History Repeated - Part 16: Twas The Night Before Christmas

Alex put down the phone and headed into the living room where he found Tess and Charlotte putting up the Christmas tree.

"That was Nick," Alex said.

Tess turned instantly. Hearing Nick's name always got her attention pretty quickly. "Oh," She replied. "What did he want?"

"He reckons that mob of his is still comin' over tomorrow"

"How vital," Tess mumbled.

"What was that?" Asked Alex

"Nothing," Answered Tess. "It doesn't matter."

Alex moved towards her, "If it's gonna be too hard for you then-"

"No," Tess interrupted, "I'll be fine... I mean its Christmas isn't it? The season to be jolly, and if we all can't sit down and have a meal together then there's something very wrong."

Alex smiled, "That's the way Tess! The power of positive thinking. It'll be fun!" Alex chuckled. "Hey maybe you and Sal could get into a mud pit and fight it out! I love a bit of mud reselling. Or maybe jelly?"

Tess rolled her eyes and continued with the decorating of the tree, "Shut up Alex." She was silent before she spoke again, "I should go into town and pick up some gifts for them before the shops shut."

"Yeah righto," Nodded Alex. "BOM and I'll finish the tree. Off ya go."

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Tess had been in town for almost two hours and had picked up presents for the kids and Nick, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of what to get Sally. She was about ready to give up when she noticed a new cosmetics shop at the end of the main street. Tess found a lovely bottle of perfume that she thought Sally may like.

On her way to the ute Tess smacked straight into Nick, almost dropping her shopping bags.

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Nick said smiling down at her.

Tess looked away. She couldn't resist that smile, "Yep. We do." She took a deep breath and looked back up at him, "Listen is Harrison into model airplanes? And Libby... does she like Barbie?"

Nick nodded, "You get Lib a Barbie and she'll topple you over with praise. And yeah Harrison likes anything he can put together."

"Okay good," Tess said letting out a breath. She wasn't that good at shopping for other peoples kids.

"So what did you get me?" Nick asked, trying to peak into Tess' shopping bags.

Tess pulled the bags away, and hid them behind her back. "Nothing really. Socks and undies... really exciting stuff," She told him teasingly.

"Yeah right," Replied Nick. He didn't come down in the last shower. As if Tess would get him something so... standard.

"Well what did you get me?" Tess asked, noticing that he had a bag in his hand.

"I'm not telling you that," Nick chuckled. "And who said I got you anything anyway?"

"Well," Tess said, coking her head to the side with a grin as she read the side of the plastic bag Nick was holding. "I don't think that Sally's really into Gungellan Coffee. In fact I know for a fact that she prefers tea. And everyone who knows me knows that my favorite coffee in the world is Gungellan Coffee."

"It's mine actually," Nick said quickly. "I really like it."

"No you don't," Tess retorted.

"Yeah," Nick responded. "I do."

"Alright," Tess said as she began to walk towards the ute again. She paused and turned around, "I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

"I guess so!" Called Nick.

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