Thank you for the reviews.
So I said on Twitter that this one and the next two carry on from each other. It will become apparent, don't you worry.
Set during 2008.
Day Twenty-One
Lonely This Christmas
Rachel is set to spend Christmas alone until Eddie turns up, saying 'You didn't really think I'd let you spend Christmas alone, did you?'
Word count: 1,552
Rachel could only imagine the reason why Eddie had a massive smile on his face as he entered her office. It almost brought one of her own face but she had realised earlier how behind she had gotten with her paperwork and how much she needed to catch up with it.
"I do think I prefer it when you come into my office in a bad mood." Rachel said.
"Why?"
"Because I think I could guess why you are in a bad mood. I can't guess why you are in a good one."
"Then I won't keep you in suspense. Where are you spending Christmas this year?"
"At home."
"With Melissa?"
"Probably."
"Well… why don't you spend it with me and my family?"
Rachel was instantly reminded of when he had asked her to spend a day with his family the year before and she was as close to accepting it back then as she was in that moment. If anything, she didn't want to dampen the good mood that Eddie was in but she was aware of how big of a moment that would be for both her and him.
Because, for Eddie, it would probably give him the confirmation that he wanted that they were together and that she wanted to get to know his family better than him just telling her bits about them.
For Rachel, it would be the first time she would be meeting a boyfriend's parents. With her unable to do the same thing the other way round or really knowing the meaning of family, she had no idea how it would go down and, at that moment, had convinced herself that they would all hate her and she would end up ruining the day because of Eddie's gesture.
"I… I can't leave Melissa and Philip on their own." She paused for a moment. "Maybe next year."
Eddie did a pretty awful job of hiding her disappointment at her dismissal of his suggestion.
"No, of course. Of course. They are your only family."
"Eddie."
"No, I didn't think."
She tilted her head to the side. "Look, your birthday is in a couple of months. I understand that you want me to meet your family. Just… Melissa would moan if we didn't at least see each other on Christmas. It is the only time that we do get on."
Rachel felt like Eddie was still disappointed but she felt like she might have softened the blow just a little.
"What is wrong with Edward?"
Alice could only look over at Zoe and wonder what the best way to word why her brother was looking so upset on Christmas Eve. Usually, he would be high on sugar like the rest of the kids, with even Cathy now rolling her eyes at her uncle's behaviour. Instead, he was sulking. Something that she expected from Abbie (who was her eight-year-old daughter), not her 39-year-old brother.
"Mum, it's Rachel," Alice said.
"I didn't realise that they were together. They haven't already split up, have they?"
"No, Sue. Nothing like that." Zoe said. "Just Eddie invited her over for Christmas and she turned him down."
"He was hoping to change her mind but he couldn't. He is sulking because he found out that she isn't spending Christmas with her sister like he thought. She is spending it alone." Alice said.
"She can't do that." Her mum said.
"Mum, I… From what I gather, Rachel doesn't do Christmas like we do Christmas."
"Eddie said to me that Christmas was ruined for her when she was a kid. He didn't really go any further than that." Zoe said.
"But she can't be on her own at Christmas." Her mum said.
"Hence why he is sulking," Alice said as she gestured towards him.
If there was one thing for certain, Alice knew that her mum wasn't going to allow Eddie to sit there and sulk or let Rachel have Christmas on her own. It would be the first Christmas without her partner-in-crime if what she thought was going to happen happened but Alice was sure that it was worth the sacrifice. The only problem they had would be who was going to help the girls with their gingerbread house.
Eddie was sure that the beer in his hand should have been doing something to help the way that he was feeling, but it wasn't. He wished that he would have changed Rachel's mind and he wished that he had never found out that Melissa was spending Christmas with her friends, leaving Rachel on her own.
With that thought consuming him again, Eddie's next plan was to down the beer so that he could go and get himself another.
He didn't expect the bottle to be taken from his hand and for his coat to be thrown over his arm that was resting on the arm of the sofa.
"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" His mum asked.
"No."
That answer earned him a slap around the head, which amused everyone who was under the age of ten.
"What was that for?" Eddie said.
"I am certain I didn't raise you to be this stupid." His mum paused, obviously giving him time to think about what he had done wrong. "Rachel?"
"Mum…"
"Don't Mum me. I certainly didn't raise you to leave the poor girl all alone on Christmas. Did we Robert?" She said as she turned to his dad.
Eddie knew that his dad was going to agree, mainly because his dad had learnt when to agree with his mum and when it was okay to argue with her. Although Eddie felt like this was going to be a situation where his dad probably agreed with his mum anyway.
"So?" His mum said, turning her attention back to him. "Or are you too drunk? Does your sister have to do everything for you?"
"Hey, don't drag me into this!" Alice shouted from the kitchen.
"Okay. Okay. I'm going." Eddis said as he stood up.
For all the badgering that his mum did, Eddie was sure that he was standing in the hallway for a good half an hour after he got his bag from his room (grateful that he hadn't unpacked it yet) being told exactly what he had to do.
Part of him wished that he had the chance to tell Alice 'Thanks for that' in person but he quickly sent her a quick text saying that before he set off to Rachel's. Although he wondered whether his sarcastic reply would actually be sincere by the end of the Christmas period.
As Rachel poured the last of the red wine from the bottle into her glass, she wondered whether she had made the right choice of spending Christmas alone. She had done it in the past but there was something about this Christmas that made her feel more lonely than she had done in the past. Maybe it was because she knew that she could have been at Eddie's parents rather than on her own.
She picked her phone for (what felt like) the 50th time, wondering whether it was too late for her to accept Eddie's offer.
But then she knew that it would be more than just Eddie and she would have his whole family to contend with and it did scare her. It scared her that he had this massive close family when she only had her sister in her life so that she had her nephew. There was only one family member that Rachel wanted Eddie to get on with. He had 18. And she was sure that his nieces would probably be the worst when it came to the interrogation.
It was simpler this way. This way she could confirm to herself that she wanted a proper relationship with Eddie and then she would introduce the idea of meeting his family in parts. Maybe with Alice first, as Eddie seemed to talk the most about his sister and (apparently) partner-in-crime. For her to get used to the fact that she would be joining a proper family if things got completely serious with Eddie.
Rachel was extremely confused when the doorbell rang and she almost didn't answer it, expecting it to be carol singers. Her curiosity was increased when it went rang again and she could not think who was on the other side of the door.
Meaning that she was very surprised to open the door to see Eddie standing there.
"Eddie?"
"You didn't really think I'd let you spend Christmas alone, did you?"
"But… your family."
"I think they can survive without me for one Christmas."
"No, you should…"
"And have my mum hit me over the head again. No way. I'm 39. I don't like being told off like I am nine."
Rachel couldn't help but smile as she let him in, knowing that he meant what he had just said. And she wondered whether this was all for just Christmas Day or for the whole period.