Chapter 26
“MOM!” Buffy bellowed from the sofa, looking worried
“What is it honey?” Joyce came into the lounge wiping her hands on a dishtowel.
“It’s William, his car won’t start, he’s stuck on the Lacey Memorial hospital parking lot, can you go fetch him?”
Joyce looked at her watch (9.43 am) and smiled
“Sure, we’re at a non-crucial stage, turkey and ham are roasting nicely – I’ll just turn it down a little, tell Will I’ll be there in ten minutes” Joyce went to fetch her car keys.
Buffy’s beaming smile lit up the room
“Mom will be with you in ten minutes, sit tight!”
“I feel SUCH an idiot, I meant to get petrol when I left the airport, and forgot, then I had to come to the hospital because I’d left my shoes here– I’m getting worse…tell Joyce I’m SO sorry – well I’ll tell her but-“
“But nothing, everything is fine, you phoned at an non crucial-ly moment! There, she’s just started the car she won’t be long”
“I’m sorry, really, as if your poor mom hasn’t enough to do this morning, I’m really such an idiot!”
“Will you stop saying that – it’s not your fault!”
“Have you opened any presents yet?”
“Just the one, from my grandmother, she usually puts $5 in a card for me, she has done for the last 18 years, anyway”
Buffy heard three little beeps
“What’s that noise?”
“Oh bloody hell…sorry, it’s just another thing I forgot to do – re-charge my cell-phone…I’ve got very little power left! Oh who cares, nobody I want to talk to anyway besides you and Joyce, and as I can do that face to face anyone who wants me, well, they’ll have to wait coz I’m not going back for the adapter now!”
As he said this, William looked up at the hospital building and gave an involuntary shudder thinking briefly on his encounter with Dru…
In the background, William heard the doorbell ring at Buffy’s house
“I let you get that kitten, I’ll see you soon, bye pet”
“Thanks, bye then! JUST COMING, HOLD ON!” Buffy stood, got her crutches and went to the door. It was Willow and her mother
“Hi, come on in!” They stepped into the hallway
“We won’t stop, Ira has the car engine running still, we’re going over to my sister’s in Merrydale, we just wanted to wish you a happy holiday”
Willow’s mother handed Buffy a bottle wrapped in paper
“Thankyou…and I’m to give you this” Buffy handed Bernice a box of chocolates that were on the hall table
“Mom’s had to go pick William up, his car’s died!”
“Oh dear, well we must go – tell Joyce I’ll ring her in the week about those tickets for the gallery” ~After kissing cheeks Willow and her mother left, Buffy waving them off from the door
Just as soon as she sat down, the phone rang again
“Hello?”
“Princess, Happy Christmas!”
“Oh, hi dad, Happy Christmas to you!”
Buffy could hear Chelsea in the background making a real loud noise.
“So, did Santa bring you lots of gifts?”
“Yeah, but I haven’t opened them yet, we’re waiting until Wi – we’re waiting until my boyfriend gets here before we do any unwrapping” Saying the word ‘boyfriend’ gave Buffy a warm feeling.
“BOYFRIEND – Your mother didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend!”
“Dad, why should she, I AM nineteen you know, not some little kid…speaking of which, did Chelsea like that speaking ABC screen we bought her?”
“Oh it’s YOU that bought her that is it…it’s noisy”
Buffy grinned and said
“It’s simulation, children respond to bells and whistles and lights”
“So do father’s, when clonked on the head with it at 5.05 in the morning!” Hank said his voice heavy with sarcasm
“Is that what time the little darling woke you up is it? Never mind, you’ll fall asleep in the chair after a big boozy lunch, you always did” Buffy said
“Huh, not this year…we’re going on walk after lunch, and um, there will be no alcohol, Maureen says with all the business lunches I go to, I drink enough”
“Really – not your idea of fun I take it?” Buffy had to bite her lip to stop laughing out loud.
“No”
“Okay, I’ll tell mom you called, I gotta go dad, I want to look my best when William gets here, which will be in about ten minutes, mom should be there by now”
“There, there where?”
“To pick him up, his car died so mom went to fetch him”
“So, what’s he like?”
“William is, tallish, fair to blondish…very good looking, and sexy as hell!”
“BUFFY!”
“Bye dad, have fun on your ‘walk’ and alcohol free lunch – you never know, it might turn into a six-mile hike – bye!”
Buffy put the phone down, and put her purse on her knees, she got out her little mirror and checked her make-up and hair. Satisfied she sat back and waited, switching on the TV and flicking through the channels until she found something suitably festive.
*****************
Joyce pulled round in a big arch and parked next to William’s car, facing the opposite direction.
She got out smiling
“Hi! Merry Christmas!”
She gave him a hug and William wished her Merry Christmas too, looking apologetically at her.
“I’m SO sorry Joyce, you must have a million things to do and-“
“Think no more about it, honestly, the turkey and ham are roasting nicely, everything else is prepared ready to go onto the stove or in the oven, and all I’ve got left to do is decorate the trifle”
William transferred his leather hold-all and all the presents onto the backseat of Joyce’s SUV
“I’ll sit in the back with these, I don’t want them sliding around, one or two delicate items, you know – oh god, not that I’m criticising your driving or anything – it’s just – god me and my big mouth – I just don’t know what’s-“
Joyce was giggling
“Will, calm down, now strap yourself in and relax, your holiday starts here, okay”
William grinned and nodded and did up his safety belt. Joyce got in and started up.
**********
Dru stared out of the window. Suddenly a black SUV came into view, she recognised it, but couldn’t remember where from…she looked again and saw it was William in the back, and she put her hand on the window, feeling her heart lurch…who did that car belong to...who, think…come on, think!
***************
Ten minutes later, Joyce pulled up on the driveway with a bib on the horn. Buffy stood carefully; she couldn’t keep the grin off her face, Joyce led the way into the house carrying William’s hold-all, while William carried in the presents
“William! Merry Christmas – again!” Grinning, William put the presents down and gathered Buffy up in his arms.
“Hi baby! – Merry Christmas, oh, come here!”
Joyce tactfully made her way upstairs, taking William’s case up to his room…
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