Saul

Sirah fidgeted nervously in her seat as we waited for my brother and Katya to pull into my parents' driveway. The snow hadn't settled on the roads, but my parents' garden and lawn still had a layer.

“Why are you so nervous? My mum isn't anything like Irene,” I reassured her.

“She will be delighted to have a stranger at her doorstep on Christmas day,” she mumbled as she looked out the car window at the house.

“Trust me, my mum will be ecstatic that I've finally brought a girl home,” I said dryly. “I’ve had years of snide digs about Seth being married.”

I knew the horrible experience she had with Irene, so I took her hand and held it between both of mine.

“Trust me, if I thought for a second that my parents wouldn't welcome you with open arms, I would never have come,” I said gently.

She turned to look at me before she nodded, and I tightened my grip around her hand. Seth pulled in beside us, and he glanced at Sirah with a massive grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes on him and hoped to fuck he didn't mess things up for me.

“It’s so strange he looks exactly like you, but he is different,” Sirah murmured.

“Wait until you see my dad,” I said with a grin before I opened my car door.

Seth was already helping Kat out of their car, so I rushed around as Sirah’s door opened. There would never be a mention of a divorce in my house, let alone Sirah moving out of our home.

“Sirah, so lovely to see you again. Merry Christmas,” he said as he hugged her.

I glanced at his hand and saw he had his middle finger up at me as it rested on her back.

“Merry Christmas, Kat,” I said with a smile, kissing her cheek while ignoring Seth’s attempt to wind me up by touching Sirah.

After the wasp incident, I would always come out on top. It was worth the black eye, and I learned how to apply makeup on the plus side.

“Merry Christmas, , and congratulations,” Katya said as my mum’s front door opened.

“Oh, Sterling, look, it’s true. managed to find a woman,” my mum said, her eyes shimmering with tears.

“It’s a Christmas miracle, darling,” my Dad joined in while Seth sniggered.

“Let’s see if you can keep her,” Seth whispered as he walked past me to take Katya’s arm.

I almost punched his arm, but I remembered Sirah standing beside me.

“Wow, you weren't kidding about your mum,” she murmured as we walked towards the door.

My mum hugged Seth and Kat before she reached Sirah. She laughed as she gave her a hug, and I heard the puff of air leave Sirah as my mother squeezed the air from her lungs out. I shook my head and greeted my Dad with his annual Christmas hug.

“Did you bribe her?” he whispered in my ear. “Or is she a paid actress?”

“No, I kidnapped her on Christmas Eve so I could deliver to you and Mum for Christmas,” I said sarcastically, without thinking of the consequences of my words.

He howled with laughter and slapped my back.

“That’s a good one,” he chortled before he turned towards Sirah. “Welcome to our home, young lady. There is a phone inside in case you need to call the police.”

My mother still held onto Sirah as if she would make a run for it, and Sirah stared at me wide-eyed, but knowing my luck, she was considering my father's offer to call the police. Perhaps this wasn’t one of my brightest ideas to date. I should have kept her at home and fucked her into submission. I rubbed a hand over my face but waited until Sirah was inside the house before I double-locked the front door behind me.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

∞∞∞

My mum had a lovely array of canopies and champagne set out for us. We all removed our jackets, and I gaped at Seth and Katya as they switched places with one another. They stole my idea for matching Christmas sweaters. I paused to read Seth’s gingerbread man sweater, and it said, ‘I put a cookie in that oven →’. Katya’s said, ‘ I have a cookie in this oven ↓ ’ , pointing towards her gingerbread man.

My mother let out a high-pitched shriek that nearly burst my eardrums. I became concerned when it didn’t end. When she found the capacity to speak, the words came out so fast that I had to concentrate to decipher them.

“There’s a baby in your oven, right?” Mum asked to clarify, and Katya grinned before she nodded to confirm.

“The baby is due in June. You're having a granddaughter. Merry Christmas, Evelyn,” she said as my mum hugged her again.

There was full-blown waterworks as Seth took Kat’s coat from her.

“Sterling, one of them finally did it—two miracles in one Christmas. We are going to have a granddaughter,” she said, wiping her tears away and staring at the ceiling in prayer.

My dad hugged Kat next and kissed her on top of her head.

“Congratulations, sweetheart,” he said. When I glanced at Sirah, her eyes glistened with tears.

I took her coat from her hand before I held it out and kissed her knuckles. We were three months behind them, which wasn’t too bad since it took Seth over six years to inseminate his wife. Mine would be pregnant walking down the aisle. Unfortunately, identical twins weren’t hereditary, but I had a good start in knocking Sirah up.

I followed Seth as we hung the coats up in the hallway closet. He was just coming out when I grabbed his arm.

“Keep your mouth shut about Sirah,” I said.

“You told Dad that you kidnapped her, for fuck’s sake. You're a psycho,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Which he thought was a joke. If you don’t keep your mouth shut, I will tell Mum that you told me about the baby months ago,” I said, since blackmail might be the only way for him not to spill my beans.

“You dirty little—”

“What’s keeping you? Your mum wants you in the drawing room,” my dad said with a grin. “Congratulations to the pair of you.”

“Thanks, Dad,” we both mumbled.

I watched Seth leave with my Dad as I quickly shoved our coats on the hook and rushed back into the drawing room. I sighed in relief to see Sirah chatting away with Kat and my mum.

They all paused and turned to look at me, but I resisted the urge to squirm. I poured everyone a glass of champagne and some fruit juice for Kat so we could toast the first bit of good news together. I glanced at my brother before I gave him a hug. He was so fucked having a daughter. I could already see him pulling his hair out before she hit her teens, but my amusement died in a split second because it dawned on me that my baby could be a girl, too.

I responded to my Dad and Seth’s questions with grunts or the odd nod because I couldn't take my eyes off Sirah as I wondered how she would take the second her last gift.