Surrogate in Love - Richard Madden

Chapter 11: Christmas Day

*Iris's P.O.V*

I woke up to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door. A few seconds later the door opened and I could hear Blue sniffing around trying to find me. I stifled a laugh as he got more worked up that he couldn't find me.

"over here dumbass," I said and he finally came around the corner till his face was against mine.

"Okay, alright Mr, go find Taron and lick his butt" I knew that voice, my body's reaction to that voice had changed overnight. I smiled while a shiver ran through my body. I felt a dip in the bed as the paw pats got further away. I tried to turn around but the bump was sitting heavily and so I just huffed. I felt him laugh next to me and then the dip in the bed disappeared and his face quickly appeared next to me. he knelt beside me as I pulled the cover-up to hide my 'just woke up' face. He laughed again and pulled the cover down so he could see it.

"Good morning darling, Merry Christmas.... Again" I laughed at his response thinking back to the actions that had occurred not even 12 hours ago.

"Merry Christmas Handsome. What time is it?" I hadn't brought my phone up to bed after the moment we had shared so I had no idea what time it was.

"not too late, 9 am. Tom and Taron were running around shouting its Christmas at about 6 am. I made them leave you till 9 but if we make them wait any longer they make come up here and kill you" he laughed but we both knew the boys weren't joking. Tom and Taron had been excited for Christmas since the first of December so I was surprised Richard had managed to get them to wait till 9 am. I slowly pulled the cover away and instantly regretted it. It was freezing! Richard couldn't stop laughing as I tried to pull the cover back over me but I had kicked it to the bottom of the bed and couldn't reach it. I gave up against my own will and sat up. I looked down at what I was wearing and of course, I had worn this the day that Richard came to get me. I had on a pair of black leggings and the green long sleeve T-shirt Richard had borrowed from her the day they went shopping. He looked down at what I was wearing and I felt so embarrassed for a second until he spoke again.

"well, it suits you more than me. would this help you get up quicker?" That was when I realised the hoodie he had in his hand. It was just a light grey, plain hoodie and honestly, the thought of wearing that at that moment was perfect. I nodded my head and then took it from him. He laughed at how eager I was to be wearing more layers. It took a little bit to tug it over the ever-expanding bump but Richard didn't seem to mind he just helped pull it down so It covered everything. It smelt just like him and it was just perfect. Richard helped me get up off the bed and we finally made our way downstairs. Everyone was sat around the living room, Blue next to the tree probably already smelling the treats people had brought him. I laughed at how eager everyone was when we walked into the room. There was an outpouring of 'Merry Christmas' and finally's coming from everyone. I wished everyone Merry Christmas and Jess pulled me into the kitchen to help with cooking breakfast. I was so thankful for that because I was desperate to tell her what happened last night. As soon as she closed the door I let the events of the night before tumble out of my mouth. I told her everything that she had missed from the snow to what he said after we kissed. It seemed to take everything in Jess's body not to scream at the information that I had just given her. When I finally finished speaking she took a few seconds to compose her thoughts and then started talking.

"you have to tell him how you feel. You need to explain to him that he will have to wait as you said, but I think you two could be good for each other and the fact that he kissed you back means he likes you" I couldn't help but agree with her. I did need to talk to him but I didn't want to ruin Christmas not only for us but for everyone.

"I'm not sure today is the day to do that. I don't want to make things awkwa-'" I was cut off before I could finish my reply.

"Nope, no, you aren't gonna pull a Ris on this one. You are gonna go right now and tell him you wanna talk for a second and you are gonna lay it out to him. Go" I didn't move straight away and she seemed merrily impatient. I waddled back into the living room to see the twins sat on their phones Harrison and Tom trying to put back on the tree the decorations they had knocked off, Paddy playing with Blue, and Taron and Richard were sat on the sofa talking. I almost felt bad for pulling him away for a conversation that could ruin these moments.