Oliver and Christina continued corresponding through letters for the next few weeks. Christina was standing in line at a tea shop buying two cups of tea one for herself and the other for Justin and a cup of hot chocolate for her daughter. She had brought her daughter to see Santa like she does every year.
"Here you go, miss," the barista said, handing her the carrier with three cups.
"Thank you."
"Have a good day."
She walked out of the coffee shop and towards the front of the mall. She saw Justin and Bethany at the front of the line. A few minutes later they were finished with Santa and met up with her.
"Here you go, sweetie," Christina said, handing her daughter the cup of hot chocolate.
"Thanks, mummy."
She ruffled her daughter's hair lovingly before handing Justin his tea. The trio continued browsing shops until Bethany got tired.
Once at home, Christina put her daughter down for a nap. She was watching her daughter sleep when her dad joined her.
"I used to watch you sleep when you were Bethy's age too," he smiled at her.
"She's a bit of a handful when she's awake."
"If I remember correctly, you were the same too," he teased his daughter.
She pouted. "I was not."
Francis laughed as they walked downstairs.
"There's no letter from you boyfriend, Chrissy," Justin teased.
"Oliver isn't my boyfriend. We've only been exchanging letters for a few weeks. I haven't even met him besides he thinks I would make a better match for his best friend Percy."
"You could ask him to the company Christmas party," Sheila suggested to her daughter.
"I doubt he would want to go to a muggle Christmas party, mum," she sighed, running a hand through her hair.
"You never know, dear. He seems like a nice man from what you've told me."
"He might assume you're magical, Chrissy, since you've been using my owl."
Christina sighed. She really liked Oliver but there's no chance he'd like her like that. This is one time she misses being in a relationship, Scott was always her date to these insipid parties. She was positive that Bethany was conceived the morning after the Christmas party of 1997.
December 1997
It was the morning after the company Christmas party. Christina woke up to her snoring fiancé, his arm around her waist. She admired him as he slept. He had shaggy black hair and had an average build.
"Morning, Tina," he murmured sleepily.
She turned towards him smiling at him. "Morning, Scottie."
"I hate when you call me Scottie."
"I've called you Scottie since we met."
"We met when we were 13, we're nearly 21, engaged and sexually active," he said.
"That doesn't change that I still like the name Scottie."
He sighed and began kissing her passionately to get his mind off the nickname. The couple had started a touch of foreplay the night before but Scott had been rather tipsy.
Their love making session was slow and rather boring if you asked Christina. She needed some excitement but Scott was not exciting anymore. They had been sleeping together since
their one year anniversary when they were 18.
In the back of her mind, she wished that she hadn't agreed to marry him when he proposed a few days after her birthday.
When she discovered she was pregnant, almost two months later she wasn't shocked even though they always used protection. She remembers going to her parents house sobbing.
February 1998
She was standing at her parent's door trying to contain her tears. She had just found out she was two months pregnant with her fiancé's child. The fiancé she was planning on breaking up with later tonight.
"Hey Teeny," her dad, Francis, greeted his daughter.
"Hey daddy."
"Something's wrong, you haven't called me 'daddy' in years," he said, escorting his distraught daughter inside.
She followed her dad inside. Her mum was at work so it was just the two of them.
"What's wrong, did you break your engagement to Scott yet?" He asked his daughter about her plans.
"No, I was planning on it tonight but I don't think I can now," she said, her hand subconsciously resting on her stomach.
"I'm sure you can. If it helps, I never really liked him."
She asked. "You don't like him?"
"Honestly, no. But I can't control who you love and who you don't love."
She sighed. "I just found out that I'm almost 2 months pregnant."
"I'm going to be a grandpa?"
"You are."
Francis grinned.
She didn't break up with Scott that night instead he suggested they should elope a few days later which they did.
He was rather attentive while she was pregnant but that all changed once Bethany was born.