The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3322 by Angharad Copyright© 2021 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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For the next couple of days Stella and Sarah were friendly with each other and I hoped the problem had solved itself. I hadn't pushed Stella to explain her odd behaviour hoping that in time she'd tell me what had set her off. So far she hadn't. I managed to get Sammi to include Sarah on my payroll, which means that all I had to do was fill in the number of hours she did and pay rate and her software would do the rest, including paying so much into a pension fund for her.

She probably wouldn't earn enough to pay any tax in this financial year but the software would sort that out and also send the required information to the Inland Revenue.

I'd done all my shopping, David had ordered a huge shopping order which was due to arrive today, which would fill all the freezers and fridges and food cupboards for the next couple of weeks, all we'd need then were perishables like milk or vegetables and of the latter we had loads in the freezer, though we prefer fresh.

I had Danni wrapping most of the presents I was giving to everyone else as she doesn't mind doing it. I was leading the work party cleaning through the house and David was sorting food for storage or cooking. It was Thursday and Christmas eve tomorrow. The weather was dreary and I felt about as full of the joys of Christmas as a hot-cross bun.

Sarah was on childcare duties and due to finish at lunchtime when she was going out with Danielle to finish her shopping. While the rest were busy I asked her if she had enough money to do her shopping, she wasn't sure. "Okay, I've paid you for two weeks for December and that is in your account."

"But I won't have done two weeks by the end of the month," she said surprised by my announcement .

"I'll probably be asking you to do extra hours over Christmas, so if we call that quits, then you have some money available now."

"Are you sure, Auntie Cathy? You've been so kind to me and I don't want to take advantage of you."

"Nor I you, so yes I am sure." So while I forced the older children into slave labour she kept the younger ones from discovering their fate when they got older. Stella was working but she seemed happy to let Sarah look after her two giving her some cash, though I did make sure Stella knew that Sarah was only working the morning, she seemed okay with that as she knew we'd look after them, most probably through Meema, who still loved being with either her dad or the little ones.

By lunch time, we'd pretty well done everything and tomorrow would only require a quick flit with a duster and vacuum cleaner and we'd be ready for Christmas. In the afternoon we'd be doing the tree and decorations.

David produced a lovely Spanish omelette for lunch, which he knew we all liked and scoffed down with a side salad, Sarah commenting the food was brilliant, better than anywhere she'd been before. Tonight, Debbie was coming over for a tutorial with her and also coming to dinner. I'd loaned her the money to get her car fixed, which I'd take off the debt at thirty pounds a time for each tutorial. Given the recent weather, she was rather glad to get her car back in working order. People sometimes say I'm too soft or generous but I see it as being pragmatic, if people are able function as i want them, all I'm doing is keeping the wheels greased. Technically, I suppose I should declare the money I'm paying Debbie, but it's too much fiddle so I'll write it off as a gift. Sarah isn't aware that I'm paying for the tutorials possibly assuming the university is paying for them.

Tom came home after he'd had his curry at his usual venue and he helped us bring the tree in. It took four of us pulling the pot up onto a post mover thing - a small cart with castors on and then to get the tree into the lounge after washing the pot off with a pressure hose. I'd laid out some polythene sheets then the 'saucer' for the pot, which is about a metre across and the same high, then it was a huff and puff to get the pot to the saucer and unloaded without breaking either. The tree was about seven feet tall, so was a bit of a struggle to get through the door ways. Next year we might have to think about a different tree or an artificial one.

Once the tree was in place, I left it to Livvie and Trish to decorate while Hannah helped me put up all our cards on ribbons we stuck to the backs of doors, we did about three or four ribbons to the door. An hour later, we stopped for a cuppa and included David in the break, seeing as we were eating his mince pies, it seemed a good idea.

Dinner was going to pork steaks in a cider and cream sauce, and for all of us, I think David had to order half a pig, I know he had quite a large tray of meat loaded in the oven which was cooking gently, we'd eat about seven. Simon and Sammi wouldn't be home tonight but hoped to be home early tomorrow. Officially, they'd then be on four days holiday, but I know Sammi would be on call all over the period as would two or three of her team members as assorted scallywags and other ne'er do wells wouldn't take a holiday, especially Russian hackers, who seemed to be completely without any compunction whatsoever. I know Simon would sign death warrants on any of them for the amount of trouble and time they cost the bank and they wotk with law enforcement agencies all over the world trying to catch the nefarious scumbags. Sadly, the arrest rate is very low and the conviction rate even lower.

I know Sammi occasionally sends cyber-bombs back to them, which will damage their equipment, but it only seems to hold them up for days or a week or two. Part of her enjoys the contest but it also takes quite a lot out of her and she insists she now has a weekend off every month and a day a week off during the week as well. I think she needs more time than that but she seems to manage on it and her salary has increased year on year as she has become so valuable to the bank. I sometimes thinks she ought to have a bodyguard because if it became known that she was all that was stopping the hackers from taking down the bank, someone might try to take her out to make it easier. That is one of my nightmares, that any of our children should be pawns or targets in such awful games and I encourage all of them to take self defence lessons, and in the forms that don't take prisoners, or look to inflict serious damage on would-be assailants. I know Sammi and her girlfriend both take these lessons.

The youngsters we send to kickboxing and Danielle is extremely good at it, I suppose it goes with her fitness and leg strength from her soccer, Trish, Livvie, Meems and Hannah are all good at it too and we just have to remind them that it's only for use in extreme circumstances and not for bashing other girls in school or on the soccer pitch. So far they seem to be able to distinguish the difference.

Dinner was good, well, David made it, of course it was good. Sarah and Debbie used my study for their tutorial which they both seemed to enjoy and I spent time with my Christmas decorators and Danni playing a board game in the dining room. The excitement amongst the younger children was rising, tomorrow night they'd be like bottles of pop.

I suppose all the exercise and housework sent me off to sleep quite quickly and I was up early on the Friday, to get last minute shopping and the newspapers. Danni came with me and we grabbed a couple more six pintas of milk, and a couple more thick sliced wholemeal loaves as well as my Guardian and the i newspapers. If all else failed to amuse me, I had a couple of crosswords to look at.

I also collected a Christmas wreath to put on the front door and a smaller one on the back door, plus a bouquet of flowers to take with Tom to put on the grave as we do every year. It was almost a routine and one I was happy to maintain as it reminded me of my absent daughter and him of his a deceased daughter and wife. It was probably my imagination, but it also focused my thoughts on my parents and Simon's mother and it almost felt as if they all congregated at the grave and we're able to receive our love. Fanciful, but it makes me feel better and Trish frequently says she sees things there or Billie appears to her to say she liked the flowers, sometimes it's Danni she appears to, very occasionally me.
We were back by ten and I left hanging the wreaths to Danni while I ran the vacuum around and Trish flitted a duster here and there. There would be no more cleaning done unless something happened to need sorting out, like the year we had soot everywhere.

Daddy had gone to check the dormice and have his curry and would be home after to snooze in his study, I'd spoken to Diane and wished her a merry Christmas and told her to look for her prezzie in my desk drawer, I got her some perfume. She'd finish lunchtime and apart from essential staff the university would be closed for the four days. I kept my fingers that I wouldn't be called out for something this holiday, a benefit of being the equivalent of a dean and thus on a list of names that the police held to call for access to areas or to assist in assessing if things were missing after break-ins or fires.

As the countdown to Christmas wound down, the excitement wound up and the youngsters were practically bouncing off the walls by tea time and Sarah was earning her money. Danielle was earning some too, as she was wrapping Stella's presents and Simon had already hired her to do his after dinner.

Julie and Phoebe would be over the next day for dinner and had taken their daily LFT and had remained Covid negative, so we'd be having a real houseful tomorrow. I know Henry and Monica were coming for lunch and so was Jacquie, which meant everyone would be here. My in laws were staying at the hotel and would drive down there tonight or tomorrow morning. They were very interested in making the acquaintance of my new help and they also knew, thanks to Stella, that Sarah was a transwoman. I did ask Simon to make sure they didn't spill any of the beans about who else here had been also labelled that way once. In other words I was hoping there'd be no unintentional disclosures. I'd also told Sarah that her medical history was not a matter for disclosure to anyone in this house, everyone who needed to know did so and no one should need to be told. I think she got the message as I was very direct. She blushed and thanked me.

It was dark by half past three and certainly so when Sammi and Simon arrived and we had salmon for dinner, it was gorgeous. David left immediately after eating as he wanted to watch something on the telly and he'd also be over early tomorrow to cook a turkey about the size of an ostrich.

Simon was pleased to see me and wanted to show me how much, so I let him have his wicked way without much resistance. I enjoyed it, not as much as he did, but we get different things from our intimacy.

Christmas day was crazy. We were all awake by six, Cate and Lizzie, Pud and Fiona made sure of that, and besides we needed breakfast out of the way to clear the kitchen for cooking the huge meal we had planned for lunch.

We had breakfast after washing and dressing, the children got their presents and Stella had honoured her promise to Sarah and got her an iPad. Simon and I gave her a little car, a VW Fox, he'd organised it but I gave him half the cost of it. She was so overcome that she ran up to her room and burst into tears. I sent Danni to go and check on her a bit later.

After the madness of the present distribution, and we were down a bit on the usual excesses quite deliberately, Tom, Trish and I went up to the cemetery and laid the bouquet I'd bought on the grave. Trish told us that they all loved it.

It was the only bit of sanity we had because once we got back it was all systems go. Trish and Hannah did the table, laying out nearly twenty places. David was staying to dinner this year, so the table would be pretty full, and I joked at least we knew the food would be safe to eat if the cook was staying. Thankfully, David took it in good part or possibly didn't hear me say it.

Somehow, at one-thirty pm, we all sat down to eat an enormous Christmas dinner and it was delicious. We were still pushing food around an hour later but most had already reached satiation some while before. Henry was toasting everyone with the case of Prosecco he'd brought with him. Sarah had calmed down and had joined in the fun and followed me out to the kitchen when I went to make a tray of teas.

"I'm just blown away with the car, I don't know what to say, I really don't."

"Just accept it in the spirit in which it's given, Simon had the chance of it at a good price and knew that you didn't have a car, so we bought it between us."
"I know you're well off and all that, but it is just so much to give a relative stranger, you really are the kindest person I've ever met, Auntie Cathy." She hugged me and started to sniff again.

"Hey, no more sniffles, okay? Here help me make these teas..." and so ended Christmas 2021, it petering out as a combination of too much food and glasses of wine took their toll. It was mainly the men who zonked, though Julie wasn't especially active after lunch and Phoebe nodded off cuddling Lizzie. They hadn't been in the house for at least a couple of months, having their own flat and Julie was curious to see what Sarah had done with her old bedroom, Sarah seemed happy to show her that no much had changed, but that was before dinner and Julie's postprandial lethargy had set in.

Danni and I sat in the kitchen and hugged each other and wished each other Merry Christmas before we started recruiting volunteers to help clear up the mess. Yes, as they say, every action has a consequence and now we had to deal with it.