A Mummy for Christmas

by Clare Revell

  Stan covered her hand with his. “Oh, honey, you’re not making a fool of yourself. You’re allowed to cry and grieve and take time to do so. There aren’t any rules that tell us how to act when we’re losing someone. Especially someone close to us.” His thumb moved over her fingers, sending her pulse racing. “What are you going to do?”

  She shrugged, not saying anything as the server brought over two bowls of chocolate sponge pudding and set them on the table. “Thanks.” She stabbed the pudding and took a bite. “I thought I might quit my job, go back to Cardiff, be close to Mam and find another job doing something else. I’m no good at this journalism malarkey. I mean, look what I did to you.”

  Stan’s face fell before he masked it. “That was your editor, not you. He wrote to me and apologized.”

  “That was big of him. But I don’t want to…I can’t…” She held out the bag. “Haley-Jo should have this.”

  Stan took the bag and looked inside. “It’s your nativity set.”

  “Mam gave it to Haley-Jo. It belongs to her now. And I want her to have it.”

  He moved around the table and slid into the seat next to her. He grasped her hand firmly. “Carly, we need you.”

  “That’s nice of you to say so, but you don’t.”

  He gently turned her face to his. “God led you to me for a purpose. Haley-Jo wants a mummy, and God saw to it that you were here. Not only someone that I liked, but someone who really was her mother. Carly…” he paused, his eyes flickering. “We’ve known each other two weeks, if that, but it seems so much longer. Just seeing you, hearing your voice, is enough to brighten my day. You make my heart sing.”

  She tried to look away, but his gaze was hypnotic. Every word he spoke resonated within her, a mirror image of the way she felt about him.

  “And Haley-Jo adores you.”

  “She doesn’t know me.”

  “When she rang you, what did she say?”

  “She asked how I was. She said she knows what it’s like to lose her mummy, and it’s all right to be sad when Mam dies, but not to cry for long because we’ll see them again in heaven.” She punched her chest. “But it hurts here. It’s tearing me apart that Mam’s not got long left, and I spent so long hating her whilst all the time she was sick and dying, and feeling just as bad about everything as I did.”

  “Don’t blame yourself for that. She doesn’t. Remember what I told you about love?”

  “It covers a multitude of sins.” She sighed.

  “Well, yeah, but I was thinking more of it being the one constant in our lives. That under the anger and harsh words of the moment, love remains.”

  She nodded.

  He tucked her hair behind her ears. “I can’t think straight when I’m around you.”

  “Nor I you.” She took his hand, moving her thumb over the back of it. “You do this and my head goes skip. I want to be with you so badly.”

  “Then stay.”

  “I can’t.” Her voice wavered and she coughed to cover it.

  “Why not? We can find a nursing home for your mum here.” Stan brushed her cheek with his fingertips, causing a shiver to start inside her, gradually working its way out. “What’s Cardiff got that Bramley hasn’t? Aside from a higher crime rate and several huge shopping malls?”

  “Football.”

  He smiled. “I prefer tennis myself. But if it’s a new job you really want, there are several others here. I can think of one off the top of my head if you want it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, Haley-Jo wants a mummy for Christmas. But we both know that mummies are for life and not just for Christmas, to coin a phrase.”

  Carly’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you serious?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Surely he didn’t mean…

  “Of course, we kind of come as a package deal. Her and me.”

  “I don’t understand…”

  “I really ought to get down on one knee,” he said, “but there really isn’t the room here. Carly, I love you. Will you marry me?”

  12

  Stan spent the carol service on tenterhooks. Carly hadn’t given him an answer. She’d kissed his cheek, thanked him for asking and said she’d tell him later. Was that a ‘no’? If it was, he’d rather she gave him a flat out, not-if-you-were-the-last-man-on-the-face-of-the-planet-would-I-marry-you no. Maybe she didn’t trust his motives. Perhaps she was under the impression he was marrying her purely because she was Haley-Jo’s mother.

  Which he wasn’t.

  The Lord knew how much he wasn’t. Yes, he’d do anything to keep Haley-Jo, but that would just be low and underhanded.

  Halfway through the sermon, Carly passed him her phone. He glanced down at the screen. We need to talk to Haley-Jo before I give you an answer. This affects her, too.

  You mean talk to her or tell her the truth. He typed and handed back the phone.

  Carly studied the message and replied. Both. She has to know, and I don’t want her accepting me only to find in 10 yrs time we’ve both been lying to her.

  Stan sighed. OK. He looked down at his hands.

  Haley-Jo nudged him. “Stop passing notes in church,” she whispered. “You’ll go to hell.”

  “Shh…” He scrunched his nose up at her, not sure where she got those weird notions.

  He rose to sing the last carol, but not even the rousing rendition of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” with organ, orchestra, drums, and cymbals, could calm his nerves. He slid his hand into Carly’s ignoring the look Haley-Jo shot him. Carly completed him. And if she said no, he didn’t know what he’d do. So much was riding on this.

  As they sat, he glanced at his daughter. “Haley-Jo, come and sit between us.” Instead, she sat on his lap and leaned against him. “OK, that works. Right, do you remember what you asked Father Christmas for?”

  “A mummy,” she responded instantly.

  Stan nodded. “Well, I think I may have found one. It’d mean me marrying her.”

  Haley-Jo’s face fell. “Oh…”

  Stan and Carly exchanged a long look. “Don’t you want to know who?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Don’t like her.”

  Carly stood, her eyes glistening and devastation written on her face. “I’ll go, let you talk.”

  Stan grabbed her hand, desperate to get to the bottom of this one way or the other. “Wait.”

  “You heard what she said. This isn’t going to work.”

  “Carly, please, just sit.” He waited until she’d sat down, then looked at Haley-Jo. “Sweetheart, who don’t you like?”

  “That Sophie woman. She raved about you the whole flight.”

  “I’m not talking about Sophie. I’m talking about Carly.”

  “This Carly?”

  “How many Carly’s do we know?” Stan rolled his eyes. “How would you like Carly to be your mummy?”

  She tilted her head. “For real? Are you going to marry her?”

  “I’ve asked her, and she hasn’t replied yet, but…”

  “What do you think, Haley-Jo?” Carly said quietly.

  Haley-Jo scrunched up her nose and giggled. “I don’t wanna marry him. He snores.”

  “Thanks,” Stan muttered.

  “But there’s something else you need to know first.” Carly laid a hand on Stan’s arm.

  “All you have to do is say yes, right?” Haley-Jo looked from Carly to Stan and back again.

  “I told you my mam gave away something of mine, right? Well, eight years ago I had a baby. A little girl. But I was very sick, and the doctors said I would die and because Mam was ill she couldn’t look after her. So, another couple got to look after the baby and raise her as their own.”

  “She was adopted like me?”

  Carly nodded. “She was born eight years ago on September tenth and adopted on December twentieth.”

  Something flickered in Haley-Jo’s eyes as she heard the dates. “Same as me. What was her name?”

  Ca
rly’s eyes filled with tears. “I never got to hold her or give her a name.”

  Stan gripped Carly’s hand. “She did have a name, but her new parents gave her another so she had two. She uses both, her adopted name first and her mummy’s name second. She was named after her mummy.”

  Carly’s gaze met his, shock filling them.

  “Remember when you found your name on the bottom of the donkey? Carly Jo…Haley-Jo.”

  “I don’t get it,” Haley-Jo said. “Are you saying that Carly is my real mummy? You told me she was dead.”

  Stan hugged her. “Sweetheart, we were told that your birth mother was dead, and I only just found out the other day that she wasn’t.”

  Carly wiped the tears away. “And I only found out at the same time who you were.”

  Haley-Jo sat there. “For real?”

  Carly nodded.

  “You’re my really real mummy?”

  “I am.”

  Haley-Jo scrambled onto her lap and flung her arms around Carly’s neck.

  Carly hugged her tightly.

  Stan rose and walked out. These two needed some space. His future was riding on one word, but he wasn’t going to get it just yet. He needed fresh air. He walked from the church to stand on the front steps, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. His breath hung on the cold air and a light snow began to fall again.

  Around him the streets glittered. Lights streamed from windows and he allowed hope to creep into his heart.

  Footsteps echoed beside him. “Stan? Is everything all right?”

  He looked up at Pastor Kenny and shook his head. “I have a lot going on.”

  “Then let’s just sit for a few.” Pastor Kenny indicated the wall. “You don’t have to talk, but I’ll pray, because I find that always helps.”

  ~*~

  Carly hugged Haley-Jo, holding her as she cried. This was something she’d never imagined would happen in a million years. Tears fell down her face, but this time they were tears of joy. She gave the child an edited version of the story. “So, your father was killed, and I was badly hurt. I didn’t want to give you up.”

  “But if you hadn’t, then Daddy would be alone now, and you and Daddy wouldn’t have met. God wanted me here.”

  “I guess He did.”

  Haley-Jo glanced around. “Where is Daddy?”

  “Maybe he went to get coffee, or went outside. Let’s find him.” She stood up, her heart jumping for joy as Haley-Jo took her hand.

  They exited the church, and her heart leapt again at the sight of Stan sitting on the wall next to the pastor.

  Stan’s eyes lit up as she and Haley-Jo walked over to them. “You found me.”

  Haley-Jo nodded. “You’re rubbish at hide and seek. Hello, Pastor Kenny.”

  Pastor Kenny smiled. “Hello, Haley-Jo. We were just talking about you.”

  She smiled. “Pastor Kenny. This is Carly. She’s my Mummy, and she and Daddy are getting married.”

  Carly and Stan looked at each other. She saw the hope flicker in his eyes.

  “How about you and I go and find some hot chocolate and see if there are any biscuits left?” Pastor Kenny said. “Let your dad and Carly talk for a few.”

  “OK.” Haley-Jo went with him happily.

  Carly stood in front of Stan and cupped his face in her hands. “You’re cold.”

  “A little.”

  “Thank you.”

  Stan blinked, confusion in his eyes. “What for?”

  “Looking after my baby when I couldn’t. Raising her into the cute, intelligent, funny child she is now. Allowing me to be a part of her life and asking me to join your family. No one has ever given me a gift like that before.”

  “Other than God.”

  “Well, yeah.” She paused, trying to calm her racing heart and not succeeding. “What I’m trying to stay, Stan Fuller, is yes, I’d love to marry you.”

  Stan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She responded and his arms tightened as he deepened the kiss. When he finally pulled back, she knew in an instant he was her soulmate. She’d never reacted to being kissed like that before.

  She managed a smile. “We should go and find your daughter before she eats all the biscuits.”

  “Our daughter,” Stan corrected. He took firm hold of her hand, walking with her.

  Carly was sure her feet were off the ground. Actually, she wasn’t sure she’d ever find solid ground again, but at that point didn’t care. She’d found her daughter and a man who loved and wanted her.

  Haley-Jo was sitting with Pastor Kenny.

  Stan smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes. Can Carly move in now you’re getting married?”

  Stan rolled his eyes, trying to ignore Carly’s laugh and the way Pastor Kenny raised his eyebrows. “Not until after the wedding.”

  “When’s that?”

  “Give us a chance. It’ll be at least four weeks from when we get the license depending when the church is free.”

  “You can get that tomorrow, Daddy. Pastor Kenny says the church is free every Saturday for the next five weeks.”

  Pastor Kenny chuckled. “Leave me out of it. Give me a call, Stan.”

  “I will. Thank you.” Stan took his daughter’s hand.

  “Can she at least move in for Christmas?”

  Carly shook her head. “Maybe I’ll sleep in the spare room on Christmas Eve, and we can spend Christmas together. How does that sound?”

  “But why can’t you get married now?”

  “Because this isn’t a movie,” Stan told her. “You’ve been watching Miracle on 34th Street way too much. This is real life and things happen a little differently.”

  Carly took her other hand as they walked to the car. “So, is there anything else you want for Christmas?”

  Haley-Jo grinned. “A baby sister.”

  Stan snorted. “Don’t push your luck. I already got you a mummy. A baby sister just isn’t happening.”

  Carly looked at him over Haley-Jo’s head. “Well, not this year.”

  Stan held her gaze. “I love you,” he mouthed.

  “Love you, too.”

  Haley-Jo pulled a face. “Stop with the lovey-dovey stuff.”

  Stan ignored her and grinned. “How about we go home and set up the nativity under the tree. Start a new family tradition?” He paused. “And then tomorrow we’ll go to the Christmas shop and pick out a new ornament for the tree. One to symbolize our new family.”

  “Sounds great.” Haley-Jo looked up at Carly. “So long as Mummy agrees.”

  Tears filled Carly’s eyes. “I think it’s a great idea, sweetheart.”

  13

  Stan picked up the newspaper from the shop and grinned at the front page headlines. For once he wasn’t going to object. He paid for three copies and hurried home.

  “Is it in?” Haley-Jo asked as soon as he got through the front door.

  “It certainly is.” He handed her a copy and went in search of his wife.

  They were leaving today on a three-week honeymoon, and Haley-Jo was moving in with Gramma and Mamgu Rose while they were away. The two mother’s had bonded instantly. Mum had offered to let Carly’s mum move in rather than stay in the nursing home in Cardiff, or find another one closer to Bramley. As Mum was a trained nurse, it meant they wouldn’t need a carer coming.

  Carly held out a hand. “Let me see.”

  I got a Mummy for Christmas by Carly and Haley-Jo Fuller the headline proclaimed. Underneath was a picture of Haley-Jo in her bridesmaid dress and then one of Carly and Stan outside the church.

  Stan grinned. “Love the byline,” he said. He began to read aloud. “Haley-Jo Fuller finally got her Christmas wish when her father married Bramley Herald reporter Carly Jefferson on Valentine’s Day. In what can only be described as a Christmas miracle, an assignment by this paper in December led to Carly being reunited with her daughter who was given up for adoption after Carly was left in a coma following an accident.


  ‘The bride wore an off the shoulder dress, with hundreds of sequins sewn all over it. It sparkled in the sunlight, but would have been rather cold in the rain as it didn’t have sleeves,’ explained Haley-Jo Fuller.

  Stan grinned. “Nice quote.”

  “For once Marc didn’t touch the article after I handed it in.”

  “—and the bridesmaid/flower girl wore a really lovely floor length pink princess dress with a tiara and a huge bow on the back. She carried a Bible in one hand and a bunch of violets in the other hand. The bride also had violets in her bouquet along with ivory roses. The groom wore a dark grey morning suit with tails and a top hat, which he spent more time carrying than wearing. We tried to convince him to wear his airplane uniform, but he refused saying ‘I wear it enough when I’m at work, thank you, without wearing it on my days off, too’.” Stan raised his eyebrows. “Thanks for that.”

  Carly chuckled. “Any time.”

  “Hmmm. How much of this did you actually write?”

  “I had a lot of help.”

  He turned back to the article. “And just to give the story a real happy ending, Carly found her mummy again as well. And now we’re all living in Bramley and can see each other lots. The bride and groom haven’t disclosed where they are going on honeymoon, but here at the paper we all wish them many happy years together.”

  “Well, he did touch it after all, but that was nice.” Carly crossed her arms.

  Stan put the paper down and wrapped his arms around Carly. “I think we can manage a happy ever after.” He pulled her close and kissed her.

  “Enough of the yukky kissy stuff,” Haley-Jo said. “I’m still here.”

  Stan broke off and laughed. “Like we could forget that, wombat. Are you packed?”

  She shook her head. “I think Mummy might have to come help me. Blue Unicorn wants to take everything in the wardrobe and it won’t all fit.”

  Carly stood. “Then Mummy had better go teach Blue Unicorn how to pack.”

  Haley-Jo grabbed Carly’s hand. “He doesn’t understand tidying up either. Because everything from the wardrobe is now all over the bed and the floor and he isn’t going to help me put it all away.”