Will We Talk?

29- Family

All of the group had ended up forgetting that night, partially because we were all blackout drunk by the end, but it was also worth forgetting such a shitty night. Especially Fran and Rylee who have apologised profusely to us all for the past days. The two don't even know what they were fighting about, or they were just trying to hide it.

Nevertheless, everyone still loved each other just as much as we had before, and we planned to do something for New Years. But this time in the comfort of one person's home. Maybe that would lead to nothing going wrong.

But we hadn't even met Christmas yet and, luckily, Sam and I planned our first Christmas together. We'd start by waking up at ours, opening presents, then we'd head our separate ways to our parents' and end the day together on the couch. Sounds stressful, I know, but its still early doors for us to spend a full Christmas together, as much as I'd love to.

On Christmas Eve's Eve, we started the day by heading over to Sam's mam's flat.

"Hiya Shirley." I greeted enthusiastically as she pulled me into her arms.

Her home was newly cleaned and I saw a Christmas tree sparkling in the living room. It looked lush, not as good as mine, but still lush.

"Hiya, my love." she smiled, pulling herself from the hug and holding my shoulders, "You get prettier every time I see you."

"I mean, its hard for you to get any more pretty than you are." I teased, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Aye, step away from me ma." Sam scoffed, pulling his mam into a tight embrace.

It warmed my heart to see Sam the way he was with his mam: respectful, caring, empathetic. When Joseph and I were together, he'd never see his mam and when he did, he treated her like absolute shit. So, seeing Sam be the complete opposite made me swoon even more for him- if that was even possible.

"Wor littlest baby's growing up." Shirley pouted, kissing his cheek and guiding us into the living room.

In there sat two cuppas next to our assigned seats. It was rare for us to come over, but we always sat in the same place every time- me on the settee and Sam on the floor beneath me.

"It looks proper lush in here like." I complimented, admiring my surroundings, wishing I didn't ever have to leave Christmas behind.

"You like it? Divnt think its as nice as your tree like." she replied.

"Its lovely aye. Should've invited is around, I would've helped you decorate. I've not had much on since quitting." I smiled, holding the cup of tea in my hands.

*****

A little while had passed and Shirley, Sam and I had conversed for half an hour. That was until the two went MIA into the kitchen for a while, presumably making another cuppa or something. But a cuppa didn't take as long to make as they were taking.

After some time of being sat alone, I sauntered into the kitchen to see what was going on, in case they needed a hand. However, when I walked in, they weren't making a cuppa at all as Shirley stood with a stern look on her face, Sam looking quite unbothered.

Strange.

"I think its about time we went to Catherine's." Sam announced, standing from the countertop, smile looming across his face.

He looked towards me, shaking off my questioning look and heading to put his coat on. I followed suit, Shirley beside me, guiding me with her hand on my lower back. She seemed to wear a smile now, rather than that scowl she had before.

"Thanks for having us, Shirley. Merry Christmas." I hummed, hugging her goodbye.

"Its no bother pet, have a lush Christmas." she said, placing a hand on my cheek before moving to Sam and doing the same.

"See you, mam." Sam smiled as we made our way back to my car.

"What was that about in the kitchen?" I interrogated, igniting the engine as we got in the car and turning the heater up.

"Its nowt, just mam being mam." he claimed, placing his hand on my thigh as I drove.

We played the radio in the background that only played Christmas songs and had a full on rave in my car. The sound of his angelic voice had me blushing, especially when we sung our rendition of 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues.

After lots of singing, we made it to my parents' where we found all of my siblings had already arrived. Their cars were all parked up in the driveway, leaving me stuck with the side of the road.

"I thought yous would never come." my mam joked as she stepped out of the house, walking towards Sam and I, who had just stepped out of the car, "Its bloody baltic oot here like, howay in." she demanded, wrapping one arm around me and the other around Sam.

"Nice to see you, mam." I smiled, hugging her.

"Likewise." she muttered before turning to Sam, "C'mere you." she ordered, Sam immediately approaching her.

Unfortunate for his back, my mam was below average height, so he sort of engulfed her. She pinched his cheek as they pulled back and I heard her whisper something like "You're my favourite.".

*****

I was stood in the kitchen, seeing to the yorkshire puddings I had been making for the last 15 minutes or so, and mam came bursting in with a huge smile plastered on her face. I'd not seen her with a smile like that since I was little.

"He's a keeper, Evelyn. Please stay with him." she retorted, pulling the roasting turkey from the oven.

I smiled to myself, loving the way that Sam got on so well with my family. He'd obviously done something right to get my mam to like him as much as she did.

*****

"That was lush, thanks Catherine." Yvonne called from her end of the table.

It was 7:30 and we'd all just finished our tea. The bairns had been asleep since we began eating. Luckily, they went down well with no issues- so far.

"No bother." mam smiled back, standing to collect the dishes.

Sam's arm had wrapped around my waist and was gripping onto the flesh of my hips. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't quite turned on, especially as he knew what he was doing, a smug look on his face.

"Right. Your Christmas boxes are on your beds, go get them." dad mentioned, also standing up to get his Christmas box too.

The Christmas box was a tradition mam had made when her and dad first moved in together. She packs pyjamas, hot chocolate, a mug, socks, sweets and a special something. Usually she did a theme, but this year she gave up on that, probably because there was more people than last year.

As soon as Sam and I got into my room, we looked in our boxes like eager children. We revealed a matching pair of red, silk pyjamas and you might wonder, what was my special something?

A pair of red lingerie.

Yes. My mam had went out of her way to buy me lingerie.

I held the pair up to show Sam and he just laughed.

"This is why I love Catherine." he chuckled, searching his own Christmas box for his something special, "I've never had owt like this done for is before."

He seemed so happy and it made my heart flutter. When he smiled, it was like there was a weight lifted from my shoulders- a weight I never realised pushed me down.

"Mam likes to go all out, you should get used to it." I hummed, putting my pyjamas on.

"Oi. She got you those for a reason." Sam remarked, pointing at the lingerie that lay on my bed.

"In my mam's house? In my childhood room? You're mad." I guffawed.

"Nothing's stopping us." he smirked.

"Yes, if nothing came in the form of my brothers and dad."

"Please?" he plead.

"Sam. I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"Quick and quiet, alright?" I gave in, removing everything from my bed.