Eventually - All or Nothing #2

23rd December 2022 Pt.1

No more lies.

That was what John had promised himself (and Aimee) when they had got together, not even white lies. But there was one exception to the rule, one that John hoped that by the time everyone involved found out the truth, they would be old enough to just laugh it off.

He would go on secret coffee dates.

Trips to Starbucks with Hattie behind Rosie's back, letting Hattie think this was her and Daddy's secret, that she was his best girl, elevated above both Aimee and Rosie. Only unbeknownst to the little girl, John would do the same with Rosie, stopping off for hot chocolate on the way home from school every once in a while.

Aimee had warned him it was a dangerous game he was playing, the girls tended to wrestle for his attention, and liked to one up each other over the silliest things, like whose drawing he liked best based on how he had reacted to their squiggly efforts. Aimee was certain that one day, one of the girls would hit the other with the secret mid-argument and John would find himself in deep water having naively trusted five-year-olds, but so far, everything had been kept under wraps.

"Hot chocolate no marshmallows, extra chocolate sprinkles?" The barista smiles at John, he visits frequently enough now that his order (and more to the point, his handsome face) is recognised.

"No!" Hattie's eyebrows knit together, and she shakes her head, the pink bobble hat she is wearing slipping down slightly and covering her eyes.

It's two days before Christmas, where it seems like the whole country is looking forward to doing nothing but stuffing their faces in front of the telly, footballers however, do not usually have such a luxury. However, this year is a little different. City played yesterday, a recovery session this morning, and now his schedule is free until the 27th. So, whilst his diet dictates, he will not be able to indulge in the treats, Aimee, the girls and his family will be eating, he is free to lounge around in the matching family pyjamas Aimee coerced him into buying.

When he left for the CFA first thing, Aimee and the girls had been still tucked up in their beds looking forward to a morning of baking; his mum always teases Aimee gently about having 'a busman's holiday', she is supposed to be off work, yet here she is baking just for fun. John, however, has always understood Aimee perfectly, because in his time off he can regularly be found in the gym having a 'busman's holiday' of his own.

John's heart drops, the girl is mistaken, Rosie doesn't like marshmallows, Hattie does, he mimics Hattie's shake of the head with terror in his eyes. "Hot chocolate, extra marshmallows," he corrects.

"That girl was so silly, I love marshmallows," Hattie remarks as she skips to their favourite table. It's by the window, she likes to people watch, and, most of all, go outside to talk to any dogs who have popped by for their Puppuccionos. "Can we get a puppy, Daddy?" She'll ask every time, looking up at him with pleading eyes, and he always has to shake his head and tell her no, even though he too would love a puppy. Aimee doesn't like animals; she says she has enough on her plate looking after their little family and running her business without having someone else to keep alive.

"Take your hat off Hats," John chuckles affectionately as Hattie continues to peer at him from underneath the brim of her hat. She is talking a mile a minute about Santa and everything he has to remember to do to prepare for him coming tomorrow. "Make the cookies, get milk, go to McDonalds for reindeer treats, put the reindeer food in the garden, leave the Santa Key..."

"There you go," John smiles as Hattie unveils her blonde hair from underneath her hat; Aimee has styled her hair like Anna's in Frozen 2. "Now I can see your pretty hair."

"Daddy, are you listening to me?!" As far back as Hattie's little memory recalls, John has always had to work on Christmas Day, so she has never gone to sleep at his house on Christmas Eve, and she is very worried that, unlike Mummy, Daddy does not know all the things you have to do to make sure Santa comes.

"Yes, I'm listening," this is not the first time he has had this lecture. "You've made the cookies right, so you're practically ready?!" Aimee and the girls have also made a grand mess of the kitchen table making homemade 'Reindeer Food', with edible glitter and other equally messy things. And I've already told you, we're not going to McDonalds."

McDonalds on Christmas Eve is not very festive. He doesn't even know why Hattie is so insistent about it, he's going to have to ask Aimee to explain.

"What if Santa doesn't come?" Hattie looks panicked; she is already concerned that as there is no elf at John's house, like there is a Mummy's, reporting back to Santa on Rosie's behaviour, that Rosie is not going to be getting any presents.

There were many tears and much hysteria when Hattie informed Rosie of her fears, leading to a fraught exchange between John and Aimee in the hallway outside Rosie's bedroom, where he'd clutched at the back of his head and looked at Aimee with a pained expression, "Do you want me to go out and buy an elf now?!"

"No, I bloody well don't!" Aimee had retorted. "Do you not think I've got enough to do without moving a fucking elf around the house every day?!" She hated shit like this that people did purely for Instagram clout. And she knew that she would inevitably forget to move the stupid thing by the third day, leaving Rosie distraught. Lauren, however, was very good at this kind of stuff.

Then they had both laughed over how ridiculous this was, and John breathed a sigh of relief. "Where the fuck do you buy elves anyway!?"

"Santa's coming," John says with certainty. "I've never done any of that stuff before and he's come every year."

Hattie eyes him sceptically, Daddy is usually right about things, so she hopes he is about this too.

"Anyway Hats," John is keen to steer the subject onto the real reason he has brought Hattie here today. "I've got something I wanted to ask you."

Rosie thinks he is taking Hattie back to Lauren for the night, she has been learning to tell the time and knows precisely how long the journey should take, there and back, and if he is longer than she expects there will be trouble, because he has promised they can watch a film when he gets back.

"Is it what I want for Christmas?"

"No," he is well aware of that, and has been for some weeks now. Barbie Cutie Reveal. A camera. A sleeping bag. A microphone. An electric toothbrush... Those are just a few of the things that spring to mind from Hattie's very long list. "It's about what I want for Christmas."

"Mummy says you've been much better behaved this year, so you won't be getting coal," Hattie takes another sip of her drink, the whipped cream on top of it has given her a little moustache, she looks very cute.

"Did she now?!" He can't help laughing. "I'm glad she thinks so."

He hopes Lauren will like the watch Hattie picked out for her, she'd better as shopping with Hattie was not for the faint-hearted, she had picked out several potential gifts, in multiple different shops, before she had made her final selection. Each time John had asked hopefully, "Shall we get this one?!" The shops were hot and busy, and the last place he wanted to be. But each time, Hattie had shaken her head, and declared "It's a maybe." The stress had been worth it when he saw Hattie's happy face as she skipped back to the car carrying her mummy's gift beautifully gift wrapped by the shop assistant, saving John a job, because he had no patience for wrapping and he was terrible at it.

"Okay," John gets back on track. "How would you feel if I asked Aimee to marry me?" He swallows nervously, then observes Hattie carefully, sucking his bottom lip in and his eyes fixed keenly on her.

"I would feel..." Hattie sucks on her own lip thoughtfully for several seconds, she can't help fidgeting, her little legs swinging back and forth, every so often, accidentally knocking into the table holding John's drink. "Happy!" She eventually declares. "Mummy says that if you and Aimee get married, then I'll be really lucky because I'll have two mummies."

"You, Harriet Stones," John smiles after sighing a huge sigh of relief. "Are already very lucky because you have a very, very special mummy."

Lauren definitely deserved her expensive watch.