Short Stack - Lily Morton Page 0,44
and fluffy slippers and trailed by Stanley Atkins. “It’s Christmas Eve,” he shouts. “It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Ouch!” I groan as his high voice seems to punch into my brain.
“Are you okay, Jude?” he asks anxiously. “Have you got a headache?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Because Daddy said you would.” He climbs onto Asa’s lap and cuddles up. “Was that you singing ‘There’s a Worm at the Bottom of the Garden’? Because you got all the words mixed up.”
“It might have been me,” I say cautiously. “Did I wake you up?”
“Oh no,” he says sunnily. “Stanley and me were keeping watch in case Father Christmas came early.”
“He doesn’t normally, baby,” Asa says.
Billy shakes his head immediately. “You never know. He’s very quiet and clever. He could be on the roof and in your bedroom before you know it.”
“He’s not a ninja.”
“He’s better than that. He’s Santa,” he says indignantly. Then his eyes sharpen. “What are you eating, Jude?”
Involuntarily my arm tightens around my bowl of chocolate goodness. Thinking hard, I smile at him. “It’s marmite casserole.”
“Oh, I hate marmite,” he says despondently.
“I know,” I murmur, watching him jump down from Asa’s lap and wander out of the room.
“I’m going to see if there are any Christmas films on,” he shouts. “Sky has got a lot.”
Asa shakes his head. “I remember when there were two channels, and you watched what was on. In fact, the children’s stuff was on in the morning, so children actually went outside and did something apart from staring at the TV.”
“Had TV been invented when you were a child?” I ask slyly. “Didn’t you just go out riding penny farthings and chasing hoops?”
“No, we settled for flat-out lying about what we were eating for breakfast.”
“Asa, don’t judge. It’s chocolate pudding,” I protest indignantly. “I love him, but this is bloody chocolate pudding.”
“I knew it,” Billy shouts from the lounge. “Save some for Stanley and me.”
“That child has got bionic ears,” I say wonderingly. “Of course I will,” I shout out while shaking my head and mouthing no at Asa.
His lip twitches. “It’s chocolate that has this effect on you. It’s terrible how you can’t share it.”
“I can share it,” I say indignantly.
“Really? So, it wasn’t you last week helping Billy to look for the chocolate from the cupboard when you’d actually already eaten it?”
“You’ve gotten very judgemental since we moved here. I think it might be the sea air,” I say airily. I push the spoon away. “It’s actually defeated me. I might leave this for Billy anyway.”
“Put it away until he’s had a proper breakfast.”
I look around the kitchen. “Where are Peggy and Amos?”
“Amos took her into Exeter for some last-minute shopping while he gets the rear tyre on the car looked at.”
I put the kettle on and slide into the seat next to him. “What are you doing?”
He looks at me over the top of his glasses in a way that never fails to make me hard. “Looking at the script for next month.”
“Any good?”
He nods, taking a sip of his coffee. “Not bad. Three decapitations, two disembowelments, and one orgy.”
I blink. “Wow. It’s like a mad version of ‘A Partridge in a Pear Tree.’” I shake my head. “It’s going to be a busy January. Are you in the orgy or just glowering in disapproval on the sidelines?”
“In it,” he says indignantly. “I’m not grandfather age yet.” He pauses. “Actually, we need to discuss this. What do you think of nudity?”
“In general or on film?”
“On film. Would you have any problems with me going nude?”
“I never have any problems with you being nude. I don’t think I’d mind it on film. I mean, if you’ve got it you should most definitely flaunt it. And at the end of the day, it’s all mine.”
“Of course it is,” he says gently.
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m not sure what Billy would think, though.”
“Billy’s banned from watching it, anyway.” He frowns and pushes the script away. “Still, the other children might make fun of him for it.”
“I think Billy’s fairly unconcerned with that. He said the other day that one boy kept taking the piss out of him for having two dads.”
He straightens in the chair, outrage written all over his face. “What the fuck?”
“Calm down, Arnold Schwarzenegger. You were in Ireland, so I went to school about it. They sorted it out straight away, but the teacher said that Billy had already put a stop to it himself.”
“How?”
“He hit the other boy.”
He blinks. “I hope you told Billy it