Jamie woke up at 6am sharp. He was sharing Ellie's room as all other rooms were occupied. Jamie's eyes drifted to Ellie's sleeping figure. She looked so beautiful lying there with her standard plaits in her hair. He longed to stroke her hair but resisted. It took a long time for him to come to this conclusion. He just watched her through dreary eyes. He wasn't awake yet. He could easily have fallen asleep again, especially with the perfect scene he found himself in. But he fought to stay awake so that he could take in the beauty of every moment he spent at her house.
Ellie woke up around 8am and immediately she saw Jamie's open eyes on her. It was strangely comforting. Jamie was the first to move. He walked to Ellie's wheelchair and asked if he could help her into it. 'Yeah, thank you,' Ellie was amazed. A man who actually wanted to help! He took her weight and lifted her into her chair. She turned her wheels before she thanked him again. 'It's cool,' Jamie told her like lifting her into her chair was the most natural thing in the world.
Last night he had found that Ellie had some exercises to help strengthen her core muscles written on her mirror in the bathroom. He made a coincious decidion to help her with them from that moment on. They didn't do much until Christmas lunch.
Jamie and Ellie pulled the cracker that sat between them. Linda smiled as she watched her daughter's eyes light up as she looked at Jamie. 'What's up mum?' Ellie asked.
'Oh, nothing I'm glad you're happy,' Linda smiled at her daughter and Jamie in turn. 'Thank you for joining us this year Jamie,' she told him in her next breath. Chrissie and Linda looked at each other knowingly. 'Let's eat,' Chrissie announced.
After they were absolutely stuffed with food, it was time for presents. Ellie opened all hers and after many gracious thanks and phonecalls she retired to her room. Jamie followed her with his small gift for her. He didn't want her to open it in front of everyone else. It was nice to do some things in private.
She was surprised when Jamie handed it to her. 'Oh really, you shouldn't have!' She opened the box shaped gift. It was a little storage box with sayings written on it. 'Handy for work!' she opened it to see how big it was and found a diary for the year coming. 'Oh my, Jamie, thank you so much, I will use this every day as you know I need one! Now I can stop leaving sticky notes everywhere!' She was enthralled. He could hear in her voice and see in her eyes how thankful she was. 'But I haven't got you anything, I feel so guilty!' she told him.
'Honestly, the fact that you welcomed me to your family and the fact that I've actually had a Christmas this year is en ough for me. Thank you so much. It's more than I could ask for!' he refused Ellie's apology. It really was just enough for him to be a part of her Christmas.
Steph
XxX
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