Christmas in Canberra

by Nicole Taylor

  Peter was the next to join the group. “Here you all are! Where’s David?”

  “He’s just getting some drinks – he will be here soon.” Andrew provided the information. “He told me to get a table and chairs.” Andrew then turned to Margot. “Ladies, shall we?” He offered Margot his arm, which she took and they led the way across the lawn and up the stairs to a table on the verandah.

  David was already there with champagne on ice. “Hello everyone!” He was his usual exuberant self. “I thought you were getting the table?” he inquired of Andrew.

  Andrew shrugged in a helpless gesture. “Have you seen these women?”

  “I have,” agreed David. “They are quite ravishing.”

  “Are you coming to Simon’s for Christmas too?” Andrew asked Margot.

  “Are you going?” Margot was surprised.

  “Well, I’ve been invited. Our sister had a baby in New Zealand so the parents have gone to see it. And it does seem as though Simon manages to keep all the cutest girls at his place, so I assumed you would be there.”

  Margot almost gasped. “I can’t!” she whispered. Her voice failed her. “I have to spend Christmas with my family.”

  “What – all of it?” Andrew insisted. “You couldn’t give them their presents, eat some lunch and slip over to Simons?”

  Margot smiled. “Of course I could.”

  “That’s alright then.” Andrew put his arm around Margot’s waist and drew her to him. Margot smiled up at him and her face glowed with happiness.

  Gordon smiled at Louise. “So, it looks like we are all set for Christmas.” He turned to Simon. “What would you like us to bring?”

  Simon chuckled. “Looking at all of you, I really want to say condoms, but that would be vulgar.” He chuckled like an evil child.

  Margot and Louise blushed.

  Gordon sensed their embarrassment. “No, condoms are good. I’ll bring condoms. They are a good gift for someone who only gets lucky at Christmas.”

  Simon blinked and the girls laughed at him, and gave Gordon appreciative looks. But Gordon wasn’t finished. “Would you like ribbed, coloured or edible?”

  Margot and Louise were howling and even Andrew could not contain his mirth.

  “Very funny.” Simon said with a smirk.

  The conversation became more general and polite. Louise looked at Gordon quizzically.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Louise was torn. This was exactly what she had wanted – what she and Margot had wanted – ever since they had met the gorgeous McCarthy brothers. But for some reason she felt more insecure than ever before, and was it sensible to say something now and ruin a perfect evening – an evening she had dreamed might one day happen? She looked at Gordon again and sighed.

  Gordon smiled. “I think I know.” He looked at his drink, over at his brother and then at Louise. “Why the sudden change?”

  “Yes.” Louise was apologetic but felt she had to respond. “No!” She shook her head. “I don’t know Gordon! This is all so nice – better than nice.”

  Gordon stopped smiling and spoke seriously. “Louise, I don’t know; I like you. I really enjoy being with you. It feels right.” Now he sighed. “I don’t know if it will feel right forever, but I like this now. Can we just enjoy each other and have a great Christmas?”

  “Yes,” said Louise. “Let’s.”

  Chapter 17

  Christmas eve. This year, Christmas fell on a Sunday, and the week began much the same as any other working work. Three weeks into summer, the sky was as blue as it could be – cloudless and bright. On Christmas eve, Louise was in Manuka for some last-minute gift shopping. She wanted to get her sisters and her mother real earrings from Dimitri’s. In the past, she’d bought token gifts and put no thought into them. But something in her was clamouring for attention. Some new, inner sense that she, too, could be thoughtful; that she, too, could be the recipient of gratitude when the gifts were opened.

  Perhaps if she was able to buy her family gifts they loved, they may even start to like her a little. Was that why her sisters always bought such terrific presents? Were they buying popularity? Louise knew they weren’t. So why was she stooping to such tactics?

  “Desperation”, she admitted glumly. “And let’s face it – my gifts have so far been inferior to theirs in every way.”

  It was true. Last year, Marie had bought her gold earrings. Louise wore them every day. They were unostentatiously gorgeous. And Jane had bought her a two piece summer suit which had quickly become the basis of her entire summer wardrobe. Even Roxanne had given her a set of good quality bath towels. Louise had been pleased and embarrassed because her own gifts were so unremarkable. In fact, she could not recall what she had given any of them.

  She was moving from one glass display counter to the next when she saws that someone was there ahead of her. A man. He turned and smiled at Louise.

  “Merry Christmas,” he said.

  “Merry Christmas to you!” Louise thought how nice it was to run into Aidan. “We seem to run into each other a lot!”

  “Yes,” agreed Aidan. “Lucky me.”

  “How are you?”

  “Hungry, actually. Have you had lunch?”

  “No, but I am here on a mission. You have interrupted me in the middle of a very important purchase.”

  “I have not.” Aidan protested. “You are buying yourself earrings! And” – he lowered his voice and leaned towards her, “if you were more gracious when wealthy single men invited you to lunch, you might not have to buy them for yourself.”

  Louise laughed. “Wealthy single men?” she scoffed.

  “Wealthy single men,” Aidan nodded.

  “What – did you win Lotto?”

  “You really are the most annoying girl I ever met.”

  “How gracious of you to say so.”

  “Come on then,” Aidan almost took her arm, trying to guide Louise to the door without actually touching her.

  But Louise wouldn’t budge. “I haven’t eaten, but I really do have to buy some earrings – for my mother and sisters, for Christmas.

  “Ah, yes,” agreed Aidan. “Christmas. That’s why I’m here myself. For my sister. Earrings,” he explaining.

  “Are you buying clip-on or pierced?” Louise was already perusing the counters once more.

  “What?” Aidan clearly wasn’t following.

  Louise looked up from her task. “Earrings. Does your sister have pierced ears?”

  “I don’t know!”

  “Well, you’d better get her a necklace then.”

  “Good thinking,” said Aidan, relief evident in his voice.

  “So,” continued Louise, “Does she wear gold or silver?”

  “What?” Aidan looked affronted.

  “Women wear either one or the other,” Louise explained. “What is her watch made of?”

  “Her watch?” Aidan wasn’t following Louise’s logic.

  “Yes. Is it gold or silver?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake! I don’t know!”

  Louise shook her head. “Well, you can’t buy her jewellery. If you get her silver and she wears gold, she’ll never be able to wear it because it won’t match her other things.”

  “But I want to buy her a piece of jewellery. She just got engaged, and I want to buy her something she can keep.”

  “Then it will have to be diamonds,” decided Louise.

  “WHAT?” Aidan looked at her as though she was mad. “She didn’t get engaged to me!”

  “Calm down!” Louise patted his arm comfortingly. “You have no other real options for jewellery. You don’t know whether your sister –“

  “Cathy.”

  “- Cathy wears gold or silver; and you don’t know whether her ears are pierced or not, so you have to get her something that will cause her to throw out all her other stuff if it doesn’t match the stunning diamond bracelet you buy her.”

  Aidan suddenly stood up straighter and put his hand to
his head. “Cathy showed me her engagement ring.” He spoke as though from a dream. “It was diamonds set in silver.”

  “Probably platinum – but lucky for you,” responded Louise. “Silver will match and is much less expensive than gold.

  “So I should get her a silver necklace?” Aidan asked hopefully.

  “You could,” admitted Louise. “Or you could get her a string of pearls.

  “Pearls!” Aidan nodded. “Perfect!”

  After they had each made their purchases, Aidan a lovely single-strand pearl necklace, and Louise four sets of earrings:- clip on scrolls for her mother; coral studs for Roxanne; silver threads for Jane and hoops for Marie, they wandered onto “the lawns” and into one of the cafes there. The day was still bright with a pretty blue sky and becoming hot, so they sat indoors to enjoy the air-conditioning.

  They ordered lunch and settled down to chat.

  “Are you going away this summer?” Aidan asked.

  “No. Are you?”

  “No. I have to spend most of January on the farm. I still go in to work but we close the office and Dad is getting too old to manage on his own. If there is a bushfire, which there often is, I have to be around.”

  “Oh,” Louise was thoughtful. “You know, you are speaking to someone who has never even holidayed in the country, so I can’t make an intelligent comment. Sorry.”

  “That’s alright. I do still come into town, though. I have a house in Deakin. Stradbroke St.”

  “Oh.” Louise nodded. “I live in Aranda.”

  “Right.”

  They ate in silence for a minute.

  Then Aidan continued. “I’m here mostly on the weekends, for a day or two.”

  “I suppose you’d like to take me out to dinner.” Louise gave him an innocent look.

  Aidan leaned in to her with a glint in his eye. “I would like to take you to Chez Daniel and feed you oysters and caviar.”

  Louise suddenly felt embarrassed, realising he had “out-brazened” her. “That would be lovely,” she smiled. And this time it was she who blushed.

  *

  Christmas Day dawned crystal clear. The bells ringing at St Christopher’s Cathedral were sweet and clear too. The Keats sat in their favourite pew – on the left side, fourth from the front, behind the Gilmours, whose favourite pew was on the left, third from the front, behind the McInerneys.

  Jim sat down amidst his large family and decided to enjoy the mass. He would worry about going to Jane’s for Christmas later. He had a car. He could always go home. He could even go to Simon’s – Louise would be there after all, and it wasn’t far from Jane and Sam’s place. The choir sang the familiar Christmas carols and the cathedral smelt of old wood infused with incense. The priest said the words he said every Christmas and the congregation of regular parish families and Christmas-only Catholics responded with the words they always said. It was predictable, familiar and soothing. It was a reliable, safe haven in a wild and worrying world. There were no surprises here. It was always the same and always friendly and positive. A man could offer the sign of peace to his neighbour and not be frowned upon. He could sing a song about love and not lose his masculine status. He could let down his guard – the wall between him and the outside world which continually demanded that he have all the solutions in every situation.

  What solutions? There were no solutions. Jim looked at his son-in-law, the father of his beloved grandchildren, and wondered whether he had already had his morning bong. He could see by the glazed appearance of diluted eyes that he had. Then Jim noticed that Michael and James looked that same. He closed his eyes. You can’t think a swear work in church, he thought. He looked at Marie, his favourite and youngest child. At least Marie had no bad or illegal habits. But why this? She was so beautiful and so – so – well, she was beautiful. She could have made a lovely family with any lucky young man. Why did she have to throw away her chances like this? It was all such a waste. All the young men smoked dope and the most beautiful girls throwing away their futures – for what?

  Jim realized that he would have to financially support Marie even more than he already did. How else would she survive with a baby?

  And with all the young men stoned and all the beautiful young women having babies to unknown men, who was going to look after everyone? He could do it for a while, but who would do it when he was too old to support everyone?

  Without any answers Jim realized his only escape from these disturbing thoughts was prayer. He chanted the prayers he had chanted 28 years ago, when Mary had given him the frightening but not altogether unexpected news that their family had begun. Things had turned out well then, hadn’t they? His prayers had been answered, hadn’t they? Had they? What had he prayed? Had he prayed that Mary was mistaken? Probably. Well, if his exact prayers had not been answered, he had been delivered from his fear. He had built a good life with his wife and young family in a new city. As a man approaching the end of his prime, the thought that the baton of financial responsibility remained with him was a burdensome one. How had he managed to raise two sons who were unable to achieve financial independence? What had he done wrong? He had given them both the same access to education he himself had had, although neither of them had pursued that education. He had given them a much more comfortable, stable home than the one he had grown up in. He had been a father they could be proud of, were proud of. But they had remained boys. They were big, strong boys; adults now, becoming fathers; not yet independent.

  “If you are not financially independent, you are not independent in any sense.” Jim thought. “How did I miss teaching them that? Can you teach that?”

  *

  When mass was over, the family congregated outside the cathedral to discuss arrangements for ferrying each other to Jane’s for lunch.

  “I’ll go with Louise,” Eve smiled as she made her announcement and linked Louise’s arm in hers.

  “Er, but – “ Louise looked at her mother, who avoided her eye. “I’m not going to Janes’ for lunch, Aunty Eve.”

  Eve’s smile vanished and was replaced with a scrutinizing look. “Why not?” she looked around to see if this was generally known. “Where are you going?” Eve’s tone suggested that if there was a better, more interesting place on offer, why hadn’t she been informed?

  “I’ll drive you, though.” Louise decided that this was her best option. “Let’s go!” And, waving over her shoulder with a “See you there,” she led her aunt to her car.

  “I’m coming with you two!” Marie ran towards Louise and Eve, determined not to be left alone to defend herself. Since delivering her news, Marie had managed to avoid answering the phone or being left alone with anyone except Louise.

  No sooner had they settled themselves in Louise’s old Renault than Eve began.

  “God, Louise – don’t they pay you at the ATO? Why don’t you get yourself a decent car?”

  “Aunty Eve!! This is a classic car! It’s a -”

  “It is a second hand car, Louise,” Eve corrected her. “It is not a classic car. Technically a classic car is a car that is at least 25 years old -”

  “Only 9 years to go, then!”

  “- AND is a special car to begin with.” Eve lit a Silk Cut cigarette and wound down the window to exhale. “Don’t forget my father was car salesman.” She turned back to the girls, having lit her cigarette, and asked bluntly: “So, tell me: What is going on?”

  Louise sighed. “Eve, I did not know you were coming, so I arranged to spend Christmas with friends.”

  “A boyfriend?”

  “Well, a guy I like might be there, but essentially we are just all friends.”

  “Why wouldn’t you spend Christmas with your family?” Eve was honestly confused.

  Louise laughed. “I could ask you the same question!”

  “No, no, no – it isn’t the same thing at all. Don’t give me that.” Eve shook her head.

  Louise tried to explain. “Do you know what it is like for me? Our family i
s now 3 married couples and 3 singles. And now that Marie has announced her pregnancy –“

  “MARIE?” Eve dropped her cigarette and had to quickly retrieve it from the carpeted floor near her snake-skin shoes. “This Marie?” Eve looked from one sister to the other.

  “Yep.” Marie confirmed. “And thanks Louise. Very classy.”

  “Don’t dump on me, Marie. Last night was bad enough, with everyone blaming me for not telling them as soon as I found out!”

  “Oh be quiet you two.” Eve was impatient. “So,” she addressed Marie, “are you getting married?”

  “No,” answered Marie.

  “Why not?” asked Eve.

  “I don’t think his wife would like it.” Marie looked her straight in the eye.

  Eve started to giggle. “Fuuuck!” she said. “Do Jim and Mary know?”

  “Yes, we told them last night – just before you arrived.” Marie gave a startled “No”! and in response to Eve’s quizzical look, said “They know I’m pregnant, but not about the father. Only Marie – and you – know about him. So please don’t –“

  “Oooooh!” Eve closed her eyes and put her head back. “That explains why everyone was speechless with shock when I arrived! And I thought it was because of my grand entrance!” She chuckled some more. “So, what are you going to do?”

  Marie sighed. “I’m going to have a baby.”

  “Good for you.” Eve gave her a hug. Marie smiled at her. “Your mother will be alright – after all, she was pregnant when she got married.”

  “WAS SHE?” Louise and Marie were shocked now.

  Eve laughed. “We all were! That’s what being engaged was all about! Before the Pill, you got engaged and then it was OK to have sex because you were getting married anyway. Sometimes you had to bring the marriage forward a month or two, but that was the deal. You didn’t think your generation invented pre-marital sex, did you?” Eve turned to Louise. “Didn’t you ever check your birthdate against your parents wedding date?”

  “Mum always told me I was premature,” said Louise.

  “You weren’t the premature one, darling,” laughed Eve. She turned to Marie. “So, what did they say?”