“I was sworn to secrecy.”

“By whom?”

“Your father. He’s surprisingly intimidating.”

Richard nodded solemnly.

“One of my better qualities.”

Maria shook her head, laughing.

Then she stepped forward and embraced her father.

He held her tightly, one hand resting against the back of her head as he’d done when she was little.

For a brief moment, he closed his eyes.

“It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”

Maria smiled against his coat.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

Within ten minutes, Richard had taken over the living room.

His coat hung beside the door, his suitcase stood beneath the stairs, and the twins had discovered that his enormous shopping bag contained presents.

Daniel looked at the growing pile of brightly wrapped boxes.

“Richard.”

“Yes?”

“We discussed this.”

“We did.”

“You promised to bring one present for each child.”

Richard nodded.

“Absolutely.”

Daniel gestured toward the floor.

“There are eight.”

Richard looked down thoughtfully.

“Goodness.”

Maria laughed.

Richard picked up a small parcel.

“Well, this one’s technically for both of them.”

“And the others?”

“Educational.”

Daniel stared at him.

Richard added, “Mostly.”

Oliver had already begun trying to shake a box.

Maria gently took it from his hands.

“Tomorrow morning, sweetheart.”

“But Granddad brought them!”

“And they’re going to be here tomorrow too.”

Oliver considered the logic and found it disappointing.

Richard crouched beside him.

“Would a biscuit help?”

Oliver nodded immediately.

“Excellent. I thought so.”

Maria watched her father disappear into the kitchen with both children following him.

Sophie had woken fully and was now holding his hand, explaining something about a stuffed rabbit named Clementine.

Richard listened with complete seriousness.

Daniel slipped an arm around Maria’s waist.

“He’s been looking forward to this for weeks.”

Maria turned toward him.

“You really knew the whole time?”

“Every detail.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I value my relationship with your father.”

She nudged him gently.

“Traitor.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead.

“Happy Christmas.”

Dinner that evening was wonderfully ordinary.

Daniel roasted chicken with rosemary and lemon. Maria prepared vegetables using her mother’s old recipe, which Richard insisted she had improved considerably.

“No, I haven’t,” Maria said.

“You have.”

“Mum would disagree.”

“Your mother never measured butter properly.”

Maria stared at him.

“Neither do I.”

“Exactly. But somehow yours works.”

Daniel laughed from the kitchen.

The twins sat in their high-backed chairs, wearing festive paper crowns Richard had brought from London.

Oliver announced that he intended to become a dinosaur when he grew up.

Richard said he thought it was an excellent ambition.

Sophie informed everyone that she wanted to become a butterfly.

Daniel asked whether either career required university.

Neither child answered.

After dinner, they moved into the living room.

Snow gathered against the windowpanes.

Richard sat in the armchair beside the fire with Sophie asleep across his chest.

Oliver had fallen asleep against Daniel, one small hand still holding his father’s sweater.

Maria sat beside them on the sofa.

The Christmas tree lights reflected softly in the darkened windows.

For a while, nobody spoke.

Then Richard looked across at his daughter.

“You look happy.”

Maria glanced up.

“I am.”

He smiled.

“I can tell.”

She looked around the room.

At Daniel, gently adjusting the blanket over their son.

At Sophie sleeping peacefully in her grandfather’s arms.

At the Christmas cards on the mantelpiece, the little wooden train beneath the table, and the photograph of her mother beside the wedding portrait.

A quiet warmth settled over her.

“Sometimes,” she said, “I wish Mum could see all of this.”

Richard looked at Eleanor’s photograph.

“I think she’d be very proud of you.”

Maria smiled.

“Do you?”

“Of course.”

He glanced at Daniel and the twins.

“She always wanted you to have a home filled with laughter.”

Maria looked down at the soft wool blanket across her knees.

“We certainly have plenty of that.”

Richard chuckled.

“Particularly from Oliver.”

Daniel opened one eye.

“He gets that from his grandfather.”

“Obviously,” Richard replied.

Maria laughed.