Epilogue #2
Teddy shook his head and smirked. “Don’t think so. I like you close.”
Jessica huffed, but Teddy knew she wasn’t really annoyed, mostly because her grip on him had tightened. He lifted her higher, coaxing her legs around his waist as he started walking towards the house.
“We don’t have time,” she whispered, and Teddy fucking loved the hint of disappointment in her tone, but he couldn’t resist teasing her.
“Jessica Sonoto, get your mind out of the gutter. I think everyone’s just arrived.”
She wriggled in his arms, but he refused to let her go. “And you’re planning on answering the door like this?”
Teddy winked. “Just watch me.”
Teddy nudged the bottle of rosé towards Lulu and raised his eyebrows when she waved him off, signalling she didn’t want any. She hadn’t had a drink since she’d arrived an hour ago.
“The ham’s delicious, Jessica,” Lulu said warmly as she sliced her piece into small squares.
Jessica’s shoulders were looser than they’d been earlier. “Thank you. The prawns are great too.”
So far, the conversation between his wife and mother had been like watching the world’s most polite tennis match. Compliments had been served and returned neatly.
It was nice but a bit weird.
“Quite the treehouse you’ve built there, Ted,” Wilbur said, steering the conversation towards a topic they could all pick up and run with.
Shake off some of the awkwardness that was hanging around like it had been strung through the tree above them like the oversized Christmas baubles Teddy had hung off the lower branches.
“Sam loves it,” Jessica said. “He plays in it every day. And he and Teddy slept out there a few days ago.”
“Which was more fun? Camping with Sam or camping with us?” Nate asked, gesturing towards himself and Owen. Rafferty had messaged earlier to say he was going to be late and not to wait for him.
“That’s easy,” Teddy said, slinging his arm across the back of Sam’s chair. “Sam’s way more fun than you two ever were.”
Sam beamed at Teddy. How bloody lucky was Teddy that he got to be a part of his life too?
“Really?” Owen said. “What’s your secret, Sam? How’d you impress Little Ted so much?”
Sam cackled and slapped his small hands on Teddy’s forearm. “Teddy is too big to be called Little Ted! You should call him Big Ted!”
“Yes!” Teddy agreed. “Thank you! It’s time I got some respect, Sammy. But maybe I should be King Teddy?”
“That might be a stretch.” Nate laughed.
“Teddy’s always been quite regal,” Lulu mused.
“Oh, here we go.” Owen turned to Alice, his eyes bright and teasing. Now, this was more like a James family Christmas. “Mum will deny this, but he’s always been the favourite.”
“That’s not true,” Lulu protested. “I don’t have favourites.”
“But if she did …” Teddy winked at his mother who laughed and shook her head. “Okay, Sammy. Put these guys out of their misery. Let’s tell them how to be fun camp mates.”
“We toasted marshmallows and looked for aliens, but we didn’t see any,” Sam piped up, wiggling fingers covered in the special sauce Lulu had brought for the prawns. Teddy was pretty sure that Sam hadn’t eaten any prawns. He just liked dipping them.
“Maybe we will next time.” Teddy smiled at Sam and, without thinking, grabbed a serviette to wipe the little boy’s hands.
“Thanks,” Jessica murmured.
Teddy winked at her. “I’ve got you, wife.”
Jessica shook her head and Teddy thought—but couldn’t be sure—she muttered something about him flirting with her in front of his whole family. He rewarded her with a quick kiss that held plenty of promise for later.
Her responding laugh was soft and definitely embarrassed, but he wasn’t going to stop showing her he felt. Not today or ever.
“Awwww, Mum,” Owen said, pulling Teddy’s attention away from his wife. When he looked over at his mother, she was dabbing her eyes.
“I’m just so happy to see you both so happy,” she said. “And I can admit when I was wrong. This was always meant to be.”
“Thanks, Lulu,” Jessica said.
Nate nudged Owen. “I think Teddy might actually be the favourite. She never cried over us.”
“I’ve been trying to tell you all this for years!” Teddy crowed, and everyone laughed.
“He’s not … that’s not … I just meant that he’s settled in so well here and it’s just lovely.”
“It is lovely,” Jessica agreed, squeezing Teddy’s thigh.
Teddy reached for the potato salad, and Jessica slid her hand higher. Much higher. Teddy dropped the spoon, and it landed with a clang on his plate. Jessica’s soft chuckle was his favourite gift of the day.
“Now who’s flirting?” he whispered.
“Any update from Raff?” Owen asked.
“Only that he’d get here as soon as he could,” Wilbur replied.
“Hopefully soon,” Lulu said.
“Speak of the devil,” Nate said when Raff strode into the backyard.
“I did knock, but no one answered,” Raff said, shaking hands with the men and kissing all the women on the cheek. The now-permanent bags under his eyes were more pronounced, and his five o’clock shadow had a shadow. “Merry Christmas, everyone. Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s all good.” Teddy didn’t want to make his brother feel worse than he obviously already did. Besides, Wilbur had missed plenty of Christmases while Teddy was growing up. That was just the nature of having a police officer in the family. “Everything okay at work?”
“I wasn’t at work. Malcolm Ashby was in a car accident last night. I went to check on him at the hospital.”
“That’s Cassie’s dad,” Teddy explained to Jessica.
“Is he alright?” Lulu asked.
“He’s banged up pretty bad. Needs some surgery.”
“Did you see Cassie? Did she come back to see Malcolm?” Owen asked.
Raff’s shoulders slumped, and he pushed some of the potato salad Lulu had just added to his plate around with his fork. “She’s on her way. Claire asked me to leave before she arrived.”
“Claire is Cassie’s sister,” Teddy whispered to Jessica.
“So Cassie still …” Nate looked at Eloise like she could help him finish that question.
Raff tossed his fork onto his plate, and Teddy had never seen him this glum, this defeated. “Hates me? Yes. She does.”
Teddy reached across Jessica to squeeze his brother’s arm. “You never know, mate. Maybe you guys can talk and …” Now he didn’t know how to finish his sentence.
“There’s no point. She’s never going to forgive me. It’s best if I just stay out of her way.” Raff’s chest rose as he breathed in deeply. “Now, let’s talk about something else. All the food looks great. Thanks for hosting, guys.”
“We’re happy to do it,” Jessica said.
Silently, Teddy realised that Jessica’s last statement summed up their lives perfectly.
They were happy.
And it was the best.