Chapter 23
Joyce collapsed into the armchair, her myriad of shopping bags around her legs.
“Give me a minute – god that mall was horrendous!”
“That’s why I used the Internet – are you okay mom…oooh, what’s that sticking out of that bag, it looks interesting!”
Buffy had leaned forward throwing off the cover but Joyce was too quick for her.
“Oh now you don’t! There are surprises in here for- oh aren’t those lovely – from William, I take it!” Joyce had spied the roses
Buffy beamed, turned and glanced at them
“Yes, AND he phoned me – AND he said he’d stay here - I told him, it would be a physical impossibility for him to drive after you’ve fed him, so, he had no choice but to-“
“Hang on! I hope he didn’t take that the wrong way, like I’m going to poison him, for fill him with stodge!”
“No, don’t be silly – anyway, he seems quite happy to stay, AND I told him to come early Christmas morning!”
Joyce smiled and took a cellophane wrapped pack out of one of the carrier bags.
“I’m glad he’s staying, I haven’t wasted any money on this then!”
Buffy took the large thick pack off her mother
“One single duvet cover and matching valance sheet and matching pillow case – great, love the colour!”
“Well I thought the dark blue with the light blue trim was more manly than the lemon and white I’d already got” Buffy nodded and handed her mother back the packet
“What else did you buy?”
“Well, I thought this was practical. See, the two faces next to each other, I thought he could set one to LA time, and the other to where he is”
“Oh mom, that’s great! I got him a sweater, that cashmere one in dark blue, and that grooming case – it’s got a mini shampoo, shower gel, comb and nail clippers and that in a handy black leather case”
“Nice, and ta-da! I got that artist he likes so much to autograph the new coffee table book the gallery are selling - it’s all about this exhibition we’re going to see in the new year” Joyce held the book up for Buffy to see.
“Oh he’ll love that!”
“And this, I couldn’t resist it” Joyce held up a shiny silver letter ‘W’ on a keyring.
“Last but not least, I checked with Dr Travers on this, William likes a drop of Irish whiskey, so hence the Jameson’s”
“He’s gonna love it!”
*****************
Having checked on his patient, and pleased that everything was fine, William made for the airport in plenty of time.
He desperately needed to do some Christmas shopping, and thought that he could wander around the duty free shops and get something nice for two beautiful ladies he suddenly found in his life………
“Hi Kitten!”
“Hello? Oh William!”
“Sorry pet, did I wake you, I forgot it would be early there”
“No, you’re okay, I was awake – so how was the patient?”
“Patient A1, and I’m all checked in for my flight. I’ve only got a flightbag – so that’ll save time when I land, no scrabbling en-masse at the baggage carousel!”
“Good idea”
“Well, I’ve got to do some shopping, um…tell me, is there a favourite perfume your mother likes?”
“Oh Will, you don’t have to worry about-“
“Please?”
“Well, she likes light, citrus or floral types, not ones that smell like melons though, neither of us likes those…um L’air du Temps is one she likes…oh and um, Parure”
“Right, got it – and how about chocolates, milk or plain?”
“Plain – although I prefer milk!”
William chuckled and said
“And how about a favourite colour?”
“What for?”
“Ah now, THAT would be telling!”
“Well, mom loves green”
“And what about you?”
“Blue” she was going to say, ‘like your eyes’ but knew it sounded so cheesy!
“Okay then Kitten – see you later”
“Have a good flight, bye”
“Bye!”
Having bought some beautiful Champagne flutes, he had them specially gift-wrapped, William thought he’d splash out and buy a big bottle of Champagne to drink out of them. He bought a silk scarf too, multi shades of green, and bought some novelty socks for Buffy, in blue, with each toe knitted a different colour.
During the flight, he consulted with one of the flight attendants, and she came up with four different perfumes from the duty free range they carried, and William chose one for Buffy called simply ‘Beautiful’, and one for Joyce, called ‘Jardin du Fleurs.’ He noticed that they had some little gold necklaces for sale too, and he chose both a J and a B initials, with little diamante stones. Like the perfume, they came beautifully ready gift-wrapped, in shiny striped paper with bows. He’d got two huge boxes of chocolates; both had Christmas sleeves on them, so he didn’t need to wrap those either, and the scarf and the socks came in special Christmas pouches, so he hadn’t got to wrap anything.
******************
“Taste…what do you think, more lemon? – Is it herby enough?”
“Fine, no, it’s fine mom, great stuffing”
Buffy went to turn away
“Hey, don’t go…the cranberry sauce, new recipe I’ve tried uses port wine and orange juice…”
“Hmm – THAT’S lovely!” Buffy licked her lips
“I thought so too, it’s the one I’ll be making from now on…now, turkey is ready in the tin, covered in bacon and aluminium foil, it’s out in the cool garage on top of the chest freezer, I shall put it in the oven at 9am in the morning, along with the boiled ham I’m going to finish off roasting with mustard and honey”
“Making me hungry mom!”
“Good, now we have roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts – don’t think I didn’t see that ‘ew’ face my girl!” Joyce said, mock stern
“Mac and cheese?” Buffy offered
“No, we’re having a traditional British Christmas, for William, they don’t eat macaroni and cheese – they have little chipolata sausages with bacon wrapped around them, carrots, boiled potatoes-“
“As well as roast?”
“Yes, and roast parsnips”
“Parsnips – what are they?”
“Look a bit like a carrot, but they are creamy white in colour and have a distinctive taste. Now have you finished wrapping all the presents?”
“Uh huh”
“Right then, I can put them under the tree”
“I’ve done it – I’m not TOTALLY helpless mom!”
Joyce looked around the kitchen, and then at a long list she’d made so as not to forget anything.
“I think that’s it…whip cream, I can do that in the morning…right, so the only thing I’ve got to do now, is to get the new covers out of the tumble dryer and make up the spare bed, and to get the best tablecloth out of the airing cupboard and the napkins…do you think two pillows will be enough for him?”
“Plenty mom, he keeps telling me for you not to make too much fuss!”
“A Christmas house guest, and I want to do it right – for several reasons – now scoot go order us a Pizza and we can watch TV with a glass of wine!”
Buffy grinned and hobbled back into the lounge on her crutches
“Right on it!”
[Reviews - 219]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2849 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +