Page 30 of Iona's Christmas

“Camden is?” I inquired.

“Yes. This is where our future lies. It feels right, and both of us will be happy here,” Cecile said.

“Good, because Warden wants you to stay,” I offered.

“That’s nice to know. As we plan to.” Cécile winked.

“Let’s get Christmas dinner done because tomorrow, we’ve got a lot of fun planned!” I replied, and we all started peeling like mad.

Chapter Seven.

Christmas Day.

Iona

Iwas shocked when I came downstairs Christmas morning and was met with every member of the club. But what took me back was the amount of presents under the tree. And I was surprised to see Katie. She was keeping apart from the others, but she was present at least.

“Happy Christmas, baby,” Warden said, giving me a kiss.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“What, babe?”

“All these?”

Warden laughed.

“I can’t decide whether you inspired or shamed them all into shopping,” he admitted.

I spun in Warden’s arms. “What was it with you?”

“Shame. Definitely.”

“Rotten fucker,” I chided, and Warden chuckled.

“Katie is down,” I whispered.

“Wisecrack and Romeo are blocking her, enabling her to enjoy the day,” he said quietly.

I nodded. That made me happy. Katie was pale, but she was at least present.

“This is your day, Iona, what would you like us to do?”

“I need to get breakfast on, and then we can unwrap presents afterwards,” I replied.

“Lindy and Lissy have already taken care of that. They’ve been up since seven preparing it. The serving hatch is full,” Warden said.

I like that about the kitchen. There were shutters which lifted up and hot plates all along the open space. We could place food in them, and people could help themselves. It was a lot like a serve-yourself restaurant.

“Wow, they didn’t have to do that,” I gasped, smelling the air and scenting bacon and sausages.

“It was their gift to you,” Warden replied.

“That’s so nice of them,” I said and beamed at the two women who appeared and announced breakfast was ready.

We all filled our bellies before gathering around the Christmas tree.

“How do we do this?” Undertaker asked.