Songbird [H.S]

☆ I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus ☆

Josie - 17

River - 16

Magnolia - 12

Navy and Misty - 3

December 1995

The gentle warm glow of twinkling Christmas lights above the fireplace enveloped Marley in the sweet embrace of Christmas nostalgia as she sat watching a late night running of Miracle on 34th Street on the television. Everything was quiet with all the Styles kids tucked up in bed and sleeping soundly, providing the woman a rare moment to herself to simply relax. Curled up under a blanket, she quietly sipped her mug of hot chocolate as she pretended to enjoy the black and white images flickering across the television screen.

Instead, she spent half her time glancing up at the clock on the mantlepiece filled with Christmas cards and tinsel, hoping her husband would be home soon. As the hands ticked closer to midnight, Marley found herself growing restless and missing the company of Harry and his chaotic Christmas antics that she found so endearing. Every single year without fail, no matter how busy he was running the gallery, Harry put his entire heart into making sure his children got to experience the magic that came with this time of year.

From taking them to visit Santa's Grotto, watching their school plays, helping them decorate the tree and taking them to buy presents, Harry was at the centre of every celebration. Before she had met her husband, Marley had little interest in the holiday except getting to spend quality time with her family. But the moment Harry came bursting into her life, with all his colourful chaos, he brought the sparkle of Christmas traditions with him.

All around the house, little pockets of Christmas joy were sprinkled around like little memory boxes of previous years of Christmas magic, all reminding Marley of all those perfect years spent with her beautiful little family. But now, peering at the photographs hanging on the walls of the house Harry had bought her their first Christmas with Josie, Marley wished Harry was cuddled on the sofa with her instead of enjoying the festive season at his work Christmas party.

It was a little selfish of her, admittedly, but after sixteen years of marriage, Marley continuously craved the presence of her husband by her side.

"The mood is right, the spirit's up..."

The distant sound of muffled singing was barely audible along the street, just undistinguishable for Marley that she brushed it off as background noise on the television. Peering up at the clock, she noticed that it was definitely later than Harry intended to be tonight and decided she should probably head to bed soon.

The twins were no doubt going to be up early asking how many days until Santa Claus was coming and Noa would be desperate to finally decorate the tree, so Marley would prefer not to be dealing with the chaos of their house on a few hours of sleep. Getting up with a sigh, she wrapped the blanket around her body and went to turn off the TV, casting a blanket of silence over the house.

"We're here tonight, And that's enough..."

Drunken singing became more distinguishable without the muffled conversation of the movie playing in the lounge and frowned slightly as she thought she heard heavy footsteps stumbling up the path towards the front door. There was a jangling of keys and Marley realised that Harry had returned home while serenading the entire street with his drunken singing. Nothing had changed at all since their younger years and Marley found herself smirking at the thought of Harry having a few too many trying to keep up with the younger employees at the gallery. Sure, they were only 35 but parenthood had definitely taken a toll on their lives and it wasn't so easy to bounce back after so many years of not drinking.