One year later
Kate woke up to a pounding headache and a mouth that was as dry as a desert. She had gone to bed prepared though she remembered, as she caught sight of the glass of water she had taken to bed.
She lifted her head from her pillow before the world started to spin and she added nausea to her list of symptoms. Shouldn't have done that, she thought to herself as she quickly put her head back on the pillow.
She felt like shit and sadly there was no one else to blame apart from herself. Last night had been the AC-12 Christmas do. She had promised herself that she was going to be good and not get drunk and she thought she had achieved that, but judging from the evidence this morning, she had failed. She was going to have to face it. She could not hold her drink as well as she could when she was younger.
She needed water though. Fighting the dizziness, she lifted her head again and carefully reached for the glass before she took a sip. She could feel the liquid running down her oesophagus before landing in her stomach. It did not give her the relief she had wanted. In fact, she thought it had made her worse.
Yep, she realised. She was going to be sick imminently. Really shouldn't have done that, she thought miserably as she got out of bed as quickly as she could and headed to the en-suite. She made it just in time before she emptied her stomach in to the toilet.
Steve awoke when Kate suddenly vacated the bed. He was just about to ask her what she was doing when he heard her vomiting so he held his tongue. The last thing he needed right now was Kate angry at him.
He felt like shit. The Christmas party had become a bit hazy after a couple of drinks and he was now suffering the consequences of a heavy night, although not as much as Kate by the sounds of it.
"DADDY?" came Ellie's voice just beyond the bedroom door. Steve winced at the loud shout that reverberated around his skull. "YOU AWAKE?".
"Yeah," grumbled Steve as he shuffled around under the duvet and hid his naked body from view in anticipation of his daughter entering the bedroom. "No need to shout,".
The bedroom door opened and his now six year old daughter appeared in his vision. "What time are we leaving?" she asked.
"Leaving for what?" Steve enquired.
"Santa!" Ellie reminded him in a rather exasperated tone as she crossed her arms. She looked and sounded exactly like Kate when she was annoyed at him. It was something Ellie had acquired from observing Kate in the time she had been in a relationship with Steve. "We're seeing him in his grotto today," she reminded her father.
Shit! Thought Steve. What a monumental fuck up on his behalf. Why would he arrange a trip to the grotto after a Christmas party? A load of hyper children and screaming babies was not the ideal hangover cure. He was an idiot!
"Give us an hour," Steve replied which appeared to appease Ellie. She departed to 'get ready'.
Steve sat up and swung his legs out of bed. His head felt as if it was stuffed full of cotton wool but he needed to check on Kate. Spying his underpants on the floor he reached forward to retrieve them and pulled them on before walking into the bathroom.
Kate was on her knees, hugging the toilet and looked particularly miserable. "How you doing?" he asked tenderly as he crouched down and gently rubbed Kate's back as any loving boyfriend would.
Well fiancé was the correct term really he thought as he caught sight of the diamond ring that had recently taken up residence on Kate's left ring finger. He had proposed a few weeks ago on Kate's birthday and he was still getting used to the idea of calling himself her fiancé.
"Not good," Kate said before retching and spitting up a bit more bile.
"Sorry," sympathised Steve as he rubbed her back until she stopped being sick.
"Not your fault," Kate said although she was a bit mad at Steve that he wasn't suffering like her. She knew he had drunk more than her the previous evening so it was totally unfair that her hangover was worse.
"Did you hear Ellie?" Steve asked.
"Yeah," Kate replied.
"Bloody grotto is the last thing either of us needs today,".
"Don't be like that," Kate replied. "Before you know it she'll have stopped believing in Santa and you'll be wondering where your little girl went,".
"I'll take her," Steve volunteered, taking one for the team.
"I'll be alright in a bit," Kate replied feeling bad that she would disappoint Elle. She had been quite excited about all three of them going to see Santa.
"You should stay here and rest," Steve retorted.
"But I thought you needed an extra pair of ears," Kate answered back.
Like the previous year, Ellie had been insistent on keeping what she wanted Santa to get her a secret. This time Kate and Steve had no idea what to buy her. The bicycle had been an amazing success and Steve had taken Ellie to the park to teach her to ride. She had got the hang of it after a few attempts and now they could hardly keep her off it.
"Let's see what you feel like in an hour or so," Steve decided. If he was honest, he felt Kate should be spending the day in bed.
"Alright," Kate agreed reluctantly.
"I'm gonna go and see to Elle," Steve said as he stood. "And I need some caffeine. You want anything?".
Kate shook her head. The last thing she wanted was anything in her stomach right now.
"It's a really long queue," Ellie said a little unhappily at seeing the large amount of people who had decided to see Santa that day. "Maybe we should have got here earlier," she added a little passively aggressively.
"Well we're here now," Steve said as he took Kate's hand. She had somehow managed to summon the strength to join them on their trip, but had been a little quiet. "You alright?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Kate said, trying to sound confident. The truth was quite the opposite. The queue was just about to go past an independent coffee shop and she was dreading it. The smell of Steve's coffee earlier that morning had sent her running to the toilet again after she thought she was getting better. She was really hoping it was not going to happen again.
As it was, Kate actually began to feel better and she put it down to the occasional waft of ginger and cinnamon that met her nose every time someone entered or left the shop. She felt so good that for the first time that day she felt hungry.
The shop appeared to have the same affect on Steve. "I think I'm gonna grab another coffee," he declared. His caffeine fix from earlier was beginning to wear off. "Want anything?".
"I could do with a coffee," Kate answered.
"Yeah?" replied Steve, pleased to see Kate felt up to consuming something.
"And maybe a gingerbread man or something," she suggested suddenly craving the seasonal treat.
Ellie's ears pricked up at the mention of food. "Oohhh," she said. "Can I have one as well?" she asked her father.
Steve rolled his eyes in mock annoyance at his increasing list of things to purchase. "Two coffees and two gingerbread men coming up," he said before disappearing off.
"We're next!" Ellie declared, clapping her hands in excitement.
"Finally" murmured Steve just loud enough for Kate to hear. The day was rapidly disappearing before his eyes and they still had some shopping to do.
"Stop it!" Kate scolded him just as quietly as she slapped his arm. He was going to ruin Ellie's day if she heard him.
At least Kate was feeling better, Steve thought. She was back to her usual self after her drink and gingerbread man if the slap to his arm was anything to go by.
"Who's next?" a woman dressed up as an elf asked Ellie.
"Ellie," she replied.
"Come this way," she instructed, lifting the flap to the inside of the grotto. Ellie went first. Steve being the gentleman, let Kate go before he followed last.
The heat was the first thing that Steve registered. Dotted around the place were lots of tea lights, otherwise it was pretty much the same set up as last year, Steve thought as he looked around. In fact, Santa might even have been the same man as the previous year.
"And who have we got here?" Santa asked, examining his list.
Even the script was the same as the previous year, Steve thought. At least he knew how this visit would play out and he could predict when he had to really try and listen to what Ellie asked for.
"Ellie," Ellie confirmed again.
"And have you been a good girl this year?".
"Yes," Ellie declared emphatically.
"Well then," Santa said as he placed Ellie on his lap, "you better tell me what you
want this year,".
"Before I do," Ellie said. "I really want to say thank you for making Kate my mummy last year,".
The man dressed as Santa looked at the little girl. He remembered her and her request for a mother. He had told many of his friends about the sweet little girl throughout the year.
"So she's your mummy now?" He asked interestedly, unable to pass up the opportunity for getting an update on this little girl's family.
"Not officially," Ellie answered. "But Daddy has finally got his act together and asked Kate to marry him," she informed Santa, using the words that her grandmother had often used to Steve. Santa smiled at the little girl's choice of words so Ellie knew she had said the right thing. "I'm going to be bridesmaid," she added proudly.
"That's wonderful," Santa said, very pleased that everything had worked out for this little girl. "So what can I get you this year?" He asked. "Maybe something a little bit easier than the Mummy present. That was quite tricky,".
Indicating she wanted to whisper in Santa's ear, the man bent down. "I want a baby sister," Ellie informed him before the sound of a thud met everyone's ears.