.
‘Oh sure, shall we do that first then?’
‘Yes, please,’ squeals Bella. And I imagine the amount of running around the kids will need after another load of sugar from the contents.
Kian passes the stick to Bella, and she takes the first whack at the pi?ata, before each of the children have a turn. Robbie, the black-haired boy, whacks the donkey with such force that a stream of sweets come cascading down over Elsie’s head as she walks past.
‘Oh my goodness!’ she exclaims, and to my surprise she laughs. ‘It’s raining sweets.’
Their pockets full of toffees, the children have a game of pass the parcel, before going outside once more to the bouncy castle, with strict instructions from me not to eat any toffees whilst bouncing up and down.
‘Is everything okay?’ I finally ask Kian, who looks deep in thought.
‘What? Yes, sure. It’s just something has cropped up that I wasn’t expecting, that’s all,’ he says without elaborating.
He heads outside followed by Audrey, and I will join them when I have made sure all of the pensioners have everything they need. I wonder what could have made Kian’s mood shift in such a short space of time?
After the tired-looking children return to the hall and Kian lights the candles on the beautiful cake, the old people join in the singing of ‘Happy Birthday’, and Bella looks like the happiest little girl in the world.
It’s a joy to watch some of the children head over to the pensioners’ table and sit with them, others are dancing to some modern songs, with Gerald still on the floor busting some moves with Eileen. Black-haired Robbie takes a seat next to Elsie.
‘How old are you?’ he asks her as he plays with a plastic elephant, walking it across the table.
‘Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age?’ she replies, but there is a smile playing around her mouth. That sherry has definitely loosened her up a bit.
‘Is it?’ asks the boy. ‘But grown-ups always ask kids how old they are, don’t they?’
He throws the plastic elephant up in the air, failing to catch it, and it lands squarely in a discarded glass of lemonade. Elsie smiles at it lands with a plop. ‘It’s a good job elephants can swim,’ she says. ‘And, yes, I suppose adults do ask children how old they are, but it’s different,’ she explains. ‘So how old are you then?’
‘I’m seven, nearly eight. I might have a party in a play centre when it’s my birthday,’ he tells her.
‘That sounds nice. And since you asked, I will tell you that I am eighty-four years old.’
‘That’s really old. Will you be dead soon?’ he asks and I close my eyes in mild frustration.
‘Well I sincerely hope not!’ She frowns. ‘I would like to see my son next year,’ she tells him.
I’m sitting enjoying a drink and watching their conversation unfold. Hopefully it can’t get any worse.
‘Why can’t you see him now?’ he asks as he winds the string around his yo-yo.
‘Because he lives in Australia and it’s a very long way away,’ she explains.
‘They have kangaroos there, don’t they? And koalas. We have been learning about Australia at school. Bad people got sent there for committing crimes. Is your son a bad person?’
Oh Lord.
‘Goodness me, no!’ Elsie exclaims. ‘Criminals got sent there hundreds of years ago. These days it’s a very nice place to live apparently.’
‘So why don’t you go there? Are you too old to go on a plane?’ he asks innocently.
‘My goodness you do like to ask a lot of questions, don’t you? But, as a matter of fact, yes, I probably am too old for such a long flight,’ she tells him.
‘Couldn’t you go and live there?’
‘It’s not really as simple as that. But he’s coming over here next year for a visit. He was too busy with his work this year.’
She quietly takes a sip of sherry as she stares ahead wistfully and I fear Robbie might have upset her.
‘I hope he does. But if he doesn’t you can still talk on the phone, can’t you? My uncle lives in Canada and my mum speaks to him a lot.’
‘Yes, I do, of course.’ She smiles. ‘And we video call so I can see his face.’
‘That’s good then. My mum does that too.’
He retrieves the elephant from the glass and dries it with a napkin before handing it to her.
‘You can have this if you like,’ he says and he might as well have handed her a gold nugget, such is the joy on her face. ‘Elephants never forget. Even if you don’t see your son you will never forget each other,’ he says, before sliding off his chair and running back to the party table.
I watch Elsie close her eyes and clutch the elephant in her hand like a prized gift.
A while later, I chat to the retired headteacher of the local primary school and ask her if she knows the current headteacher. When she tells me she does, I have an idea.
I glance at my watch and realise it’s almost time for Santa’s visit, so manage to get everyone inside.
My dad usually does the honours dressing as Santa, but I had to find a replacement this year, in the form of my neighbour Martin, who kindly dashed out and bought a load of selection boxes to dispense to the children when I learned we would be sharing the hall.
‘Boys, girls and grown-ups alike. We have a special visitor arriving any minute now,’ I announce, after Sue has switched the music off. ‘If you listen carefully, you might be able to hear the sound of bells somewhere.’ I cup my hand to my ear.
Right on cue, there is a tinkling of bells, courtesy of Spotify being piped through the speakers.
‘Is that the reindeer bells!’ says an excited Bella.
‘I think it might be,’ I say and she jumps up and down with excitement.
A few seconds later, a burly bloke bursts through the door with a ho ho ho! And quickly begins handing out selection boxes to the children.
‘Are you the real Santa?’ asks an excited girl in a sparkly party dress.
‘Yes, yes, I am,’ says Martin, doing his best to disguise his voice. Not that any of the children here would know him, I’m sure. Kian is standing next to me, grinning.
‘Because I know there are fake ones in the grotto in the town square,’ says the little girl. ‘Well, my brother says so anyway. Because the real one lives in Lapland.’
‘Ho ho ho. Yes, I have come from Lapland,’ he says, edging away as politely as possible as the children move in, circling him like vultures.
‘Then where are your reindeer?’ a boy demands. When he tells him they are resting for a busy evening later, and that he took an EasyJet flight, I struggle to keep a straight face.
‘You organised this then?’ says Kian, nodding to Santa, who is surrounded by children and looks completely out of his comfort zone. ‘You really did think of everything, didn’t you?’
He looks at me with open admiration, and I can’t help feeling thrilled.
‘I tried. And although it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, I have to say that so far today has been a success, despite my initial reservations,’ I admit.
‘I’d have to agree.’ He takes the empty glass from me, asking if I would like a refill and when our hands brush together, it takes all my composure to answer him.
‘Bella and her friends are having the best time. And I’ve enjoyed your company,’ says Kian. ‘Actually, I was wondering if…’
‘Yes?’ I can feel my heart beating that little bit faster.
Before he has a chance to answer, I hear an almighty crash coming from the kitchen followed by a cry.
Kian and I race to the scene to find Mum lying on the floor.
‘I slipped on some fat that must have dripped from a roasting tray,’ she says, rubbing at her hip and grimacing in pain. ‘Sorry to spoil the party, but I think I might have broken something.’