Free Unexpected Christmas by Samantha Harrington

Chapter One

    A nother, week goes by and it doesn’t seem as if Damien will be home anytime soon; this is his second trip to Russia. The first one was before the wedding and he was gone for a whole month. It was after that trip realised I was pregnant with our child. Reaching down I rub my hand over my swollen tummy, only three weeks to go until our little princess is due, I feel like a beached whale and I haven’t seen my ankles for weeks! Lilly has been a God send while Damien’s been away, she‘s kept me company, made me snacks whenever I’ve had a craving and trust me when I say I have had some weird cravings, ice cubes dipped in cinnamon, so that I can suck on them, that has to be the strangest one.
    The nursery is finally finished, I didn’t want to get a designer in to do it, I wanted to do as much as I could myself. Damien built the furniture before he left for Russia and Lilly and I have been putting all the clothes and teddy’s away. Unwrapping the bassinette made me cry, damn hormones, I weep at anything, I placed that in our bedroom, making sure it was in easy reach of our bed.
    I waddle in to the kitchen and find Lilly sat at the table having some tea and scones. I love that she has scones with cream and jam for her afternoon treat.
    “Are you ok my sweet?” her concern never waivers, she is a true mother, caring and loving but don’t think she is a push over she will have you doing as your told before you realise you’re doing it.
    “I just miss Damien, he’s been gone three weeks now and baby could come any day now. It’s our first Christmas is in a couple of days and I don’t really relish the idea that he might not be here with us.” I say, trying to hide the hurt in my voice.
    “When did you last speak to him? You know what he is like when it comes to business. He forgets everything around him. Have you told him how your feeling Faith?” Her questions are valid, I am just that happy to hear his voice, that I just let him talk about what he is doing and when he asks about me, I just say we are ok and not to worry about us.
    “Last night, when he called to tell me goodnight and tell me about his day.” I tell Lilly, I see her look to me, wondering why I never mentioned it to him then if I only spoke to him last night.
    “Let’s go put the tree up how does that sound.” I am grateful for her distraction, she can sense that my mood is shifting and I would probably only end up crying again. One thing is for certain, when I have this baby I will be happy when the tears stop. I watch anything on the TV and I cry, I wake up in the middle of the night I cry, I look at a baby blanket and I cry, they are driving me bloody potty.
    “Yeah that will be nice but I don’t want to put the angel on the top, can we leave that for Damien to do when he finally gets home?” I say to her. Making my way into the living room I see the huge Norway spruce, standing tall in the corner of the room.
    I start to tear up again, but I quickly shake them off. I know Damien should be here helping decorate the tree for our first Christmas.
    I start to pull the decorations out of there boxes, the glass stars twinkle in the light of the room and the red and gold baubles spin on the end of the string that will attach them to the tree.
    I can’t help but feel alone, I know I have Lilly, Damien’s mum with me but I want Cami with me, I miss her spark, her warmth and her genuine care.
    I know she needs time to deal with what happened to her, I can’t imagine what she has been through but since we left the wedding I have only spoken to her a few times over the phone. She’s sunken into her own personal hell and I can’t do a thing to help her. The only person who she lets within a ten-mile radius is Malc. Damien has eased his duties so he can go to her whenever she needs him, and he does daily. It’s been months since I’ve seen her and I only see Malc once a week when he checks in and lets me know how she’s doing.