✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

76. The Final Choice

"Just in case," Ffrances said, and Tess realised how many times she had repeated those words in her last explanation. But they were smiling at the same time, both a little embarrassed by the conversation. "Well, I might have a double shift Monday. We always get busy in mid December, not sure why. But I'll make sure there's time. And if we can't get Gabby's little treat in before Christmas, well..."

"We can do it at Christmas," Tess chuckled, and went on to explain after seeing how bemused Ffrances was. "When I come back. You've heard of the twelve days of Christmas, haven't you? It used to be a real twelve day festival, with new year right in the middle. You'd have different things on each day, like one day for giving presents, and one day you have a huge roast dinner, one day you go to church to hear the Christmas story, one day you go sing carols for the rich people, and one day you do a buffet dinner for all your neighbours, and go round the houses close by to see what everybody made. On the last day, it's good luck to let the adults rest, while the kids take the decorations down. I mean, every country and region had their own traditions about what happens on each day, all kinds of different things. But it's only after the industrial revolution that we scrapped a bunch of the traditions, and squeezed the rest together on the first day."

Ffrances was laughing, doing her best not to make a sound.

"Okay, that's probably the weirdest impromptu lecture I ever gave," Tess admitted. "I saw it in a history book, and when I forgot all the stuff we were supposed to be memorising, I remembered that because it sounds cool. But what I was saying, really, is it'll still be Christmas when I get back. No reason we can't choose our own day to give presents on."

"Then we'll do that. Something to look forward to, I think. For all of us. Now, I think it might be about time for us to head home. If we're driving in circles much longer, I think I'll need a trigger phrase to give my pelvic floor muscles some moral support."

Tess agreed with that completely, and it wasn't long before they were home. Ffrances dashed to the bathroom immediately, while Tess said hello to her cousin, and summoned up her courage.

"You were out a long time," Gabby opened with a simple gambit. "I made a pasta bake, but I already ate. I was starting to worry."

"I already had some pizza, I thought Ffrances would have told you. But real food would still be good, thanks. We can keep leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Sorry it's late, but we were talking about Christmas plans. You wanted me to be like a kid at Christmas, I think."

"Oh, did you talk about that already?"

"As well as other things. Like, I figured out that my room hasn't been decorated like that since before you moved in, has it? You don't need to lie to me, you know." By that point Gabby was hanging her head, looking down at her hands on the table. Exactly like someone whose biggest shameful secret had just been exposed. Tess wanted to comfort her, to tell her that she didn't mind. But she was also starting to regret having this conversation as soon as she got home. She wanted to run to the bathroom, and then get changed into the outsize sweatshirt that was currently draped over the heater in her room; it would be toasty warm after the chill air outside. But this was something that wasn't easy to interrupt once it had started.

So she went through the main points. She didn't explain all the details that she had agreed on with Ffrances, there was no point. But she said that she had figured out Gabby wanted an adult baby to look after; and Tess had seemed like she would just fit into the role. She told Gabby that she wasn't a baby, and she didn't want to be treated like one, but that she admitted it was a way to relax sometimes, and she was willing to play along in the right situation. Sometimes, she was very clear to emphasise, when she decided she was in the right state of mind.