Family Portrait (Kingsley Family Trilogy Book 1)

by Rebecca Paulinyi

  The first Monday was History, and Imogen smiled smugly at every question – thanks to her revision, she had some sort of answer for each. She felt she had very few problems throughout the Nazi Germany paper, and she’d already been relatively confident on the medicine through time paper. All in all, a very positive way to start exam week – if there was such a thing as a positive exam week! That afternoon, Zach had a German exam, and she had to revise for the next day’s Religious Education exam, which she really wasn’t looking forward too. She found RE in school extremely boring, and that affected her ability to remember it; with the aid of Sara’s revision cards and her study guide, she hoped she’d crammed enough to scrape a pass, but she was planning on getting a bit more in before the exam. She also wanted to spend some quality time with Abby: she didn’t see her nearly as much as she would’ve liked these days.

  A happier thought occupying her mind was Christmas. As she made her way home after the exam, walking slowly – she was in no real hurry to start revising – she pondered her first Christmas with the Kingsleys. Although it was just under a month away, all the shops had had their decorations, presents and trees out for ages, and she was realising she hadn’t a clue what to buy as gifts. She wouldn’t be buying for all her ‘family’ – but she thought she really should buy something for Ella. Then, of course, there was Abby, and Zach. Then her new friends – and she hadn’t a clue what to buy any of them. If she could afford it, she was hoping to buy Zach an MP3 player. She’d seen one she thought she could afford; having been surprised that he didn’t have one, she thought it might be a nice present. Hers was a godsend when she was trying to do homework, or in particularly boring lessons. She also thought she could educate Zach in her taste in music at the same time. As long as she’d saved enough of her allowance to pay for it all.

  Ella…she hadn’t any definite ideas, but was considering something quite generic, such as bath stuff, make-up – the usual female presents. For Abby, she would have to put more thought in; she wanted to make their first Christmas with the Kingsleys special, and she wanted a special present for her little sister.

  The first Christmas after they’d gone into care, they’d spent with a foster family: that was the last Christmas they’d spent in a real home. The previous three they’d spent in the care home. Knowing this would probably be the first Christmas Abby really remembered, Imogen hoped it would be a nice one. Having other children in the house probably meant that they were used to big, family Christmases, Imogen mused, which would be nice for Abby, who had never experienced such a Christmas. And with it being their first, she reckoned Ella would put extra effort it – she was that sort of person. So, for the first time in a long time, Imogen felt that having Christmas on the horizon wasn’t actually too bad a thing. Whilst it would mean putting up with the Kingsleys in more concentrated doses, it would also mean two weeks free of school…and she couldn’t complain about that!

  ***

  That month went by very quickly, and soon enough, Christmas Eve had arrived. The ground wasn’t covered in snow; that would have been far too fairy-tale, and extremely rare. They did have freezing temperatures, however, and frost covered everything in sight. Having broken up only a couple of days previously, all the students were enjoying their holiday. Although, for Imogen and most of her friends, the magic of Christmas had disappeared after a certain age, two weeks off was definitely enough to ignite some happiness!

  Imogen knew she would be spending the entirety of the next day with the Kingsleys: after all, it was Christmas Day, and Ella expected all the family to be home. To make up for this fact, she was spending Christmas Eve at the Monroe Manor, laden with gifts for her friends. The Manor’s Christmas decorations were relatively simple – especially compared with the elaborate decorations at the Kingsleys’, which Ella and all the kids had enjoyed putting up in the previous week – but a large Christmas tree dominated the living room.

  “No opening until tomorrow,” Imogen warned Zach and Eve, as she placed their gifts under their tree – an MP3 player pre-loaded with all her favourite songs for Zach, and a skirt for Eve that she’d seen her looking at several times. It had been quite expensive, but she knew Eve would love it – and she’d had quite a bit of money saved up. It was nearing nine o’clock, and Carrie and Violet had already departed with their gifts, from her and from Eve, having been ordered to spend the remainder of the evening with their families.

  “Okay, okay!” Eve said, with a grin. The Monroe siblings’ parents had been due to return for Christmas, but some project in Africa had kept them detained longer than they’d expected. Zach and Eve hadn’t really gone into it: Imogen knew their parents worked abroad, often in countries several hours away from their home, but it surprised her that they couldn’t even make it back to spend Christmas with their children.

  Eve and Zach didn’t seem bothered by this, but Imogen wondered if it affected them more than they let show.

  “Now, your presents – and you don’t have to save these until tomorrow. Actually, I won’t forgive you if you do – if I’ve spent money on you, I wanna see your reaction to it!” Eve said. Imogen pretended to sigh; despite her pretences, she was eager to open her gifts. Zach grinned and took hold of her hand, leading her over to the sofa, where the three of them sat down. The opening credits to ‘The Santa Clause’ were playing in the background, as the Christmas Eve television continued.

  “Right, mine first,” Zach announced, ignoring Eve’s protests. Imogen had to admit that she was curious at what Zach could have bought her. She smiled, meeting his eyes, before taking the package from his hands. His was flat, rectangular, and wrapped in silver paper; unable to contain her curiosity, she ripped the paper off and was left with an envelope in her hands. Opening it carefully, a ticket fell into her hands, and after reading the text, she grinned with excitement.

  “The Killers?”

  “Yeah – I’ve got a ticket too. It thought you’d enjoy it, since they seem to take up your CD collection – and I might as well listen to a bit of their music, if you like it so much.” Imogen wrapped her arms round his neck with a laugh, surprised and content with her gift: she couldn’t think of anything she’d want more.

  “Can I have my turn now?” interrupted Eve, jokingly grimacing at their hug. She handed her a more bulky, square gift, wrapped in black sparkly wrapping paper. Once removed, it revealed a photo-album, with a group photo of them on the front, taken just the week before: her, Zach and Eve in the forefront; Daryl, James, Carrie, Violet and Danny in the background. It was during their final week at school before the holidays, in front of the weeping willow which obscured much of the front of the school. After the end of exams, and the upcoming holidays, the happiness was clear on their faces – and now that look was recreated on Imogen’s.

  “Wow, Eve…” She was hardly the overly emotional type, but having something to document her first few happy months in Wiltshire seemed like a great idea.

  “Look through the rest of it first,” Eve answered, clearly quite desperate to see what she thought of the rest of the photos. She began to flick through the pages; each one a different colour, each page decorated with pretty stickers, drawings – anything to fill up the space. A photo of her and Eve, in the Monroes’ garden; a photo of her and Zach, that she didn’t realise was being taken, of the two of them in the canteen, glancing toward the camera, looking happy; the girls on the night of their sleepover, in their pyjamas, laughing hysterically; so many photos, so many memories from possibly the first happy months she’d had since that fateful day. Had she been that type, she possibly would have been close to tears; as it was, she removed her hand from Zach’s, and gave Eve a hug.

  “Thanks you two – seriously, best Christmas presents ever.” She grinned, and glanced at the time, which changed her smile to a sigh. “If I’m going to avoid grounding, I’d best get home – half ten is probably late enough for Christmas Eve.” Zach walked her to the door, not happy at her leaving, but accepting that it w
as necessary.

  “Happy Christmas, Imogen!” Eve shouted, running off to answer her phone. Imogen smothered a grin – she would have bet her concert tickets that it would be Daryl on the other end.

  “Happy Christmas!” she called back, pretty sure that Evangeline was no longer paying attention.

  Out in the cold, star-lit sky, Zach took her hand, and leaned down to kiss her for a moment. A shiver went down Imogen’s spine that wasn’t totally because of the cold; she wrapped her arms round his neck, and returned his kiss with passion that equalled his. Slightly breathless, she ended the kiss; “Happy Christmas, Zach.” He ruffled her hair in an affectionate way.

  “Merry Christmas, Immy.” He seemed to have picked up on Abby’s nickname for her – but, surprisingly, she found she wasn’t too bothered. Still, she rolled her eyes: she didn’t want him getting complacent.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As is customary on Christmas morning, Abby woke Imogen up ridiculously early, extremely excited. Despite Abby’s giggles and pokes, Imogen’s eyes resisted opening: it was far too early to get up! However, after a few minutes, she blinked lethargically, seeing the dark sky though the crack in the curtains, and sighed.

  “Abby…what time is it?” Imogen groaned, surprised the little girl could have that much energy, at such an obviously early hour.

  “Time to get up! Christmas time!” Perhaps asking the time from a watch-less four year old was not the best way of finding it out: instead, Imogen reached out, without opening her eyes too much, and grabbed her mobile. Twenty to six, it said; she should’ve known.

  “Sleep time,” she mumbled, pulling the covers over her head once more. “Another hour Abby? Please?” But Abby wasn’t having that. She’d already waited long enough to wake Imogen up, and she planned on opening her presents as soon as was possible. Preferably right that minute.

  “Nuh-uh. Presents!” Sleep was clearly impossible, and Imogen found it hard to do anything that would dampen Abby’s spirits. With a joking groan, she pulled down the duvet, allowing the cool morning air to wake her up.

  “Right, I’m getting up. But no presents yet – we’ll have to wait for the rest of them.” As much as Imogen didn’t like to adhere to rules, it was pretty much universally accepted that you didn’t open presents before everyone was up.

  “Me hear Dana.” Abby answered solemnly; Imogen paid attention to the noises other than Abby for the first time that morning, and thought she also could hear other people up. To stop the cool air from biting her skin any longer, she threw on a dressing gown once she was up, and with a sleepy grin, lifted the beaming child off the floor. She hadn’t seen her smile so much in a long time – it was amazing what Christmas could do!

  “Santa been?” Abby enquired, sat on her sister’s hip, her arms around her neck.

  “I’m sure he has. But have you been good? Or else there’ll be coal for you…” she teased quietly, as she opened the door and stepped softly onto the landing. Whilst all the bedroom lights were off, she could see lights were on downstairs: someone was up.

  “No, no coal! Good. Very good.” Imogen laughed.

  “Of course you have been.” She entered the living room to find Ella stood, similarly carrying Dana on her hip, with Daisy sat cross legged on the floor.

  “Happy Christmas,” she said, smiling, as she noticed Imogen enter the room. “Wouldn’t let you go back to sleep either?”

  “No, no chance. How come Dana let William and Millie sleep then?” asked Imogen, curious as to how Ella came to be saddled with both her daughter and her niece this early.

  “I heard her get up – Daisy had already got up. Thought I’d let them have a lie in. Coffee?”

  “Please.”

  “Christmas, Christmas!” chanted the three kids, and Imogen couldn’t help but smile.

  “Merry Christmas guys.”

  Ella laughed as she came back into the room, holding Dana in one arm and a mug of steaming coffee in the other. “What age is it when it becomes acceptable to lie-in Christmas morning?” she asked, in mock exasperation. It was so clear she enjoyed all that parenthood brought; her exasperation didn’t sound the slightest bit authentic.

  “I’m not sure…but with this lot around, you’ve got a good few years of five in the morning starts to go, I reckon!” Imogen said; Ella sighed, but she couldn’t help but laugh too.

  “I guess you’re right. Now, how long are we going to give your mummy and daddy in bed before we get them up to open presents then?”

  “Now, now!” Ella laughed at Dana’s demands.

  “We’ll give them a bit longer – we can get things ready down here so that we’re all sorted when they come down, and can open some presents. Okay?”

  “Anything I can do?” Oddly, the cheery mood had taken a hold of Imogen too, and she felt the need to offer to help. Not just felt the need; actually felt quite happy to. Christmas was certainly a strange holiday.

  “Can you set the table? I’ve already got the turkey in the oven, and the vegetables are all ready to be cooked.”

  “Sure. Abby, do you want to go sit with Dana for a bit, while I set the table?” Abby climbed down without a fuss, as Imogen tried to calculate how many she had to set the table for.

  “The cutlery and plates are all out on the side already...” she told her, “Dana had me up at half four, I’ve been getting things ready.”

  “How come there are nine plates?” she called from the kitchen, wondering if she’d miscounted. Her, Abby, Ella, Daisy, Dana, William, Sara, Millie – only eight plates, surely.

  “Didn’t I tell you?” asked Ella, wandering into the kitchen, leaving the children back in the living room. “Sara’s uncle’s coming round for Christmas lunch.” Another family member? How big could the Kingsley family be?!

  “Uncle?”

  “Uhuh,” she answered, absentmindedly crunching on a piece of toast. “Sara’s mum’s brother. Complicated, I know – but you’ll like Rupert.”

  As she set the table, Imogen considered this family she supposed she was now a part of. It was big, it was complicated – and she did feel part of it. Surprise hit her as she realised that she had settled in quite easily here: it had never been the case in the care homes and foster homes her and Abby had ended up in. Yet here, she felt she belonged: she had a routine, it felt normal. How could everything be so different at a place she should hate? She didn’t much like the Kingsleys: she could put up with them, sure, but they weren’t the sort of people she would ever get on with all too well. And yet this set-up worked.

  She surmised it must be the fact that she had made friends so easily here; they’d influenced her reactions to the whole family thing, as well as her reactions to school. Imogen Kingsley attended school every day, came home, did her homework, and spent her evenings with her friends, boyfriend or sister. For perhaps the first time in her life, she was almost…normal.

  “Sara having a lie in too?” She broke the silence, glancing up at Ella.

  “Wouldn’t you have done if Abby hadn’t got you up?” Ella grinned.

  “I suppose,” Imogen had to concede: there was no way she would have been up before ten – at the earliest! – had Abby not forced her to get up. She was a teenager: sleep was essential!

  ***

  By half past six, the entirety of the Kingsley house was up and swimming in wrapping paper. At one point, it was hard to see the two youngest children under the mass of paper, bows and ribbon that had been discarded on the floor. Not that they cared: they were as excited about playing with the paper as they were about their presents!

  Imogen was amazed by the amount of presents under the tree with her name on them, mostly from Ella. Despite what she had said about her job not paying much, Imogen realised that she must have been earning quite a lot, or perhaps had money from her parents stashed away; the amount of gifts she’d bought for all the kids was quite staggering.

  Daisy ended up with many new items of clothing: a pink dress, which she’d begge
d for, as well as lots more practical clothing. She also had a doll that cried if it wasn’t taken care of: Imogen saw William removing the batteries from that one fifteen minutes later, when the incessant crying – brought on by the fact that Daisy was more interested in another gift at that moment, and would not comfort the doll – was grating on everyone’s sleep-deprived nerves. Dana had several different toys from her parents, including a doll that, thankfully, was silent, and lots of new outfits.

  The younger kids opened their presents first, while William, Millie, Imogen, Sara and Ella looked on, grinning at their satisfaction with each gift. Abby received a new set of bricks – in bright orange! – from William and Millie, along with a book she’d apparently picked out herself on a shopping trip, and a cute little pair of black shoes. From Ella there were similar sorts of gifts to the other two girls: it seemed all the Kingsleys had gotten sensible gifts such as clothing for the kids, as well as more fun gifts. There were new clothes, and a doll too – the Kingsley house would be overflowing with them at this rate – that didn’t cry noisily, but could cry tears. Abby was delighted, throwing her arms around Ella once she’d torn the paper off. Ella laughed, delighted at her elation.