Chapter 12

Christmas lights had festooned town and city streets for some weeks already, and the news of the decree spurred John to ask about her plans for the feast.

“I don’t know,” she answered him. “I wonder what the children have in mind. None of the children have kids of their own apart from Thomas, and he’s not talking to us. The whole family used to come to us. But I don’t know now...”

“Same here. All mine live in striking distance, but Cath and Clare would come here and stay over.” John thought for a moment. “Why don’t you write and ask them what they would like to do, and we can go from there.”

Claire sent off an email to them all, including Thomas, and the same evening there came a reply from Elizabeth.

“What shall I do, John?” she asked. They want to come here but we’ve not enough room, and it’s not fair to evict Cath and Clare.”

John thought it over. Then he had an idea.

“What about your mother’s house? You could have them all there. Plenty of room.”

Claire was silent and looked unhappy.

“What is it?” asked John, concerned.

“It’s just ... You...” she stopped and then came out with it. “Your first Christmas alone – I mean without Elizabeth. I wanted to spend Christmas with you, John.”

John felt a warm glow and a surge of affection for her.

“Hmm. I wonder?” Then he stirred himself. “There are five of us, more of you if they all came...”

“You mean have everyone at Grange?” Her eyes sparkled. “That’s a lovely idea and there’s certainly enough room. A full house! How wonderful! Mum would have loved that; she used to come over to us for Christmas after Dad died because the house seemed so empty.”

“I need to ask mine how they feel about that, but I like the idea.”

He called the girls and then James, all of whom did like the idea. So Claire emailed her children all of whom were enthusiastic. Except Thomas who did not reply. What was new?

“Have you invited Peter?” John asked her once all the replies were in.

Claire was surprised. “Peter?” she said. “With a divorce in the offing? I couldn’t sleep with him.”

“You don’t need to. Even so, everyone except Thomas will be there. It will be miserable for him with no one to celebrate with.”

She never ceased to be amazed at John, and this time did not understand him, but then thought again. It was an opportunity to talk with him before it was too late. So she emailed.

Claire and John decided to travel up to Grange on Thursday 16th December to prepare and warm the house through, and life became quite frantic as they made preparations before they left. There were presents to be bought, and suddenly the number of presents had increased dramatically.

Each day Claire checked her laptop for a reply from Peter, but none came. The night of the 15th, after they had packed for the journey North, Claire again knocked on John’s door and found her way into his bed. She was wearing a short chemise, and, John hoped, a pair of knickers. A bare vulva pressed against his thigh was too much of a temptation.

There were no tears this time, but John could see how dispirited she was. There was no discussion, only one statement from Claire.

“He could have answered. Even to say no, he could have answered.”

They simply hugged each other until they fell asleep. Next morning, John left the bed first and made the daily pot of tea, and when he returned she was gone. He took her mug to her bedroom and knocked.

“Your tea, Claire,” he called through the closed door. It opened.

Claire stood there in pretty, delicate bra and panties.

“Oh, thanks John,” she said with a smile and took the mug from him.

He stood for a moment, seeing, for the first time, more of Claire than at any time since she first arrived the previous Spring.

She stood, holding the mug, loth to close the door in his face. She gave another smile and cocked her head in the manner he remembered from when they were lovers all those years ago. Then it was playful and inviting, now he was not sure what it was inviting!

He seemed to wake from his trance, smiled sheepishly, and turned away. Claire thought for a moment and turned away in her turn, only half closing the door.

After breakfast they packed Claire’s car and after John had turned off the water, turned the central heating to the frost setting and locked up, they began the journey to Grange-over-Sands.

On arriving they made the preparations for the impending gathering, making up beds, warming the house through, doing local shopping, buying a large tree and decorating both it and the house.

John left the gathering very early on Christmas Eve to travel down to help with the homeless hostel as he always did, but this time he drove back that evening to arrive in time for the vigil Mass at nine pm. He joined Claire and ten from the two families at the Mass, which enlarged the congregation considerably.

There were thirteen for Christmas Eve and Day, since Elizabeth had brought her fiancé and young Clare her partner. In an inspired piece of planning Clare and Luke had picked up Elizabeth and her fiancé Noel from the airport on the way to Grange, and early on Boxing Day the two couples travelled back the way they came, to be with their partners’ families later on that day.

Everyone knew everyone else, apart from Mary and Charles who did not know John’s family and James and Julie who did not know everyone of Claire’s family, but the whole party soon became settled with each other and had a good time.

Mary looked a little askance when she realised both unmarried couples were sleeping with their partners, but it seemed she soon got over it when Claire quietly mentioned remembering Mary sleeping with Charles when engaged.

Mary was at pains to point out that while they shared a bed they did not have sex, to which Claire replied that it was no part of Mary’s business whether the couples were having sex or not. Charles laughed and whispered to Claire that while there was no intercourse, there was plenty of sex! At which Mary was much embarrassed!

John and Claire were very busy organising volunteers from both families, sharing the preparation of the meals and in particular the Christmas dinner, where both a goose and a turkey were served to satisfy the numbers at the feast. Claire and John were shooed out of the kitchen after the meal as the two families took over clearing up.

It surprised John that everyone wanted to go for a walk in the late afternoon, and much fun was had crashing through the bushes and among the trees in the grounds as the light began to fail.

Once everyone settled in the evening, some disappearing off to their rooms, John took some time to stand aside and watch Claire with the majority who remained, a little worried how the impending divorce was affecting her.

He was surprised. He had not seen her so happy and carefree in all the time since she first arrived on his doorstep. He realised that even at that first meeting with her, she was somewhat down-trodden. Now, buried in the helter-skelter of caring for two families, talking and joking with them, watching how they interacted, she was free. She had the lightness he remembered from student days.

It also came to John that this Christmas was not what he had expected, nay dreaded without Elizabeth for the first time. Previous Christmases were always hosted by the pair of them at their house, the house where the children had grown up, and there would have been a glaring gap which Elizabeth should have filled. Here in this different place, with Claire’s children as well, he felt much more at ease, and less wistful than he had expected. That said, he thought of her often and there was always that sense of loss.