Chapter Four: Cabbages and Carols
"Welcome to hell." Said Jess as the doors slid open. "Otherwise known as Morrisons Kendal." She pushed the trolley into a store that was even more crowded than the pub had been last night.
"Oh my." I murmured. I'd never seen anything like it. Never having had to prepare for a human Christmas meant I had not appreciated how much of it was about food.
"I know. I don't know whether you're supposed to pitch up here with shopping bags or boxing gloves. It's hideous every Christmas Eve."
"Right then girls, veggies first!" Susie set off in the direction of the fresh produce. Jess and I tried to weave the trolley through the crowd.
"How do you feel?" I asked her.
"Like shit."
"Tell me if you feel sick again."
"I will. Thanks for staying up with me."
"You'd do the same for me, I know."
"You wouldn't be so daft as to drink stupid amounts of vodka."
"Not again. Been there, done that, ended up on YouTube. Just don't take off your sunglasses, you have scary red eyes." I grinned at her.
"I wish." She sighed.
The sound of Jess scrabbling out of bed had woken me. I stayed with her as time and again she threw up. I'd helped her to wash and dress and had presented her, to the somewhat surprised Susie, on the dot of six thirty. The only outward sign of Jess's fragile state were the unseasonal sunglasses.
Dan was sleeping when we left and I was pleased about that. I hadn't managed to get to sleep easily last night and I knew that Dan was still tossing and turning when I finally drifted off. Brian was going down to Susie's Mum's to start to work on the big list of small jobs that she'd made for him. Apparently, there was no one else in the universe who could fix a dripping tap.
Navigating around the crowded supermarket was not easy or fun. In contrast to the happy music playing over the PA system, there seemed to be a distinct lack of Christmas cheer amongst the people pushing trolleys laden with food. I didn't know if it was Christmas that was coming, or the end of the world.
"How many days are the stores closed?" I asked Jess, after passing one woman whose trolley seemed to be half full of loaves of bread.
"Just Christmas Day."
"Really? People seem to be buying like they're never opening again."
"Oh this is quite normal. We may give you the impression that we're an advanced industrialised nation, but scratch the surface of Britain and there's an awful lot of muppetry going on, I mean look at that." She pointed across the aisle. "That couple have got three trolleys. Have they got the whole of Kendal coming for Christmas lunch?"
"One's full of alcohol." I noted.
Jess peered at the contents. "Good grief, I didn't know anyone actually drank Crème de menthe. Why would you willingly drink something that's bright green?"
I laughed and reminded her that she'd spend all last night drinking blue WKD.
"Yes, but that's nice. Crème de menthe is just vile."
"I wouldn't know."
"Trust me, it is."
Thankfully, Susie was blessed with common sense and understood that it was easier to park up somewhere and for her to bring the things to us.
It was here, with Jess resting her head against a bank of toilet rolls, that there was a light tap on the back of my leg.
I turned around to see Ben looking up at me with his finger pressed to his lips. A huge grin split my face. I glanced down the aisle and saw Will standing at the end. There was a chance Susie would recognise him from the summer, so he'd need to keep his distance. Ben, however, continued to be the impossible child and was unrecognisable from the eighteen month old she'd seen back then.
"Daddy wants to know how Mummy is this morning." He spoke quickly and at sub-human hearing level.
"Not great." I replied. "But I'm sure she'd feel better if I sent her to get something." Ben smiled and scurried back down the aisle. I stepped over to Jess, thinking of something right at the bottom of Susie's list that she hadn't gotten to yet. "Your Mum needs some sugar, I don't know where that is."
"I'll go and get it. I'll pick up something from the bakery while I'm there too, I'm ravenous."
Jess set off down the aisle, she turned out of sight just as Susie came back with another armful of things.
"Where's Jess?"
"She's gone to pick up some sugar and get something from the bakery."
"Oh, ok. You alright to look after the trolley?"
I nodded.
"I'm off to get some more, back in a sec!"
I waited, watching all manner of grumpy, overheated people pass by. Presently, Jess came back, clutching a paper bag and looking very much happier than she had done a few minutes ago.
"It's amazing what you can get in the bakery section."
"Did you find something nice?" I grinned at her.
"I'll say." Through her dark glasses I saw her wink.
"You forgot the sugar."
"Oh no!" She said theatrically. "I'll have to go back again."
"You will." I waggled my eyebrows at her.
"Pack it in Cullen." She whispered.
"Do you want me to get it?"
"No, I can manage." She said wryly, turned and walked back down the aisle a great deal quicker than she'd come up. At the end, she put out her hand to grab a pole and swing around the corner. But she missed and pulled a pile of boxes off the shelf. I thought it was very generous of the man and his little boy to help her pick them all up again. When she came back for the second time blushing furiously, I hadn't the heart to tell her that she'd still forgotten the sugar.
At the checkout, the lack of sugar was discovered, so Jess went back a third time and came back with sugar and disappointment. There was no sign of Will and Ben. She scanned the crowds, looking for his distinctive blonde hair. Her Mum noticed.
"Who are you looking for?"
Jess's reply was surprisingly candid. "The guy I saw in the bakery. Honestly Mum, he was divine."
"Divine men in Kendal? Wonders will never cease. Well if you see him again invite him for lunch tomorrow. I think I've bought enough."
"Mum you've bought enough to feed the whole of Grasmere. It's just us lot and Grandma, you know? You've not got it mixed up with feeding the five thousand have you?"
"No, but I want to make sure that I've got enough. I don't want to get to half past one tomorrow afternoon and find that I don't have enough sprouts. Do you think we've got enough sprouts?"
"Mum, even one spout is one too many."
"Well Dan and your Dad like them."
"They're just weird."
Susie paid and we joined the slow queue of people leaving the store. Everyone was struggling to guide their loaded trolleys around corners. Then suddenly Ben was there, turning around to grin cheekily back at the three of us. He had a huge lollipop in his mouth, which made one cheek stick out like he had a hamster pouch. A cabbage rolled out of a bag and onto the floor. Ben retrieved it and handed it back to Susie. She thanked him profusely and looked around for his parents, to tell them what a polite little boy they had; but they didn't seem to be around. When she looked back, the boy had melted back into the crowd.
Overnight, a warm front had passed through, turning all last night's snow to slush. The roads were clear, but there still remained enough on the fells to give the area a distinctly wintery look. As we drove back and Jess dozed in the front passenger seat, I looked out of the window. Cumbria was beautiful and I could see why both Dan and Jess had found themselves at home on the Olympic peninsula. The two places shared a rugged beauty.
Back at the house, I found Dan standing by the French doors in the living room, staring out into the garden.
"Hey." I said softly. He turned to me and put his arm out, drawing me to his side. I put my arms around him. "How are you feeling today?"
"Sad."
"Have you spoken to her?"
He nodded, but didn't elaborate.
"How is she?"
"Upset. Which makes it worse, because all I want to do is this," Dan held me tighter. "And it's the one thing I can't do."
Susie walked into the living room.
"Oh! Sorry." She said and scuttled out again.
Dan snickered. "Well that's an unexpected lie put in place." He kissed the top of my head. "I do love you Ness." He dropped his voice lower. "But only in a sisterly way."
"Does that mean you're going to start taking the piss out of me and calling me all the names under the sun?"
"Absolutely, it's the mark of my true affection for you. The worse the name, the more I love you."
"What do you call Jane then?" I whispered.
"Oh it doesn't work for wives. She gets all the nice stuff." A sudden flash of pain showed on his face.
"You've got to be patient. Give her time, let her head clear."
"I know, that's what she keeps saying. Talking is better than nothing, but in some ways it's even greater agony because we're so close. If she was at home and thousands of miles away, this would be easier. I'm hoping we can do the garden thing tomorrow. I want to give her my gift, even if it does have to go through a go-between. I hope she likes it."
"She'll love it, it's beautiful."
"What do you think Jake's got you?"
"I don't know. A tool-kit?" The pair of us giggled. "I'm more intrigued by what Mom and Dad have gotten me. Alice said it was an odd thing to give a seven year old."
"You already have two cars and that's pretty odd for a seven year old."
"I've had a car since I was five."
"See? That's odd. Jess told me what she and Will have got for Ben and I'm like, 'what, he's only five months old.' But she says he needs one. What did you get for your first Christmas?"
"An iPod, a locket and Jake gave me a Quileute promise bracelet that he'd made."
"An iPod at three months old. How weird is that?"
I chuckled. "Welcome to our family." I held him tighter.
"Ow." He grinned. It was nice to see him smile.
That evening was the first opportunity I had to meet Dan and Jess's Grandma, as we filed into church for the Christmas Eve Carol Service. I wasn't that familiar with churches, but this one made me think of Heather's church back in Forks. She'd only been there four months but was breathing life back into it. This church felt like it had lots of life in it too. It also had lots of people in it. I couldn't quite get over, that wherever we went was packed and there were queues everywhere. When I commented on it, Jess looked at me like I was slightly stupid.
"It's Christmas." Was her only explanation.
We walked towards the front, to where Mary Burton had saved a pew for us. Susie sat next to her Mum, followed by Brian, Dan, me and Jess. Susie, Mary and Jess looked very similar; there was no doubting the family resemblance. Mary Burton was wearing smart fashionable clothes and her grey hair was cut into a modern style. All in all it made guessing her age quite difficult but she had to be around twenty years older than her daughter.
As Dan expected, Susie had completely accepted the idea that we were a couple and had rearranged the dining table earlier so that I now sat next to Dan. Jess had furrowed her brow at that, until I explained what had transpired during the afternoon.
Jess snorted. "Good luck with keeping up that charade."
"There are worst charades to have to keep up." I said and Jess's amused expression vanished in a trice.
"You're not wrong."
So here I was, sat in a church. I didn't do this all that often. What I was and what this place was didn't automatically go together. I looked behind me; people were still streaming in through the doors. I saw other people from the pub last night, including Gem, who looked more like a bat than ever today. Even Tom was here and he waved and smiled to me as he sat down a few rows back. Gem wafted her way down to the front and kissed the Vicar on the cheek. I looked to Jess, wanting explanation about that!
"Oh sorry, I should have told you. That's Gem's Dad. Strange but true. The mad vampire obsessive's Dad is the Vicar. You couldn't make it up."
I flicked through the carol sheet I'd been handed. I didn't know many of these and I'd certainly never sung the ones I did.
The service was surprisingly enjoyable and the congregation relished a chance to have a good sing. Mary was one of the readers and so too was Gem. Her piece was delivered in grave dramatic fashion and it seemed strangely inappropriate that the congregation didn't applaud wildly when she'd finished. Not that everything was serious. Jess decided to sing alternate rude versions of some carols, making me and Dan laugh. That didn't go down well with Susie, who hissed at her daughter that she was in a church and should have some respect.
"I love how she thinks that God's not got a sense of humour." She whispered. "I mean you only have to look at Dan to know that he was most definitely having a laugh there."
"Shhh!" Susie glared at her daughter.
Jess put her hand up to acknowledge that she'd stop it. But it didn't stop her rolling her eyes at her fun being curtailed.
At the end, Susie and Brian launched into doing more catch ups with people and Tom came over to me.
"So how are you liking Britain?"
"Good thanks. It's busy." I noted.
"You should see it in summer. It's worse." I couldn't imagine that the supermarket could be any worse. "I don't usually come to church." Tom sounded like he was apologising for being here.
"Me either."
"I'm not sure about the whole God thing, but this is always a good service to come to. Are you coming over to the pub?"
"I don't know what we're doing."
"Dan!" Tom called. Dan turned round "Pub?"
"Pub!" Dan called back, "Hang on!" He pushed his way through the throngs of people. "Can you believe this? My Grandma's got a boyfriend, at her age!"
"George? Keep up mate; we all know about that."
"He's barely sixty, it's just wrong!" Dan exclaimed.
"Oh, give them a break." Said Tom. "I think it's nice that you can find love at any age. Whether you're twenty two or seventy two."
'Or twelve hundred and two' I added in my head. Older women and younger guys really shouldn't be much of a shock to Dan.
"No wonder she's spruced herself up a bit." Commented Dan. "She's looking good these days. Hopefully a bit of excitement in her life will put paid to those endless comments that she'll be dying soon. She's not old, she'd just got it into her head that she was."
While Tom's Mum came over to claim his attention. Dan leaned over to me.
"He likes you. He keeps asking me things about you." Dan grinned.
"It's going to be a disappointment to him that you got there first."
He grinned. Susie came over.
"Pub you two?"
"Ask a silly question." Said Dan.
We walked out of church and Tom fell into step beside me. He asked questions constantly and made me smile. As we were about to leave the grounds, Dan poked me in the back. I turned to him and he surreptitiously pointed out that Jake was standing under a tree a little way away.
"I think someone's a bit jealous." Dan whispered.
I gave Jake a smile, but it was not returned as it would normally be. His expression was a little too forced. My heart ached to be with him. This was the difficulty of the life we led and he knew that.
Where last night had been all about getting drunk tonight was more sociable. Jess was yawning constantly thought and getting a little fidgety, tonight was her night to spend with Will.
"I'm so tired. I know as soon as my head hits the pillow I'll be out like a light. I'm not going to be good company, but I will sleep better knowing he's there. It's funny how you get used to it very quickly."
"I wouldn't know." I smiled. Mine and Jake's occasional nights together were just that, occasional. It was only because we'd have precious little time together over the holiday, that my parents were even agreeing to let me share a bed with him. And that was all it could be. If either one of us decided that a bed was for anything other than sleeping in, we'd be sleeping at opposite ends of the earth.
Jess kept looking at her watch and yawning loudly. Finally the hint was taken and we started back for the house. Jess walked as fast as she possibly could. She kissed her parents good night and ran up to our room. She grabbed a pile of stuff, disappeared into the bathroom and returned looking too well groomed to be going to bed.
I got into bed and read for a while. Jess sat in her bed and stared at the clock as it ticked its way on to midnight. I glanced over a few minutes later and saw that she'd fallen asleep sitting up. I laid her down so she wouldn't get a sore neck. She was so tired and I knew that Will would let her sleep.
The tapping at the window alerted me to his arrival. I pushed it open and he climbed in.
"Sorry, she's out for the count." I said.
"That isn't a surprise." Will sat on the bed and stroked her hair. Jess didn't respond. "I'll let her sleep."
"She'll be disappointed; she wants to be with you."
"I know. Do you mind if I stay?"
"Not at all, how are things at the house?"
"Easier, Jane was a little happier after she spoke to Dan today and she's looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. Edward isn't too happy with her head though, she's fixating on his blood too much; so it's likely that we'll head straight out after you guys have gone tomorrow. He's picked a remote area of southern Scotland to head for, one that isn't too much of a drive from here."
"Are you all going?"
Will knew what I was getting at. "Yeah sorry. We need Jake. Just in case, you know?"
I nodded sadly. The ability to tear vampires apart was a skill few possessed and Jake had that.
"You and Jake should have swapped with us for tonight."
"She really wanted to see you, but tiredness won out."
Tiredness was winning out in me too.
I said goodnight to Will. He lay down beside Jess on top of her covers. I settled down and fell asleep dreaming of absolutely nothing.