Chapter 21

The purchase of the house happened remarkably quickly. Work had begun on the cleaning and painting and the Turners had begun packing up the flat in the hope of moving the week after new year.

There had been a lot of discussion around what to do with the flat. John and Trixie had thought about renting it off the them but in the end Trixie had decided that she would always feel like it was theirs and would have trouble feeling like it was her home. In the end the solution had come on Christmas Eve when Patrick and John were both seeing patients in the surgery and there were four mothers in varying stages of labour.

"It a shame we can't click our fingers and have a couple more rooms magically appear." Trixie said as she grabbed a quick cup of tea with Shelagh before Mrs Black moved into active labour.

"Yes." Shelagh agreed, her mind began working overtime with the possibilities. A doorway between the flat and the Maternity Home would mean Patrick and John could use each of the bedrooms as an office. It would also mean a separate entrance for patients for the surgery and the Maternity Home. The sitting room could easily accommodate her desk and the waiting area and possibly even a small clinical room could be built incorporating the kitchen. All of this would mean the waiting area, clinical room and Patrick's office could all be space that could be better utilised by the Maternity Home.

Patrick would finally be able to have a room dedicated to conducting ultrasounds something she knew he had been frustrated about especially since word of the remarkable machine was spreading and he was spending three mornings every week doing them. He had commented only last week that business was so brisk that he could almost work full time in the obstetric side of the practice and leave the rest to John.

"Shelagh you look lost in thought." Trixie commented as she finished her tea.

"I think I might have just had a rather interesting idea." Shelagh smiled at her friend.

"Are you planning to share it?"

"I need to speak to Patrick first but I promise if he thinks it is worth doing we will definitely need your and John's input."

Trixie got a sappy look on her face at the mention of her husband's name. Shelagh loved to see it, she knew it was a similar look to the one she wore whenever she was near Patrick when they were first able to express their feelings for each other.

"Have you had any luck finding somewhere to live?" Shelagh asked knowing it was a high priority for the couple.

Trixie moaned. "It's so frustrating! We have so little time when we are not both rostered on to work we just haven't been able to look at places and neither of us want to choose something on our own. We have to find something soon though I don't think Sister Julienne has quite recovered from finding us both coming out of John's room the day after the wedding!"

Shelagh laughed. "I'm sure she is fine." Knowing the Sister had actually found the whole situation rather amusing once she found out the couple were in fact married.

It was two days before Shelagh had a chance to present her ideas for the flat to Patrick. "Beauty and brains – I am a very lucky man. That is a brilliant idea. I will organise to have some contractor's quote in the new year." Had been his enthusiastic response as he leaned in and kissed her.

…

It had taken all Patrick, Shelagh and Timothy's powers of persuasion to get Angela to settle on Christmas Eve. Initially they had thought it was the excitement of Christmas but when she was put to bed and started crying they were all perplexed. When she was still crying an hour later it was Tim who finally coaxed the problem out of her.

"She didn't like the idea of a stranger in our house." Tim explained as he came in to the sitting room to sit with his parents.

Shelagh looked at him questioningly. "What stranger?"

"Santa. She didn't like the idea of Santa coming into the house when we were all asleep." Tim smiled loving the way his little sisters mind worked. "She's fine now. I told her how he was in and out really fast and would leave plenty of presents for her." Tim eyed both his parents. "He will be leaving lots of presents right?"

Patrick and Shelagh laughed. "He hasn't let you down yet has he Timothy?" Patrick asked.

"There were a couple of years when he was a little under par but I have to say the last three years have seen a marked improvement." Timothy grinned.

"Well then dearest you had better get yourself off to bed or he may decide to leave you coal." Shelagh told him with a gentle smile, her heart loving the fact that he though Christmas was better since she had joined the family.

…..

Christmas morning was a sea of wrapping paper followed by squeals of delight. Angela had received toys, books and much to the family's horror a drum from the Donald's in Scotland. Shelagh decided very quickly that would be a toy that only came out on special occasions.

Patrick had given Shelagh a lovely matching negligée and robe to wear after she had the baby which he confessed he did receive a bit of help selecting from Trixie. He also gave her two new records and a lovely new brooch.

Shelagh had had a very hard time thinking of a gift for Patrick this year and even more trouble arranging how to purchase it given the fact that she was supposed to spend most of her time resting and not braving the Christmas crowds on the high street. In the end she had resorted to being creative and given Patrick a book with hand drawn pictures of things she thought he might like for the new house and a promise to not complain about any of the purchases he made. Towards the back of the book she had written several other promises of a more intimate nature that she promised to fulfil once the baby had been born.

Timothy had loved all of his gifts but there were two that were particularly special. His parents had given him the bike he had been saving to buy for the last year which meant he had a years worth of savings at his disposal when Bernadette came to visit. The other favourite gift had come from Bernadette. Inside the soft package had been two scarves. Her note said she remembered him telling her how he was expected to wear his school scarf on weekends and she agreed that was more than anyone should have to bear so she had decided to knit him one however, she discovered she was rather an appalling knitter. She had enclosed the knitted one which Tim held up and had to agree that knitting wasn't her forte however underneath it was a rather lovely scarf which had been either purchased of knitted by someone who actually knew what they were doing. Tim loved them both.

Once the mess of Christmas had been cleared away and Timothy and Angela were left in the sitting room happily playing together Patrick and Shelagh went in to the kitchen to start breakfast. Shelagh had only had time to put the kettle on before she felt her husband's strong, solid body press himself behind her.

"Have you had a nice Christmas?" He asked nuzzling her neck.

Shelagh thought briefly about past Christmases and how she felt at this very moment and began to tear up. She turned in her husband's arms and buried her face in his chest as the tears began to flow more freely.

"Shelagh, darling, what's wrong? Did you not like your gifts? We can change them. Please don't cry." Patrick begged.

Shelagh shook her head on his chest. "Patrick I didn't know I could ever be this happy." She sniffled.

Patrick was a bit perplexed because having his wife clinging to him in tears certainly didn't seem like she was happy.

"When I think about my life only four years ago and how different it is now. I love the Sisters and I don't regret that life because it lead me to you and you have given me love and a family. Four years ago I longed for a life just as I have now and I the guilt of wanting it made me so very wretched and now….well now I my dreams have come true and I am so very, very grateful."

"So these are happy tears?" Patrick asked as his wife lifted her head from his chest and he was able to gently wipe her eyes.

"Very happy tears." Shelagh agreed.

….

After church the Turner family made their way to Nonnatus House for Christmas lunch. It had been expected from their first year as a married couple that Patrick, Shelagh and Timothy would be joining the nuns and nurses for lunch on Christmas day, after all they were family.

Patrick had been unsure at first. He had been a colleague of these women for over a decade and had often drunk tea with them but eating Christmas lunch as a member of the family was a whole different thing.

It had been just he and Timothy for the Christmas after Marianne had died and then there was the Christmas they had spent at the London watching over Timothy. The next Christmas however, had seen the Turners sitting at the end of the table at Nonnatus House, Shelagh holding the precious gift of their daughter who had come to them only 10 weeks ago and Patrick not being able to take his eyes off either of them.

Every Christmas with Shelagh bought joy to his heart and once again this year they were sitting at the end of the table, Angela now big enough to sit in the high chair that was kept in the kitchen especially for her and Patrick thinking about next Christmas when Shelagh would once again have a baby in her arms. He looked over at his glowing wife who was deep in conversation with Sister Monica Joan, he thought about the absence of Sister Evangelina and the hole her passing had left in all their lives. He watched as his son talked animatedly about something to Nurses Mount and Busby. He looked at his partner – John Burton, Patrick was grateful to have another man at the table finally but it appeared this year he only had eyes for his new bride. For a man who lacked faith, Patrick thought he was very blessed.