"No it's not, it's a bit shit more like and why the fuck do we have to listen to this ….. shit ….. all day?"

Bella was slumped, head on one arm of the chair with her hair hanging down and her legs over the other arm one slipper missing and one hanging off with her eyes screwed tightly shut as she waved her hand in the air in front of her, either as a vague acknowledgment of her sister or as a gesture of abhorrence at the sound of Ding Dong Merrily from the Christmas CD playing quietly in the background.

"Bella don't be horrible, Mum's tree's lovely" Molly walked across and gave her sister's leg a sharp prod with her foot, not a proper kick even though she was sorely tempted, but just a sort of nudge that made her remaining slipper fall off "Charles, this person in the chair, the one what looks like seven shades of shit with a hangover and who hasn't got any bleedin' manners at ALL, is my little sister Bella" Molly thought for a second about what to say next to Bella who still hadn't lifted her head properly or opened her eyes to look at either of them "And you get up and change the music if you don't like it, don't expect someone else to do it for you just cos you was out last night and got shit-faced, and that's no reason to be mean to mum either is it? And where ARE your bleedin' manners? Say hello to Charles"

"Who are you, Tinkerbell? Or the Angel Gabriel?"

"No neither ….. and anyhow he was a bloke"

If Bella heard what Molly had said she took absolutely no notice, instead began a whining justification of herself "She bloody deserves it, Moll, she shouldn't have made me get up, I should still be in me bed, hello Charles" Bella didn't bother to alter her tone of voice or open her eyes as she greeted him so that Charles gave one of his low soft chuckles, he was obviously deeply amused although momentarily exceedingly glad that he was an only and hadn't got any siblings like this one, something he'd always regretted in the past, not now. He introduced himself quietly "And hello to you too Bella, it's very nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you" He gave another chuckle "Merry Christmas"

At the sound of his voice one of her eyelids shot skywards and she immediately started to struggle to get herself properly upright despite having to battle an attack of ugly head rush "Funny that, cos we'd never even 'eard of you till a few days back and then me mum went into this shittin' fit of everythin' has to be just right, not like when it were just that boring fucker Adam, nobody gave a toss about 'im so she didn't feel like she 'ad to bother"

Bella had now managed to get both her eyes open enough to squint up at Charles so that his physical appearance registered somewhere in the dark reaches of her hangover befuddled brain along with his soft posh speaking voice, two things that made her lift her hands and smooth her tangled hair away from her face trying to smile at him in a vain attempt to look beguiling. Her head was making it impossibly hard for that smile to be convincing as a smile of welcome and not a leer as she looked at the tall bloke with the sexy voice standing there smiling down at her with his hair all messy and his eyes all crinkled up at the edges. Shit, just her bloody luck to look and feel like something the cat spewed up when her jammy bloody sister bought someone who looked like him home with her. Even feeling like shit she could see exactly what Molly saw in him and why she'd got shot of boring bloody Adam in favour of this one, she would have done the exact same thing herself given half a bloody chance. Okay maybe he looked a little bit on the old side for her, but who the fuck cared.

"God Bels, just shut your gob will you?"

Molly glared at her sister, treating her to one of her patented death stares before shooting an anxious look at Charles who was smiling and idly playing with her hair. She wanted to hit her, hard, and would have done just that if he hadn't been standing there, instead she settled for gnawing frantically at her lip and trying desperately to think of something to say, bearing in mind what Bella had just said about him in front of him. Didn't her bloody stupid hung-over brain dead little sister realise how it would make him feel to hear someone say he'd made a shed load of work for mum just by coming home with her for the day?

"What? What did I do? ….. What you looking at me like that for?"

"Hey, don't worry about it" Charles spoke softly and dropped a light kiss on Molly's temple, knowing she was livid at her sister's outstanding lack of tact so that he suddenly understood exactly why she'd been so anxious about her family before they'd arrived "Come on, smile, it's okay, really it is"

"Nah it's bloody not, I'm sorry Charles, I don't know what to say, she's a bloody moron sometimes …. and I bet it's not even true, she's just mad at mum for making her get up when she's got a hangover"

"Who you calling a moron?"

"You, will you just shut the fuck up and come and say hello properly"

"Can't, I can't get up right now, I'm not well"

"Bloody hell Bels, what were you on last night?"

"Dunno, can't remember"

"Jesus, where did you go? And who with for that matter?"

"Tell you later, let's talk about some'ing else"

Bella shot a quick glance at her grandmother as she came bustling in with the mugs of tea and a coffee for Charles, although nothing at all for Bella, who quite obviously didn't want to talk about her evening out in front of Nan for some reason, and who was also quite obviously in her bad books already if the look she gave her was anything to go by.

"Tea Molls, and 'ere Charles, black coffee for you, that's right innit?" She smiled at him and patted his arm as she passed him a mug of something that looked remarkably like tar, and then turned her head and spoke sharply to Bella with iron in her voice. Charles wouldn't have minded betting that there were very few people who argued the toss with her and even fewer who won "Now young lady, do some'ing useful, get yourself up off yer arse, get in that kitchen 'n go and 'elp yer mother"

"I'll go Nan"

Molly didn't want to leave him on his own with Nan, heaven forbid, but she wanted to speak to her Mum, wanted to ask her what she thought of him, not that her mum had had much chance to get to know him yet, but still first impressions and all that.

"Nah you won't my girl, Bella will, you can stop 'ere and tell me 'ow you've been, what you've been up to and you can look after this lovely man of yours" It was obvious to Molly what sort of first impression he'd made on Nan "Mind you, if I was twenty years younger ….."

"NAN" Molly shot an agonised look of embarrassment at Charles who smiled and shook his head slightly trying to tell her not to worry.

"You'd still be twenty years too fuckin' old"

All three of them heard Bella's muttered comment clearly even though that wasn't what she'd intended when she'd said it under her breath after she'd managed to struggle to her feet to do as she was told, but all three of them decided to tactfully ignore it even though Nan glared at her and Charles felt the small involuntary shudder of a hastily suppressed giggle that ran through Molly.

"No, you're alright Mum, don't need help in 'ere and Dave'll be back in a bit with the little 'uns, you go and talk to your sister Bels"

Belinda's voice was distant but distinct as she yelled from the kitchen meaning that Bella turned round and flounced back, flinging herself down on the chair with an expression of barely suppressed triumph on her face as she smirked at her grandmother. Charles desperately wanted to laugh, he'd seen that expression on Molly's face so many times when they'd disagreed about something and she'd won.

"So, come on then, what did Father Christmas bring you for being a good girl?"

Molly sat forward on the sofa and smirked at her sister as she tucked her hair back behind her ears angling her head from side to side to show off the diamond studs in her ears that Charles had given her that morning while they were still in bed.

"Bloody hell, Molls, they real?" Bella got up to have a closer look at her sister's ears and had to grab onto Molly's arm as a wave of dizziness, the result of moving too quickly with a killer hangover, almost made her pitch headlong across her sister and end up face down in his lap "Can I have a borrow?"

"Yeah they're real and nah, you bloody can't"

They'd solemnly agreed not to exchange gifts, had promised they would wait until after Christmas when they would get each other something while they were away for a few days, where they were going to go they hadn't decided as yet, but Charles kept insisting it had to be somewhere warm. He kept saying how lovely it would be for them to be able to go to bed without having to have a bloody great duvet up around their necks. Both of them had broken that promise. When Molly had seen the tiny jewellers box she'd thought for one terrifying moment that he'd bought her a ring, a terror that she'd managed to hide, she hoped successfully, as he'd put the studs in her ears and she'd dotted his face with hundreds of little thank you kisses and told herself that of course there wasn't a bit of her that was ….. disappointed …. she'd have had to say no anyway. It was the first time in her life that she'd ever had real diamonds, well real anything actually, in the past any jewellery she'd been given or had got for herself had come from QVC or the market, that's if you don't count Smurf's mum's ring, and that had never been what you might call hers.

"Ere Nan, 'ave you seen our Molls' earrings?"

"Very nice, you must remember to show your dad, give him some ideas for next year"

Neither of the girls responded to what Nan said, they just exchanged eyebrow raised looks instead so that Charles was aware of an undercurrent but was slightly puzzled as to what he was missing.

"Don't shit-stir Nan" Bella turned to Molly to try and change the subject "What did you get for him Molls? for Charles?"

"A toy"

"A what? … a toy what? ….. Oh I get it, one of them … ones"

"No it bloody well weren't and what do you know about them sort of toys?" Molly giggled and blushed slightly, glad now that she hadn't given into temptation and done exactly that, she'd thought about it "It's a little 'elicopter, sort of looks like a real one, but really titchy, it's remote control with a little spy camera thing on it"

"It's bloody brilliant"

Charles laughed out loud as he spoke and Molly glowed, knowing he was completely sincere. He'd already charged the battery up and got it going round the front room at his and had then joked that it wasn't fair and he wanted to bring it with him until Molly had pointed out that three little boys, four if you counted her dad and five with him all wanting to play with the same thing at the same time was a recipe for fighting. She had been immeasurably relieved that he genuinely seemed to love it, her confidence in the thing had started to drain away almost from the moment she got it back to barracks and thought about wrapping it up. She'd sat and looked at the box for bloody ages wondering whether the sensible thing would be to take it back and buy him a … shirt or something, now she was glad that she hadn't.

"Not gonna ask you what Santa bought you, you're never a good girl" Molly laughed at her sister as she said it.

"Bloody am, have you know he bought me some knickers" Bella stuck her tongue out at her sister and laughed "You might 'ave some 'n all when you get to open stuff, I bet Nan got some for you 'n all"

There was another definite undercurrent in the conversation as Nan glared at Bella and changed the subject.

"That'll do young lady" She shot a glance at Charles "So how do you two know each other then?"

Molly made an instant decision to get her sister on her own for a bit of a chat or to ring her in a day or two and arrange for them to go out for a drink and a bit of a catch up. She realised that it had been months since they'd last done it and she had no clue what was going on in Bella's world.

"Charles is army Nan"

"What like you, you mean?"

"Well yeah … nah not really, I mean, you know I'm a squaddie ….. and he's …. well, he's … umm … he's … not"

"Very clearly put, Dawsey"

Charles was laughing as he leaned forward to explain what she'd meant but there was a sudden commotion as several children hurtled into the room all shouting at the tops of their voices or in the case of one of them, bawling loudly. Molly had a huge smile on her face as she jumped to her feet and then sank to the floor buried in their hugs and looked up with uncertainty as her dad yelled at them to 'bleeding shut it for god's sake' and that 'he couldn't hear himself think' a statement which prompted a derisive snort and a muttered riposte from her grandmother. Whatever it was she'd said, and Charles didn't catch it, it was obviously not the first time she'd ever said it as Molly and Bella both collapsed in fits of giggles and Belinda, who'd appeared in the doorway, began to 'shshsh' at them all, shooting agonised glances in Charles' direction.

He realised with a jolt that Molly hadn't told them anything about him at all, that they hadn't even known he existed before now even though he and Molly had known one another for years. As far as her family knew he was a complete bloody stranger that she'd known for a few days, or maybe a few weeks at the most and that not her parents, her grandmother, her siblings, none of them had the faintest idea of their shared history. None of them knew that he and Molly had been lovers before she'd even met bloody Adam.

-OG-

"What you crying for mate?" Molly had taken the piece of loo roll her grandmother handed her when she'd pulled the small tear-stained and snotty nosed little boy onto her lap as he stopped trying to lick the snot away and wiped his nose with the back of a grubby little hand spreading it across his face "'ere ….. Martin, blow …. don't wanna wear your snot all day, do I?"

"He didn't wanna come 'ome, wanted to stay on the bloody rec and build a fuc… a snowman, never mind there's hardly any bleeding snow left and that it's perishing bloody cold out there"

"Never mind mate, there'll be some more another day …. I expect" She looked round at everyone else biting her lip, acknowledging by her look that it was probably wishful thinking rather than a certainty but that it would satisfy him, would stop his tears.

"Hello Dad"

"Molls"

Dave nodded his head in acknowledgment of his eldest daughter, the girl that he loved but didn't understand one little bit; he didn't get for one minute what the fuck she thought she was doing getting shot of a decent bloke like Adam.

"Dad, this is Charles … ummm …. Charles is a sort of friend of mine" She turned round from where she was still sitting on the floor and looked at Charles mouthing the word 'sorry' knowing he would hate the way she'd just downgraded their relationship "Charles this is me Dad, Dave"

"Mr Dawes …. " Charles half-raised himself from the sofa and leaned over to shake Dave Dawes' hand, he would have got totally to his feet but Molly was still leaning against his legs as her father leaned over and shook his hand with a surprisingly firm grip. The man looked exactly the way Molly had described him so long ago, except that he wasn't dressed solely in his pants; he was pale and pasty and somewhat overweight, definitely didn't look as if he was particularly fit, but he had a pleasant enough expression on his face as he nodded an acknowledgement. He was another one who was far younger than Charles had expected, he looked to be a different generation to his own father.

The exchange of gifts was manic with Molly distributing stuff from the carrier bags and children ripping paper off and then throwing it all over the floor, shouting their delight at a selection of games and there was smelly stuff for the adults, a mutual choice it would seem, as well as some very minimal knickers for Molly which made her giggle and exchange knowing looks and raised eyebrows with Bella and her other sister Jade. Jade was a young teenager who bore an incredible likeness to Molly so that he'd winked and smiled at her and was rewarded by her face turning into a bright scarlet beacon of embarrassment which made him regret the impulse. He hadn't expected any of the Dawes clan to be shy …. it was the last thing he'd expected The younger ones appeared to be thrilled with the selection of tooth-rotting sweets that Molly had suggested he buy when he'd asked, so that he felt a sudden sharp pang of loneliness for Sam.

He missed him badly but had been trying not to dwell on not seeing him on Christmas Day; he could only hope his son was having a good time and enjoying the snow. Sam would think he was in heaven if his mum allowed him to have sweets, they were strictly forbidden as far as she was concerned, even on Christmas day, so that Charles promised himself he would get her to cut Sam some slack next time he saw them. Molly had told him that on no account to get booze, especially not for her dad, although he'd bought some chocolates and bottles of Prosecco as his contribution to the dinner, it would have been Champagne but Molly had said that she wasn't keen.

In no time at all the kids were high as kites on the sweets they'd been stuffing as fast as they could get them into their mouths knowing that their window of opportunity was limited and sure enough Belinda had taken them away and put them out of reach saying they'd spoil their dinners if they had any more and that they could have them back after, something that triggered a mass melt-down which she completely ignored. They were now busy charging up and down the stairs yelling at the tops of their voices as they played some complicated game that sounded dangerous so that Belinda kept on yelling "Not on the bloody stairs, how many times 'ave I told you lot?" which they completely ignored and "It'll end in someone getting 'urt" which they also ignored.

-OG-

"What time's dinner gonna be ready Belinda? Me bloody stomach thinks me throat's been cut"

"Don't start, it'll be ready when it's ready, Mum wants to eat before the Queen but I'm still waiting for Shazza to ring, let me know if she's coming or not" Belinda was in the kitchen so missed seeing the horrified glances that her family exchanged "Wish she'd 'urry up, she's late"

-OG-

A/N: Thank you for your kind words and reviews, I really appreciate them. I know that this Christmas Day seems to be lasting forever and we haven't even got to lunch yet, but it was always going to be the focus of the story and has got a fair way to go yet! I'm hoping to update before Christmas Day (the real one) but can't promise (relatives permitting) so just in case I want to wish everyone a really happy Christmas, I can't believe that this is my third one writing on here… On a different note no prizes for guessing what my hero is getting for Xmas …. Hope you enjoyed Christmas morning with the Dawes … Christmas lunch ASAP