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  ‘I’ll say it for you,’ I said. ‘It’s easy-peasy, simple-pimple. You and Mark are going to get married and Robin’s going to be my little brother and you’ll be giving up all your jobs to look after him full-time and we’ll have to sell our flat and go and live with them and I expect you want me to make you a flipping wedding cake as well, but if I have to come to your wedding I warn you, I won’t throw confetti, I’ll start throwing rocks at you,’ and I turned over on my tummy and started to cry.

  ‘What?’ said Jo. ‘What?’ And she started to laugh.

  ‘It’s not funny!’ I sobbed. ‘I want to stay here. With you. Just the two of us.’

  ‘So do I,’ said Jo. She shoved my tangled hair out of the way and said it straight into my ear. ‘So do I! That’s what we’re going to do. Now listen, Charlie! You’ve got it all wrong. Mark and I aren’t getting married. He’s still too fussed about his first marriage – and I don’t think I ever want to get married. OK?’

  ‘So you don’t love him?’

  ‘I don’t know what I feel. I just want to let things develop. Slowly. In their own time. I hope I’ll still see a lot of Mark and Robin – but I might not carry on working there. You know this Christmas job?’

  You don’t know about the Christmas job. Jo’s stopped working at the Rosens’. The last big electrical goods shop in the town advertised for part-time staff to help them out over their busy Christmas trading time. Jo jumped in there and they took her on right away, working from nine to three. So we’ve got enough to keep up the mortgage payments – and a bit over. That’s what I was hinting at earlier.

  ‘You mean it’s too tiring, working there and then going to look after Robin?’ I said, leaning up on my elbows.

  ‘The thing is, the shop manageress is going to have a baby. She wants to start her maternity leave in January – and even though I’m only temporary they’re asking if I’m interested. It won’t be for ever, of course, though she might decide she wants to stay at home with the baby – but it would still be great to get back to the work I like. But of course it would be full time, through till half past five.’

  ‘I see. Well. You’ll have to take it, Jo. I mean, it’s great. But . . . what about Robin? He likes you a lot.’

  ‘He likes you even more, Charlie. Mark hopes he’ll be able to juggle his working hours and pick Robin up from school himself. Or maybe he’ll have to find another child-minder. But in an absolute emergency I said you could always pick Robin up from school and look after him until Mark could come.’

  ‘Mark wouldn’t ever trust me with Robin!’ I said.

  ‘Yes he would. He knows that you’re really very sensible and responsible,’ said Jo.

  ‘Me?’ I said. ‘OK. Tell Mark he can count on me. As long as he pays me!’

  ‘Charlie!’

  ‘So we can really stay here in our own flat, Jo?’

  ‘You bet.’

  ‘And we’ll have our first Christmas here, just us two?’

  ‘Ah. Well. That’s the other thing I wanted to discuss.’

  This time I did guess right.

  ‘You want Robin and Mark to come round here for Christmas?’

  ‘If that’s all right with you, Charlie?’

  I didn’t want Mark to come at all. Still, it might be fun to have Robin bobbing about at Christmas.

  So . . . I decided I’d better come up with something pretty special for our Christmas cake. I baked a square fruit cake and then carved out part of the front and made up a brown butter icing and did this posh basket weave all over to make it look like . . . a stable! With a big gold marzipan star and a fat pink marzipan angel perched on the roof. (I’m going to get to eat the angel on Christmas Day – because I’m currently so angelic!) Then I made a marzipan Mary (Jo can eat her) and a marzipan Joseph (I suppose I might offer him to Mark) and a dear little marzipan baby Jesus clutching a white marzipan lamb (specially for Robin).

  I piped a long message in front of all my Nativity figures.

  I never ever thought I’d be wishing Good Will to any man! I decided to add a bit.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  The Lottie Project

  School

  School

  Home

  Home

  Work

  Work

  Food

  Food

  Toys and Books

  Toys and Books

  Family

  Family

  Courtship

  Courtship

  Sunday

  Sunday

  Law and Order

  Law and Order

  Sickness

  Sickness

  Seaside

  Seaside

  Christmas