Not the only one (formally Chloe)

Part 17 Christmas

"Merry Christmas Chloe!" Evan said placing a slice of sourdough toast a glass of orange juice and a couple of tiny gifts on they bedside table. Chloe panicked for a minute wondering if one of them was a ring, but Evan didn't look nervous or as if he was about to get down on one knee. "Merry Christmas. I left your gift in the living room. But don't expect too much. I'm rubbish at choosing gifts. "Go on then. Open them." Evan smiled. The first one she opened was a little hart charm saying love on it in a few different languages. "It's beautiful." Chloe smiled. "It's for that bracelet you have. The one you told me that your mum and Gran got you for your 21st."
"Thanks. The bracelets at home, but I'll put it on there when I next go." She opened the second gift. It was a necklace. "This is gorgeous, it must have cost you loads."
"You're worth it Chloe." He said. She ate the breakfast he had put on for her and she put a Christmas playlist on her phone, even though it was 4.30am. She was starting work at 6 so she could finish at 12 and get to her mums in time for lunch. She got washed and dressed and went into the living room and passed Evan a few presents. A few shirts and some aftershave. "Thanks." Evan sad sounding disappointed. "Sorry," Chloe said "I wasn't expecting you to buy me such lovely things. And I'm really bad at buying presents."
"Chloe, relax" Evan said emotionlessly but he didn't mean it.
"Thank you for my lovely gifts, and merry Christmas. I've got to get to work." She grabbed her bag and got in her car. She took a deep breath. She was going to go to work and forget about her rubbish present giving.

"Be careful Chloe." Her friend Nicky joked as she was about to start her shift. "Kian has gone Christmas Mad." Nicky said nodding her head so her Santa hat deely-boppers bobbed around. "Apparently I'm St Nicky-las" they laughed. Kian came behind Chloe and popped a Santa hat on her head causing her to jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He said in his calm Canadian accent. "I can't decide, Christmas Chloe or Chloe Claus."
"I like Chloe Claus." She smiled. "Oh don't encourage him." Nicky fake groaned. Chloe knew the drill be as cheery as humanly possible because no one wanted to be in hospital, especially at Christmas. "Good Morning Mrs Fincham, Merry Christmas."

Chloe had a good shift. Calm and quiet. Perfect for a day like Christmas. She pulled on her Christmas outfit. A red jumper dress. She wanted to look nice. She always wore a dress for Christmas. "Off already?" Nicky asked. "Yeah, only on a half day."
"Nepotism" Nicky rolled her eyes.
"Sorry?" Chloe asked
"Cam got the whole day off. Got to keep the top consultants happy by letting their kids off too see them on Christmas. Have a good day though."
"Thanks Nic, you're a solid friend. This is for you." She passed Nicky a gift. Just a little costume jewellery bracelet. "Thanks Chloe this is lovely. This is for you." She passed her a wrapped gift. "It's just some socks, I'm pretty broke, but you're a great friend too." They smiled at each other. "Where are you off to anyway?" Nicky asked.
"To my mums, my Gran is down from Scotland. I know exactly what would have happened this morning. Mum would have tried too cook. She really isn't good at cooking."
"Yeah I remember you saying."
"So she will have tried and Gran will have got frustrated because mum was messing up and Gran will have taken over and mum will be chilling in front is the TV with a glass of wine while our guest does all the cooking. Feel free to pop in after your shift." Chloe offered.
"Sweet of you to say but I'll probably visit my mum" Nicky smiled.

"Merry Christmas" Chloe called as she walked into her mums house.
"Dinners almost ready" Gran called. It seemed Chloe had been right. Her mum was stood with a glass of wine while Gran was stood stirring the gravy. "Shall I set the table Gran?" Chloe asked.
"No, It's all done." Gran (Sheila) and Mum (Ange) had pulled the kitchen table into the living room and decorated it with a red tablecloth and crackers.
"All you need to do is pour yourself a glass of wine." Gran said "and darling, you look lovely!"
"Thanks Gran, amazing what a bit of lipstick can do for a girl!" Chloe smiled. It was just the way Christmas had been forever, since Chloe had been a little girl, minus Grandpa and the dog, and with the wine. "Good Shift?" Her mum asked. "Yeah, it was quiet, although Kian did call me Chloe Claus the whole time" she laughed. "Your necklace is beautiful too." Gran said turning to admire it. Chloe looked down "It was a Christmas present from my boyfriend. I feel a bit bad actually I only got him a few shirts and a bottle of aftershave and he got me this and a charm for my bracelet. It's at home with the girls but the charm is gorgeous."
"Chloe. If he loves you it doesn't matter, it's the thought that counts." Gran smiled.
They sat down to eat. Laughing and joking. Listening to Christmas music. Chloe had a couple of mouthfuls of the food then felt odd. She felt full and put her knife and fork down. "You okay darling?" Her mum asked. "Yeah just feel a bit full." She answered smiling. Gran put her knife and fork down. "Chloe. I didn't want to talk about this today. But look at you, you're all skin and bone! I noticed it as soon as you picked me up from the airport, and you told me you were trying to be healthier. You've always been slim Chloe but you look unhealthy."
"I'm fine okay. I'm fine." She picked up her cutlery and started to eat more. "See," she said a mouthful of potato "I'm fine."
"Chloe calm down." Her mum said. "Come on you're being silly. Gran was just concerned."
"Sorry Chloe." Gran agreed "I forget you're a grown woman sometimes, I still think you're that little 8 year old sometimes."
"Shall we pull our Crackers?" Chloe asked changing the subject. "Great idea" Ange said and they all crossed hands and ended up with silly little puzzle key rings . "I bet you two will be good at these." Gran smiled "my clever girls." Chloe had hers built in a few minutes, she'd always enjoyed puzzles. Gran smiled at her "right, before I feel completely inadequate, shall we do gifts?" Chloe went first. She'd tried a hard with her gifts. But she just wasn't good at shopping. She knew what suited her but was awful with other people. She'd got both her mum and gran a scarf, then a pair of gloves for her mum and a calendar she'd made on a website filled with family photos. "Oh Chloe I love this." Her gran told her. "Oh my goodness where did you get these old ones from?"
"I asked great auntie Eileen. She had some wonderful ones."
"Oh Chloe." Ange smiled when she looked at the last page. It was a picture of a few of the staff from the hospital. It showed her, her mum and a few other doctors including Dom.
"That's Dom" Chloe said quietly pointed at him. "Your grandson I guess." Chloe said again.
"You know you'll always be my number 1 Chloe. Mo Crhidhe" Gran said, using the Scottish Gaelic for my heart "You and your mum, you're the most important people in my life and that's not going to change, never going to change. My angel," she said looking at Ange. "And my fairy" she looked at Chloe, Grandpa used to call her fairy sometimes since she was always so tiny. Slim and short.
Chloe mum has got her a coat she loved, a pair of boots, some pyjamas and a lush bath bomb gift set. Chloe loved it all, her mum was much better at shopping than her. "Thanks mum"
Gran had got Chloe 2 more charms for her bracelet. One was a fairy "I couldn't resist for my fairy" Gran said and another with the words mo Crhidhe "they had some  in Gaelic, I can't let you forget your roots Chloe"
"I don't even know any Gaelic, and listen to my voice, I'll always know I'm Scottish. I know it's home." Then Gran produced 2 larger gifts, a few cans of irn bru and a tin of Chloe's favourite shortbread biscuits. "Thanks Gran. It's not the same down here." They had a lovely evening laughing and joking. It got to midnight and Chloe could see how tired Gran was starting to look "I'd best be going." She smiled sadly "where are you going, to the girls or Evan's?" Her mum asked.
"Home I think." She said "Evan's with family and so are all the girls."
"No one should be alone on Christmas." Her mum said "look, you've got new jamas. I'm sure I can fish out a spare toothbrush. You have my bed, I'll sleep on the sofa. If..if you want."
"No mum I'll sleep on the sofa. Thank you. I'd love to stay." They hugged. Properly hugged for the first time since Ange had told her about Dom. "You know I love you Chloe." Her mum said "I don't say it enough. But truly I do."
"I love you too mum."