Rolling over Kate nestled into Mikes arms, sighing softly she looked at the alarm clock and it was just after 4:30 and the sun was already beginning to creep through the blinds.

"Morning" Mike whispered softly. Teasing her in to a kiss

"Morning" she smiled. Looking up she could feel his breath warm on her face and his fingers trailing down her back

Pushing herself gently up against her pillow. It was nice to wake up and have the space to themselves without the kids being in their bed, although that may have something to do with the Elf cam she had brought from amazon. A little bauble pretending to be a CCTV camera with a direct feed to Lapland so Santa could see if they children were being good or not. it seemed to be working they had so far stayed in their own rooms for the past 2 nights.

"so what do you have planned today as you have all this shore leave" Mike grinned reaching over brushing her hair from her face.

"i was planning on meeting up with Nikki and going to the Christmas market in town, get some last minuet gifts" she smiled

"sounds fun" he smiled "you know we have time before the kids will be up" he grinned sneaking his hand underneath her

"really and what did you have in mind" she grinned, pushing him back against his pillows nipping at his neck

"well," he grinned flipping her so she was under him, teasing her in to a kiss.

Giggling softly, she pulled him closer wrapping her arm around his neck pulling him closer deepening the kiss.

After dropping the kids off at school Kate made her way in to town, she was meeting Nav at a little café in the shopping centre. Parking her car, she walked through the shopping centre.

"i was beginning to think you had stood me up" Nav grinned as Kate approached

"sorry" she smiled "Chris didn't want to go in to day-care"

"i am only teasing." Nav smiled picking up her cup. "you ready to go?"

"yeah, let me just get a coffee" she smiled walking up to the counter. "peppermint mocha with cream" she smiled handing over her re-useable cup.

The market was in the outdoor shopping centre up the main street and down a few of the little side streets. There were little independent crafters selling wooden toys Jewlery and ceramics. There were stalls selling local cheese, wine and spirits. Food stalls selling homemade fudge, sweets and cakes.

"how much have you got left to get?" Nav asked as they looked at a little handmade soap stall

"not much still got to get Mikes things and maybe a few little stocking fillers for the kids and then I am done" Kate said getting herself a peppermint and tee-tree soap that smelt divine.

"so still not considering what I showed you" Nav grinned

"no, I told you we are okay in that department thank you very much" Kate said hoping her cheeks weren't going red. "anyway what about you"

"just got to get my brother something but I may just get him a keg and some chocolate as he is a awkward bugger to shop for" she smiled

Kate laughed as they continued along the row of stalls.

"oh, and I need to find a panettone. A proper traditional Italian one otherwise my mum will hit the roof"

"it's just a fruit cake isn't it" Kate asked

"well yes kind of and personally I prefer pandoro as I hate dried fruits but and the pandoro goes with a hot chocolate better but mum is a stickler for tradition. We have to have panettone., which reminds me I will do the duty watch Christmas eve night"

"okay I was going to do the normal unlucky dip, so why are you so keen" Kate folded her arms turning to look at her friend

"because Mum will drag me to the midnight mass and it is so boring. And then we have to go to church again in the morning before breakfast and opening presents. And then we would have to go again in the evening. And that's what mum is expecting this year as well as a full-on Italian Christmas feast"

"come on let's finish this shopping and we can discuss the duty watch over lunch" Kate smiled

Walking round Kate managed to get a gorgeous little wooden Noah's ark for Chris and a couple of dream catchers for the girls. There was a stall selling posh homemade chocolates which she could add to Mikes stocking. She was still stumped for a main big present.

Walking along one of the aisles she came across this unusual looking stall. it was selling framed parchment paper with family name histories on. There was 2 huge folders with every possible name in there.

"what name you looking for?" the lady on the stall

"umm Flynn. Double n" she smiled

She watched as the woman typed it in to the search bar.

"here we are" the woman clicked on the name. "The Flynn's were lords of Tuitre which is now in Atrium. Decedents from the O'Floin line who were a branch of Clanna Rury which claimed to be decedents of King Colla Uais, who was king of Ireland in the 4th century"

"wow" Kate said "um how much is that" she asked

"$45 in a frame of $30 just the scroll for a single name or I can do a double scroll for $10 so you could add a additional surname for a couple is there a second name you might like to add?"

"umm McGregor" Kate said watching as the woman typed it in.

"is that with or without an a?"

"with out M-c-G-r-e-g-o-r" Kate smiled as the woman clicked on the right name.

"here we are. McGregor is a Scottish name in origins from the Gaelic Mac Grioga in meaning son of Gregory. It was first found in Argyllshire or Ghaidheal as it was known as in Gaelic. The region in the west of Scotland which corresponds with the ancient kingdom of Dal Riata which is now in the Strathclyde region. The origins can be trased back to Griogair who was the son King Alpin who was a 8th century king he was the high king of the Scots and the Picts and died in 860AD. the translated motto for the McGregor family is 'Royal is my blood' and the line is descended from Kenneth the Hardy son of MacAlpin the first king of Scotland" the woman smiled "so single or double scroll?" she asked

"umm I'll take the double one please otherwise I don't think my husband will believe me that my name is royal." Kate laughed pulling out her card

"with or with out a frame?" the woman asked printing both scrolls off"

"um with please" Kate smiled

She turned on the spot trying to see where Nav had got to. She spotted her looking at some candles on a stall opposite. Spying Kate Nav walked over

"there you are. What you getting"

"a history of our names."

"here we are" the woman smiled sliding the large frame over the counter.

At the top there were their 2 names and each of the coat of arms. Mikes was a blue shield with three gold dots and a silver wolf on topped with a knight's helmet. Kates was an oak tree on a silver background crossed by a sword and a crown also topped with a knight's helmet.

Paying Kate carefully picked up the frame. It was bigger than she was expecting.

"do you want to see your name?" the woman asked Nav.

"mine won't be there I don't think. Caetano. C-a-e-t-a-n-o." Nav spelt out the name

"sadly not" the woman looked up

"thought so. Its Italian" Nav smiled "thanks anyway" nav said as they walked away.

Looking round a few more stalls Kate sighed placing her bags on a bench. Struggling to carry them all. Turning to nav she smiled

"shall we grab some lunch before we continue?" she asked

"yeah, sounds good. Lets go here" she said pointing to a new little café that had recently opened

"okay" Kate smiled picking up the bags she had just placed down following Nav in to the little cafe

so hope you like this. just a note the origins of both mike and Kate's family names is correct and the information can be found on . i got this idea just before we went in to lockdown 2.0 here as there was a woman at a market selling these scrolls with your family name. family history has always fascinated me. anyway hope you like it and let me know what you think