Page 143 of Under the Mistletoe with You

‘Thing?’Christopher asks.‘What thing?’

‘Well, he was going to find out anyway.That’s why you’re here to bully him into closing the shop up, isn’t it?’Tegan huffs, arms folded.

‘I do notbully,’ she hisses.

Christopher is not entirely sure that’s true.

‘It’s just a light cajoling.’She fixes him with a soft look that he’d almost call maternal if she wouldn’t absolutely hate that.

‘Fine.I’ll stop working so you can tell me whatever this thing is.’He shuts the laptop and looks up to find Tegan already pulling her coat on.

‘See you later!’she yells.

‘Bye then,’ Christopher says to the back of Tegan’s head as she flies out of the door.‘So,’ he turns to Shaz.‘The Thing?Hopefully not the film, it’s not really snowy enough for that to be thematic anymore.’

‘You’re rambling.’

‘Yeah, because you’re being all mysterious and unnerving.’

She sits down next to him.‘The thing tonight is a party Tammy has organised as a thank you to everyone who helped out.’

‘Oh.That’s so nice.Do you need some help?’

‘Please, no.We wanted to surprise you as you’d done such a big job with Christmas Day and knew you’d try to get involved.’

‘Oh.All right then.So why do I need the afternoon off if it’s tonight?’

‘Because I arranged an extra surprise.For you, specifically.’

‘A surprise?Do I like surprises?’

‘I think you’ll like this one.’

There’s a strange grumbling sound from the café.Did the cat somehow get downstairs?They seem happy enough upstairs and obviously he can’t have the cat wandering round the bakery, but perhaps he didn’t lock them in?

Except the sound seems bigger than the cat could make.There’s a knocking of crockery and a hiss and ...he’s pretty sure he heard someone sayfuck.

‘Guys, you missed the cue to jump out,’ Shaz shouts.

‘Oh.Shit!’Up jumps Haf,his Haf, wearing the world’s puffiest winter coat.Her hair is enormous, but it’s really her.She’s here in the bakery, and so is Kit, who she helps up, all the while muttering a series of foul curse words.From the other side of the counter appear Ambrose and Laurel in a much more dignified fashion.There’s something so disjointed about it all that he can’t quite believe it’s really happening.

‘Surprise!’cries Shaz.

He can’t believe it.They’re here?!His friend-family and also actual family arehere.

Christopher rushes through the bakery to the counter and soon he’s wrapped in all their arms.‘You came?You came all the way here?’

‘Shaz told us to,’ Haf says.‘We’ve beenscheming.’

‘And we wanted to,’ adds Kit.

‘Because we were worried about you,’ says Ambrose, which is so out of character for them that everyone in the hug steps back to look at them askance.‘Wewere!’

‘Yes, darling, but the way this works usually is that you say something rather rude and then I follow it up with something wholesome,’ Laurel explains, threading her arm through their elbow crook.They both look so elegant, dressed in contrasting tailored coats – Laurel in an ecru woollen wrap coat, Ambrose in a belted bright red coat with oversized lapels and a matching belt.God, he’d missed them all.

Ambrose sniffs.‘I was trying something new.’

‘Horrifying,’ Christopher says, and they all burst into giggles.