If it had been on stage it would have been billed as the typical start to a Family Christmas, but it wasn't on stage it was real, something that an hour later they finally found themselves laughing about, even Harry.
Had it not been for the fact that it was Thomas who was screaming and had hurtled himself full tilt into Harry's legs begging to be picked up, then Harry would have been delighted to have come face to face with his daughter and Callum.
'Well isn't this jolly,' Callum tried again rather unwisely, having failed dismally with 'surprise.'
'Idiot, oh hi Dad,' from Catherine had stopped Harry dead in his tracks, causing Ruth who was hot on his heels to bump into him from behind.
'Idiot,' she said again as Callum apologised and said 'good evening sir' by way of an apology to Harry, and 'Ruth', who just wanted to know why Thomas was howling whilst praying that no one other than Harry would know that her bra was undone.
'I didn't mean to frighten him, I'm sorry Cath,' failed to appease anyone, especially Ruth who by now had relieved Harry of the screaming Thomas and Harry who up to now had never heard anyone call his daughter Cath.
Lucy, still to be introduced to her prospected father in law and Ruth, hopped from one foot to the other until Graham suggested that they rescue dinner while the rest of them got re acquainted.
'Come on Lucy,' from Graham saw Ruth apologising, for what she didn't know.
They'd booked their seats the moment that Malcolm had rung and told them that Harry and Ruth were taking Thomas to Canada for Christmas, and yes Graham and Lucy had known, was Catherine's explanation when Harry had finally calmed down. It had been a gamble being on the same flight but they'd got away with it hadn't they from a still smiling Callum, wasn't a criticism of Harry's ability as a spy, but by the look on his face, Ruth had a dreadful feeling that he'd see it as such. They'd spent the day in Ottawa and then had driven down with Lucy. He, Callum that was, hadn't planned on frightening Thomas half to death by pressing his face to the window, he'd been curious to see where everyone was and he was sorry. For god's sake quit while you're ahead thought Ruth who had been watching Harry flexing his fingers.
After a long and now emotional day, they finally sat down to dinner. Alice had been put to bed but Thomas who was still awake way after his normal bedtime had been given licence to stay up and was sitting on Ruth's lap. Too tired to feed himself he hadn't been given a plate and Harry was feeding him with whatever he fancied on his. Catherine who had been determined to make this trip was absolutely fascinated by him. She'd missed out on meeting Thomas by a few weeks and when Callum had been told that he could take leave over Christmas it had become a no brainer as far as she was concerned. She'd been just as concerned as Graham about the possible negative impact that a new baby would have on her Dad and Ruth's relationship and even more so when she been told about Thomas's history, but in the space of just an hour she thought differently. They looked so relaxed, completely at ease with each other and Thomas, as they'd excused themselves from the table saying that they needed to put Thomas to bed.
'Not getting broody are you?' asked Graham who had been watching his sister. Catherine didn't answer.
On the dot of nine the following morning, their two tiny visitors climbed onto their bed. It was Christmas Eve on what promised to be a busy and fun filled day. Breakfast was delivered, they were to relax there was no hurry, said a smiling Lucy but when they were ready would they mind getting the children washed and dressed.
In the kitchen which had been tided after the previous evening's antics and where breakfast had already finished there was a planning meeting going on, with jobs being divvied out from Graham's list.
'Let's get Christmas over first before we start worrying about his party,' was a reference to Thomas being seven on the fourth.
'Ever feel like you're being side lined for some reason Ruth?' Harry asked her, as she buttered him another slice of toast whilst the children sat at the small table eating their porridge, much like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
'Whatever they're up to I intend enjoying it and so should you,' was a reference to what had been a return to Ruth's favourite wake up call. The fact that it had been at seven o'clock in the morning when she'd been sound asleep would normally have seen Harry getting short shrift, but it had been days now since they'd made love and after the previous evenings disruption when Catherine had arrived, she'd been as eager as Harry. For all his shortcomings of which there had been many, sex however Ruth wanted it had never been on that list. There had been the added frisson of knowing that the house was awash with younger members of the family all of whom were asleep, as they'd given each other the first and second of several Christmas presents.
Had they not been put in charge of the little ones, then Harry would have initiated a repeat performance in the shower, but as it was he had to wait as sticky porridge covered fingers and faces begged to be washed. None the less, even that could be enjoyed when he was sitting on the side of the bath and watching Ruth still in her pyjamas, warm and flustered. For a moment he considered the real possibility that he was the some sort of weirdo that she'd once called him, because it was having a remarkable effect on his body. He was tempted to say me next please as she finished towelling Thomas down, but he thought better of it and popped it in his memory box for another time.
By the time they got themselves and the children dressed and went outside, the garden was already a hive of activity. Callum was up a ladder and with Catherine's help was stringing lights through the branches of the trees that bordered the garden. The sound of an engine in the barn announced the arrival of Graham, as he emerged driving a small 4x4 with a trailer that was loaded with a huge Christmas tree that was being taken in the direction of the house.
Keep an eye on those two would you and no they didn't need a hand they were fine, but a cup of coffee would be nice when they had a moment, were Lucy's requests before she disappeared again, after Harry had asked her how they could help.
Duly delivered and after a shout of coffee from Harry, a question from Thomas who by now had decided that sitting on Catherine's lap might prove more fruitful in obtaining a chocolate biscuit, became a real reality check when he asked Graham why he'd been taking a tree into the house?
Ruth knew that he'd seen the Christmas tree in the school room and had been there when it had been transferred to the church because he'd helped her decorate it, but his question implied that he and his mother had never had one in the house. The air stalled as he turned to her questioningly, nobody else appearing to know how to answer his question or its implication. Not wanting to lie to him but unable to tell him that this was what people did at Christmas, she came up with the only explanation that came to mind.
'It's a surprise for Harry sweetheart, can you keep a secret?' she asked him just loud for the rest of them to hear. 'Harry loves Christmas trees so we're all going to decorate it later and put the presents around it, just like we did at school do you remember?' was true in part and all she had on the spur of the moment, as Thomas nodded to her conspiratorially and Harry mouthed, 'I love you,' marvelling at her ability to deal with almost any situation when everyone around her was floundering.
As the morning continued, there was more than one conversation going on that reflected how lucky they'd all been as children.
'It's almost inconceivable that a child can get to the age of six and not know that people have Christmas trees in their houses,' commented Catherine, when she and Ruth were sitting together during a lull in proceedings having watched Thomas and Alice disappear into the barn on Harry's coat tails.
'Peas in a pod those two, he's been amazing all things considered but he's still very fragile,' referred to Thomas not Harry and Catherine knew that. It gave her the green light to tell Ruth how she felt about their new situation.
'Graham's kept me updated about Dad's chats with Alice, but until last night I really didn't know how I'd feel about Thomas until I saw you all together, but he's lovely and it feels as though, oh I don't know, like he's the final piece in the puzzle, does that make sense?'
She was absolutely right, he was Ruth thought, 'I've missed you Catherine,' she told her.
Lunch came and lunch went and still Graham and Callum kept going. Sitting on the huge veranda which was now also bedecked with lights that had yet to be turned on, a contented and relaxed Harry, pondered what would until less than twenty four hours ago have been inconceivable. Muffled up against the rapidly dropping temperature, the Aladdin's cave that was the barn had produced some outside burners that were enabling him to sit with Ruth Catherine and Lucy and enjoy a hot toddy, whilst watching Graham driving the 4x4 through the slalom of the trees, with Callum, Thomas and Alice in the trailer. Totally content now that the warm drink had slipped like velvet from his lips, he took his eyes away from the excited children and feasted them on the three women that were sitting with him. Lucy was lovely with a shock of red hair she was beautiful, there was no other way to describe her, but she was so bloody down to earth and everything that he would have wished for his son. Catherine who he'd imagined he'd be chatting to on his phone on Christmas Day here with him, a chip off the old block and as spikey as ever and more than a match for Callum. Then Ruth, relaxed and totally in control of everything around her, masterminding, patching up the cracks and creating a bond between everyone, something that she had always been able to achieve, God how he loved her.
He'd been so carried away by his thoughts that he hadn't realised that the game that had been going on in the garden was over, until Thomas arrived like the bulldozer that he'd become and jumped onto his lap, shouting fun. He's right thought Harry, as Thomas buried his hands inside Harry's jacket and snuggled in, it was exactly what it was and this was just the start of Christmas.
'I'm fine, no damage, I've never felt better,' he told Ruth, who had been trying to restrain Thomas and prevent him from doing Harry some permanent harm, asking him if he was alright as Graham marched past them saying that if they wanted to get the tree decorated in time for Santa's visit, then they needed to get a move on.
'I used to be the parent once can you believe it?' was his response, as he and Ruth apparently in charge of the little ones again, followed the others into the house.
'We do, we do, we do,' was the outcome to Graham's question as to who wanted to turn the outside lights on, as two tiny pairs of hands one on top of the other pressed the button that illuminated the garden, before they were marshalled to the table to eat their supper and watch the tree being decorated. Lucy quite happy to be out of the limelight was in the kitchen organising dinner with Catherine.
'They're making me feel my age Ruth,' referred to the fact that it was Graham and Callum who were the ones that had been decorating the tree whilst he and Ruth had sat watching, before they'd been shunted into their bedroom to fill two pillow cases with things that would send Thomas and Alice into raptures. 'Bloody stuff,' he muttered, and Ruth said 'give it here,' as the sticking tape got stuck to his fingers for the umpteenth time.
'You need to read between the lines Harry, they've been planning this for months, they're making this Christmas all about Thomas,' was certainly a different way to look at things, as Ruth went on to tell him about the conversation that she'd had with Catherine. 'They want him to be part of the family and not feel as though we're all he has, so we have to give them the space to do that.'
'What about Alice?'
'She's two Harry she won't notice if Thomas is getting extra attention, besides which they've bonded, they share.'
'Dinner's ready,' called Lucy walking past the door, ended their conversation.
Whilst Harry and Ruth had been wrapping parcels and Lucy and Catherine had been in the kitchen, the huge sitting room had been transformed in readiness for Christmas Day. The tree was almost fully decorated and Graham and Callum had moved the dining room table so that it was positioned in front of one of the huge windows overlooking the garden.
'Who turned the lights on?' from Lucy, resulted in another 'we did' from Thomas, as Harry acknowledged what Ruth had suggested was true. He felt better and as the wine flowed he started to relax again, watching the interaction between his children and Thomas. Ruth, brilliant and beautiful had hit the nail on the head. He had to look forward and resist the temptation to look back. They couldn't change the past and what might have been. He wasn't a young man anymore and if Graham and Catherine had accepted Thomas, then his and Ruth's futures were secure and that was what really mattered. Today had seen the turning point that he'd been searching for without knowing it, that paved the way to their future.
'I'm fine,' he said again, as Ruth's hand found his own when they were sitting on the settee with the finishing touches being put to the tree, the children's eyes like organ stops when the lights came on. It was way past their bedtime but in an effort to avoid an early morning call they'd agreed to let them stay up. Whether it would work remained to be seen.
Never impetuous always measured would have been most people's description of Harry's decision making. With the promise that Santa was on his way, they'd finally managed to get the children to go to sleep and placed the two pillow cases at the foot of their beds.
'Here put your coat on,' he said to Ruth, popping his head around the door and telling Catherine that they were going outside.
'Why?' produced a smile.
It was certainly cold, bone chillingly so, but the mood that Harry was in, his intention had they seen him, would have been clear to all but Ruth who'd been heading for bed. He'd planned it to a tee even what he was going to say. It would be as the sun was going down over the sea at the High Point and they'd be sitting on her bench. With or without Thomas in their lives it wouldn't have made any difference. This time it would have been memorable in a good way. At exactly which point during the evening that he'd changed his mind and made the decision to ask her tonight he wasn't quite sure, but he was determined to do it as he turned on the burners and wrapped them in a blanket, overlooking the fact that he hadn't got a ring.
'Harry, please tell me that you've got a good reason other than us waiting for Santa, to be sitting out here when it's nearly midnight,' brought a wry grin and an overwhelming desire to kiss her. The setting with the lights around the garden, their reflection bouncing off the lake in the moonlight, he hoped would have received his Dad's approval had he been there to see him. He so wanted to believe that he knew and would be smiling.
'So this was a snap decision,' Ruth teased him, when he said he was sorry but that he didn't have a ring.'
'Hardly snap Ruth, just better than the last time I hope,'
'You've been practicing Harry,'
'Only for about a year,'
'And you're presuming that I'll say yes this time?' was the last thing that she remembered before he leaned in and kissed her.
Indoors, with Lucy and Callum in their rooms and with the children asleep, Graham assuming that Harry and Ruth were in bed, was about to lock the front door when Catherine stopped him.
'I'm not positive but if you'd seen the look on his face before they went out there, I'm sure that's what he's going to do.'
'Wow married, Dad and Ruth.'
'Yes Graham, do you have a problem with that because I don't? It's what they both want and deserve.'
'I'm not disagreeing Catherine I think it's wonderful, but why tonight?'
Catherine despaired, not for the first time about the romantic nature of the men in her family.
'We keep this to ourselves Graham, we leave it to them to tell us, no comments, now go to bed.'
'So when do we tell them Harry?'
'I haven't thought that far ahead Ruth,' could have gone on for a lot longer, had they not realised that they faced the real possibility of being locked out.
Harry had scored full marks on the romance chart and they'd stayed outside far longer than he'd first intended given how cold it was, as their feet crunched into the snow towards the front door, still wrapped together on what was now Christmas Day.