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My Dream Santa

(A Christmas romance)

Chapter 1

Jen opened her tiny eyes, it was very early Christmas morning and it was quite dark in her cool bedroom that the three-year-old shared with her toddler sister. There was just a narrow ray of moonbeam peeping through the gap in the curtains which revealed to her a silent movement, a momentary flash of white.

There, she thought she could see someone in dark clothing trimmed with white, a hat pulled over a moon white face. He was placing a tiny wrapped present at the foot of her bed. The figure moved through the moonlight beam again to move towards the chimney. He was a young man and didn't have a beard, but it was, it had to be, she knew with certainty, that he was Santa!

"Santa, is that you?" she asked, in her tiny voice hovering between fear and wonder.

"Hush, Jennifer, go to sleep, now," Santa said quietly in a deep but reassuring, comforting voice, that wasn't frightening at all. Anyone else in that bedroom at that time of night and three-year-old Jen would have merrily screamed her head off. But no, this was Santa and, after all, he had every right to be there, the whole family had invited him to come. Jen had even signed a card she had made at pre-school, with glitter stuck on the front of it. Besides, his voice assured her there was nothing at all to be afraid of, so she wasn't afraid. After all, Jen reasoned, he always came every Christmas and brought only joy and pleasure into her world, nothing bad had ever happened with Santa. He continued in his calm manner, "It's not quite Christmas morning yet, Jennifer, so you be a very good little girl and go right back to sleep."

"OK, Santa," Jen said, and so she settled down easily and instantly fell back asleep.

It was only when she woke up, bright and refreshed that she realised that she remembered every single detail, and that Santa didn't look at all like she had expected from all the pictures she had been shown at school and in the library. He looked nothing at all like Old St Nicholas, although some things were exactly as she imagined. Like the red coat lined with white fur, and big black boots, and the red hat, and, and, and - she had to take a deep breath - and the big red sack. Those things she expected and that was why she hadn't been afraid that he was there in her and her sister's bedroom in the middle of the night.

But what she had noticed that was so different, was that this Santa was a young man, with no whiskers. Jennifer imagined he was younger even than her Daddy. She told her Mummy and Daddy about the dream and they only thought it was a funny dream, and told her that it was nothing at all to worry about. All little girls became obsessed with the build up to Christmas and for three-year-olds like her, this was the first Christmas that she could appreciate as something special. So she didn't worry and neither did Mummy and Daddy.

There was one little present that year, however, that nobody noticed, or claimed to have sent it. The gift was packed in a box, and beautifully wrapped, but without a label. It was a tiny bracelet of wooden beads, that she wore every day for several years until the string broke, and she lost too many beads to salvage it.

And every year after, she had that self same dream, sometimes twice a year on or near Christmas Eve.

Every year for the next 26 years.

***

In her 29th year she had the same dream again, almost exactly as the usual one, but this time there was one significant and immediately apparent difference.

Jennifer sat bolt upright and groaned as soon as she realised 'where' she was and, more importantly, exactly 'when' it was.

The 'where' was her tiny city one-bedroom studio flat of course. Where else would she be on a Thursday night? At home of course. She did nothing in the evenings during midweek, and not a lot more during the weekends. Her life was currently in limbo, so where else would she be on the 30th of November?

And that was the second reason for the groan, the 'when'. She occasionally had this annual dream twice, once on Christmas Eve, plus a "dry run" a week or few days earlier, but before it had always happened deep into the second half of the month of December. It was hard to pinpoint, but she often ended up with a small but special present among the rest of her gifts, one which she could not identify the sender. Last year's was a silk bookmark, which she now used all the time.

This year the dream had put in its first appearance, manifestation, infection, call it what you will, the earliest ever.

For crying out loud, her thoughts screamed, it wasn't even December yet!

You expect this seasonal marketing creep, earlier and earlier every year, from the big retailers. You know, as soon as the returning students go back to school after the summer holidays, ignoring the minor hiccoughs of Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes in between, all the shops seem hell-bent on the Christmas festivities, and they seem to get earlier and earlier each year. The Christmas displays in markets and shopping malls springing up in October and November could be ignored as the height of tackiness, but what about her dreams? Weren't they sacrosanct? No, that annual Christmas dream should have stayed firmly where it belonged, during the festive season!

This recurring dream was now beginning to impinge on her life. Not that she had a life, she mournfully lamented, but even so, this Santa dream was becoming personal.

And Jennifer never remembers any of her other dreams, her normal everyday dreams, like she does this one singular dream. Well, hardly any, other than little snatches sometimes of sandy beaches and romantic sunsets or moonlight dinners. Now those were dreams that were worthwhile remembering and repeating. In the Santa dream she appears to wake up and Young Santa is there, reassuring her that all is well and so she goes back to sleep again. Time after time, she just dreamily answers "OK" before slipping into the land of nod again.

But the "Christmas Morning Santa" dream was always so vivid and so memorable that it seemed like every detail of the full dream was etched into her subconscious. Fortunately, she reminded herself, the dream never put in more than a single appearance before her Christmas Eve dream. She hoped that this year would be the same. In fact, her current schedule at work was so insane it was any wonder she was dreaming about anything other than frantic panic about her workload.

There were possible explanations for the extraordinary earliness of the Santa dream, as her best friend Satish had already pointed out. Maybe that was why the dream had surfaced so early in the festive season.

"Jenna," Satish had said after Jennifer had told her why she was so in the dumps. This slipped out before she realised it, as they shared their first coffee and tea respectively, before starting work. Everyone called her Jenna in the city, ever since she moved there almost a decade earlier. Jennifer liked "Jenna" as a substitute name, she thought she sounded somehow more sophisticated and less provincial than plain Jennifer, Jenny or Jen.

Satish continued speaking as they sat rubbing and warming their hands in the freezing cold office rest room, "This is going to be the first Christmas that your whole family aren't going back to your family home, so it is perfectly understandable that you are feeling a lot less secure and a bit more emotional than usual."

She was right, of course, Satish always was right.

Chapter 2

Jennifer's life wasn't the same as it was and never would be again. In fact it was nothing at all like it used to be. For a start, that damned internal clock inside her was ticking away furiously. She would be thirty years old next birthday and was still a single woman, living alone, a salient fact that her mother never failed to remind her about at every single opportunity that presented itself. Only her mother could make her marital status, or spinsterhood, appear to be a failure, akin to being late to be potty trained, learn to walk or talk when she was a baby or becoming a toddler.

Even though she loved the little tykes, she was not looking forward to seeing her younger sister's three angelic children. She knew that her mother would use their presence as a means to make her feel more inadequate, even more a failure in her personal life.

Jennifer was unattached and unmarried because it was only in the past year that she had been forced into leaving her boyfriend of eight years. That break-up still made her so angry. She had lost eight years to that loser. Eight of what were supposed to have been the best years of her life. Not only had Scott failed to commit himself fully to their relationship, by proposing marriage to Jennifer, the bastard had proved that he simply couldn't keep his ... his bloody thingy in his bloody pants! He had always disrespected her, making her feel insecure by ogling every other woman around, and flirting outrageously. In the end she had no choice but to give him up as a lost cause.

Jen's self confidence had never been so low as it had was now reduced to over this last nine or ten months.

She had suspected previous dalliances on Scott's part, of course, but she had never seen enough evidence to blow their relationship out of the water. However, this last affair was so blatant that Jen couldn't ignore it any longer, nor accept his glib excuses of his innocence this time around.

That is why she was now renting her tiny one-woman studio flat on her own. Jen and Scott were forced by the breakup to sell the house they had been buying together over the last four years, and lost so much money on it trying to pay back their mortgage loan and legal costs in the current depressed housing market. Neither partner could afford to buy the other one out, so they both had to take an equal share of the financial hit. And Jen couldn't afford to buy anything at all on her own. All their investment in the house was lost, she fumed, blown away by Scott's greed for extra affairs on the side, damn him!

Was it really her fault that she couldn't attract a man who would love her alone enough?

Last Christmas the family occasion was hosted by her parents, Lisa and Andy Webster. It was also the last traditional family Christmas in Jennifer's family home. Unfortunately, her parents had legally separated, and started their legal divorce proceedings several months prior to Christmas, after having been married for 38 years, but had continued to share the same house until it sold in January. Now they were officially divorced and the family would never be whole again. The split was apparently amicable, as the Websters had both insisted to Jennifer and the rest of the family. They had simply 'outgrown' each other, is how they put it at the time of the announcement, whatever that was supposed to mean. It seemed inconceivable to Jennifer that they would end something that had so much longevity, quite so casually and with such an apparently unemotional conclusion.

The house hadn't been sold by the end of last December, so they were able to keep the family together to celebrate that one last Christmas together, although there was a tenseness in the air between the couple that had never been apparent before. It was there on both sides, just under the surface. That made Christmas an emotional roller coaster ride last time around, Jennifer remembered, so it was no wonder that, with her anxious anticipation of the festival this year, she felt all over the place emotionally.

She had to admit, this was probably the reason for her rather unseasonal dream about Santa, as being some irrational fear of Christmas with a broken family and her own broken relationship exposed for ridicule.

Jennifer's dominating older brother Miles and his loud-mouth wife Sharon had been present last year, together with their quiet, almost sullen teenagers Kendra and Mica. Her sweeter young sister Bernie and her laid-back husband Mark turned up with their three boisterous young children Oliver the eldest, and cute girls Ronnie and Judy.

Scott had accompanied Jennifer to her parents' house last Christmas, because at that time they were still together. It would have been an unlucky thirteen which sat down for dinner, although in fact the five children all ate by themselves at the small table in the conservatory. That unlucky thirteen had manifested itself all too clearly in Jennifer's mind, now that she thought back to it. Again, she thought, there would be thirteen this time around at her mother's, with new husband Jack replacing her father, in more ways than one, and Jack's teenage daughter replacing Scott.

If thirteen was not so much unlucky, but could be turned into a luck-changer, her romantic life might improve during the following year, she hoped. It certainly couldn't become any worse that it presently was.

Even with the four bedrooms they had in the old family home, accommodation had always been tight. They had been able to rough it for a couple of nights, last year, although the celebrations were more than a little muted due to the impending break-up of her parents. The prominent "For Sale" sign outside hadn't helped the atmosphere during the celebrations. Jennifer knew things would never be the same again, even though at the time she had held out unrealistic hopes of a reconciliation between them brought about by the close family festivities. Sadly, she reflected, that was not to be.

This year both her parents had new partners, which indicated to Jennifer that perhaps the "irreconcilable differences with no outside persons involved", cited last year as the cause for the breakdown, had been somewhat disingenuous. Especially as her mother moved in with a divorced father of a teenage daughter in January, even before the decree absolute was official, and married her new man before the month of March was out.

Meanwhile her father set up occupancy with another family in February, immediately following the completion of the sale of the family home and removal of his half of the furniture. Andy Webster's girlfriend was two years younger than Jen's younger sister, and already had three children, all aged under five.

Now the arrangements for this Christmas were still up in the air, with Mum wanting a full family reunion, minus Andy and his new brood, of course, at her new place.

Also, hernDad wanted some sort of celebration at his place but accepted they really didn't have the room and his girlfriend had very young children, with whom none of the rest of the family were in any contact, so had no relationship to build on.

Jennifer was dreading the whole blasted holiday, but could find no acceptable way of getting out of it.

Chapter 3

Jen's mum Lisa was now Mrs Lisa Brandlow, since her swift remarriage. She and her new husband Jack were 58 and 52 respectively, with Jack's 18-year-old only daughter Stephanie still living at home while she locally continued her college studies.

Jack Brandlow had been a widower for many years, and had brought Stephanie up on his own, so they were more than just close, each having relied on the other for mutual support over the years. Jack Brandlow was a self-employed electrician, working as a subcontractor on extensions, kitchen refurbishments, and the like, mostly small fry, one man jobs. Lisa continued to work part-time in an estate agents, as administrative support, a job she enjoyed so much that she hoped to continue after the age of retirement in a few years time. Jack's daughter Stephanie was a bright, lively girl, and very pretty, Jennifer remembered from her Easter visit to her Mum's new abode, and had started as a student at a local college in the October.

It seems Mum and Jack met when Jack bought a house at an auction of properties that Lisa represented on behalf of her client. He bought the house to restore, and did most of the work himself, before using Lisa through her estate agency to sell it on. So they got to know one another very well during the subsequent sale and Jennifer's mother was more than receptive to his rather tentative at first, advances. Jennifer hadn't really had a chance to get to know Jack, having only spoken to him briefly at the wedding and had since briefly visited her mother twice in the intervening months, each time unaccompanied by the now, determinedly ex-, boyfriend Scott.

Lisa and Jack were currently extending Jack's present house, using Lisa's share of the proceeds from the sale of the Webster family home, to add a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and changing rooms, with a dining room underneath. This mid-winter, however, the work was still unfinished as Jack was doing most of the internal work himself in between his lucrative contract work. So that was one side of Jennifer's broken family.

There was a much bigger age difference in the relationship on the other side of Jennifer's splintered parentage.

Andy Webster and his girlfriend Layla, were aged 60 and 26 respectively. Andy ran a small haulage firm, based on the edge of the town, right next to the local airfield. His ex-wife still owned a quarter share of his business, as he wasn't able to buy her out completely after the divorce settlement, without crippling bank loans, but he was working hard to buy back the rest of his company over the next few years.

His girlfriend Layla was a stay-at-home Mum. She had never married and kicked out her partner, who was the father of the latest of her three children, when she started her relationship with Andy. Andy had used part of his proceeds from the sale of the family home to buy an extended ex-housing association house with four bedrooms, necessary for the growing needs of his new family. Downstairs there was an integral garage and study, which Andy needed as a home office. This meant there was no dining room in the house, so they were going to rig up a temporary dining room in the conservatory for the Boxing Day meal.

Jennifer had groaned. It looked like there would have to be two separate Christmas celebrations split between the two households, each no doubt trying to outdo the other in impressing Jennifer and her other two siblings. She was sure that the atmosphere of oneupmanship at each venue would resist cutting with a hot knife.

Now, Mum had only one spare bedroom, while Dad had two, because currently all the young children could be moved temporarily into the same bedroom. So Jennifer was going to be staying with Mum throughout the festivities, while Miles and Bernie's families were determined to rough it out at Dad's for the two nights.

All those arrangements were still to be confirmed and Jen needed to work through the next three and a half weeks of sales calls before that fateful day dawned.

Honestly, she thought, anything could happen before then, and I might not have to go through with the whole nightmarish ritual.

***

Jennifer and Satish worked in the same office, taking calls from branch stores or direct customers up and down the country for communication equipment, mostly mobile phones and tablets, software or replacement upgrades. It could be pretty stressful at times, especially as they were required to push other services, insurances, applications or software upgrades all the time and each had individual daily targets to reach. At present, with Christmas fast approaching, there were continuous streams of orders for new customers, equipment and upgrades coming through as Christmas presents.

Jen had dreaded telling Mum that she'd broken up with that philanderer Scott and moved out of their house into a cupboard-like flat. She also felt ashamed that he'd cheated on her so often, the true facts of scott's serial betrayal only emerging after they broke up. Soon, her friends divulged what they knew but had feared to tell her. This only made feel that his affairs were partly her fault, hence her low opinion of herself. Her Mum had adored the charming and flirty Scott and several times over the years told her that she thought Jennifer had done very well to catch such a hunk in her net. Jennifer had no man in her life so, in frustration, when she did mention the split, she somehow, on the spot, invented a new boyfriend! Later, she had to admit to herself, what was she thinking?
"Hi sweetheart," Lisa had called her on her mobile back in mid August.

"Oh, hi Mum." Jennifer had said, knowing that she was expected to go home for the late August long weekend holiday, and wondering how she was going to get out of it.

"Just checking that both you and that gorgeous hunk Scott are still coming down for the August bank holiday?"

"Well, I am coming, but alone, Mum, no Scott."

"That boy works too hard, Jen, you have to stop him or he'll burn himself out. How are you two going to be making babies if your man is exhausted all the time? You could go part-time and and take some of the weight off him, dear. I mean he had to work during both Easter and the May bank holiday."

"I really don't know if Scott's working or not, Mum, we're not together any more."

There, she thought, I've said it. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Mum!

"What, you two have a tiff?"

"Not a tiff exactly."

"Well, you two are practically a married couple, you've been together, what, nearly eight years isn't it?"

"About that, it was, yes."

"Get him to come down anyway, we can put on a front and once he sees he's still part of the fam—"

"Mum! I can't! We're not seeing each other, we're not even talking to each other."

"Well, put him on the phone and I'll talk some sense into him."

"He's not here, Mum, we split up, and he's not living with me any more. We've both moved on."

"He moved out, where?" Lisa was also shouting down the phone, "is his mobile still the same? I want to give him a piece —"

"We both moved, we had to sell the house. I live in a rented flat now. I think he has moved into a flat too."

"Oh, honey, what did you do?"

"What? Why do you think it was my fault?"

"Well, you are the only one in the family who hasn't settled down and started a family, so you must've—"

"Well, maybe I have found someone better, Mum."

"Better than Scott? I mean he was a real catch, handsome, charming, had a great job." Lisa had paused, "so who is this guy who is better than Scott?"

'Oh, bugger!' Jennifer thought, 'that's torn it. Do I fold or bluff my way through this?'

"He's called ..." Jennifer was at a loss to come up with something, but her eyes fell on an old Christmas present she had found while unpacking, a travel guide that she had been re-reading, by an author called Jeffrey Campbell, "he's called 'Jeff', and he travels, goes abroad a lot, and I am afraid he will be away out of the country on the bank holiday."

Why she lied? Honestly, she couldn't figure it out, even to herself. Jennifer had just got to the end of her tether and fibbed, making out she had "traded up" to a better boyfriend than Scott, rather than traded down to ... well, to having absolutely nobody in her life at all. She didn't even admit that the reason for the split was that she had found out that he had cheated on her. She only hinted that Scott was slow in committing to their relationship and so she had found someone better and had moved on.

Moving out had been a wrench, but she felt unable to forgive Scott one more time, and that gave her the strength to complete the break and ensure that there was never going to be any going back. However, the strength she felt by the move hadn't lasted long before the doubts about her ability to hold onto a relationship had come bubbling to the surface again.

Rather than empowering her in this new relationship with her mother, Jennifer found that the lying had only further damaged her self-confidence and she just couldn't find within her the motivation to even seek out, let alone actually find another boyfriend, even though Satish had suggested one or two of her husband's friends as dates, or even going as far as urging her to use a dating site. Jennifer was aghast at the very thought!

'Oh, how our lies eventually come home to roost and torment us,' she thought, when the Christmas season came around all too soon and a trip home was unavoidable. 'What can I do now?' she wailed to herself.

What else could she do, but lie once again? She thought that she would have to saying this time to her Mum that 'Jeff' was forced to send his apologies. It would be unfortunate but he had to work over Christmas again, as he did most holidays, and couldn't make it. Perhaps Jennifer could soften the blow by saying that maybe he would be free to visit sometime early in the new year. It sounded reasonable, so that is what she said to her mother a couple of weeks before she made the journey back to what used to be her home. And she had to repeat the lie the following week, avoiding giving more information about the so-called 'Jeff', in case she slipped up, by saying she had a parcel delivery at the door and had to hang up and deal with it.

After hanging up, Jennifer sat in her tiny galley kitchen in her flat, that only had one breakfast stool to sit on, and cried.

So it was with some dread that Jennifer set out after her work was completed, two days before the festive holidays began. She was not looking forward to lying face to face with her mother about this fictitious boyfriend, which had been so easy, or at least relatively, over the phone line. She knew that she would never manage to lie without blushing to her hair roots. What was she going to do? Admit to bare-faced lying?

'Yes,' she thought, 'I probably will.' Honesty was the only policy, and live with the shame, although she knew that her mother would torment her about it for years to come.

As she drove along, she was still trying to work out a scenario where she had just split with 'Jeff' and had torn up all his photos, and deleting any she held from all her devices. She knew that it would just mean that she was digging a bigger hole for herself. This could end up being worse than if she just admitted that Scott had repeatedly cheated on her throughout their relationship. Tell her Mum that she had chosen to ignore the evidence until the last affair was so in her face that it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Thank goodness her Mum wasn't on any social media sites, she sighed.

She was still in the middle of scheming the devastating demise of poor old 'Jeff' when her car suddenly died on her, with at least five miles to go to her destination, and snow was falling thick and fast all around her.

Chapter 4

There Jennifer sat, broken down on an isolated country road on the outskirts of her home town, where she had been trying to find Mum's new house in the dark without the aid of a satellite navigation system which she couldn't afford. The engine died, the car stopped and it got quite cold in her little car very quickly. She tried to restart the engine, but it refused to fire and, in a short spell of a couple of attempts, her battery died. It was then that she realised that the only breakdown cover she had had for the last few years, was Scott's. She snuggled down in her coat, but she didn't feel any warmer. What was she going to do now?

She heard a tap on the window. She must've closed her eyes for a few moments and almost fallen asleep in the miserable cold. Now she could see that there was bright light all around her, that she hadn't noticed until the knock on the window. A face, a man's face, was peering through her car window. She stared at him blankly, barely registering his presence, not sure whether she was dreaming his existence or not. She felt very, very cold.

He tapped on the window again. He was twirling his hand around in a circular motion, what did that mean? She never learned sign language at school. He did it again and it dawned on her that he was indicating that he wanted her to wind down the window. There was no power left in the battery to open the window, so she opened the door a crack, and an icy blast blew in, loaded with stinging snow flakes. She shivered even more than simply from the cold.

"Hello, have you broken down?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yes," she answered automatically, "I don't know what's wrong, it just stopped and the engine won't start again."

"I'll have a look at it, would you like to pop the hood for me?"

"Er, what? Where?" She tried to feel around in the dark without finding the lever that she had never pulled before in her life and had only a vague idea where it was. Somewhere under the dashboard, wasn't it?

"Let me," he said gently.

His voice was warm, and gentle, trustworthy even. He seemed familiar to Jennifer somehow, like she had known him before, from somewhere. His voice was reassuring, reminiscent of her father in the time before his marriage broke up. In fact the voice was so patient that Jennifer was also somehow reminded of her kindly grandfather. This stranger was a combination of all the really good guys she'd ever known. She tried to focus on this stranger's face but he was much too close to her, so close that she would need to change into her reading glasses to see him clearly. He seemed young, but was somehow blessed with a mature voice, full of quiet confidence and empathy for her predicament.

"OK," she agreed automatically.

"Look, you're freezing," he noted, "why don't you get up into my cab and sit there. The heater's on and it's really nice and warm in there. You could wait there perhaps while I get your car going?"

"I don't know you ... do I?" He did seem so familiar, but she had no idea why she would think so.

"No, of course you don't," he replied in his cheerfully upbeat voice, as though all was well in the world, his world anyway, "or at least I'm pretty sure we've never been introduced to each other before. I am a delivery driver, and I work for Webster's Haulage, they are a small local firm with a very good reputation around here. They only employ the most trustworthy staff to haul stuff around these parts, you know, so you could think of me as a reliable person. I'm actually Webster's leading charge hand."

"Yes, yes, I do know them, Webster's. Yes, of course I do. I, er, I'm Jennifer Webster. Andy Webster is my father."

"Oh, great, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Webster. Your Dad talks about you all the time. In fact, it gives him so much pleasure talking about you that I tend to encourage him." His smile was so infectious that Jennifer would have smiled too, if she hadn't been trying to hard to stop her teeth chattering in the cold.

He laughed at that and Jennifer thought it was a sweet, gentle laugh, full of remembrances of pleasant conversation, imprinted with the humanity of indulgent friendship between this young man and her father. His laugh was so infectious that Jennifer would have smiled too, if she hadn't been trying to hard to stop her teeth chattering in the cold.

He continued, "That means that I can therefore trust you to sit on your own in my cab, and by the same token you can trust me with your car. Your Dad wouldn't take on a driver he wasn't one hundred percent happy with, now, would he?"

"No," she had to agree, nodding involuntarily, "I'm sure he wouldn't."

"Come on then, let's get you sitting up in the warm. Then I'll see if I can fix this car for you and get you on your way. You're staying up here for the next two or three nights, aren't you?"

As she stiffly climbed out of her seat, she realised how cold she had become in such a short time. Her rescuer peeled off his thick, heavy high visibility jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She felt his body warmth inside that coat immediately. It was snowing quite thickly now and she noticed that the car was now completely covered in a thick layer of fluffy snow. With his firm arms guiding her, she was up and into the passenger seat of his cab in moments. It was only she was outside the passenger door that she could see the company name painted on the side, "Webster's Haulage".

The lorry driver removed his jacket from her shoulders and stepped down from the cab, shutting the door, and keeping the heat in. She breathed out the breath she had been holding all that time since exiting the car. He was right, it was really warm in that cab compared to her car, and there was even comforting Christmas music playing softly from an iPod plugged into the cab's dashboard.

Jennifer watched through the lorry's windscreen as the truck driver stepped out in front of the truck's blazing headlights, donning the high visibility jacket as he went. He briefly fiddled inside the driver's side of the car to find the bonnet release, then got out, shut the door, and walked around in front of her car. There, he fully opened the bonnet, ducking his head down for a few seconds, maybe half a minute. She could see the odd flash from a torch. Then he walked back, passed the truck cab and she could hear scraping metal. Moments later he reappeared, this time with a box of tools and was back under the bonnet for a couple of minutes. Then he sat in the driving seat of the car for a few seconds before the car restarted, with a big puff of smoke belching dramatically out of the exhaust pipe. The car's headlights and rear lights came on again briefly, before he switched the lights off.

The truck driver got out, closed the car door, and shut up the bonnet. He walked past the cab again with his toolbox. More booming came through the walls, of metal lightly banging and scraping, indicating him putting his tools away, before the cab driver's door was yanked open and he climbed in next to her, accompanied by a flurry of snowflakes.

"Well, Miss Webster," he said, a little less cheerfully than previously, "your car is started and I've left it running, to charge up the battery a bit more and warm up the interior for you. If you drive it, in five minutes or so, I could follow you to your Dad's house, or wherever you're going, and make sure you don't break down again."

"I'm going to my Mum's actually, do you know where that is?"

"Er, yes, I think so, I've not been there before but I think your Dad's mentioned where it was at one time or another. Number 16, isn't it?"

Jen nodded. "You've got a good memory."

"Almost photographic. Some people get freaked out about what I remember. Anyway, you're not too far away from your Mum's, we can be there in a matter of five to ten minutes, depending on how well treated the roads are. I am sure that the rest are better than this one you're on. I hope you have a fantastic Christmas staying up here. In fact I will be seeing you again, as I've been invited to dinner at your Dad and Kayla's place on Boxing Day. We'll just sit here though for a minute or two more, while the interior of your car warms up."

"Thank you, what was wrong with it, anyway?"

"Well, when did you last have it serviced?"

Jen squirmed in embarrassment, "My ex-boyfriend used to do the servicing for me, for the last six years anyway, since I bought it second hand, but we broke up eight months ago, so the car hasn't actually been serviced this year...."

"That car hasn't had a proper service for four or five years, Miss Webster, the oil is black, and urgently needs changing and the level is very low too, and the spark plugs are almost completely burned out. Judging from their appearances, I would think that the oil and air filters haven't been changed for three or four years at least."

"Why the good for nothing, cheating ..." Jennifer banged her fists on her knees in frustration. "So, do you think it'll get me back to the city after the holidays?"

"Probably not. It's barely drivable. And everything's going to be closing down by noon tomorrow until after the new year."

"Damn! What am I going to do?"

"Well, I can do the service tomorrow morning if you bring your car to your Dad's depot by the airfield."

"I don't get my pay cheque until after Christmas. We gat paid on the 28th. I can't afford to pay you for labour, although I could always buy the parts on credit card, I hope, how much would the parts cost?"

"Don't worry about paying me, my time's free and we can get all the parts we need on your Dad's account at the garage, it's all standard stuff and he gets a big discount. I'll clear it with him first, it's not a problem."

"Aren't you working tomorrow morning though? Dad usually closes up lunchtime on Christmas Eve."

"No, I'm taking a day's personal leave in the morning, I'm owed a lot of vacation time. I have to fly out tomorrow night and it's an all-night round trip."

"I can't put you to that much trouble if you are going to be flying late into the night, though, can I?"

"Of course you can. I'm quite good at fixing stuff and I enjoy delivering too."

"You make deliveries by plane? I assumed you were catching a holiday flight."

"No, I have my own light aircraft on the airfield. Most of the time I only fly for pleasure. You can just about squeeze in four people in my plane, but that doesn't leave much room for luggage."

"I've never met anyone with their own plane before."

"Oh, technically, it's my father's plane, not mine. He loaned it to me for this summer but he needs it back for the second half of the winter, so I'm flying it up to him. Having a couple of days off at this time of year is convenient as I don't have any family living anywhere around here."

"Do you fly much?"

"I love flying and usually get up in the plane for a short flight once a week or so. Pick me up in the morning and we can collect the parts you need from the garage. It won't take much more than an hour and a half or so to do the service. Then I'd be happy to take you up in the old jalopy for a spin, if the weather clears up."

He put his left hand on the steering wheel and she couldn't help but look, and notice that he wasn't wearing a ring.

Chapter 5

"Thank you," Jennifer said, "I, er, I appreciate your offer to do the car service, and I really would like to take you up on it. To be honest, I really don't think I've got much choice."

"I guarantee your car would receive the best service it has ever had, although I say so myself, I am really quite good at fixing things."

"Ha! I think I believe you, after getting the car going, I thought the battery had nothing left in it."

Once everything else was in its proper place and ready to go, it only needed a tiny spark."

"Well, I am very grateful, both for the rescue and the offer to sort the problem. Perhaps I could treat you to lunch afterwards, if you have time before you fly."

"I'll have plenty of time," he smiled, "and thanks, I'd like to share lunch with someone, it would make a nice change."

"You don't normally have anyone to have lunch with?"

"Well, I'm not from round here and I've been too busy working for your father that I've not made many friends except at work."

"I see. So, what time will you be at my father's depot in the morning?" "I'll be there waiting, whenever you get there," he smiled, "as early as you like, in fact."

"You live nearby, then? Maybe I should ring you when I'm ready to come over?"

"No, I do have a caravan, on the site where my house is being built, but it is too far to walk in this weather. Your Dad rightly prefers his trucks locked up safe in the depot overnight. So I'll be sleeping in this cab, there's actually a bunk right behind us."

"Oh? But you'll freeze to death in here, won't you? It's still snowing."

"I'm accustomed to the cold, don't worry," he grinned, "it'll be warmer than the caravan, that's not connected to the mains."

"Oh, does my Dad know you are sleeping in the cab at the depot?"

"Yes, of course he does. He knows about tonight, and he is aware that I'll also use the cab to sleep in during Christmas and Boxing Day nights. I simply cannot get to and from the airfield during the holidays. I don't have a car."

"I see. So are you flying to see your family tomorrow evening, then, to spend Christmas with them?" she asked.

"Well, I have a long-standing arrangement with my father, I'll be flying to his place and picking him up and then we'll share the flying. He's in the distribution business, too, and needs some last minute help with a long haul freight job. You would be surprised how far we have to go."
"I see. When exactly will you get back?"

"I'll be back just before dawn on Christmas morning. I have the key fob which allows me entry into your Dad's yard there and I also have keys and the burglar alarm codes, so I can get into the offices to use the er, facilities."

"What about your father and family, why are you not staying on with them during the festivities?"

"Well, it's a family thing. Me striking out on my own was, well, complicated," he said, "I have obligations which I cannot shirk. Andy, your father, is aware on my situation, and I try to fit those obligations in with my work here. So far it hasn't been a problem."

"You're not an 18-year-old, surely. You seem more my age." Jennifer winced at what she said, hoping he hadn't noticed. She liked this man, this apparently single man, who didn't seem to have anywhere to go, or anyone to see, over the Christmas holidays, other than some reactionary old family that seem reluctant to let him go. Looking at him again, even in the dim reflection of the lorry dashboard dials, she thought he looked handsome, dependable and really quite cute. If only any of her old boyfriends were like this driver.

"No, I am not a youngster, and certainly not as young as a teenager, anyway. I suppose we must be of a similar age, in appearance and circumstance, I suppose, we're both visiting our parents for the festivities and are unaccompanied. Look, Miss Webster, I'm on my own here in this town and it's really no hardship to do your car service. I am always working over Christmas anyway, and once I get back on Christmas Day I will probably sleep most of the day. I've not got anywhere else to go, or anything I particularly want to do. Now, it would be different if my house was ready...." he let the rest of his conversation about his possible future alternatives drift away.

"Look, I'd really like to thank you for helping me out with the car. Maybe you could come to lunch on Christmas Day at my Mum's? That is our traditional Christmas Dinner."

"Really?" he asked, his eyebrows raised, "but, no, that's for family, surely. Do you really think your mother would be prepared to have one of your Dad's drivers over for dinner?"

"She can be a bit snooty, I know, but she wouldn't have to know you were one of Dad's drivers," she said, "besides, she's half expecting me to bring someone with me, you know, a er ... friend, so she'll be able to accommodate you for at least tonight. She'd expect you to sleep on the couch, of course, but she will definitely have room at the dinner table for you tonight. So, you could sleep on the couch and then, after the car service and me treating you to lunch tomorrow, you could have a nap in the afternoon before you leave on Christmas Eve. You could even sleep at my mother's on Christmas morning for maybe four hours, as it would be quiet, with no children, other than one teenage girl, until the grandkids arrive late-morning."

"Mmm, I'm not sure if your mother would be prepared to have a stranger asleep under her roof." Jennifer's Good Samaritan notwithstanding.

"Well, that could be awkward, of course, but I could always tell her that you are my new boyfriend." She almost winced as she said it, "Then you wouldn't be a stranger, you'd be almost family."

"I'm not sure if that will work," he smiled, raising his eyebrows again, "for a start, how 'new' can a new boyfriend be? Besides, won't your Mum expect boyfriend-girlfriend to have er, you know, more personal sleeping arrangements than one of them being relegated to the couch?"

He did have a handsome smile, she thought, and a nice open trustworthy face "True. But my mother is a bit funny about my sleeping arrangements, actually. Even when I lived with my ex-boyfriend Scott for about five of the eight years we were an item, and we visited Mum far more regularly than I have on my own recently, she always insisted on his sleeping on the sofa."

"Actually, I love sofas," he grinned, "they are much better than a lorry cab, any day, or rather night of the week."

"There is one other thing, mmm, how am I going to put this?" She bit her lip nervously.

"I find the easiest way is just to come out and say it as it comes."

That nice sweet smile again, she noted.

"I suppose you're right. I just don't know what you are going to think of me when I ask this of you."

"Just say it as if you are talking to a mirror. Don't worry about what I think. Once it's said it's said, and, believe me, many more unsaid words are regretted than those that are said."

"True," she agreed. "OK then, here we go. In order to stay with me as my boyfriend at my Mum's house, you will have to pretend that your name is ... Jeff."

"Jeff? Why Jeff?"

"It's ... oh. Damn it! ... It's my new boyfriend's name.

"Oh, you already have a new boyfriend?" he asked, eyebrows raised but still smiling, "I had assumed by 'new', you meant 'new' as in brand spanking new."

"No, this Jeff is not a new boyfriend, er, not my new real boyfriend exactly. He doesn't actually exist. Oh dear. It's really complicated ... and I was the one who made my present life so complicated. I feel so stupid about it but it really is all my fault." She sighed. "Look, about eight months ago I split from my boyfriend Scott —"

"Scott? Not Jeff?"

"No, I told you it was complicated. My old and now definitely ex-boyfriend's name was Scott. He was the loser boyfriend, you know, the one who was supposed to be regularly servicing my car over the last six years? He was a cheating womanizer and a liar. My mother really liked him, liked him more than she liked me, I think."

"Surely not."

"Anyway, he was a bit of a dish, actually, and everyone liked him, including my Mum."

"Good job I don't have to pretend to be him, then, isn't it?" he laughed, "just Jeff the ghost."

It was a nice deep laugh, Jennifer thought, relaxed, warm and comfortable, comforting even. Ok, he was laughing at her, at least a little bit at her, but it was somehow more like gentle leg pulling, a sharing of an amusement, rather than as condescending as she was reminded that Scott often used to be.

"I didn't mean that you weren't a ... er, well I, er, you see I didn't want to tell my mother that I hadn't got a boyfriend, or tell her what the reason was why I dumped him all those months ago."

"So YOU dumped Scott, this apparent dish, this man your Mum thought was a dreamboat? Or at least as far as everyone else and your mother were concerned? I think it's great that you showed Scott that you were no doormat."

"Yes," Jennifer stuck her chin out, and said determinedly, "Yes, I was the one who dumped him."

It somehow lifted her, not just the realisation that she had summoned the strength to do so at the time, but that a stranger, a man, a really nice man, knew that she wasn't just any old rag doll to be used and abused. It made a difference. It finally made a difference. For the first time she felt better, even happy, for having the gumption to have dumped Scott.

"That says something about you that should give you the strength to face your Mum, you know."

Her rescuer was thinking the same as she was. She took strength and encouragement from that.

"Yes, I suppose so. Yes, you're right, it should give me strength. I did dump him and it was ... it was because I found out that Scott had been having a series of affairs behind my back. He wasn't just lying about servicing the car, he was, well, he was being what he thought a man should be. So, almost immediately after splitting with Scott, I was unable to take someone home on a trip to Mum and my Mum's new man in her life. So, almost to change the subject from what was so upsetting to me, I made up a stupid fictitious boyfriend and called him 'Jeff'. Stupid, I know but...."

"I know, Miss Webster, believe me," he laughed, "I really do know all about parents, their unreasonable expectations and our opposing reactions to them."

"You too?"

"Yes, my parents also want to marry me off before I am good and ready."

"So, you already have a girlfriend?"

"No, no, they wanted me to marry and take over the family business. So they were prepared to arrange a marriage for me, if necessary, because I am completely unattached. I must be unkissable or something."

"I wouldn't say that," Jennifer paused, colouring up, before she added, "is that why you are not with your family over Christmas?"

"Maybe that has a little to do with it. Although it boils down to the fact that they live ... far away, abroad, which makes life difficult. You can't live your life in two places without compromise. I felt so restricted there. All part of growing up, I suppose. I don't have any brothers or sisters to talk to about it."

"I have a brother and sister, but they have settled lives and their own families. They don't want to deal with me and the problems that they coped with long ago."

"Same here, it does leave you isolated. It means that for now, at least, my life seems to be centred around here."

"Oh, I'm in London, being independent for about ten years now, but I really am starting to hate it. And traveling up from there at this time of year is a nightmare." Jennifer paused. "Look, as I said, you could stay at my Mum's tonight, sleep on the sofa instead of in the cab. You will have running hot water, hot food and central heating, and a good night's sleep on the sofa instead of in a draughty old lorry cab. After breakfast, we can sort out servicing the car and then I'll treat you to lunch, before I go off and finish my last-minute Christmas shopping. And all you have to do is answer to the name of 'Jeff' for a while."

"Sounds like a plan, but you'll have to give me a lift to the airfield from your Mum's tomorrow, I don't have a car here."

"No problem."

"I should think your car's probably warmed up enough by now. You lead off slowly and I'll overtake you, so I can churn up the fresh snow for you on the way to your Dad's depot, where I'll pack myself an overnight bag."

He had opened his cab door and was on the ground while still talking and around holding her door open as Jennifer climbed down. He held her arm steady on the fresh snow underfoot as they made their way to her driver's door. He helped her into the car and squeezed her shoulder before closing the door on her.

"I'll flash you, Jennifer, when I'm ready for you to move off. Go slowly along the lane for twenty to thirty yards. I'll overtake you and squash all this snow with my big snow tyres, so your car shouldn't slide around too much. I'll keep an eye on you in the wing mirrors, so I can't lose you."

A shiver went down Jennifer's spine, as he slammed her door and walked back to his cab. Just the way he called her by her first name had made her glow. Yet she didn't even know his name at all! She was about to open her door, to run to his cab and ask him, when he flashed his lights. He was already ready to move off.

As she drove down the road, and the big truck lumbered past her to lead the way, her mobile phone rang. She recognised the number, her best girl friend, Satish. She picked it up.

"Hi, Satish. How are you?"

"Hello, Jenna, honey. I just wanted to check how you got on with your Mum and what she thinks about you rolling up without your so-called boyfriend 'Jeff' in tow."

"I haven't actually seen Mum yet, Satish, my car broke down on the way. That shit Scott hasn't serviced the car in all the time I've had it, and it gave up the ghost a few miles short. It's pouring down with snow up here."

"Oh, no! Whereabouts are you?"

"I'm driving round to my Dad's lorry depot, with one of his drivers leading the way, in case I break down again. Purely by luck he saw me broken down on the side of the road and managed to get this bloody heap going again."

"So you've still got to face your Mum, then, huh? What are you going to say to her when 'Jeff' is no show?"

"I don't know what she would say, but I might not have to explain anything at all."

"No? Really?"

"Maybe, I really don't know yet. Look, Satish, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"I don't think so, Jenna. Love grows from getting to know and trust someone completely. I really don't think you would have that level of trust right at the outset, not with a new boyfriend, at first he would be no more than any stranger. Natural attraction isn't love, you know, it is lust! And there's some safety in having doubts and not giving away your heart to somebody too soon. Look at how you felt when Scott let you down, and you knew him for eight years."

"I know, it is so hard to know. What about you and your hubby? I mean, did you fall in love with him early on in your relationship? Were you already comfortable as a couple by the time you married?"

"Ha!" Satish laughed, "Sanjay was a friend of a second cousin. He was still living in India when I was engaged to him. I spent ten minutes with him in a room full of both our older relatives. I met him just the once and then we were engaged. That was just a few days before we were married. We flew to India to meet, marry and have our honeymoon, before flying home again at the end of a fortnight. Everything was arranged for us. We didn't even speak on our own as a couple until our wedding night."

"But ... you're a modern British woman, and your Mum and Dad seem so normal. I didn't think arranged marriages happened over here."

"My family are British and I was born here, my father was even born here, but they are ultra traditional when it comes to marriage and bringing up children."

"And you were already in love with him before you were married?"

"Not at all. I thought he was handsome on first appearance, but at first he was stiff and formal with me. I didn't even think he liked me very much. I thought he only married me because his family approved our match. At the time I wondered if he loved someone else and was being forced to give her up."

"But you must have liked him?"

"He was a strong marriage match, a medical student with a good future, from a family with strong moral values. What was there not to like?" She laughed.

"But you love him now?"

"We learned to love each other quite soon in our marriage. He was so gentle a lover and he has been a good father and husband. He found it difficult adjusting, when he first came to London, of course. I was born here so it was easy for me. Then we had our three children in five years and have had a really good life together. I can't imagine being married to anyone else. We are happy and —."

"Sorry Satish, I'm at the depot gates now. I better go."

"Call me in the morning and let me know how you got on with your mother."

"Will do, bye."

***

The gates opened up in front of Jennifer as the lorry pulled inside and she drove in behind him. The truck parked up in line with several other trucks.

Just then, Jen's phone rang again, the number she recognised as her father's.

"Hi Pops, you'll never guess where I am."

"I know exactly where you are, Pumpkin," her Dad replied laughing, "I hear you have rechristened my best driver as a guy called 'Jeff' and, that you're going to be passing him off to your mother as the latest man in your life."

"Oh crap! He rang and told you!"

"Of course he did. I told you he's my best man, and he knew I would understand, especially if it means putting one over on your mother! Anyway, you are in good hands with young 'Jeffrey' as you like to call him. No-one can pack a truck or van like he can or deliver it as quick. He finds his way around the countryside like it's the back of his hand. And he is a really likeable chap."

"He says he doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, I think that's correct. The two young girls that I've got working in the office, keep trying to chat him up and he's not interested in taking advantage of them, so I do believe you are safe with him, I'm just not certain about his safety!" He laughed. "So, you can be sure that I won't say anything embarrassing about either of you to the rest of our family. By the way, you are both invited to our place on Boxing Day, as a 'couple'."

"Yeah, he said you'd already invited him to dinner. So you really do trust him with me, and vice versa, then Pops?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart. I trust the both of you to waste a perfect opportunity to be eternally happy together. What I would prefer you to do over the next three years is marry him so I can retire and leave the business with you both to look after it."

"But Pops, I hardly know him!"

"I'm not aiming to retire straight away, so get to know him over this holiday for a start. He's a first-class bloke who's really going places. He's worth his weight in gold to my business. You should see the house he's having built!"

"Oh! He's coming back, I'll speak to you tomorrow, Pops."

"OK, Pumpkin, speak to you later."

'Jeff' walked up to the car with an overnight bag in one hand and a bulging red sack in the other. Jen got out and opened her untidy boot for him.

"Sorry it is a mess back here, not sure if both those bags will fit."

"Get back in the warm, Miss Webster, I have a knack for packing a lot of stuff into small spaces."

"OK," she said, doubtfully, "what's in the bag exactly, your week's laundry to take home?"

"Fortunately," he laughed, "I caught up with my laundry yesterday, so I have a clean change of clothes and freshly pressed PJs in my holdall. I want your 'Jeff' to make a good impression on your mother. As for the sack, I have some spare presents that might fill some of the gaps in your shopping list."

"How do you know I have gaps?"

"You told me, you're shopping for presents while I'm servicing your car tomorrow morning."

"Your photographic memory?"

"Just paying attention."

"Oh, this is embarrassing, presents as well, I mean, you are doing everything—"

"Everything that it takes to make your Christmas a good one, Miss Webster. Let me take that on as my seasonal job this Christmas."

"Call me Jen or Jennifer, please. We are supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend, after all!"

He nodded, smiled again, and managed to squeeze the bag and sack in and, to her amazement, the boot clicked shut without popping out any of the windows.

"Do you want me to drive?" he asked, "I'm quite accustomed to driving in the snow."

"Thank you, I would be grateful," she said, "it was really noticeable the difference it made following your tyre tracks."

As they drove along, 'Jeff' spoke.

"I haven't properly introduced myself—"

Jennifer interrupted, "No, please don't tell me your real name, now, otherwise I'll be confused and only call you the wrong one. I spoke to Dad just now on the phone and, well, he vouched for you."

He nodded. "Funnily enough, I'm called 'Junior' when I'm at home, so I rarely get called my real name anyway. Even your Dad started calling me 'Ace', almost from the outset, and they all do that now, both in the office and by the other drivers. OK, formal introductions, then. Hello, Jen, I'm Jeff. Now, Jeffrey Who, am I exactly?"

"Oh Lord, I'm hopeless at lying, I never even made up a last name for my made-up boyfriend!"

"I'll start again then Jen, hello, I'm Jeff," he laughed, "er, Jeff Nixon Junior will do, I think. That will explain if I answer to 'Junior'. Now, you must be Jennifer Webster, my girlfriend of ... how long have we been going out Jen? Oh yes, eight months, wasn't it? In that case I must know all about how you take your coffee or tea, what your favourite foods are, alcoholic drinks, favourite colours and whether you've been a good girl or not this year."

"Yes, I suppose ... I better find out what your favourites are, too."

"Or we could just guess them," he suggested with a grin.

"OK, guess mine, clever clogs."

"Right," he said, "tea, white, no sugar, first thing in the morning; then coffee white, with one sugar at break time; tea again at tea time and white coffee again with one in the evening. I think you probably love lasagne and pasta but not with too much garlic. Your favourite drink is dry white wine and that, as usual this year, you have been a very good girl except for lying, albeit just these little white lies to your mother."
"That's amazing!"

"Not really, it is logical, when you think about it. Did I get any right?"

"All of them. I suppose I am pretty predictable. Mmm, what about you, fly-boy?"

"Tea all the time, just a splash of milk, no sugar. I quite like pasta, but my all-time favourite meal has got to be roast turkey with all the trimmings."

"And your drink of choice?"

"Not really into drink, just the occasional sherry or brandy, one glass at the most, and I never drink when I'm flying or driving."

"And have you been good this year?"

"I'm always good, except for fooling your mother and rest of your family by helping a damsel in distress out for Christmas. Ah, here we are."

Jen peered out through the flurries of snow swirling around her car. She had been here at her Mum's new house twice before, both times in the late spring and late summer when it was light. She hardly recognised anything at all in the dark, especially when everything was under a thick blanket of snow. There were Christmas lights hanging off most of the eaves of the buildings in the area, but this really didn't help, as most of the houses looked the same. Yet 'Jeff' made finding the place look easy and he said earlier he'd never been here before.

"This is number 16," announced 'Jeff' as he pulled up and parked in the road outside one of the houses.

There were a couple of completely unidentifiable snow-covered cars parked in front of the double garage. She could just make out the sign for "16" on the wall between the garage and the front door. 'Jeff' opened the driver's door, which prompted Jennifer to get out her side and move to the boot. 'Jeff' already had the boot open, with his hold-all hooked over one shoulder, his red sack tossed over the other shoulder and gripped both with one hand. He had one hand free and looked at her expectantly.

"All right, 'Jeff Junior', I have one big suitcase, but it's quite heavy —"

"My cue I think," he reached in and pulled out her case with his free hand.

Jennifer was mightily impressed, it was a relatively heavy armoured case to protect her clothes, and she had a heavy pair of boots packed in anticipation of the winter weather. She remembered she had struggled to lift it, using both arms and putting her back behind it, to get it into the boot in the first place. Bodybuilder Scott used to complain about the weight of her case every time they went away anywhere. 'Jeff' had lifted it out as if it was full of fluffy duck down feather pillows.

"Anything else?"

"There's a couple of carrier bags of presents to take in, but there is one more essential thing we need to do before we go in."

She squared up to him, placed a hand on either side of his head and pulled him into a searing kiss. She pressed her lips against his, parted her lips and probed between his lips with her tongue. He responded by opening his mouth, allowing both tongues to meet and explore. 'Jeff' had a warm, sweet-tasting mouth, his lips and tongue soft and yielding, playful rather than the bullying tongue she had previously been forced to but up with. She broke off the kiss and opened her eyes, his were still closed but only for a moment longer than hers.

"What? —" he began.

"When we say goodnight in front of my mother later on, leaving you to sleep on the couch and me off to my single bedroom alone, we will be expected to kiss each other goodnight. I didn't want us to be awkward and act like it was our first kiss. I want it to look as though we were used to kissing each other, even if it had been only the once."

"Well, you caught me off-guard ... would you like to try that again?"

"Down, boy!" Jennifer laughed, somewhat surprised at how suddenly strengthened, confident and happy she felt, "just be expecting a kiss before bedtime."

"Expecting? I'll be insisting, don't you worry about that," he laughed as Jennifer pulled out her carrier bags from the corner by the back seat and slammed the boot shut. 'Jeff' still had the car keys in his hand, so he pressed the button to lock it and followed her up the drive towards the front door.

She had rung the bell by the time he reached her, and she stood there shivering. It was cold compared to the shared warmth off the car. He put his left arm, his fist carrying his sack now hanging loose, around her and pulled her into him. She felt warm and comforted by his involuntary action. She mouthed 'thanks', just as the door opened.

"Hello, Mum, sorry we're late."

"I was worried, dear," her mother said, as 'Jeff' released her daughter and she stepped forward to give her mother a hug, before pushing past her into the warmth of the hall, kicking the snow off her shoes on the mat before kicking them off to her stockinged feet.

"This is my Mum, Lisa," Jennifer introduced her mother to 'Jeff', while going through the shoe ritual, "oh, and Mum, this is my boyfriend 'Jeff', almost at the last minute he did manage to get tonight off work, and is working tomorrow night instead."

"Hi Lisa, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jen's told me so much about you." He leaned forward and kissed the open-mouthed woman on the cheek.

"But I thought ..." Lisa stepped back and let 'Jeff' in, and continued hesitatingly, "er, yes a pleasure for me to meet you, too," and closed the hall door behind them, shutting out the winter chill.

Jennifer had pushed on down the hall and entered the living room, where she let out a loud expletive.

"Holy crap!"

'Jeff' was still kicking off his shoes, so he followed some three or four steps behind her and looked around the room. Sitting comfortably at one end of a three-seater couch, with her long legs tucked under her, was an attractive blonde teenage girl, with an amused smile on her face. An older man had sat in an easy chair, but was halfway through the act of getting up to greet the visitors. Already standing at the other end of the couch was a third person, a handsome fellow, probably aged about thirty but trying to dress to look much younger. He had an overwhelming amount of hair gel on, making his hair glisten rather oddly in the flashing LED lights from the Christmas tree.

"Hi, everyone," 'Jeff' said brightly, flashing his own handsome smile, "I'm Jeff Nixon Junior, but you can call me Jeff or Junior, I answer to either. I've really been looking forward to meeting you all at last."

He put down Jennifer's heavy case and held his hand out to the older man, "Now you must be Jack," Jack took his hand, looking a little dazed, and accepted a few vigorous shakes. "Jeff' continued, "And you, young lady, have to be Stephanie, Jen's told me plenty of times that she thought you were gorgeous. I think we should add 'absolutely' to that."

The girl smiled broadly and got up from her seat to embrace 'Jeff', "Hi, Junior, you not only sound cool, you look pretty gorgeous yourself!"

With Stephanie reluctantly releasing him, 'Jeff' held his hand out to the younger man, "Sorry, man, Jen wasn't expecting Stephanie to have her young fella here as well. So, I'm Junior, and you are?"

"This, Junior," Jennifer said pointedly, as she moved across and put her arms through 'Jeff's' other arm, the one holding his sack, "is my ex-boyfriend, Scott. You know, the one that I told you so much about."

"How very interesting, having your two most recent boyfriends meeting up at your Mum's. What fun, eh!" Then in a loud stage whisper, holding up a hand between his mouth and Jennifer's ear, he said, "So, what do you think Scott is doing here then, honey?"

"That's what I would like to know!" Jennifer didn't bother to make it sound like a whisper, and she unhooked her arm from 'Jeff' and folded her arms across her chest.

There was an awkward silence.

"Er. Your Mum invited Scott to spend Christmas with us, with us all, Jennifer," Jack interrupted the silence, trying to diffuse the awkward situation, "But that was after he told us on the phone that he thought you had made up young Jeff here. He stated quite plainly that Jeff was a figment of your imagination, and that all he wanted by coming here was to clear up any misunderstandings and do everything he could to get back together with you again."

"Yeah, sorry Jenna, I was reliably, by someone we both know, but will remain nameless," Scott said defensively, "that you was living on your own at your tiny studio flat and that you weren't seeing no-one."

"Yes, Jennifer," Lisa chipped in behind her, "you kept stalling on giving me the details about your break up and, well, some of what you were saying about Jeff just didn't ring true."

"How could you Mum?" Jennifer was obviously, upset, her confidence of a few minutes ago was ebbing away fast. She had known instinctively all along that she could never carry off the deception and now, embarrassingly, all her lies were coming home to roost. "The last thing I expected, visiting my mother for Christmas, was to find my ex-boyfriend, the very one that I dumped, making himself look completely at home."

Her eyes welled up with tears, but 'Jeff' dropped his sack, stepped in front of her and held her head in both hands. He gently kissed her forehead and pulled her to him into a gentle embrace, his arms wrapped around comfortingly around her shoulders, her head resting on his chest.

"Don't get upset, sweetheart," he soothed, his voice sounded to her like a warm velvet cloak, "this is all a little misunderstanding, which doesn't affect you, or us, in the slightest. Just remember that it's Christmas and this is the time of goodwill, where we need to forgive and forget past transgressions, including those relationships that didn't work out. So, forgive Scott and your mother for this silly inconsequential little mix up and then you and I can get on with the rest of our happy lives together."

He pulled Jennifer's chin up and pressed his lips against hers. His lips, she thought, were soft and warm and gentle. All the tensions and upset drained from her as if this was where she truly belonged. She parted her lips, inviting him in as she wrapped her arms around his waist, on the inside of his warm, unzipped coat. 'Jeff' gently probed her tongue with his and she relaxed and sighed contentedly, all the arguments and deceptions faded into the meaningless background of minor hiccoughs.

In fact, all conversation had stopped while the other four looked on, as Jennifer and 'Jeff' continued to kiss, both seemingly oblivious of everything around them.

Stephanie was the first to speak, while laughing, "Holy shit, you two, get a room!"

'Jeff' pulled Jen from his lips and reluctantly she slowly opened her eyes. She looked so relaxed and contended she appeared almost sleepy.

"You go up and have a hot bath, sweetheart, and relax. I'll carry your case up to the guest room for you in a moment, after I've had a chat with Jack and Lisa," 'Jeff' said gently, "are you all right with that, Jen?"

"Yes, I am, OK," she said meekly, happily allowing Junior to take charge. She turned to leave the room, "I'll see you in a few moments then, sweetheart."

'Jeff' turned to Lisa.

"I must apologise, Lisa, for any doubts about my attendance here for the Christmas holidays. That appears to be the root of the misunderstanding here. Jennifer knows that Christmas is always a very busy time for me, being in the logistics business. To be honest, I may have laid it on a bit thick with Jennifer about whether or not I could get away. The whole lead up to Christmas and Christmas Eve is so intense that I am usually wiped out on Christmas Day and not fit to be anyone's guest. So, on one hand I didn't want to upset her by promising to come and then having to let her down or, on the other, to get her hopes up that I could get one of the next two nights off. Obviously with such a special girl as Jennifer wanting me to be here, and me also desperate to be here with her, I have pulled out all the stops I could to get here tonight. Now, I was expecting to sleep on the couch...."

"No, no, that's not happening now, of course, Jeff," said Jack, getting in before his speechless wife could gather her shattered senses, and embarrass his family further, "Scott, will you go up and collect your things from Jen and Jeff's room, now, please, I'm afraid it's going to have to be the couch for you. Thank you."

Lisa finally spoke up, saying, "But —"

"But nothing, Leese, it's the only solution, unless you want to kick your invited guest, poor Scott here, out into the blizzard."

He turned to 'Jeff' again, "I'm really sorry about this mix-up, but it is too late for Scott to make alternative plans for Christmas at this late hour, especially considering the weather, but he can sleep on the couch and, as our guest, he is welcome to stay for Christmas dinner. We have already had our evening meal tonight, as we couldn't wait any longer for Jen, but I'm sure Lisa can rustle up something for you both, can't you, love?"

"Yes, I can heat something up for you." Lisa's voice was small and humble.

"Thank you, sir," Junior smiled, "you are a good man and have an excellent solution to this little problem. I'll just pop upstairs with our luggage and make sure that Jen's got everything she needs for her bath."

"I'll come up with you and pack up my stuff," Scott said, in a subdued voice, with only half his mind on the immediate task. This really didn't turn out as he and Lisa had planned. But, his mind working overtime, staying on here, for tonight and all tomorrow, gave him a chance. He had been with Jenna for far longer than this interloper, he had seniority here, and he knew how to operate all her insecure buttons. This guy? He was just too nice, and definitely wasn't as toned bodywise as he was, a longtime bodybuilder with uncommonly good looks; no, he reassured himself, this Jeff, Junior, whatever he called himself, he didn't stand an earthly.

Scott led the way up the stairs, past the bathroom where Jennifer was drawing a steamy bath, the door left slightly ajar. 'Jeff' let Scott carry on to the bedroom, while 'Jeff' put the case and holdall down and tapped on the bathroom door.

"Hi," Jennifer said with a smile, then pulled him into the bathroom and closed the door behind them by leaning on it, whispering, "All Scott's stuff's in my bedroom!"

"I know. He's in there packing now. He's sleeping on the couch tonight and you know what that means, when there's only one couch...."

"Oh." Jen thought for a few seconds, about the implications of her Mum intending to allow Scott to stay in her room, after all those years of imposed propriety, and that now Scott would be sleeping on the couch tonight and ... then she remembered 'Jeff's' searing kiss downstairs. Decisions, decisions.

"Well, Scott snores like an elephant on a midnight march, but I am sure you'll get used to it as it is for one night only, unless, you know, you and Scott both get on well together. Clearly my Mum's much more open-minded than I—"

It is impossible to continue talking, with someone's hot lips pressed against yours, particularly when they are sweet, soft snd warmly welcome lips. That bathroom was becoming steamier by the minute, which appeared to be the minimum duration of that lovely kiss.

"I better move your case and my bag from the hallway," Junior said breathlessly at the end of the kiss, "before Scott trips over them."

"Mmm, I need my case. I used to sleep naked, Junior, but the last couple of cool months, sleeping alone, I've found that I get cold. So I have taken to wearing thick winceyette pyjamas, which I brought with me to wear tonight," she said, "so, what about you, what do you wear when you ... you know, sleep with someone?"

"I have never slept with anyone before."

"Never?"

"Never, so I find that I'm unusually nervous about it."

"I can understand that. But you are going to be a perfect gentleman towards me tonight, aren't you, Junior?"

"I am, I always am, you will be perfectly safe with me tonight. You do feel safe with me, don't you Jennifer?"

She nodded, "I do, actually, feel very safe. So, what exactly are you going to be wearing tonight?"

"The very same as you, it gets damn cold in those cabs at night, so I have packed a crisply ironed fresh pair of thick cotton PJs in my holdall."

"Thank you, I do appreciate that, and thank you so much for helping me out like this."

"The pleasure's all mine. Now, your Mum is talking about preparing us some supper, is there anything particular you fancy?"

"Just some soup, I think, l'm not all that hungry really, I'm more tired than anything else, drained emotionally."

"Well, don't fall asleep in the bath. I'll take your case through to the bedroom, first door on the left, right?"

"Yes, that's it. I'll just shut off the water and come through with you. I want to get my bathroom things out of the case and my robe."

By the time they got to the bedroom, Scott had vacated his temporary occupancy, leaving empty drawers open and the wardrobe doors swinging ajar. They grinned at each other.

"I love seeing his nose out of joint, Junior. Do you think that makes me a bad girl?"

Chapter 6

"Maybe, you might be considered a bad girl in some very strict circles," Junior replied, "but I confess that I quite enjoyed seeing his jaw drop when I walked in and introduced myself as your boyfriend 'Jeff'. And his eyes were almost bugged out of his head when we kissed downstairs."

"I think mine were too," she smiled and, throwing caution to the wind, melted easily into his arms again, "that's why I had them closed the whole time."

He lifted her chin and they kissed again. This time it wasn't a kiss initiated in response to any external influence or show of pretence, but a kiss shared, enjoyed, each lost in the other's being, until a knock at the door disturbed them.

It was her mother knocking. A few moments earlier, she had pushed the ajar door fully open to be confronted by the couple in an intimate embrace, and knocked afterwards, as it was clear they hadn't noticed her standing there.

"Oh, I'm sorry, kids, I should have waited before barging in after knocking, do forgive me."

"Of course, Lisa, it's not a problem," 'Jeff' smiled easily, "we were a little taken aback by the presence of Scott when we first arrived, but I am glad to say that I can now put a face to the stories about him that I have heard. And I think Jen's much more comfortable about everything now, aren't you, sweetheart?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just going to unpack my PJs and go have my hot bath."

"Give me a shout when you're done, hon, so I can have a quick shower."

"Oh, you could shower in our ensuite, Jeff, then you could both come down for some soup together. I've popped the rolls in the oven to warm while you are up here. Any preference for soup flavours?"

"You're a mind reader, Mum, I was just telling Junior that I fancied some soup. Tomato, for me, Mum, if you have it. Oh, and you can call Jeff, Junior, if you like, I think I really prefer Junior much more than 'Jeff'."

"Tomato's fine for me, too, Lisa, if you've more than one can. And I always answer to Junior."

"Should have plenty, I usually buy a pack of four cans at a time. So, your father is a Jeff too?"

"No," he laughed, "Funnily enough, he isn't, but he has always called me Junior and it sort of stuck. My parents were never blessed with another baby after me, so I'm an only child."

"Sorry to hear that, Stephanie downstairs is an only child too, and for a long time only had the one parent. I think that is hard to go through life without a sibling."

"I think you're right Lisa. Well, you can be sure that Jen and I will include her as a much loved sister." He was looking Jennifer as he said it, and smiled as she nodded back to him when he had completed the sentence so positively.

"See you in a few minutes then, Jen, Junior. I really am so sorry about the embarrassing mix-up, but now it's sorted, it's great having you both here for Christmas. Now, I'll sort out a fresh bath towel for your shower, Junior."
Jennifer lay in the warm bath water, thinking about all the things that were happening in her life, so many new elements that were altering her outlook on life.

'I am lying in my mother's bath thinking about what has just happened in the last couple of hours,' she mulled things over in her head. 'My life seems to have been turned on its head. I mean, before I moved to London, my girlfriends used to say I was a bright and attractive girl. Nobody speaks to anyone there in London, but my best friend Satish says, "Jenna, you deserve true love." My name's Jennifer, but Jenna sounded so much more sophisticated. I approached big city life, not as my former confident self, but as this insecure, nervous creature who settled for the bare minimum relationship, and clung onto it for far too long. It almost destroyed me. It is all right for Satish, she had an arranged marriage to an Indian doctor that, against all the odds, has turned out for them to be a perfect match.

'There are plenty of things on the downside of my life, of course. For the past eight months I've lied to my mother about replacing my cheating boyfriend of five years, Scott, with a new boyfriend, but a made-up one, who doesn't actually exist. I made him up because I didn't want to admit that the man Mum thought was perfect for me, was really a complete and utter cheating bastard.

'I'm going to be 30 in May and my younger sister is long married with three children and I am currently not even dating anyone. I'm so afraid that I'll end up an old maid, in a glorified but dead end telesales job, renting a studio flat that I can barely afford, living in a city full of strangers. My last decade in London has been a waste of a third of my life so far. I am worse off than when I started, but don't want to return home here and be perceived as a failure.

'I am "home" at my Mum's for the Christmas holidays, a trip that I have actually been dreading for months. My parents split up last year and both have new partners, neither of whom I barely know. My mother's new husband Jack seems a good man, and his beautiful daughter Stephanie's been really friendly so far to me, and seems to like helping Mum, which is a good sign.

'My Dad's new partner, on the other hand, is nearly four years younger than me and has three children under five. I haven't really made up my mind about her.

'And then, to cap it all, my car has broken down on the way up here, in the middle of a snow storm. My life is a total mess!

'Yet here I am, soaking in warm soapy water, completely at peace with myself. How can that possibly be?

'There are a few pluses. A Good Samaritan who helped me tonight told me that my boyfriend, who had supposedly always done my car servicing, hadn't done anything to the car in years. Now the Samaritan has not only offered to service my car for free but also agreed to pose as my make-believe boyfriend, 'Jeff', throughout the holidays. He laughed as he agreed to help me, saying at home he's called Junior! As luck would have it, he works for my father, and in just eight months he has become my Dad's right hand man; I rang my Dad, who joked that if I married Junior within the next three years, he could retire and leave us to run "our" business. 'Jeff' or Junior, is such a nice sweet guy, helpful, he temp-fixed the car, and is somehow fixing my mother's misconception of my muddled love life.

'I kissed Junior outside Mum's front door, while his hands were full of our luggage, and it was nice, really nice. Then, once inside, I was shocked to find Mum had invited my ex-boyfriend Scott for Christmas. But Junior kissed away all my agony, assuring me with his deep comforting voice and lovely open face, that was so completely full of concern for my wellbeing. He really seemed to care about me and I believe he actually does, he kissed me in the bathroom like he does. You can't fake that. And, almost immediately after Scott had moved his things out of our bedroom, Junior and I kissed naturally, as if we'd been meant to kiss at every opportunity all along. Mum caught us kissing and now she really believes we are lovers!

'Still, I have my dreams. Dreams of meeting that special prince, and, well, one particular dream, anyway.

'I have had this recurring dream of Santa Claus ever since I was about three years old. Nothing freaky, although it always occurs in my current bedroom, wherever that happened to be. Sometimes Santa's delivering a present, a special present that no one else owns up to, but more often he's empty handed, as if he is just looking in to check that I'm still OK a year on since his last visit. He just tells me something like, "Jennifer, it's not your time to get up yet, so go back to sleep." I get that dream every year before Christmas, just the once until the main one on Christmas Eve. Every time I awake, I am reassured by Santa and I go to sleep again. I told my family about it at first, and later Scott, about the basic dream, but I have never told anyone that he is not the traditional department store Father C, but a young Santa, no one except my best friend Satish. He's not fat or old, he does wear a Santa suit, but is clean-shaven. He has a young moon shaped face, open and honest, and a voice deep, calming and reassuring. Satish insists my Dream Santa's a premonition of my true love to come.

'My Dream Santa is nothing like Scott was at all.... No, he's more like ... like Junior.

'Oh my God!'

Chapter 7

Junior was down first from his shower, and he looked fresh faced, face glowing pink and, thought both Lisa and Stephanie, he looked hot in his traditional cotton pyjamas, as he walked smiling into the kitchen. He was tall, his thick dark hair still slightly damp from his shower, showing a hint of premature greying at the temples.

'How old is he?' wondered Lisa, considering the grey. He had an open baby face, with no sign yet of wrinkles other than a few light laughter lines around his bright intelligent eyes and mouth when he smiled, a strong chin, and was freshly shaven. 'He could be anything between 25 and 40,' Lisa thought.

Stephanie didn't care how old he looked, in those old fashioned blue and white striped PJs and dark blue dressing gown with white stitching around the seams and white rope belt, he looked tall, dark, lean and athletic. Oh yes, she thought, her stepsister had definitely traded up from that greasy loser Scott. That creep had already tried to chat her up when he first arrived during the late afternoon, even before her step-Mum had got back from the hairdressers. No, this Junior was a definite improvement, so she considered it was well worth watching this space. If Jennifer had any ideas of going back to slimy Scott, that would leave the way for Steph to try her hand at seducing Junior. 'Patience, girl,' she thought, 'a little patience and if you play your cards right...'.

"Is Jennifer still in the bath, Junior?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, or she was. I knocked on the door as I went by, she was dozing and said she'd be down in five or maybe ten minutes at the most. I think she's been having a tough time with the stress of that sales job of hers."

"We'll go and sit in the lounge then." Lisa said, "I've turned the oven off, as the part-baked rolls are almost done, but they can keep warm until she comes down."

When they reached the lounge, Junior saw the red sack where he left it and the two carrier bags of presents that Jen had brought in from the car. There was a small tree, festooned in multi-colored lights, in the corner of the room with half a dozen presents already underneath.

"I think I'll sort out the presents while we're waiting for Jen," grinned Junior, "she did most of the shopping and packing and, hopefully I have been able to finish it off and filled in the gaps."

He carried the two bags and the sack over to the tree.

Junior crouched down on his knees by the Christmas tree and started going through the presents in the carrier bags. There were presents for Lisa and Jack in Jen's bag but nothing yet for Stephanie.

Jen's big older brother Miles and his wife Sharon shared a present between them, but there was nothing for their teenagers Kendra and Mica. He smiled, recalling the teenagers' last visit to see their grandfather in the summer and Junior was invited to join them. The teenagers were sullen and bored at first, too sophisticated to join in anything organized for them, but Junior had got them involved with Kayla's eldest in playing the Monopoly board game and soon they were all acting like children again. He thought of the perfect presents for them.

Jen's younger sister Bernie and her husband Mark also had a present addressed to them both but their three young children, Oliver the eldest, and girls Ronnie and Judy were without. Junior could see that Jennifer had found it is so difficult buying for the younger ones that you don't see very often, not helped by not having experienced kids of your own.

There was presents in the bags for her father Andy and his girlfriend, and for one of their children, Monika the baby, which felt soft, like an item of clothing. Junior put those ones back in the bag ready for Boxing Day.

Then he pulled his red bag towards him, untied the rope securing it shut and dipped his hand in.

Lisa was the first to hear footfalls on the stairs, so she opened the door to the kitchen and went through to heat up the soup.

Jennifer came in through the hallway door, dressed in her pale pink PJs and a white towelling robe, her damp hair still wrapped up in a hand towel tied around her head. She smiled at everyone, including Scott, before kneeling next to Junior, who was well away from everyone else by the French doors to the garden, and kissing him warmly on the cheek.

"Mmm, you smell absolutely gorgeous, Jen, I'll be tempted to dip you in my soup and eat you up, when it comes through."

"Down, Tiger," she grinned, "you better behave yourself; don't forget we are at my Mum's."

"I never forget anything."

"I know. And I believe you, Junior. Absolutely I do."

Lisa popped her head around the kitchen door. "Now you're down, Jennifer, I'll be serving up the soup in a moment. Are you both happy to eat in here off your laps?" She paused until the happy couple smiled and jointly nodded their acceptance, "Now, the rest of you, do you want drinking chocolate and biscuits or mince pies for supper?"

A glance around the room was sufficient to confirm that were more requests for mince pies than biscuits, with drinking chocolate universally agreed on. Once she had everyone's acceptance, Lisa disappeared into the kitchen again. This time Stephanie stood up from her end of the couch and moved into the kitchen to help her.

"Steph's so nice, to offer to help Mum in the kitchen, isn't she, hon?" whispered Jennifer, while gazing lovingly into Junior's eyes.

"Yes, sweetheart, Stephanie is a very good and lovely girl. I believe that your Mum has really landed a great second family."

"So, what've you been doing while I was soaking away all my cares and woes?" she asked, seeing her depleted shopping bags, "have you been sorting out my presents?"

"Yes, I've taken the liberty of putting yours out under the tree already, and put Andy's back in the bag. I was about to put out the others that I took the liberty to bring with me, to see what I had that was suitable. I may have to explain later how I think I've filled in most if not all of the gaps."

"I'm sure you have filled every single one of the gaps, sweetheart." Jennifer whispered close to his ear. "Explanations are unnecessary here and now in front of the family, but I expect they would be something along the lines of your extraordinary memory, an ability to choose the most appropriate gifts, and some surplus presents you happened to have in this sack that you fetched from your cab?"

"Er, yes, something vaguely along those lines. Not the complete answer but that explanation will do until I have a chance to explain to you ... privately ... later on this evening."

"Oh, I fully expect you to explain a lot of things, later. But I can wait until then for explanations, and answers. Please, though, no lies later. I think I really have had enough of those lately."

She glanced nervously at Scott, who squirmed in his armchair at her look.

"No lies, Jen," he whispered back. "Hopefully there will be no need for secrets between us, but together we need to keep certain shall we say confidences, but they will be ones that we can share between us."

"Of course. Now, as for your Christmas present from me, I haven't actually got you anything yet, but I will sort that out tomorrow, perhaps while you service the car. Have you got something in your bag for me?"

"Yes, I do have. More than one present, actually."

"Ooo, do I get a chance to see them, what shape they are and perhaps rattle them or feel how heavy, or soft they are?" She had a mischievous look on her face, reddened by her steamy bath, or perhaps flushed for some other reason.

"Not now, I thought I would leave them hidden in the sack until Christmas morning."

She crinkled her nose and bumped him, shoulder to shoulder, "Spoilsport! But, what if I wake up early on Christmas morning? Or maybe when I wake up but think I'm still dreaming on Christmas morning? Or while you are putting my present at the bottom of our bed, even though it's still dark outside, may I open my presents then?"

"You may open one. This Christmas, and next Christmas, and maybe, every next Christmas, sweetheart, if you want."

She put her head next to his and whispered even lower, "I think I know who you are, 'Jeff', Junior, or whatever names you like to be known."

"Oh yes? You think you know?"

"Yes. I have been thinking long and hard about why I was so comfortable with you, from the moment you rescued me. I think it was because you seem so familiar to me, both in appearance and the comforting sound of your voice. I thought about where and when I had seen you, while I was lying in the bath."

"OK then, Jennifer clever clogs," he smiled as he rubbed her back, whispering in her ear, "exactly who am I, then?"

"The man of my dreams, perhaps?"

He nodded. "I certainly hope so, Jen."

"And, my dream man, why so early this year, it was still November," she whispered.

"It was the last night of November," he breathed back, "only a few hours shy of December."

"It was still bloody early for Christmas."

"Yes, it was, but ... it was reindeer training that started that day and ... I missed you. I hoped you were still alone and I didn't want to wait another day, let alone three more weeks."

"So, you popped into my bedroom every Christmas for 27 years, just to see little old me?"

"For all 29 Christmases, Jen, you just didn't notice me the first couple of years."

"Wow!" Jennifer leaned back on her haunches for a moment, her eyes no longer sleepy, but wide open. "Why for so long, what am I to you?"

He held her head in her hands and kissed her gently on the forehead, "You are everything to me. I have watched you grow up to become the beautiful woman you are today. I have made my choice. I hope it will soon be your time to decide where your future lies."

"Will my future take me to the North Pole away from everything I've ever known?" she whispered.

"If you decide to take the same direction that lies in my heart, then not completely, and you can remain in contact with your family and friends for a long while, but eventually, yes it will take you away from what you have known. But then doesn't every marriage? You can come back and visit for as often and as long as you like, but this is subject to some precautions. I will tell you everything when we are alone later, and I promise that I will answer all of your concerns and questions as best I can."

Jennifer's mother and step-sister appeared with the soup, bread, drinks, biscuits, mince pies and slices of Christmas cake.

"Come on, the food is ready." Lisa said, "Sit on the settee up here, you two lovebirds."

They got up from where they knelt by the Christmas tree and sat close up to each other.

Jennifer glowed, her mother Lisa thought, and she had to admit that she had never seen her look so radiant, or so beautiful. And that was really all a mother wanted for her daughter this Christmas. She hadn't realised until now, how being with Scott in recent years had changed her from the confident young woman she was when, all on her own, she bravely strode off to London to make her fortune. And there, right in front of her, that confident woman was back. And that was all down to Junior, his devotion to Jennifer was so naturally obvious, that it made her a little jealous of her daughter.

Lisa had noticed as soon as she opened the front door, that she was faced with a real loving couple. There Jennifer was with this smiling Junior, who was happily clutching her, keeping her warm, yet cheerfully releasing her to stride into the house full of confidence.

Scott had suppressed her spirit somehow, holding her back, making her less than she really was. Lisa didn't know what had happened between them, but Jennifer was back to being insecure and lost again the very moment when she was unexpectedly faced with Scott in the lounge. Yet Junior brought her back from the brink of tears with a kiss that, well, Lisa thought, 'I would have sold my soul for'. And now, Jennifer was sitting rubbing shoulder to shoulder with a lovely man who clearly thought the world of her. She could almost see that they both seemed to be surrounded by an aura of magic. They were both smiling, exchanging glances and sharing some common joke between them; they didn't even need to talk, they were communicating on a level that Lisa had never achieved with Andy and had long ago accepted that she would never experience that level of love, even with Jack.

Lisa glanced sideways at Scott, he was slumped in an armchair to one side, all alone, trapped both by the weather and seeing his bridges burning in front of him. He was gripping his cocoa mug like a lifeline plus an untouched mince pie and not at all sure where to look with his eyes other than focus on the carpet pile in front of him.

Stephanie only had eyes for the couple, too, sitting there with a dreamy look on her face, thinking of some of the romance stories she liked to read. Then Lisa caught Jack's eye. Without moving his head, he indicated the couple with eye movements and raised eyebrows, with a silly grin on his face. Jack was a sweet guy, less sophisticated, and less handsome than Andy, but at least he was honest and reliable and he had done a wonderful job raising Steph on his own. She felt lucky, and she smiled, thinking, why not, they were both going to be lucky tonight. She blew him a kiss and his face lit up with the promise of the night to come.

Nobody was saying anything. The only sounds were two spoons scraping crockery, as the couple made short work of their soup.

"Wow, you've been busy with the presents, Jen," Lisa remarked, just noticing the fresh pile under the tree.

"That's only part of them, Mum, I started the shopping and wrapping but Junior has pretty well finished the rest of them off for me. Oh, and Junior's the best present buyer and wrapper in the world, aren't you, honey?"

"That's for you to decide, sweetheart."

"You're too modest," observed Jennifer, bumping his shoulder again, then turning to Lisa, "Well, I've finished. That soup and warm roll was really what I needed, Mum, but now I'm feeling it's been a long day and I'm ready for bed now, if that's all right?"

"Of course, dear."

"Shall we get the rest of the prezzies sorted in the morning, honey, so we can go up to bed now? I'm so tired after all that driving."

"Did you drive all the way up dear?" Lisa asked, "didn't Jeff, sorry, Junior help with the driving?"
"He only drove the last section."

"I wasn't able to help on the way up, Lisa," Junior explained, "Jen drove up here as far as the airfield, where I leave my plane, so I only drove from the airfield to here."

"Plane?" Lisa, Jack and Stephanie asked together, while Scott looked even more sick. He knew now that he was out of her league and that it was his fault for getting caught playing around in the first place that allowed another man into her life.

"Yes, it's my father's plane, really, not mine. It's not an executive jet or anything, it is really quite an unprepossessing aircraft. Unfortunately, I have been so busy lately that it was impossible to drive up with Jen. Also I needed the plane here for tomorrow night as I have a trip to make and, although I haven't invited her yet, I'm hoping Jen'll come with me, to meet my family for the first time." He looked at Jennifer.

"Yes, of course, I'll go anywhere with you, honey, I think you know that by now."

"That's great, sorry sweetheart, to just spring it on you like that," he got up and pulled her up and they walked towards the tree, where Junior wanted to pick up his sack. To Lisa he said, "We'll leave straight after tea tomorrow evening and I'll have her back here by five or six on Christmas morning, Lisa, I promise."

"Wherever are you going on Christmas Eve?"

"North!" both Jennifer and Junior exclaimed at the same time, looked at each other and laughed.

'O, God!' Scott groaned internally, 'they're even thinking the same thoughts!'

"My family live north of here," Junior explained, "but takes no time at all in the plane."

As Junior reached down to grab his sack, Jennifer spotted a package at the top, partly revealed.

"Oh, I can see the top present," she said, "it looks beautiful. Can we leave that one under the tree and check out the rest in the morning?"

They squatted down together by the tree and Junior pulled out the present, beautifully packaged.

"That is beautifully finished off, Jeff," Lisa gasped, at the quality old fashioned wrapping, the bow and curly ribbons.

"He's magic at this kind of thing, aren't you, dear?" Jen smiled at Junior sweetly.

"I believe that if a gift is going to be gratefully received, it should be carefully selected, and beautifully wrapped and presented."

In a whisper, he said to Jen, "This is Lisa's present. I have addressed it 'To Mum' from both of us, as I have with all the others, including a comprehensive collection of hair products for Scott."

"You think of everything, hon. OK, let's just put this one under the tree and then I so want a private word with you upstairs!"

In their bedroom, ready for bed, Jennifer had finished using the bathroom first and waited for Junior to clean his teeth.

"Sit next to me?" she asked when he opened the bedroom door.

Junior nodded and closed the bedroom door behind him, crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her.

"Do you want me to start talking from the beginning," he asked softly, taking her right hand in his, "or do you want to ask questions first?"

"I have one question, to begin with at least."

"Fire away then."

"Why now?" she asked, "why have you finally made contact with me, outside of whatever dream state I had been in on other visits? Why this Christmas, after my seeing and remembering you every other Christmas? And why me anyway?"

"That's basically two questions," he feigned a protest, but squeezed her hand and grinned, "OK. Why now? We'll get the simple one out the way first. The 'why now' is because now the time is right. There is no Scott, there is no 'Jeff'," he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "The 'why you' is because I was drawn to you from the moment you were born and I didn't even know why to begin with. I didn't know why, in fact, for a long, long time, because nobody bothered to tell me. The first couple of Christmases, you were only a baby. I didn't let you see me those two times, even though I wanted you to. We never let anyone see us. If they do, we make them forget."

"But not me."

"Not you. Never you. So I asked my father, why I wanted to see you and why I wanted you to see me. He knew, he always knows, but he didn't tell me anything at that point. You and I were far too young I suppose. But he did allow me to let you see me. That was when you were three. By the time he explained to me why we were somehow attracted to each other, you were with Scott."

"But you look the same age now as you did, way back then, when I was three. And even now you look younger than me! How old are you, exactly?"

He grinned, "Older than you, sweetheart, but to all intents and purposes we are at about the same stage of our aging development, so basically we are the same sort of 'age'. I can see you look doubtful, but you will find it easier to understand when I get the time to tell you about my history."

"So, was it always a dream when I saw you or was it real?"

"Both, neither, and something else." He smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead, "Explanations will have to come later, my sweetheart. I think you are feeling tired."

"Yes, I am exhausted, yet I felt so full of life earlier."

"Let's turn the light out and get into bed and sleep. I can kiss you goodnight and we can sleep until morning."

"Not sure if kissing you with the lights out is a good idea, Junior."

"The only thing in danger here is our hearts, Jen. You will always be safe. I promised you earlier that you were perfectly safe with me and from me."

"Yeah," she grinned, suppressing a yawn, "but are you safe from me?"

"We are both safe, because you do need your sleep."

"Yes, we need to service the car in the morning."

"Er, no, actually I did that tonight already."

"When?"

"While I was in the shower."

"How?" As she asked she got up and started to walk towards the light switch by the door.

"I'll do the lights," he said, "you get into bed."

"I forgot that you're much more used to moving around my bedroom in the dark than I am!" she laughed as she hung her robe on a hook on the back of the door and walked back to the bed, throwing the cover back and folding it one more fold. "What side do you want to sleep?"

"You pick," he said, hovering by the light switch, having hung his own robe on the second door hook.

"I'll take this side, it is the opposite side to the one ... er ... that I used to have." She looked up at him.

"I know," he acknowledged, nodding, and switched the room into near darkness.

Jen felt the rustle of the bedclothes and the mattress depress, then the warmth of the man now lying next to her, up tight to her.

"When you got out of the car and ran up the drive to the shelter of the front door, I pulled all the service parts and tools I needed out of the sack and shut them in your boot. And I left a hydraulic car jack under your Mum's privet hedge."

"So, how do you manage ... time, walls, lights?"

"You are amazing, you know Jen, amazing. You are completely unfazed and trusting. The sack is a portal through another dimension to wherever the object desired is, in this case a vast auto supplies depot. I can move through walls, that is why chimneys are not needed in modern houses. I could have moved the car to another dimension to work on, but I had everything I needed and as far as anyone is concerned it took a fraction of a second to do. I was in the other dimension and working on the car, jacking it up, removing all the wheels, changing the brakes, draining the oil, changing the filters and spark plugs, topping up the battery, restarting the car, checking emissions, all taking a fraction of a second."

"So you really are Father Christmas?"

"No, my father is Santa Claus, only my grandfather calls him Young Nick, while we call Granddad Old Nick. Gramps is retired now, but still helps us out every year."

"So you just help out too, or are you your Dad's apprentice?"

"Yes, I'm the apprentice, and I'm learning the ropes, ready to take over when Dad's had enough."

"And when will that be?"

"A hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty years' time."

"So how long would we be together then?"

"A lot longer than that, Jen."

"I can't take all this in, honey."

"Then it is time you slept and we'll continue this conversation in the morning and tomorrow night...."

"So, where's my goodnight kiss, then?"

"Here," they kissed and Jennifer relaxed, feeling warm inside and heavy lidded, ready for sleep.

"That's lovely, Junior, I've never been kissed like you've kissed me."

"That's the magic of Christmas, you might have noticed it earlier, when I kissed you, a feeling of energy going through you, yet euphoria too?"

She nodded.

"Now that you are ready to sleep, our kiss helps us both to relax and sleep peacefully."

"So you need sleep too?"

"Yes, Jen, I do need sleep too."

"And this is your first time sleeping with anyone."

"It is a first for me. So goodnight and sweet dreams."

"Good...."

***

The next morning, early, they put out the rest of the presents under the tree. They managed to do it without disturbing the sleeping Scott. For Junior, this quick and quiet way of working was second nature, business as usual, for Jennifer it was a new experience. They were drinking tea in the kitchen when Lisa came in yawning.

"Wow! You two are up early."

"Yes, we've got a few chores to do this morning," Junior answered for them both.

"Oh yes, the car broke down, didn't it? Are you thinking of taking it into a garage on Christmas Eve morning?"

"No, Mum, we're going up to Dad's depot, where Junior can sort out the car and, if we've got time, look over the plane."

Later, in the car, Jennifer turned to Junior.

"Once you get out at Dad's depot, Junior, I'll drive into town, or would you rather drop me off on the way to the airfield?" Jennifer smiled at him as Junior drove her car smoothly down the still deeply snowed covered side streets.

"Why do you need to go to town?"

"To get you a Christmas present, silly!"

"Now, who's being silly?" he patted the back of her hands resting on her knees, "what are you going to get for the man that has everything he could possibly get, except one thing?"

"I don't know," she replied, squeezing his hand in both of hers, "but I'll know it when I see it."

"We'll go to your Dad's depot, there's a gate through the back onto the airfield, right next to the plane."

"That's convenient."

"It is, and, do you know what else is convenient?" Junior asked, as he turned the corner into a service road lined with chain link fencing on both sides of the road.

"No."

"Well, for one thing," he pointed a remote control device through the windscreen and the gates ahead of them began to open, "we are here already..."

Jennifer noticed her father's company logo on the gates. She hadn't recognised where she was, it had all looked so different last night in the dark. Before las night she hadn't been here for over a decade, and was amazed at how large the place was and the number of trucks parked on the site.

"Besides," he continued the conversation, "if you want to get me a present, you could use Santa's Sack."

"No, I couldn't ... wouldn't that be cheating?"

"Are you accusing Father Christmas and his family of being cheats, Jennifer?" Junior's voice was stern, but his eyes were bright and shiny and he couldn't keep the telltale smile off his face.

She waited until he had brought her car to a stop, before she punched him lightly on the arm. They both burst into laughter.

"But honestly, it wouldn't be the same, as choosing a gift ... and paying for it."

"True, nothing is free in this world," he said seriously, as he pulled up the handbrake and took both her hands in his, "it's a good job we get a license fee from every fake Santa, all the toy manufacturers and the purveyors of Christmas foods, otherwise we would never manage to pay for all these presents."

"Really?"

"No, I was kidding. We never get a penny from any of them," he laughed, "everybody makes a fortune out of Christmas and we never get a bean!"

"You!"

"Well, do you want to battle through the shops, or have a spin in those cold, clear, blue skies in the jalope? I'll even let you fly it all on your own once we're up."

"All right, Junior, you sweet-talked me into it."

Together, hand in hand, they used Junior's fob to go through the double gates to the airfield.

"Where's your plane?"

"Look."

He pointed to a nearby plane covered in snow. Or at least it appeared to be, but when she got closer, Jennifer could see that the central part of the light twin propeller aircraft was covered with a tarpaulin. Junior released her hand.

"Just stand there and I will get the plane ready to fly."

She watched as his unhurried and practised movements pulled away the tarpaulin, and with it a lot of powdery snow. He unlocked the door on the far side from Jennifer and extracted a brush and started to brush snow off the nearest wing.

"Can I help with that?" she asked.

"Why not? Just brush from the front to the back of the wing so the snow won't foul the wheels."

He delved inside the plane again and found another brush for her. She started brushing from the wingtip in, but then she found she was standing in the snow she had brushed off. So she moved to where the wing joined the plane and started brushing from there. Junior noticed what she was doing and smiled. Being taller, he had cleared most of his wing by then and moved down the fuselage to sweep down to the tail. By the time he had finished, Jennifer had cleared her wing, except for a thin strip along the leading edge of the thicker part of the wing that she couldn't quite reach. He brushed that off with one sweep.

He opened the door and helped her in, while he went round to the left side, stowed the brushes away and climbed in. She was overwhelmed by the number of dials in front of them, but he switched on the lights and showed her the very few that she would need when she was flying, before he knuckled down to do his pre-flight checks, including getting out again and looking over everything one last time, before shaking and folding up his tarpaulin and stowing that away.

He started up the engines, running them until they were warm, checking over all the oil pressures and temperatures, plus the fuel gauge. He strapped her in and put her headphones on, which cut down some of the racket from the engines. He donned his cans and could speak to her through the earphones. He spoke to the airfield tower, asking for permission to take off. They confirmed he was the only plane taking off today.

"Why are you able to take off and no one else?"

"Skis." Junior grinned, "essential boot wear for planes going to the North Pole. I have snow skis and wheels fitted to this plane, although I can remove the skis and stow them during the summer."

Junior adjusted the throttle and started to move off. With the blanket of snow covering as far as the eye could see, Jennifer had no idea where the paths ran or which open ground was the actual runway, but Junior knew his way about. When they turned around at the end of the field, Jennifer could see their parallel ski and wheel tracks in the snow.

Junior revved the engines. To Jennifer they were loud even through the cans on her ears. Suddenly he let the plane have its head and go. It tore down the runway faster and faster, bumping along until suddenly the ground slipped away below them, the bumping had stopped and they were airborne and apparently free of gravity.

Junior thanked the airfield tower, who wished him a good circuit, then he retuned his radio to area traffic control, who were already expecting him. He gave the plane's height, speed and direction. They directed him to climb another 2000 feet, which he did. Below them the landscape was laid out like a Christmas card in every direction she looked.

Jennifer watched him as he worked, trimming the aircraft, adjusting his course. What was happening to her? She had barely had a chance to think, to talk to Satish, be honest with her Mum, what was she going to say to her Dad when he finds out she slept with his best and, it seemed, favourite driver? Where were they going to with this? This man, this grown man had stalked her, been attracted to her, by his own admission, ever since she was a new-born baby, how by any criteria can that be normal? Yet she felt safe, excited, almost overwhelmed by him, yet it wasn't in any way as abusive, which she had to admit now was the case, with Scott. She had agreed to take this flight, to fly with him again tonight, to meet his family, and consider spending the rest of her life with him.

Unreal, it was, magical, but a dream like all those Christmas dreams she remembered vividly since she was only three. And here he was, sweeping her off her feet at 5000 feet in the air!

But, she had to ask herself, ignoring for a minute the excitement of this new relationship and all that it brought with it, did she love him? Did she even know what love was after her long series of disappointments? And the lies! She coloured up in shame, her ears burning under the cans. Fr every lie Scott told her, she had lied to her mother. Was she worthy of this attention, this strange, unique courtship? He had seemed to be saying the choice for her future lay with her, that he was sort of committed to her, but was she the right choice for him? No, she really didn't think she was. And she was alone in this. She couldn't talk to Mum or Dad, or the rest of the family, it was too fantastic for anyone to take in.

She had to talk to Satish. Smart Satish, who married her strange man on the same holiday that she met him, and lived happily ever after. And Satish didn't even believe in Father Christmas!

She had only been in the air for what seemed only a few minutes before he showed her how to fly the plane, handing full control over to her. Jennifer could feel how responsive the controls were, after her initial panic, but Junior's calm cheeriness filled her with confidence and she relaxed, flying the plane for over half an hour, moving the plane up or down, as required by air traffic control. She was smiling the whole way, matching Junior's satisfied grin.

"I'll take over now," he said, eventually, "we're coming into land."

"Where are we? There's no snow here."

"This is Stopham Airfield, it's only a tiny place, but they have a restaurant that does great fish and chips, using beer in the batter, plus they triple cook the chips, which are incredible."

"Well, I guess we better stop here then, you're far too skinny to be Father Christmas!"

"That's what my Mum always says."

"Am I, er," she asked nervously, "just meeting your Dad tonight, or your mother too?"

"Both, I'm afraid, if you come, it can't be avoided."

"Oh, you sound as though meeting your parents will be an ordeal. Aren't you supposed to sugarcoat it for me?"

As they came in to land, Junior said, "No, I wouldn't sugarcoat it for a girl like you, Jen. I am sure you will take it in your stride, but my Dad is probably the rudest and most miserable Santa in the whole wide world."

Jennifer started having second thoughts.

Stopham Airfield was comparatively mild, compared to home, the restaurant packed with happy eaters, many having the traditional Christmas dinner. They knew Junior well in that restaurant, and found them a table for two. Jennifer followed his recommendation for their fish and chip special, with a glass of their house wine, while Junior opted for a soft drink. Fllying", he said, by way of explanation. The meal did not disappoint. They both declined a pudding, before emerging from the restaurant. The temperature was dropping fast.

"I thought you Father Christmas's all had a sweet tooth?"

"It is a popular conception and, to an extent, it is true. I guess it is unavoidable in our line of business, but today, including tonight, is the longest of the year and I need to stay sharp."
"That sounds fair."

"Let's head back for your Mum's home," he suggested.

"Yes, we can finish putting the presents out under the tree."

"So, will you come back with me tonight and meet my parents?"

"Well, you've met both mine. So ... Yes, honey, I will."

"Great!"

It was early evening when they returned home to Jack and Lisa's place. Junior went upstairs to wash any residue of fuel off his hands after he had fully fuelled the plane before they left the airfield.

"I'm flying with Junior tonight, Mum, so I'm meeting his family for the first time," she announced to all, "so I will wish you all 'Merry Christmas' now, as we will not get back until about 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning."

"Scott," Jennifer said, sitting down next to her ex-boyfriend on the sofa, "we had a lot of years together, so we can still be, in fact we should be friends. It was your behaviour that drove me away and, thanks to that separation I was able to meet the man of my dreams. So I hold no bad feelings towards you, especially in this season of goodwill. You are still a good looking man, Scott, you will always attract women, just pick one and make her special and only her. Please don't break her heart. Otherwise I will tell Santa that you should be on the naughty list! Enjoy your Christmas."

She kissed Scott on the cheek and went to her room to change for the trip.

They put the rest of the beautifully wrapped presents out, under the tree, double checking that no one had been left out, including the increasingly sullen Scott. The roads had been cleared of the unusual snow storm, but he still had nowhere to go, so opted to stay for Christmas.

They left together for the airfield, which was in utter darkness after they entered through her father's gateway. There wasn't even any sign of life in the control tower.

"They don't do night flights from here do they?"

"No, not normally. About three times a year they have night emergency drills so they can practise them in case other airfields are out of action and they are able to respond, but they do those in spring, summer and autumn. They have no lights or radar guidance here, but they do have gullies along the runway that they can fill with kerosene and light up. It's a hive of excited activity here on those exercise nights! But we will take off just using the plane's lights, climb to five hundred feet, and use the portal to come out at the North Pole."

"But won't air traffic control see you, once you get that high?"

"Only once I get above tree height, but I will be a blip for a fraction of a second, but then the air traffic controllers will instantly forget seeing me, that's all part of the Magic of Christmas."

"So when will we get to the North Pole?"

"About thirty seconds after we take off from here," he said as he unlocked the plane and helped her into her seat.

"Oh, I was hoping to have time to think what to act and say, before meeting them."

"Best just to go in and be yourself, Jen."

"That's easier said than done. So how well do you get on with your parents?"

"Ah, well. I used to work with my father, not just with the deliveries, but I can still help him out with the organisation of the workshops, materials supply, list making, the lot. It is amazing what can be done over the internet."

"So, even the NorthPole is online?"

"We've always been online. The web was our gift to the world one Christmas! Father is grumpy with me that he has been left all on his own to do the work these last eight months."

Junior started up the engines and made his final checks.

"Eight months? That's when I split up with Scott."

"That split gave me a window of opportunity, to make a bid for you this Christmas."

"Had you given up on me, as I had given up on finding my dream man?"

"You had nothing to give up, Jen, I allowed you to see me but I was too timid to make further contact, when I still thought it was too soon to spring all this on you, That delay let Scott in. I have only myself to blame for letting it happen. Scott has always been on the naughty list, he still is. But, to answer your question, no, I never gave up on you. I resisted Mother's schemes to deflect me. I always had hopes that in the long run you'd find Scott lacking in what you needed and I would get my chance to let us get to know each other."

"So why did you leave it until almost December to contact me?"

"Nervousness still," he said, as the plane gunned down the dark runway, "so I got everything in place, getting a job with your father—"

"Why involve my father?"

"We, in the Santa business, know a lot about people, not only if they are naughty or nice. We know their wishes and dreams. You know your father misses seeing you most of all his children?"

"No, I ... Why would he? He never had favourites, other than perhaps the youngest—"

"He doesn't really have favourites out of his children, Jen, only he believes that you are the only one with the organising and sales skills to take over his business when he finally hangs up his driving gloves."

"He said the same about you."

"When?"

"Yesterday, when he rang me at the depot. He told me to marry you, so he could leave us both the business."

"Nice to know I've got someone in your family on my side!" Junior flicked a switch and suddenly the cloudy black sky over England changed to one where they were surrounded by vertical ribbons of light.

"The aurora borealis, the Northern Lights," he explained, "home is down there."

"And your mother and father are like us, in contact sinc "No, Jennifer, sadly my father's soulmate turned him down."

Chapter 8

"So there's no guarantee for our future as far as matching soul mates are concerned?" Jennifer asked.

"No, you can't beat choice by free will. When we are adult, we Future Santas leave home for a while, to enjoy living a normal family life among normal people, where we can begin to raise our families in the world that is real to you. It gives Father Christmas a perspective that the elves and other helpers can never have."

"Dad said that you were building a house near the depot? Is that for your future family?"

"Yes, that is all part of the plan, Jennifer. We, the children of Santa Claus always live and start our families just as if we were normal folk. My father, for instance, lived in the Palatinate, part of Bavaria, in south-western Germany. It is a beautiful place, gentle farming and pasture land in the rolling foothills of the Alps. He moved there because was attracted to his soulmate, a French nurse who was working there in a local hospital. He observed her from afar, like me, afraid of beginning the courtship. I guess I follow more than one family tradition."

"That does sound familiar, Junior. Did he stalk his nurse like you did me?" She smiled at him, and Junior had half a mind to switch the plane over to automatic pilot while he kissed her to his heart's content. But not even Santa's son would take such a chance over the polar icecap.

"Mmmm, well eventually he introduced himself to the French nurse but, he had barely begun his courtship, when World War I broke out and they found themselves on different sides of the barbed wire in that terrible war."

"Oh, could he not simply whisk her away through the portal?"

"No, they had never even met before and you can't just kidnap people, even someone you love, can you? My father was born and raised in Prussia, with my Grandfather, who was brought up in Russia, while my English Grandmother was brought up in Oxfordshire. My grandparents didn't have the difficulties that my parents had, who could have lived anywhere, but had decided to move to Prussia where they raised my father. So, the first World War was on and my father was conscripted and had a strong sense of duty. He naturally joined the Air Corps.

He visited the nurse as she imagined she was in a dream state, just as I visited you, but she rejected him, again and again, as they were on opposite sides all through the war. Finally, in 1920, she married a French war hero, a veteran of aerial combat, and my father was bitterly disappointed. He returned home to Prussia, but by then his village had been handed over to Poland as they carved up Europe after the war. There he met and married my mother, Hilde, who was also of German birth, but again caught up in the border changes arranged during the armistice.

"And then they had you, born sometime in the 1920s?"

"Yes I was. Things weren't good there in the twenties and thirties, with war almost inevitable, so we moved to Austria for a couple of years when I was too young to remember it. Austria soon hotted up, so Grandmama insisted we go to Oxfordshire, where her family had kept a cottage for us."

"So that's why your English is so good?"

"Ah, all languages are our forte, Jen. We're just coming into land now."

"You're an only child, you said before, Junior. If they were not naturally meant to be together, do your parents get on all right?"

"Oh yes, they are fine. We are a smaller than normal family for the Clauses, but they are a happy enough couple. Naturally, my Mother wants to boss my life."

"Ha! You know my mother! I guess all mothers are the same, mine even going as far as arranging having my ex-boyfriend around for me! I'm sure she thought it was for the best."

"Well, that's another reason why I left when I did, Mother wanted me to marry a Polish girl who she picked out for me."

"Oh dear, and by leaving home, you put more workload back on your Dad?"

"Yes. Something like that."

"How will he be with you tonight, especially with you bringing me here?"

"He'll be all right once we get stuck into the delivering. It's Mother that is the one that I worry about. I think I better warn you that, like your mother, my mother has probably invited the poor girl along."

Junior landed smoothly and taxied the plane into a huge hangar, which had several small planes like theirs parked inside, sheltered from the snow.

"Ah, it looks like the Santas are starting to arrive," Junior said, glancing around at all the planes.

"I thought there was only one Santa Claus?"

"There is only one true Santa, my father, but sons, brothers, fathers, grandfathers, cousins and uncles all help out. We have dozens of sleighs. When we first started out, hundreds of years ago, I can imagine the world population of children was much smaller than now."

There was a reindeer sleigh ready at the hangar to take the couple up to the big house.

"Do they know that I'm coming, Junior?"

"They know I am bringing someone. They know everything. We are here. Relax, they will love you."

Junior escorted Jennifer arm in arm from the sleigh up the steps into a grand lodge built from huge pine logs. Inside she was formerly introduced to Father Christmas and Mother Christmas.

Father Christmas was business-like and greeted her formally as "Miss Webster", with a handshake. He didn't seem to have any accent at all.

Hilde, Mother Christmas, was German and made it clear that she didn't like Jennifer. He flat out refused to shake hands with her, saying quite loudly to Junior, "Vell, zis girl had her chance years ago und she made her choice, I zink you vill be so much better off with Beata, dear."

"Mother," Junior said quietly, "I do not want to marry this girl you've picked out for me. Jennifer is the one I love and I want you to give her a fair chance to consider what I offer along with my hand in marriage."

"Jennifer's too villful. I know ze prophecy named her but she had plenty of opportunities before she vent off viz that other boy, Scott. She is still seeing him, only in ze last couple of days. You don't have to believe me, you only have to look at zeir timelines, she even kissed him not half an hour ago!"

"I was just saying a final goodbye and forgiving him with a peck on the cheek," Jennifer offered meekly. Junior listened and nodded, his mother ignored her.

"I was there too, Mamma," Junior said, holding onto Jennifer's hand, "and Jennifer was just as surprised about Scott being there as I was. I took my eye off the ball by being too shy to approach her eight years ago in her early twenties, and I lost her to Scott then through my own fault, my own temerity. But I have found her, we are acquainted, and she is with me now."

"Well," Santa butted in gruffly, "we have more important things to do first this night. It is time for us to gather in the shipping hall, as we must leave in a few minutes. Junior, I have considered your request to have Miss Webster accompany you, but I think we will be better served if she stays and gets to know your Momma better. Let that be the end of it and let us get on with the business."

Junior took his leave of Jennifer, "Sorry my darling, I was hoping you could travel with me. Your first time on this trip, if and when it happens, will be unbelievable and unforgettable, I assure you."

Christmas Eve night flashed by for busy Junior and his Santa relatives, but it was a long period of torture for Jennifer.

"Zo," Hilde turned to Jennifer as soon as the two sleighs took off to join the stream coming Jennifer was still stunned, from seeing Junior step into that ancient contraption, drawn by a team of eight reindeer, alongside his father, holding the reins of a similar team and sledge. After a wave, they each drove away down the long drive beside the house and in moments were airborne! Not only that, the sky behind the imposing figure of Hilde, who now faced her, was filled with sleighs taking off all around them.

"But, look at all the other sleighs," Jennifer said, "it is absolutely amazing!"

"Yes, yes, of course it is, all very magical, I suppose," Hilde's stern face softened, as she turned to watch in the direction that Jennifer was facing in wonder. "After ninety-five years of vatching zeese ... No, you are right, ze vonder und magic is still zere. Perhaps I vos angry viz Junior.... I apologise ... Jennifer."

"No apology is necessary, Mrs Claus, I was not expected by you to arrive here at your home in the North Pole this evening. Men are so thoughtless sometimes, they have this inbuilt optimism which eliminates worry and tells them just to do exactly what they like because they are convinced it will all turn out right in the end. While we girls are too uptight not to worry about everything being just right, because we are so certain it will all go wrong, unless we interfere at every stage. Just how many Santas are there, by the way?"

"Interfere? Yah, you are right, ve do interfere. Come let us get into ze warm, no matter how long you spend in zis place, you never quite get used to only having ze one all year round season!"

They stepped back into the lodge, welcomed by a jolly matron elf, who was as wide as she was tall, with a broad smile to match, holding two hot drinks on a tray. Jennifer hesitated, one mug was filled with a dark black liquid, presumably coffee, the other mug topped with overflowing whipped cream and tiny marshmallows, dusted with cocoa powder. She didn't like black coffee.

Hilde picked up the coffee mug first and warmed both her hands on it.

Jennifer nodded to the elf, "Thank you", as she picked up the other mug and took a sip. It was hot and sweet and delicious, unlike any hot chocolate she had ever tasted. "Oh, my, this is incredibly delicious!"

"Thank you Miss Webster," said the elf. "we knew that this is what you would like. New guests here are always amazed at how good reindeer milk is."

Jennifer's eyes opened wide, "Reindeer milk? Honestly? Well, it tastes magical. Sorry, you seem to know me, but I don't have the pleasure to know you yet, who are you?"

"Gronwynk, chief house elf, Miss Webster, I hope to serve you with many more of these hot drinks to shut out the evening chill in the future."

"Oh no, too many of these and I will explode!" Jennifer exclaimed, "I will have to sip water for the rest of the night."

"Don't you worry about getting fat, Miss Jennifer," the elf whispered, "Ha! Ha! not here, you will never get fat here. But, if you prefer water, our fresh water does come from a glacier frozen solid 40,000 years ago and tastes out of this world!" Gronwynk spun on her heels and waddled away, chuckling to herself.

Jennifer turned to Hilde, eyebrows raised.

"Yah, Jennifer, I am 115 years old, I married Young Nick ven I vos 20 and he vos over 100. I have not put on vun kilo in 95 years. If you decide to stay and marry Junior, zen you vill grow old very slowly. The Magic of Christmas has its pluses und it has its minuses."

Jennifer plonked herself down in a nearby chair, her legs suddenly weak. "Sorry, Mrs Claus, I felt a bit faint there."

Hilde nodded and smiled. She pulled out the other chair and sat opposite her, over a small side table near the door into this large wood panelled entrance hall.

She continued, "You asked about how many Santas?"

Jennifer nodded.

"Zere are about ten generations of Santas, und even some older vuns who are ... shall ve say, a little shy of modern people and our ways. But zere are all zeese brothers und sisters, aunts und oncles, great-aunts, great-oncles.... Zere are many, many Santas, as zere are so many children in ze world who need zere presents. Young Nick and I ver blessed viz only vun child. It is my vun regret, zat ve didn't try for more."

"I am sorry."

"No, it voz a decision ve both made. I voz too young ven I married, too young to make such decisions. Vitch is vhy I interfered viz Junior's future."

"What do you mean, interfered?"

"Come child, into ze parlour where it is much warmer, zis hall is far too draughty for comfort."

In the parlour, just off a corridor down from the entrance hall, the log fire blazed away cheerily, filling the room with a relaxing pine resin smell. As they entered, a beautiful girl, tall and slim, with long flowing blond hair, and dressed in a long shimmering evening gown, stood up from sitting upright in her armchair and smiled at them. Her smile was stunning. The girl was probably no more than 20, and Jennifer suddenly felt plain and dowdy by comparison with this vision of loveliness.

"Zis," said Hilde, by way of introduction, "is Beata, ze girl I intend to be Junior's bride."



Chapter 9

"Are you sure that any of these dresses will fit me, Gronwynk?" Jennifer asked of the chief house elf, "I am so much shorter than ... those two."

"Miss Jennifer," Gronwynk answered, to the reinforcing nods of approval of a host of small seamstresses on hand to do the alterations by hand, "Mrs Hilde and Miss Beata were only trying to spite you and put you off. That Mrs Hilde has never really fitted in here. We all think that Mr Young Nick settled for his Prussian bride rather than wait for his intended, and he has been a right old grump ever since."

"Yeah," piped up one of the other elves, "the grumpiest Santa of all, is Mr Young Nick." Then, as she was pushed and shoved by some of the other elves for her disloyalty, added insistently, "well, he is!"

"Did you know that Bernadette was a widow only five years later, when her husband died?" Gronwynk asked.

"Bernadette?"

"The French nurse who was chosen by Fate as his soulmate. Because of the war, she married one of her patients who she mended as best she could. His injuries during the war were much more mental than physical, and the doctors and nurses were simply ill-equipped to cope with those added problems. She was only 28, about your age, Miss Jennifer," Gronwynk continued, "Mr Young Nick should have waited, like Junior waited patiently for you. No, Miss Jennifer, you are Junior's choice just as much as Fate's, always has been and we all think you're beautiful, don't we girls?"

"Yes!" they all chorused.

"O ... K," Jennifer looked around at all the shiny rosy-cheeked elf faces smiling warmly up at her, and said, "I'll try this emerald green silk number then, shall I?"
"Good choice," said Gronwynk, with tape measure in hand, as one elf helped her climb on the shoulders of an even thicker-set elf, whose pointy ears flapped as she adjusted her balance, "this'll only take a jiffy."

Santa and Junior returned from the Christmas Eve run around the globe within a few minutes of each other, with Young Nick home fractionally first. The greeting between Young Nick and Hilde was cool, thought Jennifer, and it was immediately clear that Santa knew Beata well, as he gave her a much warmer greeting than the one he grudgingly imparted to Jennifer. They stood around in the entrance hall waiting for Junior, with Gronwynk and other elves bringing warm coats for them to wear. Santa moaned about how the reindeers had misbehaved on the trip, and recounted the odd difficulty they had had going around. Through the open door, Jennifer could see lots of sleighs return to the other lodges dotted about the frozen landscape. Then one incoming sleigh headed straight for them and landed in a flurry of ice crystals and a cacophony of tinkling sleigh bells.

Jennifer ran forward, before Hilde or Beata could move. Junior jumped down and immediately held his arms out for Jennifer to fall into. They kissed after their long separation and all her anxieties instantly melted away.

"Wow!" Junior said, "I have been looking forward to this moment all night, and it's an even better welcome than I expected."

He waved to the others standing in the doorway, "I am just going to see to the reindeer, we'll be along to breakfast shortly. Oh, Mother, Gramps and Grandma are coming to breakfast."

With that they turned and, arm in arm, followed the sleigh, which was being led away by an elf stable lad.

"Oh, you are such a sight for sore eyes, Junior!" Jennifer said, "it's been a very long night."

"I saw Beata standing with the others just now. Has Mother been a real bitch towards you?"

"Well, a little bit maybe. She made it clear that Beata is still her first choice for your intended. So you already know her?"

"I 'know' just about everyone, Jen, and yes, Mother introduced me to Beata, as her choice of mate, at the feast with the Easter Bunny."

"There's really an ..." Jennifer shook her head, realizing that she had to learn to reevaluate a lot of the legends she had long regarded as fanciful nonsense. "So, you ran away from home after being introduced to this beautiful young girl Beata, and not because I was suddenly free of Scott?"

By this time they reached the stables and a jolly pair of grinning elves closed the stable doors behind the conversing couple and winked to each other.

"Ah, I think confession time is finally upon us, Jen," he started, removing his heavy red coat against the sudden warmth of the stable.

Jennifer undid the buttons to her coat, revealing the emerald green dress, with extra tiny emeralds and jade beads sewn into the silk on silver threads by the amazing elf seamstresses.

"Oh, Jen, you in that dress, you look lovely, come here."

Their lips met and they melted into one another again. Jennifer thought she could get used to this, almost losing herself in that kiss. At the same time as being energised, she was relaxed, limp but with good feelings, and filled with confidence and an inner vigour, a life source of magic energy. She pushed him away, with both reluctance and a little reassertion of maintaining her dignity.

"Don't think you are deflecting me completely from your confessions, Junior, I am tougher than you think, and you do have some explaining to do!"

"I do, sweetheart, I do," Junior smiled, waving away the elves who had finished unharnessing Young Nick's reindeers and put them in their pens, and had just started on Junior's team. "Come and meet the leader of my reindeer team."

"Junior!" Jennifer scolded, "are you trying to change the subject yet again?"

She put her fingertips on the leading reindeer's muzzle and the reindeer nuzzled her hand.

"They're adorable. Do they all have the traditional names we know and love?" she asked.

"Yes, some do. This is Vonnie, she's been leader of my team for about ten years," he said as he released her harness. He gave the reindeer a handful of fresh moss to chew and moved onto releasing the next one.

"I left home at Easter, when it became clear that I was being browbeaten from all sides. Beata turning up at the Ball and expecting to be my only dance partner was the last straw. I took Pappa's plane and flew down to your father's place and secured a job with him."

"And then you found I had left Scott?"

"No, not immediately," he replied, "I don't know everything, Jen, I only know which children are naughty or nice. The information simply copies itself from the Book into my head all the time and I remember them all. In reality, there are very few bad kids. Adults who are bad, on the other hand, are more numerous and I have to look them up in the book, which I keep or rather access through the sack. If you remember, you kept your break up quiet from your family for a few months, didn't you?"

"I did," Jennifer admitted, "I felt such a failure."

"Do you still feel a failure?" over his shoulder as led more reindeer into the pens, checking they had food and drink, scratching the odd ear affectionally as they passed him.

"Not right at this minute," she replied, still being nuzzled by the affectionate Vonnie, "and Gronwynk has been boosting me up, to counter Hilde's negativity."

"Gronwynk practically raised me, honey. Nice to know she's on your side, too. Yes, I believed you were still with Scott, at the time I started working with your father," Junior said as he grabbed his empty sack from the sleigh, "Did you know that we Santas have the ability to reproduce the wrappers and our labels for our special gifts so that they look identical to the others from the family?"

"Yes, your little gifts to me threw me for a long while, I couldn't tell which ones were not genuine. Are you changing the subject again?"

"Not quite, I am leading somewhere with this. Anyway, all I need do is think about what label I want and the elf label department produce it for me, instantly, like this."

He put his hand into the sack and pulled out a receipt and handed it to Jennifer. She took it.

"This is the receipt I found in Scott's jacket pocket," she said, "how?"

"I knew he had wined and dined his er, other girlfriend, at that exclusive restaurant that you had said for some time that you wanted to go to. Scott told you it was impossible to get a booking. All the details, date, time, what he had, what she had, what it cost, it all came up on his Naughty List entry. I expect he screwed the original bill up and threw it in a bin, or he may even have torn it up into tiny pieces."

"He was greatly surprised when I confronted him with it," she said slowly, quietly, "he turned it over, and looked closely at it, even checked his credit card number, before he admitted he had taken this floozy there. Earlier that week he had told me that he had to work overnight on that night. Come here, Junior."

He came to her and she put her arms around him, "So, it seems that you can be naughty, too?"

"I confess, I can," he admitted, "but only when it is something I really felt strongly about. I felt that even if you never saw me as a replacement boyfriend, it was better that you left Scott when you did. He was a bad man and in the long term bad for you."

"I know, and I am glad I got rid of him. I wasted eight years on that relationship, all the while hoping that things would get better. I believed my mother when she said he was the best I could ever get. He's the last person in the world for me now. I want someone who is good most of the time and only naughty when good results come from it."

"So, shall we go face the rest of the family and have our breakfast?"

"All right." She turned to the reindeer, "Bye, Vonnie, bye reindeer, enjoy your rest." And they nodded back to her as if they understood and knew they'd see a lot more of her.



Chapter 10

The Christmas morning breakfast table was groaning with food of all kinds. Around the table, big enough for twenty normal people, had lots of tall chairs, with ladder like rungs up the side for little legs to climb up to the top.

Jennifer had heard the hubbub of excited voices and deep joyful laughter all the way down the passageway to the hall and, although Junior gripped her hand more firmly, she still fought the rising panic inside her.

"Ah, there's Gramps and Grandma, they've saved a couple of seats for us." Junior leaned in a whispered, "I knew they would."

Halfway down one side of the table, Jennifer could see an old, but rather distinguished looking gentleman with a round and reddened jovial face, dressed in a green suit, not unlike the colour green of her own dress. Next to him were two empty chairs. His arm was stretched across the backs of the empty chairs and entwined with the arm of an exceedingly beautiful woman, who looked the least like any single grandma she could ever imagine, she was more like a princess. As their eyes met, the beautiful grandmother beamed back at her with a wonderful smile, full of welcome, fit for any pretender for the role of future Mrs Claus. Jennifer smiled uncertainly back at her, and the woman winked! Then the couple rose from their seats and eagerly beckoned them come join them.

The young couple walked around the foot of the long table. Jennifer noted that Santa, Young Nick, was at the head of the table, while Hilde sat at the top of the side that Junior's Gramps and Grandma sat, while Beata sat opposite Hilde.

"This is my Gramps and Grandma, Jen. Folks, I'd like you to meet my er, dear friend, Jennifer."

"Get away, Junior! Friend indeed! We know just who she is!" boomed the green suited Santa, in a voice that simply oozed bonhomie, "Come here my beautiful girl, give your future grandfather a proper squeeze!"

Gramps gave her a big hug, "it is a pleasure to meet you, my dear. Obviously, Junior's told us absolutely nothing about you at all, he's too close-mouthed by half! But we have ways and means of finding things out, once he asked Me Lady and I to lend him our support. Now tell me, did you pick that dress, or was it Junior?"

"Er, I, Junior, well, he didn't see me in it until just now. Gronwynk showed me endless dresses of all shapes and hues, but I simply loved this dress and the colour."

"Well, then, Jennifer my dear, I declare that you have a great sense of colour, as indeed do I, and whatever happens, you will always be welcome at our lodge any Christmas, and at any time during the year too, won't she, my dear?"

"Of course she will," Grandma smiled, "now let her go, you great oaf, while she's still breathing, I swear she's turning blue! I want my opportunity to welcome her to the family."

She is so English, Jennifer thought, and her accent would cut lead crystal glass, probably Regency English, if she remembered snippets of conversation from Junior. Gramps relinquished his warming grip slowly and Grandma, fully six or more inches taller than Jennifer, bent down and kissed her enthusiastically on both cheeks. There was denial of pleasure in welcoming this new girl into their grandson's life.

"Come sit next to me, Jenny, dear, while the men boast, sorry discuss, how their deliveries went," then she dropped her voice to whisper in Jennifer's ear, "take it all with a pinch of salt, Jenny, they will exaggerate every set-back, double the strength of every headwind and reduce every near miss to the width of a caterpillar hair!"

Jennifer laughed, feeling more at ease and sat down with Junior's grandmother. Jennifer wondered how she should address her. A glance to her left revealed Junior and his grandfather still slapping each other's shoulders and, from the wildly extravagant arm stretches and gestures, clearly both were giving a running commentary of the few million homes each 'assistant Santa' had encountered last night.

"I wanted to have a nice chat with you, Jenny, now, do you prefer Jenny, Jennifer, or Jenna?"

"I was always called Jenny or Jen at home. For a while I preferred Jenna, but that only sounds rather pathetic now. I suppose I think of myself as Jen, and I'm more than happy with that, especially as Junior calls me that more often than not. Yes, I think I like it more because I really like the man that calls me 'Jen'."

"Well, I'm glad you like Junior. Don't ever tell him this but he is our favourite grandson, after all, and he will be as good a Father Christmas as his grandfather ever was."

"Are you saying that Junior's father—"

"He has been a disappointment to us, Jen. I will be honest with you. Look at him. This is his biggest day of the year, which has gone off as well as any other Christmas in living memory, and see how grumpy he is!"

Jennifer sneaked a look. Both Young Nick and Beata looked miserable, in stark contrast to the elves nearby, who were stuffing themselves and having a good time after all their hard work throughout the year had once more come to fruition. She couldn't see Hilde from where she was sitting, but imagined that she too, would be frowning.

"I see what you mean. It is such a shame, as Beata really is quite beautiful, er, sorry, what do

I call you, I can't call you Grandma, can I?"

She laughed. It sounded to Jennifer like someone gentle shaking a crystal chandelier, "You can if you wish, Jen my dear, but if you feel more comfortable, I am Georgianna. As for Beata, I agree, she is indeed very beautiful. And, as she has stayed here several times over recent months and I have had opportunities to speak to her, I find that she is indeed a very sweet girl who deserves a special husband. But that will not be Junior, his hopes lie in a determined direction, so she is doomed to disappointment in that expectation."

"So what is it about this prophecy of the perfect wife for Santa, Georgianna? He has no choice but to be aware of her as soon as she is born, but then she hold all the aces, it appears, and has to choose him of her own free will?"

"Well dear, it has a long history and goes back to when the festival of Christmas first came about. It used to be a very wild affair, you know, with drunken orgies and all sorts of unsuitable goings on."

"Yes, I've heard of Saturnalia before."

"Exactly, Jen. And you still see these old places inhabited with their ghosts, hoping that one day the Magic Spell will be broken and they will rule the roost once more. We do not mean that to ever happen."

"Nobody wants that, Georgianna, I least of all."

"When the festival became Christmas, Saint Nicholas was appointed to be the Saint of Christmas. However, the free and easy access that Santa has to people in their own property, knowledge of their good and bad deeds, including to some extent their good and bad thoughts, puts Santa into a unique and potentially powerful position. Quite how would it be possible for such a man, even a saint like the original Saint Nicholas, or any of his eventual offspring, be able to take part in the usual games of courtship? As you have already experienced, before a couple can eventually build the trust and love to be completely open and honest with each other? An impossible imposition on the poor man, because Santa, of course, would see through any ruse, subterfuge and tease, which is a normal everyday part of the pleasurable agony of courtship." Georgianna laughed, no doubt remembering masquerade balls in candlelit ballrooms.

"Of course," Jennifer realised what constraints Junior would have to face trying to go through a normal courtship, "I never really thought about it before. His innocent little visitations, coupled with his openness and direct declarations of his attraction and love for me, so beyond his control, seems so odd, unreal somehow, that they would appear fake to a modern, particularly insecure girl like me. We are so used to fakery that we can't imagine any man, even Santa Claus, as being the genuine article any more."

"Yes, it is both frightening and refreshing. I remember my own courtship. Then, Nick, being Russian, played the role of a Count in the Imperial Court, and I, a mere Bishop's daughter, was completely swept off my feet. Girls in my time were so innocent and thoroughly obsessed with romance. I remember how smitten young Victoria was with Prince Albert."

"Queen Victoria?"

"Yes, we knew her as a girl, you wouldn't believe how tiny she was, yet charming and persuasive. And Nicholas and I were new parents at the time, so she often sought my advice in the early years of her marriage to dear Albert."

"That's amazing."

"Anyway, back to the prophecy of Mrs Claud. So, the very first Saint Nicholas insisted that the random chance of finding a soulmate be removed from the equation and that the future Santa would know her from birth and, when she was of courtship age, something that naturally varies with time and society, they would come to meet and get to know each other. The young Santa is even permitted to explain to her what could happen. But, the onus of acceptance of their troth must always be with the free will of the female involved. As for the future Santa, he has only one choice, one soulmate. Only after receiving either many rejections of his court, or if she removes herself from the game of courtship, would he be granted leave to seek an alternative bride, because as surely as the sunrise, we must have a new Santa to follow the old."

"Removes herself?"

"Our eldest son, Young Nick, was disappointed because the war between France and Germany was still so raw, and that his Prophecy Bride married another. This is not the first time that the Prophecy has been compromised, another Santa in the far distant pass was also denied his intended, when the poor girl put herself into a nunnery rather than make a decision of such momentous importance."

"Oh dear, that puts an awful lot of pressure on me, then. I do like Junior, really, who wouldn't? Junior seems so, so lovely a man, but it is a big responsibility, such a long time to spend with someone you are not sure if you love or not. I have to be certain that he is the one person that I cannot live without."

"A perfect way to look at it, my dear. Take your time before you decide, and as much of it as you want. In my Nick's day we had no choice, but we are all of our era, so you are free to live together until you have reached your decision. Be certain and follow your heart."

"If you had had that chance, to live with your Nick before ... would you have?"

"No, my dear. I knew, as soon as we met, that there would be no other. He was introduced to me in that rude assembly hall as a Count, but I would have taken him as a coalman! Our engagement seemed longer than the length of our marriage. So, my dear, where instantly or developed over time, be certain before you choose, eternity is a long time."

"I will. How long have you and Old Nick been together?"

"We married just under two hundred years ago, Jen, my dear, after a four year engagement. They were far too long in those days, but my mother and father insisted I marry at full age and young girls...."

"How old were you?"

"I was 21 when we married, only 16 when he starting courting me as a dashing cavalryman, 17 when we were betrothed. That was a different society and we had to live in it and bring up our children. No, you really must marry for love, my dear, not out of duty, that wouldn't be a good thing for either of you. The prophecy is about the perfect match for Santa Claus, and it works both ways. If you marry someone else, well, all I can say is that you ignore the prophecy at your peril, dear." She patted her hand, "But Nick and I, we're sticking up for you against Hilde."

***

It was five o'clock in the morning, when the couple arrived at her Mum's house, after flying, landing, and driving her car through the deserted streets. Scott slept on the couch, snoring loudly, a finished bottle of brandy lying on its side on the coffee table.
They silently made their way upstairs to their temporary bedroom.

***

Jennifer woke refreshed on Christmas morning, lying on her side, bum cheek to bum cheek with Junior. It seems that he was still asleep.

'Poor lamb,' she thought, 'all that work he had got through during that long night, yet he smiled all through that equally exhausting breakfast. The contrast between the current Santa and Junior and Junior with his Grandpa, was enormous. Georgianna was right, compared to his grumpy father, Junior is going to be one brilliant Santa.'

She reflected on the last few days, how adrift she had felt, afraid to admit that she couldn't attract or keep even an ordinary, rather disappointing man, who had proved to be a disrespectful cheat and a liar. She had expected more out of a relationship, and she wanted more, deserved more, like and honest exchange of love and respect.

Yet, here she was with this marvellous beautiful, magical man, currently keeping her warm in her bed, while being a thoroughly decent gentleman throughout all the time she had known him, and that was almost all her life that he had cared for her, even when he was disappointed by her choices. He had rescued her, had watched over her all his life and would always do so, without question. Always meant always for a Santa. She smiled, thinking of Old Nick and Geogianna, still absorbed in loving each other after two hundred years together. Magical, it was, like a fairy tale, and she had been a part of it for just a while. How wonderful it was how Junior cared for his animals, those soft, gentle and affectionate reindeer, the loving relationship he had with his grandparents, the deep affection his friends the elves had for him, which had, at least in part, been transferred enough to serve her while she was there.

But what did she feel deep down about Junior?

How would she feel, if she gave him up?

It was her right, her prerogative under the Santa prophecy; he was tied into it, only she could release him from his obligations towards her. What a power to hand to a woman, let alone a girl like Georgianna was when her Nick told her how he felt and was compelled to do. Even the prophecy itself, really made simple sense to her. Of course, someone who instinctively knew how good or bad someone is, would have a terrible time picking a mate. If she rejected Junior, he would have to compromise and possibly end up miserable like Young Nick and Hilde. And would he choose the beautiful Beata? How would she feel for the next hundred years or so knowing she was his second choice? She had also looked miserable at breakfast, sitting uncomfortably where she clearly didn't really belong. And how would Jennifer herself feel, if she decided to give him up? There would have to be a complete break between them, and her life would never be the same again. She would never again wake up during Christmas night, knowing Santa was there, reassuring her in his magical voice that everything was all right. There would have to be no more dream Santa. Would she be able to bear losing that? It had always been a part of her life. It had been a part of Bernadette's life too, but torn apart by war, she had decided their paths would separate. Had Bernadette been happy with her choice a few years down the line?

She bumped Santa with her bum.

"It is all right," he said, brightly, "I am awake. Just allowing you time to collect your thoughts."

He turned over and she fitted into his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Do you always know what I'm thinking?" Jennifer asked.

"Not exactly, but I know when you are in reflective mood. In fact, any idiot would predict that after last night and this morning that you would have much to reflect on."

He kissed her forehead. That naturally led to more kisses, delicious kisses that delighted them both.

"We better go down, I think," she said, "I need to go to the bathroom first, anyway."

As soon as the bedroom door opened, she could smell the dinner cooking. Jennifer realised that despite the lavish breakfast laid on at the North Pole, she had been so engrossed in conversation with Georgianna, she'd not actually touched a morsel.

In the bathroom, Jennifer used her phone to call Satish, to pass on season's greetings to her best friend, and tell her about the new man in her life.

"So, this man rescues you from breaking down in the snow, he fixes your car that Scott had virtually run into the ground, he saves you from Scott's clutches, having been encouraged to sleep with you by your Mum, he flies you in his plane -"

"His dad's plane-"

"All right, he flies you in his dad's plane to his parents' fabulous estate, where his Mum is trying to fix him up with a different beautiful blonde girl, then he flies you safely home again, he sleeps with you without forcing his natural intentions on you ... right so? Yes? And you are still wondering whether to marry him or not?"

"Well, when you put it like that...."

"Your courtship sounds more dramatic than even my arranged marriage! Of course, even if you have only known him a couple of days and you feel he is the right man for you, than marry him, and marry him as soon as you can. If there is anything you are unsure of, then just wait a few weeks until you know him better."

"There is one more thing Satish, something I haven't told you. You know those recurring dreams I told you about regarding visitations from Santa?.... Well, you may find this hard to believe, but...."

***

"Oh, lovely, you're both up," smiled Lisa, hearing them come down the stairs together arm in arm, "coffee or tea?"

"Tea for me Lisa," replied Junior, "Merry Christmas, Lisa," giving her a squeeze and a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Mum," grinned Jennifer, embracing her, I better have tea, too, I've been drinking chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows all night!"

They exchanged greetings in the lounge with Jack, Stephanie and Scott, and then Lisa pointedly asked Jennifer to help her out in the kitchen.

"Well, how did you get on meeting with Junior's parents?" she asked as soon as the kitchen door closed behind them.

"Not so well, to be honest, Mum. You will laugh at one coincidence though ... they had only gone and invited the girl along that they wanted Junior to marry!"

"No! Really?"

Jennifer nodded, grinning madly.

"Was she an old girlfriend?"

"No, but it was a girl that he had met once before."

"Oh sweetheart, I am so sorry about bringing Scott back into your life," Lisa said, "So, tell me, what was this preferred girl like?"

"Beautiful, tall and leggy, blonde and blue-eyed. Honestly, she was an absolute walking wet dream for any full-bloodied man, and his parents already love her to bits. And the poor girl is being used like a ping pong ball."

"But what does Junior think about her?"

"Junior likes everybody, Mum, but I think ... no, I am certain that he loves me, loves me only and that he will love me for all eternity."

"Oh, Jen, I think that is obvious to everyone who sees you two together," Lisa put her arms around her daughter, "You know I thought that Scott was a real catch for you, but Junior is in another league altogether, now that we have got to know him a little more. But, what matters is, what do you feel about him? Because, if you want him, you had better make sure that you do not let this one slip through your fingers."

"I don't know if it's love, Mum. I don't have anything to go on. I realise now that I was never in love with Scott, I just preferred being with him rather than being alone. The only thing I know is that I care and feel more for Junior than I have ever felt about anybody."

"More than Scott?"

"Much, much more. Scott angered and upset me by his betrayal, and we broke up. I didn't see him for eight months, but in all that time I never missed him, not for a moment. He may have made me feel bad about myself for a while, all the time that we were together, actually, but he never broke my heart. So I couldn't have loved him. But now I know that if I lost Junior, Mum, I know that I would be desolated."

"Oh, Jen, you are so much more well off without that Scott."

"Mum! You tried to force us together, don't forget, and that was only the day before yesterday!"

"I know! I know and I apologise completely for that. He was not the man for you, I know that now, I think I always knew that in the back of my mind, but I was so concerned that you would end up alone. In fact, while your Dad and I were going through a bad patch, Scott somehow knew that Andy had cheated on me. I suppose cheaters recognise other cheaters. Scott touched me up a couple of Christmases in a row, trying to tempt me into his bed, while you were still in the house. I didn't say anything dear, because, quite frankly, I didn't think you'd get anyone better, and didn't want you to grow into an old maid. But now, darling, you have this glow about you, like someone who loves someone and is loved by someone. Junior is gorgeous and he's gentlemanly. He's a definite keeper, Jen, just don't muck this one up."

"I won't, I think, now that I have admitted that I would be desolated without him, it must mean I really do love him."

"So you'll take him, even though his parents don't like you at all?"

"If he asks me, then yes. I will grab his sweet heart in both hands and worship him as long as he lives. Anyway, his grandparents seem to like me, and Georgianna is lovely."

"They must be getting on in years though, dear?"

"Yes, but they are both quite spritely. She's English, the youngest daughter of a bishop she said. She is very grand, but so lovely and friendly. Nick Senior is, or was, I think, some sort of Russian Count. Junior's parents are Polish, of German extraction, but he was brought up over here in Oxfordshire."

"So what's their place like?"

"It's a wooden lodge, like a Swiss chalet. It is warm and comfortable, set in a small village, a sort of wonderful mix of rural charm and sophisticated elegance."

"Where is it, Scandinavia?"

"Yes, sort of, but a long way north. Absolutely surrounded by snow. You need to fly to get there."

"Would you move there if you married?"

"No, Mum, certainly not straight away. He has a house being built here, at West End Green. I am seeing it tomorrow, on our way round to Dad's."

"So you'd move back here?" Lisa got excited, "that would be wonderful, I do so worry about you in London, especially now I know you're alone."

"Yes, London's not so great living on your own. It can be desperately lonely. Actually, I am thinking of working for Webster's and learning all I can about the business , before taking up Dad's offer to take over his business when he retires in five years."

"Oh, he has mentioned that in the past. It sounds as though you've already made up your mind about Junior, Jennifer!"

"Maybe I have," she smiled, "but the ball's now in his court. He has to do the asking."

Christmas dinner at Lisa's was quite a lively affair, with everyone enjoying talking about the presents that Jennifer and Junior had given them. Even Scott was impressed by his hair products. Jennifer received a jade necklace that would be perfect to go with the green silk dress. And Jennifer's dip into Santa's sack had produced a smart watch through which Jennifer could keep in constant contact with Junior even if she had to work her notice back in London for a month.

After their sumptuous dinner, the snow had practically disappeared from the roads around Jennifer's home town, so Scott shook hands with everyone before taking his leave for the last time, saying he wanted to get home to London before it was too dark.

When the five left behind retired to relax in the sitting room, Junior drew Jennifer's attention to one outstanding present still left hanging on the tree. It was a small cube, wrapped in red paper.

"It's addressed to us," he announced, "what do you think, shall I open it, Jen?"

"Yes, why not?"

There was a red box inside the wrapper, and he bent down on one knee in front of her.

"Jennifer Webster," he asked, "will you consent to marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?"

The ring he offered was a large opal shaped diamond surrounded by a circle of tiny but bright green emeralds.

"Yes," Jennifer said with undisguised pleasure, "I will. Indeed I will, Junior, you are the only one for me."

Junior placed the ring on her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. They kissed.

A single bell rang from inside Junior's red sack, which was empty and folded neatly on top of the few presents that the family had put together for him on Christmas Eve.

Junior broke off his kiss and smiled, "It's only a time alarm set for this point, when Jen accepted my troth."

From the apparently empty sack he drew forth some card envelopes stained in the deepest crimson ink, "Mr & Mrs Brandlow, this is your invitation, and Miss Stephanie Brandlow, this is yours." He handed them their already addressed cards.

Jennifer raised her eyebrows for explanation.

"It is a family tradition of ours to become engaged on Christmas Day, Jen, and for the parents of the Groom-to-be to announce the betrothal at a Ball held that very night in the honour of the Bride-to-be and her family," Junior smiled, holding out both hands for Jennifer to fall back into, turning to see her family open their cards, "and, as you are all now family, you are invited to a special gathering on the family estate, tonight."

Jack read out the invitation, "It reads 'Nikolas & Hilde, requests the pleasure of the company of Mr & Mrs John Brandlow at the Celebration of The Betrothal between their only Son, Nicholas & Jennifer Louise Webster, at the family community hall, on the Feast of Saint Stephen, meet at Webster's Haulage at 6pm sharp. Dress for going to the Ball. RSVP unnecessary.' Wow! What a fantastic card, beautifully handwritten."

"They're made on Junior's family estate," Jennifer said, "just wait, you guys, their place will absolutely knock your socks off!"

"What would you have done with these cards, 'June', if Jen had said 'no' to your proposal??" Steph asked. 'June' apparently being her preferred shortening of Junior's name.

"That, Steph, was never gonna happen," Jennifer got in before her fiancé could reply, "Junior is the only man for me, he is my dream partner in life and I hope to always remain his."

"But I've got nothing to wear to a Ball," wailed Lisa, "absolutely nothing!"

"I, we," said Junior, "took the liberty, a little earlier, of having evening wear prepared for you, it is a speciality of the family business you know, along with a range of appropriate accessories. They are, even now, hanging on the front of your wardrobes waiting for you to put them on."

Stephanie squealed, "I must go look!" and ran from the room. She was stunned when she got back, tears brimming in her eyes, "It's beautiful, 'June', Jen! White and real gold thread, and the necklace and bracelet.... Lisa, Mum, would you help me try it on, now?"

"Of course, dear," Lisa's eyes brimmed with tears too, her lovely step-daughter, who had been coping without a mother the whole of her young life, calling her 'Mum' for the first time, "we'll try it on now."

"For this dress, I'll need my hair pinned up...." Stephanie began.

"Wear warm casual clothing tomorrow night," Junior said, "Jen and I will repack your gowns once you've tried them on. There are hairdressers and a beauty parlour in the village and I assure you that you will all be booked in, to get you fully ready to dazzle at the Ball."

"But we'll be a tight squeeze in your plane for the five of us, Junior, only four seats isn't it?" Jack asked.

"My father can be a bit grumpy at times, especially over Christmas, Sir, but he loves any opportunity to fly one of our executive jets, so there will be plenty of room for us all, including Jen's father Andy's guests."

"Executive jets?" Lisa said, feeling faint.

***

As soon as he entered the bedroom that evening, after cleaning his teeth, Junior knew that his life would change and never be the same again after this Christmas Night. The main light was off, the only dim warm light emanated from a bedside lamp with a thin silk scarf tossed over it. Jennifer was in bed already and, as he stepped into the bedroom and closed the door behind him, she drew back rather more than the duvet covering on his side of the bed and beckoned him forward with her index finger.

"You're not wearing your pyjamas, Jen," he observed.

"No, I'm not," she replied, her voice taking on a new huskiness, partly from anticipation, partly lust, boosted by the confidence of being completely loved for who she was, "but then we are, after all, promised to one another for the rest of our lives, so from here it looks like you might be somewhat overdressed."

Junior's dressing gown was already untied, ready to slip off his shoulders. He shucked the gown in an instant, pulled the pyjama jacket over his head without bothering with the buttons and, with his thumbs, pushed his bottoms over his hips and dropped them to the floor. He stepped out of them and stood before his fiancé, naked for the first time.

"You're a beautiful man, Junior," Jennifer breathed appreciatively, "I realise that I have loved you and wished for this moment ever since you appeared in my life."

"Me too," he said, "I have waited, oh how long I have waited."

"And how long, say when I was too young?" she asked coyly.

"No, then you were too young," he answered.

"And when I was with Scott?"

"You were with Scott."

"And now you are with me?"

"I am with you all the way, my darling Jennifer."

"Then come over here and come with me, my darling."

And they did, repeatedly.

***

After Boxing Day breakfast, the happy couple drove off to her Dad's' house to announce their engagement. But on the way, Junior showed her the shell of the new large family home being built on Hollyhock Hill, on the edge of town, just off the exclusive west end of the village green. The back of the property was overlooking Forestry Commission land, full of Christmas trees all the way to the horizon. The snow from the other day still weighed down the boughs, to Jennifer it looked like she imagined Lapland would look. The final internal finish and furnishing of the house was for Jennifer to oversee in the new year.

For Jennifer, the two days just zoomed by at her Mum's, where she introduced her fiancé to her family, including the other teenagers, Kendra and Mica, children Oliver the eldest, and girls Ronnie, Judy, Andy, her new step-mother Kayla, with her Dad's step children, Jimmy 8, Karine 3 and Monika 18 months. All received their invitations, gowns, suits and details of crèche facilities and luxury accommodations at the village, and assurances that all will be returned home in plenty of time for work on Tuesday.

So, Boxing Night they all flew off to the North Pole to announce their engagement to the large Claus family.

On the plane, the flight time being only a quarter of an hour, Junior explained, as they overflew the miracle which is the North Pole in this magical dimension, that they were all sworn to secrecy, in fact they will find themselves magically unable to discuss it, if non-family people are within earshot.

At the Ball, Junior and Jennifer were met by the elegant Georgianna and Nicholas Senior, immediately after formal presentation to his stiff parents.

"I think you can safely call me 'Grandma', now Jen," Georgianna said as they exchanged kisses cheek to cheek, "welcome to the family. There's someone upstairs who is dying to meet you. Junior, I am stealing your intended away for a few moments."

He nodded.

The lodge where the Ball was taking place, was a huge ballroom, with a band at one end and lined along the sides with tables and chairs, cheerful elves running between the tables ladened with trays of drinks and snacks. Georgianna led Jennifer up the steps to the gallery which ran all around above the ballroom, again lined with tables and chairs, but there were also deep alcoves, where quiet meetings and family socialising could take place. She led Jennifer into one of these.
An old man sat in an ornately carved high back chair, he had a long white beard and what looked like the garb of a bishop. He had the kindest, most serene countenance that Jennifer had ever seen on anyone. She was reminded of a slim Bhudda. The mounting trepidation she had felt walking up here, despite Georgianna's soothing chatter about people that they had passed on the way. And Georgianna had guided her here arm in arm in case her knees gave way. Jennifer's fears suddenly melted away. Jennifer was guided by Georgianna to sit in a chair set in front of the bishop, before Georgianna also melted away, but only after she bent and kissed the old man on the cheek.

"Hello my dear Jennifer, it is indeed a pleasure to meet you," he said, his voice deep and warm, welcoming and calming, "I imagine you know who I am?"

"The original St Nick?" Jennifer answered, surprising herself at her calm voice.

"Indeed. This place, and what we do for children every year, is a wonderful gift, bestowed on me, perhaps a little unwillingly at first," he smiled at distant memories, "but it has been a continual pleasure to me and I hope that you will enjoy your time being Mother Christmas, once Junior and you feel it is the right time to leave the real world and bring your new young family here and fully take up your duties."

"I hope so, Sir, I believe that Junior is the answer to my dreams."

"Indeed, he is. You know, we always have hope in abundance here, my dear, and usually all our hopes are fulfilled. This is the place for dreams to come true. It is a reward for the sacrifices we have to make. I know you have one question, and I will answer as best I can. 'Why me?'"

He chuckled, knowing he was right, as he clearly had been many times before in front of future Mrs Santa Clauses.

"I agree with what you are thinking, Jennifer, that the world is full of beautiful women, and that tiny flicker of jealousy you felt towards Beata a moment ago is perfectly understandable and forgiven. Don't worry about Beata, there is Uncle Henry, a favourite uncle of Junior's who has long been disappointed in love, so far, to the extent that he has resigned himself to be everyone of his nieces' and nephews' favourite uncle. A lovely man, who loves children, and they love him. One of the more onerous of my duties, my dear Jennifer, is that poor Henry has been held back long enough for just such an occasion."

"Poor Henry, but Beata is a sweet girl," she ventured.

Jennifer wondered at her ability to be relaxed and candid in front of such a presence. Even as she thought this, she saw St Nick smile and knew that she was understood. She now knew that she was home where she belonged, that she never had to be frightened or worried about insecurity again. She was in a place where she was loved, and knew instinctively that those who were loved would have love in abundance to give, and in her turn she would.

"Yes, Beata is a lovely person," Saint Nick agreed, "she will indeed thrive with Henry, and thus will he. So, who choose you and why? Well, the Prophecy, was my idea in the first place, and it has worked perfectly, except in a few notable examples beyond my control, but it is also my curse. I picked you Jennifer, with some guidance from above, and I am delighted to tell you how happy I am with my choice."

"Thank you, Saint Nick, I really do believe that I will be happy and completely fulfilled with Junior."

"Junior will be the best Santa of them all, my dear, I assure you. But there is one more tradition which will take place at the middle of St Stephen's Night...."

"And what is that?"

"Your marriage to Junior, provided you agree. I officiate at so few weddings nowadays, but yours will be a special one that I have absolutely no intention of missing. Well? All the family are waiting expectantly. Shall we announce that the ceremony goes ahead now, as all of the North Pole has hoped?"

"Yes, Saint Nick, I will marry Junior now, this evening and at this ball, with pleasure."

Saint Nick rose in his chair, holding out his hands.

Somehow, Junior had appeared, at her side, and a graceful woman of great age appeared by Saint Nick's side holding out her hands towards Jennifer.

Jennifer held onto Junior's hand with one hand and held the other out towards the elderly couple. They held onto her one hand with their four and pulled her towards them. Jennifer leaned forward willingly and the couple in turn kissed her on both cheeks and kissed Junior on both his cheeks.

"Bless you both," Saint Nick said, and Jennifer could feel the force and magic course through her veins, knowing that her life would never be the same again.

The pair let her hand go, so she was able to slip her hands into both Junior's and her soon-to-be-husband kissed her on both her hands and cheeks, before planting his lips on hers.

"Welcome to my home, my dearest Jennifer, you are my dream bride."

"Thank you, Junior, and you have always been my Dream Santa."

THE END
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