Chapter 26
‘Ok, Ben’s coming to drinks tomorrow morning,’ Sive told her sisters on Christmas Eve when they were all in the kitchen prepping food for the following day.
Sive and Mimi had come straight from the matinee of A Christmas Carol and got stuck into helping Aoife, who had already spent the morning making canapes for the drinks party.
Trays of filo cups and bruschetta were cooling on the worktop awaiting toppings and fillings.
‘You invited Ben?’ Mimi asked, aghast.
‘Yes, I did, and he accepted. So I want you to be nice to him.’ She pinned Mimi with a look.
Mimi frowned. ‘Really?’ She raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘You want us to be nice to the guy who cheated on you and left you literally holding the baby?’
‘Yes, I do,’ Sive said firmly. ‘And he didn’t cheat on me, not really. Nothing happened between them until after he’d split up with me.’
‘That’s just a technicality,’ Mimi said, waving a hand dismissively. ‘He cheated on you emotionally – which is worse, if you ask me.’
‘Well, I didn’t ask you. And he’s not abandoning me with the baby. He asked me to marry him, remember? And he wants to be a proper dad to Bean, which means he’s going to be in our lives for a long time. So you have to behave yourself and get on with him.’
‘Of course we will,’ Aoife said soothingly. ‘Won’t we?’ She gave Mimi a warning look.
‘I suppose,’ Mimi said grudgingly.
‘If I can forgive him, you certainly can,’ Sive said. ‘I want Bean to know her father, and if Ben wants to be a proper dad, I’m not going to do anything to discourage him, and you shouldn’t either.’
‘You know she’s right,’ Aoife said to Mimi. ‘Is it just him?’ she asked Sive, stirring a pot of cranberry sauce.
‘No, Bridget and Cal are coming too.’
‘Oh, great.’
‘And Inez.’
‘Inez?’ Mimi frowned. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Anna Purna. Turns out her real name’s Inez.’
‘And you invited her to the house?’ Mimi shrieked. ‘Why?’
‘Because she’s Ben’s partner now and she’ll be part of Bean’s life too. I don’t want my child growing up with tension and atmospheres, so we all have to get along. And that means you too,’ she told Mimi firmly.
Aoife nodded, but Mimi still looked mutinous.
‘I get that we have to tolerate Ben for Bean’s sake, but I don’t see why we have to entertain Anna.’
‘Well, I’m telling you we do, so that’s that. They’re going to be here in the morning and if you can’t behave yourself, you can stay in your room.’
Mimi gave a startled burst of laughter and Sive couldn’t help joining in, surprised at herself.
‘You’re going to be such a great mum,’ Mimi said, putting her arms around Sive and giving her a squeeze.
‘Lucky I have you to practise on.’
‘I’ll be nice as pie to Anna, promise.’
‘Good. And you can stop calling her Anna for starters. Her name’s Inez.’
‘You started that,’ Mimi reminded her.
‘Well, now I’m ending it.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Now get back to peeling those vegetables, young lady, or there’ll be no dessert for you later.’
They were all smiling to themselves as they went back to their tasks.
Sam, Jonathan and Rocco joined them later that evening, with carloads of presents, booze and groceries ready for the morning, and one vast orange tabby in a cat carrier.
They’d also brought overnight bags as they were going to stay the night.
It meant everyone would be on hand first thing tomorrow to help with preparations for the drinks party, but more than that, it wouldn’t have felt right to the three sisters not to wake up in the same house on Christmas morning.
Sive wasn’t ready for that, and she was pleased that apparently her sisters weren’t either.
When they’d unpacked and stored all the food and drink, fed Marlowe and put the presents under the tree, they all had dinner together.
Rocco brought a huge fish pie from a local deli and Aoife had made an apple and berry crumble for dessert.
After they’d cleared up, they sat by the fire in the living room, lit by the glow of the Christmas tree lights and watched Home Alone.
Sive snuggled beside Sam on the sofa, his arm around her, feeling utterly content.
It was good to have the house full of people again.
Even Marlowe seemed happy to be back in his own home, curled up on Mimi’s lap, purring like a motor as she absently stroked him, her eyes on the TV.
Sive still woke on Christmas mornings with a sense of childish excitement.
She and her sisters would usually spring out of bed and go downstairs to open presents first thing, just as they had when they were children.
But on this particular morning, waking with Sam in bed beside her, she was in no hurry to get up and she was glad that today, with their boyfriends staying over and needing to be ready for guests arriving from ten-thirty, they’d decided to do the grown-up thing and wait for presents until the afternoon.
‘Happy Christmas,’ she whispered to Sam as his eyes blinked open.
‘Happy Christmas.’ He smiled sleepily, his voice husky. He gave her a soft, sleepy kiss that quickly became more urgent and intent, and they spent a very pleasurable couple of hours before getting up to join the others for breakfast.
After breakfast there was a flurry of activity getting everything ready for their drinks party.
Sive was nervous about meeting Inez and she was glad to have plenty to do to distract her.
She felt a jittery flutter in her stomach every time the doorbell rang, relieved each time it wasn’t Ben.
But as more and more guests arrived, she started to relax and enjoy herself.
Before long, the living room was abuzz with chatter and the tinkle of glasses, and she was too absorbed in catching up with friends and neighbours to worry about Ben.
Rocco’s family were all there, and Mimi’s friend Catherine, who was home from LA for the holidays, and several members of the Halfpenny Lane company dropped in.
Sive was touched that Ciara had come, bringing Jack as well as her older son Joe, who was chatting to Sam.
‘What did you get for Christmas?’ Sive asked Jack.
‘I got a bunch of games and a new PS5, so I don’t have to share one with Joe now.’ Sive was momentarily surprised by his normal Dublin accent. She still wasn’t used to it.
‘Wow, lucky you!’
‘Very indulgent, I know,’ Ciara said to Sive, with a hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘But we’ve had a good year. Haven’t we, bud?’ She smiled at her son.
‘Well, it’s a good thing you gave up the Method acting in time for Christmas,’ Sive said to Jack. ‘Or you might have found yourself getting an orange and a top.’
‘I got a top too,’ he said, running his hands down his box-fresh sweatshirt. ‘And jeans.’
‘Well, you look very smart. But I meant a spinning top – it’s an old-fashioned toy.’
‘Oh? What does it do?’
‘It’s just a piece of wood on a string that you spin on the floor.’
‘Sounds lame.’ Jack turned as the door opened and Maria and Alex came in. ‘Alex!’
Sive laughed as he charged off to meet his friend. ‘How are things going with your new beau?’ she asked Ciara.
‘Great. He’s coming for dinner with us later.’
‘Oh, exciting! You’ve told the boys about him, then?’
Ciara nodded. ‘Joe has met him and he really took to him. And Jack’s delighted.’ Ciara glanced at her watch. ‘Speaking of dinner, I’d better get home soon and keep an eye on the turkey.’ She drained her glass. ‘I’ll just go and say hello to Maria before we go.’
‘Well, it was lovely to see you. Thanks for coming.’
Sive was touched that so many people had made the time to come for a drink when they must all be busy with their own family visits and dinner preparations.
‘No Andrea?’ Mitch asked, sidling up to her and looking around furtively. ‘Or have I missed her?’
‘No, she’s gone to her parents’ place in Cork for Christmas. Why, were you hoping to bump into her?’
‘Au contraire. I almost didn’t come for fear I would.’
Sive laughed.
A few minutes later, she glanced across the room to wave hello to Chloe, who had just arrived, and was surprised to see that Ben was already there in the far corner with his parents and Inez, who she recognised from her social media pictures, though she was shorter than Sive had imagined.
They were talking to Aoife as she handed them drinks.
She hadn’t even noticed them come in while she was chatting to Mitch.
Ben caught her eye and he gave her a little wave.
She waved back, but continued talking to Mitch, not feeling ready to go over and say hello yet.
It would have been fine if it was just him and his parents.
But Anna … Inez, she corrected herself. There was no more Anna Purna.
There never had been. There was just Inez, a real flesh-and-blood woman who Ben lived with now, a woman who would be part of their child’s life.
In Sive’s imagination, she’d grown into an intimidating Amazonian, as tall and daunting as the mountain range she’d named her after.
The reality was something quite different and far more approachable – a perfectly ordinary young woman of around Sive’s own age – freckle-faced, pretty, with reddish-brown hair in a short, layered cut that Sive imagined would be handy for someone with an outdoorsy lifestyle.
Finally, she couldn’t put it off any longer. She took a deep breath and made her way through the crowd to Ben before she could second-guess herself – best to get this over with. His face registered a mixture of pleasure and panic as he saw her approach.
‘Hi, Sive!’ Ben’s voice was pitchy with nerves, and she was strangely comforted that he found this as awkward as she did.
She greeted Cal and Bridget with a quick peck on the cheek and a one-armed hug as they were all holding glasses.
‘This is Inez,’ Ben said, nodding to the woman beside him.
‘Hi, Inez, pleased to meet you.’
‘I doubt that,’ Inez said with a nervous laugh, pumping Sive’s hand rather too enthusiastically. ‘But thanks for inviting me.’